Bullpen Report: September 19, 2013
Earlier in the week Rafael Soriano eclipsed the 40-save mark for the third time in his career with his third different team. In 2010 Soriano notched 45 saves with the Rays, in 2012 he successfully closed out 42 games for the Yankees and so far this season the 33-year-old has 42 saves under his belt. Pretty impressive if you ask me. Tonight’s save was the 42nd for Soriano in 48 opportunities on the year. It wasn’t a clean effort by any stretch — Soriano surrendered two walks — but he overcame the free passes with a ground out then fanned young Christian Yelich to end the game. To go with his 42 saves, Soriano owns a 3.20 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.
Casey Janssen trotted to the bump in an attempt to “Houdini” the Blue Jays out of a one-out, bases loaded jam in the Bronx tonight. Well, I guess when you have to face Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay back-to-back it may not be considered a “Houdini,” but that’s not the point, I guess. The right-hander induced a Vernon Wells ground out to the pivot allowing Alex Rodriguez to score, but trading the run for an out in that situation was a no-brainer. Overbay then grouned out to first to seal the Yankees’ fate, a 6-2 loss to the Jays. Janssen is now 32-of-24 in save opportunities on the year with a 2.66 ERA (2.85 FIP), a 1.01 WHIP and a 23.1 K%. Not a bad year for your fantasy team considering his average ADP of 209, eh?
Kenley Jansen
Somewhere, out there, someone has been singing the praises for Drew Smyly’s twenty-thirteen campaign. And it’s probably a fantasy baseballer that owns him in holds league that takes advantage of his starting/relief pitcher eligibility. Tonight the southpaw took home his 18th hold on the season and placed it right next to his six wins and two saves in the trophy case. In doing so, Smyly lowered his ERA to 2.43 and his WHIP to 1.03 on the year. He deserves a lot more credit than he’s been getting — or, that I’ve seen anyway. After the left-hander retired his one batter, Joaquin Benoit took the ball in the ninth for his 22nd save opportunity on the year. The Tigers’ closer dished a clean ninth frame to lock it down and emain perfect in save chances this season.
Quick Hitters: Jean Machi of the Giants notched his tenth hold of the season in a clean inning of work. Machi is owned in 0% of Yahoo! leagues at the moment. Lefty specialist Javier Lopez recorded his first save of the season in two-thirds of an inning of work against the Mets tonight. A Todd Helton long ball to deep right dealt Cardinals’ closer Edward Mujica his 4th blown save on the year in 41 chances. Dale Sveum indicated he’d give Pedro Strop an opportunity to close out a game or two just so the skipper could see him in the ninth-inning role. But, that would mean the Cubs would have to be winning a game in the ninth, right?
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
In addition to contributing to the RotoGraphs blog, you can find Alan at his own site, TheFantasyFix.com and follow his nonsense on Twitter @TheFantasyFix.
What’s it going to take for doolittle to pass cook on the depth chart for 2014?