Bullpen Report: May 22, 2023

The 2023 version of the Bullpen Report includes five different sections, as well as the closer chart, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

We will always include a link to the full Closer Depth Chart at the bottom of the Bullpen Report each day. It’s also accessible from the RosterResource drop-down menu and from any RosterResource page. Please let us know what you think.

1. Notable Workloads: Primary closers or valuable members of a closer committee who have been deemed unavailable or likely unavailable for the current day due to recent workload.
2. Injury News
3. Outlier Saves: Explanation for a non-closer earning a save during the previous day.
4. Committee Clarity: Notes on a closer committee that clarify a pitcher’s standing in the group.
5. Losing A Grip: Struggling closers who could be on the hot seat.

The “RosterResource” link will take you to the corresponding team’s RosterResource depth chart, which will give you a better picture of the full bullpen and results of the previous six days (pitch count, save, hold, win, loss, blown save).

Click HERE to view the full Closer Depth Chart.

Notable Workloads

•Carlos Estévez, LAA: Three of the last four days; 20 pitches on Sunday. | RosterResource

Estévez didn’t work Saturday, so it’s not a given he can’t come back and pitch Monday. But if he’s unavailable, Matt Moore (who’s also worked three of four but only threw eight pitches Sunday and also didn’t pitch Saturday) could close, with Chris Devenski also an option.

•Camilo Doval, SFG: 23 pitches on Sunday; 20 pitches on Saturday. | RosterResource

Doval’s worked three straight days once already in the past week, pitching Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so it’s not out of the question he could come back and pitch for a third straight once again. If he’s unavailable, Tyler Rogers, John Brebbia, or Taylor Rogers could close.

Injury News

•None

Outlier Saves

•Joe Kelly, CHW | RosterResource

Kendall Graveman had pitched back-to-back days as well as Wednesday, so he evidently wasn’t available for Sunday’s game against the Royals. That left Kelly, who’s been pitching quite well when available (he had an IL stint and also was on paternity leave), to close the game out. It was no problem for the enigmatic righty, who used his great stuff to strikeout two in a 1-2-3 inning for his first save of the season. He’s now struck out 19 of 48 batters faced, with just one walk. He should continue to work in high leverage and maybe get a save here and there even when Liam Hendriks returns from the IL, perhaps this month.

•Brooks Raley 레일리, NYM | RosterResource

David Robertson‘s shouldered a heavy load, pitching four of five days once he finished out Sunday’s day game with a four-out win (he had come on for the save but blew the chance before the Mets retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth). He definitely wasn’t going to be available in the nightcap, and neither was Adam Ottavino after struggling through his outing in game one, coughing up three runs on three hits. So it was Raley to follow Justin Verlander’s eight-inning gem against the top of the Guardians’s order, and although he did hit his second batter faced, he induced a José Ramírez double play to ultimately face the minimum for his first save of the season. The lefty’s been a key setup man for the Mets, with a couple of blowup outings inflating his ERA, but he’s been unscored upon in 15 of his 17 outings.

Committee Clarity

•Hunter Harvey, WSN | RosterResource

Davey Martinez used Kyle Finnegan, his closer having an up-and-down season to clean up Andrés Machado’s mess in the sixth inning on Sunday, and then kept him in for three more outs in the seventh, using him for five outs and 21 pitches in all. That left probably the Nationals’ best reliever, Harvey, to pitch the ninth, and he carved through the Tigers no problem. His two strikeouts pushed his season strikeout rate to 30%, far better than Finnegan’s 21%, and his bottom-line run-prevention numbers are quite a bit better, with a 3.00 ERA to Finnegan’s 5.00. I don’t think Finnegan has been removed from closing since he’s been pitching pretty well his last few appearances, but it might be a time share with Harvey now, with either deployed in big moments whenever they arise.

Losing A Grip

•None