Bullpen Report: September 3, 2017

On Friday, for the second time in 11 days, Kelvin Herrera was pulled from an existing ninth inning because of discomfort in his throwing arm. Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reported on Saturday that the Royals expect Herrera to be unavailable for at least three days because of what Dodd calls a “mild strain in the lower part of his right forearm.”

With Hererra still unavailable on Sunday, Scott Alexander struck out two in a scoreless inning (spanning the sixth and seventh), Peter Moylan retired the lone batter he faced in the seventh, Mike Minor walked two in a scoreless eighth, and Brandon Maurer worked around a leadoff two-base error and struck out one to secure his 21st save.

The Royals were blown out 17-0 on Saturday, so Sunday offered the only glimpse into their plan of attack with Herrera on the shelf. Herrera has not been very good season, so his job could be in jeopardy to some degree even if he comes back healthy in the next few days.

Alexander successfully converted the save both times Herrera had to depart mid-inning, and his numbers (2.24 ERA/3.33 FIP/3.12 xFIP) suggest he could enjoy continued success in the ninth if given the opportunity. Entering Sunday, he boasted a ridiculous 74.8 percent ground ball rate, a solid 20.5 percent strikeout rate, and an acceptable 9.6 percent walk rate in 45 appearances spanning 56.1 innings. Minor (2.86 ERA/2.71 FIP/3.60 xFIP in 66 innings) also seems like someone capable of closing out games.

But Ned Yost went with experience over stats on Sunday, calling upon former Padres closer Brandon Maurer to finish off a one-run win. Maurer’s overall numbers this season (5.73 ERA/3.54 FIP/4.07 xFIP) aren’t all that inspiring, and he has consistently been a much worse pitcher with runners on base.

This situation is worth watching closely moving forward. Herrera could be back as early as tomorrow, but he and Maurer seem destined for more trouble down the road. If that happens, Alexander and Minor could be in line for more important innings down the stretch.

Plenty of news on the Rangers front. On Friday, Jake Diekman returned from a five-month stint on the disabled list after undergoing three surgeries for ulcerative colitis. He pitched a scoreless inning, and did so again on Saturday. He immediately finds himself back on the grid.

Later on Saturday, rookie Ricardo Rodriguez was tasked with closing out a two-run lead. He retired the first two men he faced, but then allowed a double, a home run that tied the game, and another double before being pulled. With the game tied in the 10th, Jose Leclerc came on to pitch and walked the first three batters of the inning before he was yanked. All three runs scored.

Presumed Rangers closer Alex Claudio had thrown 27 pitches over 1.1 innings on Friday (and had also pitched an inning on Thursday) so he was presumably unavailable.

On Sunday, however, Tony Barnette was summoned with two on and nobody out in the ninth with the Rangers leading by four. He walked Justin Upton to load the bases, got Albert Pujols to pop out, then allowed a two-run double to Andrelton Simmons that put the tying run on second base with one out.

Barnette fell behind the next batter 3-0, but came all the way back to strike him out. The Rangers then intentionally walked Cole Calhoun to load the bases with two outs, setting up a matchup between Barnette and the switch-hitting Caleb Cowart, whom Barnette walked to force in a run. With the Rangers clinging to a one-run lead, Barnette finally got Luis Valbuena to ground into a force out that ended the game.

It’s unclear why Claudio was not used on Sunday. He remains the closer on the grid for the time being, but stay tuned for updates. Barnette moves up to second on the grid for now (even though his numbers and projections aren’t all that great) since Jeff Banister is clearly willing to use him to close out games in tight spots when he’s not using Claudio.

As Al Melchior noted in Thursday’s Report, John Brebbia, Zach Duke, and Seung Hwan Oh combined to close out a three-run ninth-inning lead for the Cardinals over the Giants on Thursday. Then on Saturday, Tyler Lyons and Oh combined to blow a one-run save. Finally, on Sunday, John Brebbia allowed a hit but struck out three to close out a four-run Cardinals win.

