Bullpen Report: September 24, 2014
– Joaquin Benoit is back baby! San Diego’s closer notched his first save since coming off the disabled list. He did it in style, too, pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning. The righty looked fresh, too, sporting a fastball that sat between 96-98 mph on the gun. While Benoit pitched very well the last few years in Detroit, he’s been reborn in southern California, posting his best peripherals since 2010. He’s under contract for one more year at a reasonable price, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Padres dangle him this offseason or head into 2015 with the 37-year-old as a potential ninth inning option.
– Glen Perkins‘ sub Jared Burton racked up save number three, his first since the Twins’ lefty was shut down for the season. Burton should hold value as a speculative saves play over the last few days of the season but his peripherals have trended south with regression in his strikeout rates and velocity. His BB% has climbed each of the last three years, which clouds his potential redraft value for 2015. Even with Perkins somewhat of a question mark coming off of an arm injury (however minor Minnesota says it is), Burton’s 4.19 SIERA may be a high enough mark to keep him out of the handcuff discussion next season.
– Aaron Sanchez polished off a Mark Buehrle gem for the Jays this evening. The “not judge on Food Network’s Chopped” Sanchez has looked sharp in limited time this season, posting a 1.15 ERA and 2.83 xFIP. Even with the 97 mph fastball, he’s not putting up nice peripherals with gaudy strikeout numbers (only 22% K%, 6% SwStr%). Rather, he’s pitching heavy, inducing grounders on over 65% of the balls put in play against him. He’s likely gone in most keeper/dynasty formats, but is a nice add if he’s somehow available. It’s questionable whether his stuff will every translate to big whiff numbers (minor league K% sat between 22% and 25%), but if the Jays let Casey Janssen walk this year, it’s not inconceivable they’ll consider Sanchez in a late-inning role in 2015.
– Quick hits: Jonathan Papelbon returned after “Crotchgate.” He did give up a double but otherwise escaped unscathed. Ken Giles run was all too brief. Darren O’Day picked up a four-out save. Great news for his owners, but Zach Britton still has this pen on lockdown headed to the postseason. Hector Rondon gave up a couple of hits but managed to escape with his 27th save of the season. 27 saves isn’t bad for someone who could have been had freely at multiple points during the season’s first couple of months.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
There are few things Colin loves more in life than a pitcher with a single-digit BB%. Find him on Twitter @soxczar.
With Bullpen Report having skipped the 23rd there hasn’t been any discussion of the rather remarkable game in which David Price went into the ninth sailing along with a shutout and wasn’t pulled in favor of Nathan until Price had allowed 5 hits and the game was tied with runners at first and third. Nathan actually managed to squirm out of the situation without further damage, but the lack of confidence shown in Nathan was remarkable.