Bullpen Report: May 5, 2015
I guess I missed that internet meme turned actual thing with “may the fourth be with you” last night so tonight I hope everyone enjoyed themselves on Cinco de Mayo. My roommate made Guacamole, so if that counts as celebrating then I did. Anywho, back to the bullpens…
• After allowing a lead-off solo shot to Chris Davis to start the ninth inning, Jeurys Familia retired the next three batters for his league leading 11th save of the year. After tonight’s outing Familia is supporting a 1.88/3.20/2.14 ERA/FIP/xFIP line with a 58.6% GB% and 17 strikeouts against just three walks in 14.1 innings pitched. It’s impossible for Familia to hold a .107 BABIP all season long but Familia is showing he is more than just the fill-in closer for the Mets. I could see Familia out performing some of the ROS projections a tad, but expecting an ERA far below 3.00 isn’t necessarily reasonable. Still, he should continue to see save opps for the Metropolitans while striking out over a batter an inning without anyone breathing down his neck.
• The Yankees bullpen has seen a lot of work, especially with Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances throwing more than one inning at a few points this season so Girardi obviously wanted to get through tonight’s game without going to the well with a six run lead in the ninth. Unfortunately David Carpenter was unable to do the job and left after allowing three runs with a runner on second. Andrew Miller came on and after walking Jose Bautista bringing the tying run to the plate, retired Devon Travis for his 11th save of the year. New York closer just keep on racking the saves, huh? After tonight it’s unlikely Carpenter will see too many higher leverage innings and it’s safe to say that Chris Martin has leapfrogged him in the back of the bullpen behind the Betances-Miller duo.
• The Red Sox only needed one Mookie Bomb but he provided two as Koji Uehara closed out the 2-0 shutout for his fifth save. Uehara’s average fastball velocity heading into today was 86.8 mph, below his average last year of 88.2 mph but he was hitting 88 consistently tonight. After missing a few games this year, Uehara looks to have his (emphasis on) old legs back underneath him. Of more interest might be Alexi Ogando getting the hold with a perfect eighth inning. Ogando has pitched a lot in the seventh and eighth innings with leads this year so it’s probably time we add him to the grid over Edward Mujica.
• There has been some deserved chatter about Bryan Morris‘ role in the Marlins bullpen but after last night, it’s safe to say Mike Dunn and A.J. Ramos remain ahead of him in the pecking order. Dunn and Ramos combined to pitch a scoreless eighth tonight, handing the ball over to Steve Cishek who left two runners stranded for his third save. Dunn actually hasn’t pitched well this year but as the top lefty in the pen he will continue to see higher leverage innings. Cishek hasn’t pitched well either but his defense did him no favors tonight as he struck out two, allowing one hit looking more like the 2014 version – touching 93 mph on the fastball and getting whiffs with the slider.
• Quick Hits and Injury Tidbits: Aroldis Chapman did something that people like Aroldis Chapman could do – walk the bases loaded and strikeout three batters for a scoreless inning. Sean Doolittle threw a 25-pitch bullpen today and is inching towards his return to the A’s. We should proceed with caution as the Alex Cobb news today is a warning of what can happen when someone seems to be nearing a return during the bullpen phase of the rehab. However, the near future looks more promising for Doolittle and should slide right into the closer’s role once he’s ready. Greg Holland appears to be recovered from his strained right pectoral muscle, and will be activated tomorrow. While it’s a safe assumption that he will close immediately, let’s wait until he’s on the roster before changing the grid. Meanwhile, Holland’s replacement Wade Davis nailed down his sixth save of the year and still has a perfect 0.00 ERA. KC has this bullpen thing figured out.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
When he's not focusing on every team's bullpen situation, Ben can be found blogging at Ben's Baseball Bias and on Twitter @BensBias
Is Soriano worth an speculative add? I mean would a team be desperate enough to sign him as a closer? Also, any thoughts on Hawkins entering back into the Colorado closing picture?
Depending on how deep your free agency pool if you’re looking for potential closer candidates heres a list of jobs that may be in jeopardy and IMO who will be next in line based on talent.
PIT- T.Watson
SEA- C.Smith
CLE- B.Shaw
COL- R.Betancourt
TOR- A.Loup
TEX- S.Tolleson
other notable bullpen studs to keep an eye on- WAS-A.Barrett, LAD-Y.Garcia, ATL-C.Martin, and MIA-A.J.Ramos
Rangers beat writer Evan Grant say Kela is the guy to own (not Tolleson) if/when Feliz loses his job. It would take A LOT and a lot more than what he’s done so far to remove Cody Allen as the Indians’ closer. Francona has a lot of faith in him and Shaw isn’t really a guy they look at as a potential closer. Likewise, it’s very hard to see the Mariners removing Rodney from the role, so I wouldn’t hold Smith right now. Osuna is much more likely the next guy in line in Toronto if Cecil loses the job… Loup isn’t really a closer. Betancourt and Watson are good guys to hold onto though. Another I would add would be Brad Ziegler… Reed looks awful and could very well lose that job. Ziegler looks like the best bet to close with Marshall struggling mightily.
Check here for more info – http://www.therotosaurus.com/mlb-speculative-saves/