This situation remains highly volatile, as Mike Matheny appears intent on mixing and matching in the ninth. Some combination of Oh, Lyons, and Brebbia figure to continue to see opportunities late in games. Stay tuned for updates as we head down the stretch with the Cardinals still in the playoff discussion.

A very impressive outing for Diamondbacks rookie Jimmie Sherfy pitching in his third big-league game against the Rockies in Colorado on Sunday. He entered in the eighth with two on and nobody out with the Diamondbacks leading by four, and he struck out Trevor Story, Nolan Arenado, and Pat Valaika to end the threat. He came back out for the ninth and induced two groundouts and a flyout to seal the victory. Sherfy had impressive numbers in the minor leagues, and Steamer already projects him at a 3.62 ERA with 10.85 K/9 for the rest of the season. He’s someone to watch.

We’ve updated the Angels ‘pen to yellow for the first time in weeks, as Blake Parker successfully converted another save chance on Saturday. Parker has brought some much-needed calm to what had become a highly volatile situation over the last month or so.

Other closer activity: Zach Britton allowed a hit in a walk over two innings in a non-save situation. Felipe Rivero allowed one run on one hit and two walks but struck out two and secured his 17th save. Roberto Osuna allowed a run on two hits and a walk, including a home run, blowing a save opportunity against the Orioles. Jeurys Familia allowed one run on one hit with the Mets down a run in the seventh. A.J. Ramos walked one in 0.1 innings with the Mets down by two in the eighth. Hector Neris allowed a hit and a walk but struck out two to secure his 19th save. Chris Devenski picked up a two-inning save for the Astros in what looked like just a routine day off for Astros closer Ken Giles. Greg Holland struck out one in a perfect ninth with the Rockies trailing by four.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
ARI	Fernando Rodney	Archie Bradley	David Hernandez
ATL	Arodys Vizcaino	Jim Johnson	Jose Ramirez
BAL	Zach Britton	Brad Brach	Mychal Givens
BOS	Craig Kimbrel	Addison Reed	Matt Barnes	Carson Smith
CHC	Wade Davis	Pedro Strop	Carl Edwards Jr.
CWS	Juan Minaya	Danny Farquhar	Gregory Infante	Nate Jones
CIN	Raisel Iglesias	Michael Lorenzen	Drew Storen
CLE	Cody Allen	Joe Smith	Bryan Shaw	Andrew Miller
COL	Greg Holland	Jake McGee	Pat Neshek
DET	Shane Greene	Alex Wilson	Joe Jimenez
HOU	Ken Giles	Chris Devenski	Luke Gregerson
KC	Kelvin Herrera	Brandon Maurer	Scott Alexander	Joakim Soria
LAA	Blake Parker	Yusmeiro Petit	Cam Bedrosian	Bud Norris
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Brandon Morrow	Pedro Baez
MIA	Brad Ziegler	Kyle Barraclough	Drew Steckenrider
MIL	Corey Knebel	Anthony Swarzak	Josh Hader
MIN	Matt Belisle	Trevor Hildenberger	Alan Busenitz
NYM	A.J. Ramos	Jeurys Familia	Paul Sewald
NYY	Dellin Betances	David Robertson	Aroldis Chapman
OAK	Blake Treinen	Chris Hatcher	Liam Hendriks
PHI	Hector Neris	Juan Nicasio	Luis Garcia
PIT	Felipe Rivero	Daniel Hudson	A.J. Schugel	Joaquin Benoit
STL	Seung Hwan Oh	Tyler Lyons	John Brebbia	Trevor Rosenthal
SD	Brad Hand	Kirby Yates	Phil Maton
SF	Sam Dyson	Hunter Strickland	Mark Melancon
SEA	Edwin Diaz	Nick Vincent	Marc Rzepczynski	Tony Zych
TB	Alex Colome	Tommy Hunter	Steve Cishek
TEX	Alex Claudio	Tony Barnette	Jake Diekman	Keone Kela
TOR	Roberto Osuna	Ryan Tepera	Dominic Leone
WSH	Sean Doolittle	Brandon Kintzler	Ryan Madson

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