Bullpen Report: September 1, 2018

Welcome to September as the marathon reaches its final stage. An encouraging outing by Kenley Jansen notching his first save since August seventh. Jansen needed to survive the heart of the Diamondbacks order and only yielded a double to Paul Goldschmidt of the four batters he faced including striking out the red hot David Peralta. As for Jansen, he’s stopped taking the medication which made him feel like he was “sleepwalking”, which may not be in the best interest of his health with a heart condition, but Jansen snapped a four outing streak of allowing a run in each with last night’s scoreless save. Jansen’s shown the ability to overcome a slow start in April to surge, so his owners will hope for a similar bounce back in September. Los Angeles did add veteran Ryan Madson in a waivers trade and plan on deploying him in high leverage to lead up to Jansen. Bullpen evolution never ceases.

A return to the ninth inning for veteran David Robertson who converted his fifth save of the season, and second in his last three outings. He’s made three consecutive scoreless appearances with seven strikeouts, two walks and one hit allowed in them. Robertson also finished August without ceding an earned run in 11.2 innings, but did give up three unearned in them. With Dellin Betances under the microscope after serving up back-to-back home runs in Thursday’s loss, the closer by committee to fill-in for Aroldis Chapman should continue. However, do note, Zach Britton’s last save was a week ago and he’s been working in a set-up role since. While the Yankees intimated a three-headed closer timeshare could ensue, it’s been Robertson and Betances in the ninth the last seven days.

Although Cody Allen fired a clean eighth inning with two strikeouts, it appears Brad Hand could be the closer of choice for Cleveland. Hand secured his 31st save of the year, and his fourth over his last seven games. Since joining the Indians, Hand’s saved six games, recorded seven holds and made a scoreless appearance in 14 out of 17 contests. His back-to-back saves along with a 1.46 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 12.1 innings in August should provide him the majority of save chances going forward. As for Allen, he’s secured a hold the last two games but his 4.85 ERA in August may cost him save chances, however, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities for him to still get chances in September.

In the almost daily segment of the Phillies bullpen recap, a new name emerges. This time, Hector Neris could be the arm to target this weekend. He pitched the ninth inning of a tied game and recorded his 10th straight scoreless outing since his promotion. Neris has struck out 20 of the 32 total batters faced in this hot streak resulting in an eye popping 62.5 strikeout percentage. It’s tough to trust someone who fell out of the trust tree earlier this season, but it’s difficult to overlook how dominating he’s been since returning to Philadelphia. Seranthony Dominguez did make his third straight scoreless appearance but has appeared in the seventh inning in two of his last three. Pat Neshek gets his second win of the season throwing a clean 10th inning. Stay tuned.

No save chance for the Twins last night, but Trevor Hildenberger once again pitched in the ninth inning. He’s converted his last five saves but owns the worst peripheral numbers compared to teammates Taylor Rogers and Trevor May. May retired all four batters he faced via strikeout, has been scoreless his last five in a row, finished August with a 1.35 ERA, 1.88 FIP, 0.87 WHIP with 21 strikeouts against three walks. However, he only worked in back-to-back games once all month as the Twins ease him into high leverage without overusing him due to his return from surgery. Rogers also struck out the only two hitters he faced to extend his scoreless streak to 18 games (15 innings) with 18 strikeouts versus one walk in it. In August, Rogers did not yield a run with a 1.15 FIP, 0.43 WHIP and 17 strikeouts in 14 innings. As for Hildenberger, he gave up an unearned run on two walks on Friday night and ends August with a 6.75 ERA, though he’s only ceded an earned run in his last four games, a 7.58 FIP, 1.58 WHIP and 12:6 K:BB. There’s a chance Hildenberger can finish the season as the Twins primary closer, but there’s also a chance he migrates towards his FIP from August.

Should the Marlins shut down the bullpen? Both Kyle Barraclough and Drew Steckenrider struggled in an eventual loss to the Blue Jays giving up a combined five earned runs in the ninth inning. Barraclough started the ninth with a 5-1 lead and looking to build on his two scoreless outings since returning from the disabled list. But he allowed two hits and an earned run to load the bases. Miami then called upon Steckenrider to try and salvage the game and for a chance at a save. Steckenrider did strikeout Aledmys Diaz with the bases juiced, but walked in a run versus Devon Travis then allowed a grand slam to Justin Smoak giving up the lead. Miami’s bullpen as a whole has struggled since the onset of the second half. Whether it’s the cumulative affect of their work in June and July or just fatigue, owning an arm in this bullpen could hurt ratios more than an occasional save will be worth in September.

Quick Hits: Benefiting from the Marlins meltdown, Ken Giles held on for his seventh save with Toronto and 19th in a row this year working around a walk and a hit with a strikeout. Giles finishes August with an encouraging 14:3 K:BB but also a 1.64 WHIP, track his effectiveness down the stretch.

Detroit may want to limit the workload for Joe Jimenez as the season comes to a close. After an encouraging start to the season and 2.72 ERA with 48 strikeouts in the first half, Jimenez allowed three runs to raise his second half ERA to 11.25 and WHIP to 1.83 including last night’s rough outing.

Save number eight for Jeremy Jeffress who wriggled out of a bases loaded jam and his fourth save over his last six appearances. Due to recent usage, Josh Hader could get the save chance if provided since Jeffress needed 23 pitches after an extended outing his last time out as well.

Felipe Vazquez notched his 29th save, and 19th in a row, giving up two hits with a strikeout. He’s been scoreless his last 10 games (11.2 innings) and owns a 1.04 ERA his last 34 appearances with 50 strikeouts in them.

The White Sox introduced Ian Hamilton, who pitched a clean ninth inning in a non-save outing. Hamilton converted 22 of 26 save chances across two levels of the minors this year with 62 strikeouts in 51.2 innings. He features a fastball and plus-slider. Both Hamilton and Caleb Frare will try to work their way into the ever evolving high leverage logjam in Chicago.

Blake Parker secured his 13th save giving up a hit and a walk last night. It’s a bounce back outing after allowing a home run to Tyler White the night before. Keep in mind, this is Parker’s fourth save since July eighth during which he’s saved four of his five chances provided. One cannot predict volume, but save opportunities have been sparse for Parker.

Surging Blake Treinen secured his 34th save striking out two in a clean ninth. He’s been scoreless in 28 of his last 31 outings, has converted 31 of his last 33 save chances (including his last 10) and the A’s moved to 57-0 when leading after seven innings.

Tough night for Robert Gsellman. He did not record an out but did serve up a two-run home run to Aramis Garcia. Gsellman’s 11.2 scoreless inning streak was snapped but he does finish August with a 1.54 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, nine strikeouts and only one walk.