Bullpen Report: May 7, 2013
• If you were smart, you wouldn’t have listened to me when I said Koji Uehara would get the first shot at saves in lieu of Joel Hanrahan’s injury because it’s Junichi Tazawa who will see the ninth inning now. Colin pretty much summed up the entire situation earlier today so I won’t add much and just lead you over to what he said. With Hanrahan and Bailey on the DL and the former struggling all year and the later always struggling with injuries, Tazawa could possibly see more than just a weeks worth of saves this year.
• Bobby Parnell got his third win tonight in a game where Matt Harvey threw nine innings while allowing just one batter to reach base, an infield single by Alex Rios who beat the throw by half a step. Parnell actually has as many wins as saves on the young season and although he’s blown two saves, he’s actually pitching quite well. In 14 innings on the year Parnell has given up two earned runs while striking out 13 batters and only issuing two free passes. Frank Francisco is pitching in rehab right now and should be off of the DL relatively soon but Terry Collins said that “Frankie’s gotta show us that he can pitch back-to-back days up here.” The Mets seem hesitant to give Parnell the job outright, but I’d be confident that it’s Parnell’s job all season.
• Jason Grilli recorded his league leading 13th save tonight against the Mariners, pitching a clean inning while striking out two. It might be strange to say but Grilli is one of the best closers in the game, at least as far as fantasy is concerned. After a fantastic 2012 setting up for Joel Hanrahan, Grilli’s been even better in 2013, with a 0.80 FIP and a 14.79 K/9 on the season. Grilli might be the rare case where it could pay to buy high on him in fantasy, finding an owner who thinks he will fall back to earth when he is one of the best closers on the market.
• Fernando Rodney had a day off after throwing 37 pitches last night and Joel Peralta saw the ninth inning in a tie game tonight. Unfortunately, Peralta let four guys reach base and allowed two earned runs, unable to even finish the inning. I mentioned concerns about Rodney, specifically his complete loss of control, yesterday and while those certainly remain, Peralta will have to avoid nights like tonight if he were to wrestle the ninth inning away.
• His job is far from in danger, but it’s worth noting that Craig Kimbrel blew a save tonight. After striking out the first two batters, Kimbrel allowed back to back home runs to Devin Mesoraco and Shin-Soo Choo, the latter being of the walk-off variety. After tonight’s outing, Kimbrel’s numbers look pedestrian compared to last season but they’re still fantastic as 21 strikeouts in 13.1 innings pitched and a 1.85 xFIP ain’t too shabby.
• It only took 12 pitches for Kevin Gregg to pick up his fifth save of the year this evening. Carlos Marmol threw a scoreless inning and a third to get to the ninth but it’s Gregg’s job, at least until Kyuji Fujikawa returns from the DL. Speaking of which, Fujikawa should return soon and would likely have a chance to close again in Chicago. However, as unlikely as it would seem to continue, if Kevin Gregg keeps putting up outings like this he’ll certainly have something to say about who’s getting saves in Chicago. Either way, Gregg is still worth holding onto even when Fujikawa comes back.
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
Bell goes back to locker room after throwing 4 straight balls. Since Hernandez already pitched, the D-Backs elected to go with Heath Bell (?!?!?!?!) to close out the game. Do you think they continue forward with Bell and keep Hernandez in the setup role?
Sorry Putz goes back to locker room****
Hernandez had already pitched in the game, so the fact that Bell came in after Putz is no indication that Bell is higher up in consideration for closing duties.
So JJ Putz came into a save situation, walked a guy on four pitches, and came out of the game with an apparent hand injury… David Hernandez add?
Kimbrel is struggling with his release point on his curve. After bouncing the curves, the last 2 batters were sitting on fastball, and both were down but had the middle of the plate.
So yes, he does need to stop grooving fastballs down the middle- even at 97. But once he finds his release point on his curve, he should be OK.
Putz came out with an injury tonight. I’m trusting this chart and nabbed Hernandez but reading a few different places they could go with a committee. How do you rank DHern / Reynolds / Bell? In that order?
I may regret this but I just added Bell over Hernandez. Reynolds has more value shutting down lefties, and if you look beyond his superficially high ERA, Bell blows away Hernandez, And he has closer experience.
