Bullpen Report: September 28, 2015
• Although Matt Williams let Jonathan Papelbon stay in the game after his throat grab on Bryce Harper, he’s now been suspended by the Washington Nationals for four games. Other people have been discussing the fight all day so I’ll only talk as it relates to the bullpen. I wouldn’t necessarily expect Papelbon to be welcomed with open arms after his suspension is over so his days of closing might be done this season and possibly even next year as well. I’ve removed him from the grid, putting Casey Janssen in his place. Matt Thornton threw a scoreless ninth today in a four-run game and could also be used in the ninth in Papelbon’s absence.
• Roberto Osuna recorded two outs for his 20th save on the year tonight after Brett Cecil stayed on for the first out of the ninth with the lefty Chris Davis at bat. Osuna taking over as closer coinciding with the Jays turnaround has been particularly fruitful for his fantasy owners. On the year Osuna is pitching to a 2.36 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 68.2 innings pitched while issuing only 14 walks. Osuna will have just turned 21 when next season starts and although there are other closers who have higher strikeout ability, it wouldn’t shock me to see him improve in that area and enter the fray of top tier closers.
• Robbie Ross Jr. was warming up with a three run lead but the Red Sox scored in the top half of the ninth to put the save out of reach. Either way, Ross pitched around two baserunners to lead off the inning and ended the game with a clean inning. Ross has been a decent option for the Red Sox in place of Koji Uehara late this season but expect Uehara to return to the ninth by April as he recovers from his wrist injury.
• Glen Perkins threw a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts and should be closer to his familiar ninth inning role as he comes back from a back injury. In the meantime, Kevin Jepsen continues to see saves and closed his 14th save on the year. Jepsen’s shiny 2.39 ERA might be a little misleading given his 3.62 FIP/4.06 xFIP but he’s certainly been a solid addition to the Twins pen, keeping them in striking distance of the second wild card spot.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
When he's not focusing on every team's bullpen situation, Ben can be found blogging at Ben's Baseball Bias and on Twitter @BensBias
i know this is matt williams we’re talking about but is he really going to stick a 5+ ERA out there just because he’s had the job before?
It’s worth at least noting that Matt Thornton started warming up for the 9th before the Nats scored an additional run to not make it a save situation anymore. But he could have possibly just been starting out the 9th, since lefty Votto was up next and Thornton has sort of been used as a LOOGY lately.