Bullpen Report: Monday, May 11, 2015

After giving up three runs to the Cubs on April 21, birds of concern were circling around Mark Melancon. He came in with a two-run lead against the Phillies on Monday, and proceeded to give up a home run, a trio of sharp liners and a fly ball to centre, and he walked away with his eighth save of the year. His velocity still isn’t where it was, but is it that big of a deal? He’s pretty much scrapped his four-seamer, going with it 3.9% of the time in 2015, down from 27.3% last year. That’s been replaced with increased usage of the cutter, as he’s throwing it 69.6% of the time. That home run he gave up Monday was the first earned run he’d put up since that April 21 debacle, throwing eight scoreless innings to lower his ERA from 8.53 to 3.77. The lack of strikeouts are a cause for concern, and his 8.9% K%-BB% is well off his 25.6% and 25.1% of the past two seasons, but as long as he keeps getting plays made behind him, he’ll be closing games in Pittsburgh. And also in other cities that the Pirates play in.

Jason Grilli was said to be available to pitch Monday night in Cincinnati after his back spasms abated. Luis Avilan pitched the eighth for the Braves, and Jim Johnson got the save in the ninth, as Grilli hung out in the bullpen. The reason that Johnson had a lead to save was another shaky outing for Aroldis Chapman. He wasn’t able to close out the White Sox on Sunday, and the Braves got to him in similar fashion on Monday. He struck out the leadoff hitter, but then gave up a pair of singles. When Phil Gosselin stole third, Chapman pushed him home when he threw his second wild pitch in two days, allowing the go-ahead run to cross the plate. Freddie Freeman singled, so the run would’ve scored anyways. Just a bump in the road for Chapman. The dominant lefty on the night was Tony Cingrani, who struck out the side in the seventh.

The Cubs were expecting to have Neil Ramirez pitching high-leverage innings for them in 2015. He threw off flat ground in Arizona today, which is some of the lowest-leverage throwing that you can do. A good sign, but he’s still a ways away. Justin Grimm just left his buddy in Arizona, and he grabbed his second hold of the season, striking out one in his inning of work. Zac Rosscup pitched a solid eighth for the hold, his fourth. Joe Maddon showed confidence in the lefty after he’d given up four earned runs over his last three appearances, which raised his ERA from 0.93 to 3.65 heading into the game. Hector Rondon got his seventh save of the year for the Cubs.

Boy oh boy. For everyone out there saying how terrible Steve Cishek is, let’s just remember how hard it is to get major league hitters out. I doubt any of us could do it. And we should probably also keep in mind that he’s taking this harder than even the hardest of Marlin fans ever possibly could. There’s no denying that he’s had a pretty crummy five weeks or so. But why? His velocity is down, but it’s no different than it was at this point last year. He hit 92 mph Monday night. He threw eleven sliders towards the Dodgers. Seven for strikes. One whiff. The single that Andre Ethier hit was on a slider, and the home run that Scott Van Slyke hit over the fence to end the game was one of the hangingest sliders that ever hung. Why is he not getting results? He has a .364 BABIP. 53.8% LOB rate. It appears that hitters are recognizing his hittable strikes more this year than they have in the past, as his Z-Swing% is at 65.4%, up from 57.6% last year. Tonight he was all over the place horizontally. How is he going to fix it? Is a DL stint in his future to try to get him sorted out?

Who is next in line? Is a 1.06 ERA and 32.3% K% good for a closer? You’d have to think A.J. Ramos is next in line for a save opportunity. Even if Cishek was on the top of his game, it’s not likely he’d see the field if a save opportunity arises on Tuesday. It would be his third consecutive day of work, and fourth in five days. It’s possible that we could see Ramos Tuesday. Or maybe Mike Redmond shocks and goes with Bryan Morris. The smart money is on Ramos. Redmond could easily hide behind the “day of rest” story if Cishek is skipped Tuesday, but that allows him to reserve the right to keep him in the role and bring him back later in the week. All I’m saying is that if Ramos is on the mound with a chance to save a game, don’t go chopping Cishek. It’s not a guarantee that he’s out of the role. But that green has changed to yellow on the closer grid.

Of Note: Zach Britton earned his seventh save for the Orioles, and Darren O’Day got his fifth hold. They each struck out two Blue Jays in their innings of work. The Brewers continued their recent winning ways, and Francisco Rodriguez garnered his seventh save of the year.

Closer Grid:

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]