So that’s my completely uninformed opinion.
And another disastrous outing for Brandon League. How much longer is the leash?
Yeah, how did is that situation a ‘green light’ in the chart? League is the most undeserving closer in the league. The only situation where the closer isn’t good and the setup man is lights out and has experience closing! The Dodgers just don’t deserve to win the way that bullpen is managed.
because he’s signed to a closer contract long-term so it’s probably going to take quite the string of dramatic blown saves for management to make a move.
It could have arguably been yellow before tonights outing, but this was published before League’s latest. This should change, and yes, the contract might be playing a role here but Jansen owners should be smiling right now.
How much should one be willing to give up to get a guy like Grilli? I offered Arenado to a 3B-needy team and was declined. Going by Arenado’s projections, I don’t think I’d want to give up much more value than that. Should I?
Closer value is very league dependent. Are there saves/future saves ever available on the waiver wire in your league, or is everyone and their two handcuffs already owned?
Thanks for the reply. My league is somewhere in between. Some of the better handcuffs (ie. Jansen) are owned, but most others are available, though they’re immediately scooped up at the first sign of trouble for the incumbent.
You could shop Arenado to other teams who have closers slightly worse than Grilli. Although people pick up the guys ASAP in your league, the fact that they are available and not already owned makes me think you shouldn’t be offering too much for a closer. Granted, Arenado isn’t necessarily super special, but the point remains.
Tough call regarding the DBacks closer situation at the moment. Bell got the save but it was Hernandez who was pitching in the more valuable set up role last night before Putz left the game. However, after closing the door, they might like what they see out of Bell. I’m still not a buyer on Bell being all that good, this situation is very fluid.
Not sure when Rodney’s situation officially becomes tenuous, but he has really been awful. Peralta could have helped himself last night, but he’s still the better pitcher right now. I feel a weak excuse for a DL stint coming on for Rodney? haha.
Based on performance he can easily be yellow and that’s something I’ll mention with the other BR guys actually. I haven’t heard anything from the Rays but the exception to Rodney’s career was last year. His control will need to improve soon or Peralta could become Mujica part II.
So with 6 players on the DL in one of my leagues, do you think it’s time to drop Hanrahan? I just have a lot of bench space taken up by injured players, and even when he was pitching he wasn’t pitching well.
I’d offer him to each team in the league if they have an open DL slot, and if nobody offers anything that’s better than a pickup, I’d make the move. In 2013 Bailey, Uehara and Tazawa have all pitched particularly well while Hanrahan has been the exact opposite. I think it’s fine to let go if you have injured players cluttering your roster.
Ben I have some guys getting hurt this week and don’t have enough DL spots, should I drop either Bailey or Fukijiwa?
Sveum said that Gregg is his closer today, so I would drop Fujikawa. Additionally, if neither are closing, Bailey is a better pitcher for ratios.
Would you rather own Kyuji or Bailey? Have held on to Kyuji but Bailey was just dropped in that league
How hurt is Bailey? someone said he;d be back next week, I’d assume he’d get his job back. I’m much more nervous in Chi where Gregg could lock up the job with a solid stretch.
I’d rather own Bailey. He shouldn’t be out long, but it’s Andrew Bailey who isn’t a pillar of health. However, with that said he’s actually a great reliever when he pitches and the Sox are a good team.
I have a lot of doubts about Gregg but Sveum said he’s the guy, so I’ll take him at his word.
14 team roto nonkeeper I have no catchers and waivers is trash was offered JP Arencebia for my Mujica is this a deal I take?
Is there a Miguel Montero type who was dropped after sucking thus far? I might prefer him and Mujica, unless saves aren’t an issue but in a 14-teamer, saves can be pretty precious and not available on the wire, handcuffs included.
Nope the waivers are filled with crap like Maldanado, Stewart, Flowers, Suzuki, ect.
I’d treat Mujica at this point as a fulltime, pretty solid closer. If that profile is worth getting Arencibia in your league then it’s a fair swap. However, I’d just make sure the categories he gives you are what you need — HR. If average is a concern, I wouldn’t be trading for him at catcher, even for Mujica.