Bullpen Report: May 24, 2018

Raisel Iglesias has been steady as the Reds’ closer, so speculating on his potential replacement has seemed like a largely intellectual exercise. Now that speculation could have some consequences for fantasy owners, as the Reds placed their closer on the 10-day disabled list with a strained left biceps.

Jim Riggleman has taken some of the guesswork away from us, as he has already cited Jared Hughes, Amir Garrett, Wandy Peralta and the just-activated Michael Lorenzen as possible replacement options. His lack of commitment to a single replacement makes it less attractive to speculate on any one reliever as a future source of saves. Riggleman’s comments about the nature and severity of Iglesias’ injury also suggest that he may not be out long, making it even less urgent to try to add one of the foursome. The interim manager told reporters that “Iglesias’ left biceps has been bothering him for some days. It’s just tender…Rather than continue to deal with it, we’re just going to DL him…”

Though it’s possible that Riggleman is understating the situation, or that Iglesias could be slow to heal, this does not look like a scenario that should lend itself to aggressive bidding. Garrett has been solid setting up for Iglesias in recent weeks, though a 27.2 percent O-Swing rate in May has translated into a 17.0 percent walk rate this month. The lefty was apparently available for Wednesday night’s game against the Pirates, but Riggleman opted to use Hughes in the top of the ninth inning with a tie score. That may be a hint that Hughes will get the first crack at a save situation.

If not for the struggles of Michael Feliz and Felipe Vazquez, we would probably still be waiting to get our first hint at who might close for the Reds during Iglesias’ absence. The Pirates held a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning, but Feliz opened by allowing back-to-back singles, the latter of which was a Tucker Barnhart comebacker that was deflected off the reliever’s backside. A subsequent walk and sacrifice fly narrowed the Pirates’ lead to two runs and led Clint Hurdle to bring Felipe Vazquez in for a four-out save. A pair of singles resulted in two more runs scoring and a second consecutive blown save for the normally-reliable Vazquez.

Even the best relievers have poor back-to-back outings, and Vazquez did recover to pitch a perfect ninth inning. However, he did not induce a single swinging strike in this game, and going back to May 9, he has a 6.8 percent swinging strike rate over a six-inning span. It seems premature to be making a move to pick up Feliz, Richard Rodriguez or Edgar Santana as a possible handcuff for Vazquez, but this is a situation that should be monitored.

Tyler Clippard got his fourth save opportunity for the Blue Jays on Wednesday night, and for the second time in five days, he was credited with a blown save. He issued three straight one-out walks against the Angels, and then yielded singles to Shohei Ohtani and Andrelton Simmons that, respectively, tied the game and gave the Angels a two-run lead. Ryan Tepera has been fairly steady, if not dominant, in setting Clippard up, so perhaps he will start to at least share the save situations.

Blake Parker started off the bottom of the ninth against the Blue Jays by allowing three straight hits, but he was rescued by Kole Calhoun, who threw out Curtis Granderson at the plate on a Teoscar Hernandez flyout for a double play. Parker got out of the inning with only one run scored, and he was able to notch his second save in the last four days. While it’s never easy to trust that Mike Scioscia will stick with a single closer, I have removed the “Hot Seat” designation from Parker’s spot in the grid below.

Bud Norris, Alex Colome and Jeurys Familia all took losses on Wednesday, but there are no obvious reasons to be concerned about any of them, as each had been faring well lately. The Cardinals, Rays and Mets, however, have been doing some jockeying of the relief roles that support the closer. After three consecutive meltdowns, Greg Holland figured to get moved out of a setup role for the Cardinals, so when Michael Wacha departed in the seventh inning with a 2-2 tie, it was Sam Tuivailala who provided the bridge between the starter and Jordan Hicks and Norris.

Now that he’s “starting” for the Rays, Sergio Romo has been removed from the grid and replaced by Jose Alvarado. The lefty entered the seventh inning of the tie game with the Red Sox on Wednesday, and he got five outs, including four strikeouts, two of which came against left-handed batters. Also, Seth Lugo has been added to the Mets’ portion of the grid, as he set up Familia in the eighth inning for the second time in three days.

Quick hits: Two days after earning a save against the Braves, Hector Neris pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the Phillies’ 4-0 victory over Atlanta. For the time being, he seems to have the most momentum among the relievers in Gabe Kapler’s closer committee…Buck Farmer has struggled mightily over the past week and has probably pitched his way out of a setup role with the Tigers. He may already be replaced by Louis Coleman, who picked up his first hold of the season by pitching a perfect 1.1 innings against the Twins and providing a bridge between Michael Fulmer and primary setup reliever Joe Jimenez…Kyle Crick picked up his first career save, holding the Reds scoreless in the bottom of the 12th inning in the Pirates’ 5-4 victory.