Bullpen Report: Saturday, April 25

The Braves committed all of the errors possible on Friday, and Jim Johnson continued his run of ruin, taking his second loss on the year. He made it through his first five outings without surrendering a single run, but he’s given up at least one earned in each of his last four outings. There are no huge losses in velocity or movement, but this is just getting ugly. Jason Grilli hasn’t had a save opportunity since last Sunday, and curiously, he hasn’t seen the field since then. Fredi Gonzalez had an opportunity to live up to what he alluded to last weekend when he said that he wouldn’t hesitate to use Grilli in tied games on the road. Instead, he went with Johnson. Ken Giles kept his ERA at 0.00 when he pitched a scoreless ninth and picked up the win for the Phillies.

The Cardinals bullpen continued humming along, as Trevor Rosenthal found himself on the mound for the third day in a row. He peaked at 99.9 MPH, so he was showing zero signs of wear while collecting his seventh save of the year. Jordan Walden continued his strong start and notched his seventh hold in front of Rosenthal.

Koji Uehara offered up his disgusting splitter 21 of the 23 times he threw a pitch towards an Oriole tonight, garnering 13 swings and eight whiffs with it. The Red Sox are being careful with Uehara, giving him a minimum of two days of rest between appearances since coming off the DL with a balky hamstring. He worked around a pair of singles to get his third save of the season, but he’s yet to surrender an earned run. Take advantage of watching Uehara generate MLB The Show type swings with that splitter.

Adam Ottavino decided that discretion was the better part of valour and took a rest day Thursday with some mild lower triceps soreness. His velocity seemed fine on Friday night, touching 97.7 MPH, earning the save throwing eight of his ten pitches for strikes, striking out one.

Mark Melancon topped 90 MPH with one of his cutters, touching 90.1. He didn’t generate a single swing and miss, but he did get the save. He did get three groundouts out of the Diamondbacks with an assortment of what some would qualify as slop, but others would see as a veteran pitcher working with what he has to get outs. If you have six minutes, go back and watch the uncomfortable swings that the Diamondbacks take. Sure he’s lost a couple ticks, but I don’t see him just fading away. If he can get it done with lesser stuff, pick him up. If the velo comes back when his arm strength returns, you’ll have a stud on your hands.

Is nine runs in extra innings usual? I don’t have to do any research to tell you that it’s a resounding no. Tyler Clippard, awesome. Not his fault he’s not getting any save opportunities. If someone is dropping him, you have to be picking him up on the cheap. Dan Otero and Eric O’Flaherty absorbed the runs tonight. You do not have them. Unless you’re in a 20 team, AL West only league(stole that from Paul Sporer). Look over to the Houston pen. Luke Gregerson. Blown save. He was an out away, and gave up a game-tying double to Josh Reddick. Realistically, he should’ve been out of the inning after he got Stephen Guy Vogt to dribble one to second, but Jose Altuve couldn’t get the ball out of his glove quick enough to get Vogt at first. Pat Neshek never looked comfortable out there. The rain and sloppy mound may have had something to do with it. He gave up his third homer of the year to Marcus Semien. There was nothing out of the ordinary with his velo, he just looked like he couldn’t get his rhythm out there. I wouldn’t worry about him yet, even though his ERA is creeping up on six. Chad Qualls got the save!

Of note: Steve Cishek picked up his first save of the year for the Marlins. On April 24. For a team that some had picked to be a contender for the wild card this season. Pedro Strop was unavailable with a sore foot in the Cubs extra-inning win over the Reds. He’s set to be ready for action on Sunday. Hector Rondon warmed up when the Cubs plated one in the top of the eleventh, and Joe Maddon brought him in to preserve the four-run lead. Huston Street has six saves after walking two and otherwise shutting down the Rangers. Hmmmm. Yimi Garcia got his first save of the year in Los Angeles, following Pedro Baez and Paco Rodriguez. He had two strikeouts in an inning. If you’re quiet, maybe you can sneak up on your fellow owners and grab him if he’s available. Weird twist in Seattle, where Felix Hernandez got the last out of the game.

Closer Grid:

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