Bullpen Report: September 4, 2019

The Mets’ 11-10 loss to the Nationals on Tuesday night, as heartbreaking as it was, merely reinforced the team’s bullpen hierarchy. Seth Lugo has been used consistently as the closer for the last two-and-a-half weeks (including in the top of the ninth inning in tie games), and he was in line for a two-inning save against the Nationals. He relieved Jacob deGrom in the bottom of the eighth inning after the Mets’ starter gave up a two-run homer to Juan Soto that cut the lead to 5-4, and Lugo retired all three batters he faced. However, when the Mets blew the game open with five runs in the top of the ninth, the save opportunity was gone, and Mickey Callaway opted to let Paul Sewald finish out the game.

In retrospect, it’s easy to say that Callaway should have left Lugo in, as Sewald retired only one of five batters he saw, and he bequeathed a 10-6 lead with runners on first and second base to Luis Avilán. Yet Sewald had been superb since rejoining the Mets from Triple-A Syracuse, allowing one run over 7.1 innings with 13 strikeouts, one walk and four hits allowed. After Sewald departed, Avilán gave up a single to Juan Soto, so Edwin Díaz entered with still only one out and the bases loaded.

Díaz, like Sewald, had pitched well lately. He had held the opposition scoreless in seven of his previous eight appearances, and over that span, he struck out 13 batters over six innings. Better yet, there was an explanation for Díaz’s improved performance, as he had adopted Jacob deGrom’s slider grip.

Against his first batter, Ryan Zimmerman, Díaz threw two fastballs, and the Nationals’ pinch-hitter slammed the second of those for a two-RBI double. Now, with a two-run lead, Díaz went to his slider for his first three pitches against Kurt Suzuki. He got ahead with an out-of-zone whiff on the first pitch, but the next two sliders were low-and-away, and Suzuki didn’t chase. Díaz missed inside with his next pitch, but he battled back to a full count when Suzuki chased and missed on another low slider. Three pitches later, Suzuki would launch the only offering that Díaz threw to him in the strike zone for a walk-off home run.

It seems unlikely that Callaway will turn to Díaz for saves anytime soon, but he could still have appeal in holds leagues. With an improved slider and a four-seam fastball that has been better for whiffs this year (15.5 percent SwStr%) than last (13.4 percent SwStr%), he could show that performances like Tuesday night’s will be the exception. Then again, exactly one of every three flyballs that Díaz has allowed on his four-seamer has turned into a home run, so on the occasions where he does allow contact on the pitch, he could be volatile.

The Pirates have not afforded Felipe Vázquez many save opportunities, but because he has been consistently effective, he still ranks sixth in Roto value among relievers (per ESPN’s Player Rater). Vázquez had a brief and rare lapse on Tuesday night, giving up a two-out solo homer to Miguel Rojas in the top of the ninth inning that allowed the Marlins to tie the game at 4-4. It was just the fifth home run allowed by Vázquez this season, and it was only his third blown save.

Tyler Kinley and Adam Conley kept the Pirates off the board in the bottom of the ninth, and when Garrett Cooper homered off Parker Markel in the top of the 10th, the Marlins had a save to lock down in the bottom of the inning. Don Mattingly went with José Ureña, who  was previously reported to be in line for a closing role when he came back from the IL on Sunday. Ureña got only one whiff on 15 pitches, but he tossed a 1-2-3 inning for his first save of the season.

Archie Bradley recorded his 11th save on Tuesday night, completing a 2-1 win for the Diamondbacks over the Padres, but his inning of work was far more eventful than Ureña’s. He began by walking Hunter Renfroe, and then a pair of two-out singles later, he scored to bring the Padres within a run. Bradley would then go on to walk Greg Garcia, but he ended the threat by striking out Nick Martini. Over his last five appearances, Bradley’s average fastball velocity (94.7 mph) has been 1 mph below his prior season-to-date average, and he has been throwing fewer fastballs and more curveballs. The change in pitch mix had been working for him initially, but over his last two outings, Bradley has given up two runs on four hits and three walks. It’s premature to give him the “Not Very Stable” tag in the closer grid, but his next outing bears close watching.

Darwinzon Hernandez has only one hold in 23 appearances, but a recent change is giving him some deep-league fantasy value. Walks have been a chronic issue for Hernandez, but he has issued only two of them over his last seven innings, as he has thrown 50.8 percent of his pitches for strikes. Meanwhile, Hernandez continues to rack up strikeouts, and on Tuesday night, he struck out all three Twins he faced in the Red Sox’s 6-5 loss. He now has 14 strikeouts in his last seven innings and a 40.9 percent strikeout rate on the season.

In just his second appearance since being diagnosed with leukemia, Carlos Carrasco entered a game in a high-leverage situation. He pitched the top of the eighth inning against the White Sox with the Indians leading, 5-2. He rebounded from the back-to-back singles he allowed to start off the inning, striking out José Abreu and Yoán Moncada in succession, but James McCann’s first-pitch homer tied the game. Carrasco stayed in the contest to face Eloy Jiménez, but he gave up another homer to give the White Sox the lead. He retired Daniel Palka for the final out, but the Indians were not able to rally against Aaron Bummer and Alex Colomé in the eighth and ninth innings.

It’s not clear whether Carrasco will continue to work in hold situations, but with the Indians’ hierarchy being fluid behind Brad Hand, this is a situation to monitor in the coming days.

Quick hits: Josh Hader (28), Taylor Rogers (23), Liam Hendriks (18), Carlos Martínez (18) and Emilio Pagán (17) also recorded saves on Tuesday…Kenley Jansen notched his 28th save against the Rockies, but in allowing a run, he has now given up four runs over his last six innings…Ian Kennedy blew his fourth save of the season by giving up a run on three singles, but he was credited with the win in the Royals’ 6-5 victory over the Tigers…In the first game of the Orioles’ doubleheader with the Rays, Mychal Givens retired the 2-3-4 hitters to protect a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning. Richard Bleier pitched a perfect ninth inning for his third save of the year…Blake Parker got his 11th hold of the season on Tuesday night against the Reds, though just his second hold as a Phillie. The righty did allow a run, breaking a string of eight straight appearances covering eight innings without a run. Over that stretch, Parker allowed one hit while recording nine strikeouts and a walk.

Not Very Stable
Hot Seat
Committee
Bullpen Report — 9/4/2019





Al Melchior has been writing about Fantasy baseball and sim games since 2000, and his work has appeared at CBSSports.com, BaseballHQ, Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster and FanRagSports. He has also participated in Tout Wars' mixed auction league since 2013. You can follow Al on Twitter @almelchiorbb and find more of his work at almelchior.com.

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NicklePickersmember
4 years ago

Not sure if relevant, but Leclerc pitched the 8th against the bottom of the Yankees order with the Rangers down 10-0.