Bullpen Report: May 17, 2017

Nothing all that momentous occurred in bullpens on Wednesday. Mark Melancon got activated two days ahead of schedule, ending the brief but largely successful run of Derek Law. Dellin Betances recorded his first save of the season by getting one out on four pitches. Ben Taylor got his first career save, because the Red Sox had already used their other seven relievers in a 13-inning affair in St. Louis.

But the biggest impact on a closer situation came on Tuesday. Mariners manager Scott Servais announced he was removing Edwin Diaz from the closer’s role, as the 23-year-old’s struggles came to a head on Monday. Diaz walked four straight batters and had to be removed with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning in an eventual 6-5 win over the Athletics. Servais told the Seattle Times he planned on mixing and matching any of four relievers — Steve Cishek, Tony Zych, Nick Vincent and Marc Rzepczynski — in save situations.

Then on Tuesday night, the Mariners gave Servais an opportunity to showcase his new committee approach. With a 5-4 lead, Servais went with Cishek, who promptly blew the save by allowing a Rajai Davis single and a two-run homer by Matt Joyce.

Thanks to a sterling performance by starter Christian Bergman, the Mariners did not need a closer on Wednesday, so the short-term closer picture remains murky. Cishek has pitched only two-thirds of an inning since coming off his DL stint for recovery from hip surgery. Having blown his first save chance, he seems like an unlikely candidate to be placed in a high-leverage situation anytime soon. Rzepczynski had not allowed a run this season until he entered Tuesday’s game in relief of Cishek, but given his prior role as a lefty specialist, it is conceivable that Servais may favor using him for critical lefty-on-lefty situations earlier in games.

That leaves Zych, who mopped up after Diaz on Monday and got the save, and Vincent. Zych has the more overpowering stuff, but of the two, he is also more likely to fall into the sorts of acute troubles with control that have cropped up for Diaz. Vincent has been used more often in the eighth-inning setup role of late, so I suspect he may get the ninth-inning call a little more frequently than Zych. If I needed to speculate on a short-term source of saves in this situation, I’d target Vincent.

However, I would expect Diaz to return to the role as soon as he has some success in lower-leverage situations. He was too good last season to not get a second chance and to not have a good chance of succeeding when it’s presented to him. Diaz owners should not drop him, and in leagues where he has been dropped, it’s time to give him a new home.

Brandon Maurer provided the nightly dose of closer drama by giving up two runs on four consecutive hits in the Padres’ 3-1 loss to the Brewers. Maurer could have been out of the inning on a double play, but Erick Aybar deflected a Domingo Santana liner that put runners on the corners with one out. Nonetheless, this was Maurer’s third multi-run effort out of his last four appearances. Manager Andy Green told the Padres Radio Network that Maurer’s “stuff is still there,” so we shouldn’t expect an imminent change. It still might not be a bad idea to check in on Brad Hand’s availability and to keep an eye on Carter Capps‘ progress in his rehab work.

With the Brewers taking a two-run lead into the bottom of the ninth against the Padres, Corey Knebel was able to solidify his case to be the team’s full-time closer. He finished out his inning by getting Hunter Renfroe and Allen Cordoba to strike out swinging.

Saves roundup: Ken Giles (11), Wade Davis (9), Justin Wilson (3), Knebel (2), Betances (1), Taylor (1).

Other closer activity: Alex Colome (1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K), Fernando Rodney (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K), Addison Reed (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K), Jim Johnson (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K), Seung Hwan Oh (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K), Craig Kimbrel (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K) and Hector Neris (2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K) pitched in non-save situations.

Closer Grid:

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]