Bullpen Report: May 23rd, 2012
• Robin Ventura officially named Addison Reed the closer of the Chicago White Sox today. The youngster from San Diego State patiently waited for the nod as the skipper initially named Hector Santiago the ninth-inning man when the team broke camp. When the Santiago ship sailed, Ventura surprisingly awarded the closer’s role to Chris Sale. Sale’s transition from starter to closer lasted just one blown save until Ventura stated he would be returning to a closer-by-committee situation. Since, Reed has converted his last four save opportunities to earn the manager’s endorsement. Now, Addison Reed owners just want to see his current 11.48 strikeout rate spike towards 2011’s 14.73 K/9.
• For those who hedged their Mariano Rivera bets with Rafael Soriano, your investments were kindly rewarded this afternoon. Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi went on record as saying: “He [Soriano] is closing games for me, he is my closer.” When asked about Robertson’s role upon his return from the disabled list, Girardi stated that he wants to get “Robbie back where he is feeling comfortable.” Could that mean the eighth inning? Soriano led the American League with 45 saves in 2010, so he has the experience necessary to thrive in that role. Since taking over for Robertson, Soriano has successfully converted his last three save opportunities. While Soriano’s 8.22 K/9 isn’t the sexiest, he earned the vote of confidence form his manager, which should give us some sense of security for the time being.
• Ernesto Frieri earned his first save for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim since his transition to the American League. Scott Downs owners shouldn’t worry yet, as this save opportunity came in extras after Downs was called upon in the ninth. However, Frieri’s elite K/9 (15.83) and killer ratios makes him more than just a handcuff in most formats.
• Rafael Dolis entered the bottom of the eight inning this evening, with the hopes of keeping the Cubs within one run of the Astros. That didn’t happen. Dolis surrendered three earned runs on three hits and two walks before getting the hook. This poor outing, parlayed with a K/9 of 3.38 and a 4.58 xFIP should worry owners. For what it’s worth, James Russell dished a clean seventh inning.
For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here is a matchup you may be able to exploit.
A Pitcher for Tomorrow Dale Thayer vs NYM
Thayer is 5-for-5 in save opportunities and is striking out nine men per nine. Thayer hasn’t pitched since 5/20, so look for him to get at least an inning of work in tomorrow against the Mets.
Our Bullpen Report team will also be keeping this closer grid up to date for you. The coloring is supposed to be our general opinion about the volatility of the bullpen — a red light bullpen is an unsteady bullpen. Happy hunting for saves!
In addition to contributing to the RotoGraphs blog, you can find Alan at his own site, TheFantasyFix.com and follow his nonsense on Twitter @TheFantasyFix.
Good piece.
I disagree about it being too soon for Downs owners to worry, though – Frieri has a more traditional fit for the closer role and his numbers are ridiculous. It’s rare to see a non-dominating lefty hold a closing job. If I had to bet on one Angels pitcher as a save-only play from tomorrow forward, I’d have to pick Frieri first.
Downs is pitching really well and will obviously have a key role, but when someone is flashing behind you, you have to take notice. If you can still get close to full-closer value for Downs (I doubt it), you make that trade immediately.
Thanks.
I too would trade Downs, or most other closers for that matter, if they could fetch full value.
Hey, I got that 14.73 K/9 in… 7.1 innings! But I’ll do my best this year, OK?
Anything north of 12 would be greatly appreciated.
Also, there’s a lot of K/9 talk here with no BB talk. Gotta throw it over the plate, too, obviously.
Downs pitched the 9th but it was a tie game on the road. As we all know, managers like Sciosia who follow The Book (TM) don’t pitch their closers on the road until they are ahead. Furthermore, in one of the games against the Padres last weekend, Downs pitched the 8th, and Frieri the 9th. I think he’s the de-facto closer already.
For the cubs, what are the chances that Bowden closes? An article that I read discussed him as the best option, and with an apparent close relationship to epstein, is he in line for some saves here? I’ve never seen him pitch.
What exactly do you use to determine first chair/second chair in the closer grid?
According to Baseball-reference Jason Grilli (PIT) is most often getting put in in the 8th inning, while Juan Cruz is mostly seeing the 7th. Though both have about the same average leverage, Cruz has gotten the Hanrahan-less saves. However, Grilli’s peripherals are off the charts this season, and neither is a young buck. All in all it’s probably a wash, just curious as to the process you use to determine it.
Grilli has been the ‘8th inning guy’ and by all accounts a better pitcher this year, but in Hanrahan’s absence the Pirates have gone with Cruz so we use that as reason to believe he’d be next in line for saves. Hanrahan has only missed games here and there so nothing has been announced, but it seems similar to Washington’s use of Clippard early in the year. Some managers are getting smart, realizing they don’t have to use their best reliever in save situations and I think that’s what’s going on in Pittsburgh. As for all of the other closer situations in the grid, it’s really a case by case basis and unfortunately some guess work is involved as we can’t get inside the mind of every manager – who would of thought the White Sox would use Hector Santiago at the start of the season!
Cool, that’s pretty much what I figured.
what do the different colored rows mean on the grid? is that job safety?
Yes, they are some approximation (subjective) as to how “unsettled” the bullpen pecking order for that team is.
Green meaning a long leash for the incumbent, down to red being a bullpen where deep league save vultures are probably stashing some of the other guys behind the current 9th inning pitcher.
Like Benjamin noted, we do our best to analyze the closer situations on each team.
With the said, the green indicates a situation which we feel the closer has the spot on lock-down, the yellow identifies the in-betweens, and red is for those who might be changing closers soon.
H-Rod still listed at closer for the Nats? UPDATE THE GRID! :p
fixed, nice 🙂 all I had to do was shout! :p
question: what do folks think are the odds that Farnsworth gets the closer gig back when he returns? Rodney is historically a pumpkin but he has been filthy this year. I actually drafted Farnsworth initially but dropped him when he got transferred to the 60-day DL.