Bullpen Report: May 5, 2017
Things are tense in the Baltimore-Washington corridor these days.
The Nationals’ closer carousel keeps turning, as they placed Shawn Kelley on the 10-day disabled list Friday with a lower back strain. As it was, we hadn’t seen Kelley in a game since April 29 due to being sick, and just as he was healthy enough to return, he started feeling tightness in his back Friday afternoon.
With Kelley and Koda Glover (hip) on the DL, Blake Treinen having pitched his way out of high-leverage situations and Joe Blanton proving to be unreliable, it was up to Matt Albers and Enny Romero to preserve a 4-2 lead over the Phillies on Friday night. It was essentially the same combination Dusty Baker went to on Thursday against the Diamondbacks, with Albers pitching the eighth inning and Romero entering in the ninth after Blanton started off the inning by coughing up a Paul Goldschmidt homer.
This time, Romero came in first, relieving Treinen with two outs in the seventh inning. He handed over the two-run lead to Albers in the ninth, and the 12-year veteran responded with a scoreless final inning. The only blemish was the lead-off hit-by-pitch that put Cesar Hernandez on base. After a record 436 relief appearances without a save, Albers finally notched Save No. 1.
So, who to pick up, Albers or Romero? Maybe neither, as Glover could be back within a week or so. There is no timetable for Kelley, but he could be back in short order, especially since his DL stint is retroactive to May 2. If you needed saves for a daily lineup league, I would give Albers a shot, as he has been better than Romero so far. He has not allowed a run in 11 1/3 innings and has given up only four hits. Albers hasn’t been overpowering, but he hasn’t walked anyone and has compiled a 63 percent ground ball rate.
There was intrigue in Baltimore as well, as the Orioles carried a 4-1 lead into the top of the ninth against the White Sox, but Zach Britton did not come for his first save opportunity since getting activated from the DL. Instead, it was Brad Brach, and even after he allowed back-to-back singles to begin the inning, there was no sign of Britton. After the game, reports surfaced of Britton experiencing more problems with his forearm and of an impeding MRI scheduled for later on Friday night. With Britton possibly headed back to the DL, now is not the time to drop Brach. If you don’t own him and he is available, you might as well go get him.
Ken Giles, Brandon Kintzler and Hector Rondon all blew saves on Friday. Giles entered for the Astros with a four-run lead in the ninth, but he inherited a bases loaded, no outs situation from Dallas Keuchel. Three hits and an RBI ground out later, the Angels tied the game and forced extra innings. Bud Norris was brought in to hold the tie but allowed the go-ahead run, and then Chris Devenski did what neither Giles nor Norris could: hold the opposition scoreless. Devenski was credited with his second save of the season.
Kintzler had a near-rerun of his outing on Wednesday against the Athletics, as he started off the ninth inning by allowing back-to-back singles and ultimately allowed a run to score. In this game, the stakes were much higher as Kintzler was pitching with a four-run lead on Wednesday, but this time, the Twins led the Red Sox by a single run. Kintzler was saddled with his first blown save, but he was credited with the win after Joe Mauer hit a walk-off homer off Matt Barnes in the bottom of the inning.
Once again, Paul Molitor had Matt Belisle pitch the eighth inning, so he would appear to be the frontrunner to replace Kintzler if he continues to falter.
Rondon was filling in for Wade Davis, who had pitched on three consecutive days, but he could not hold the Cubs’ 2-0 lead over the Yankees. Brett Gardner’s three-run homer resulted in a blown save and a loss for Rondon, while Aroldis Chapman was able to subdue the Cubs in the bottom of the ninth for his seventh save.
Other saves: Jeurys Familia pitched a perfect ninth inning against the Marlins for his third save, while Kelvin Herrera pitched a scoreless, one-hit inning versus the Indians for his fourth save. Fernando Rodney entered the game with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning, and he got the final two outs for his eighth save. However, he did allow an RBI ground out that cut the Diamondbacks’ lead over the Rockies to three runs. Josh Fields picked up a four-out save against the Padres, his first of the season.
Other closer activity: Hector Neris pitched a perfect top of the ninth (one strikeout) with a two-run deficit to the Nationals. Roberto Osuna pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth (one strikeout) at the Rays, preserving a four-run lead. Edwin Diaz maintained a 1-1 tie with the Rangers in the top of the ninth, allowing a single and getting one strikeout.
Note: Rangers-Mariners was still in progress at the time of this writing. Zach Britton is still listed as the Orioles’ closer in the grid below, as he has yet to be placed on the DL as of this writing.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
Al Melchior has been writing about Fantasy baseball and sim games since 2000, and his work has appeared at CBSSports.com, BaseballHQ, Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster and FanRagSports. He has also participated in Tout Wars' mixed auction league since 2013. You can follow Al on Twitter @almelchiorbb and find more of his work at almelchior.com.
What a mess. How do the MLB teams even function without a real bp? Goes to show never overpay for an elite closer for real life baseball team or a fantasy one!