Bullpen Report: September 5, 2012
• John Axford won an 11-pitch duel with Rob Brantly by inducing a fly ball to left field for the third out in the ninth-inning and the 8-5 victory for the Crew over the Marlins. The save was Axford’s seventh consecutive successful conversion and 25th in 33 chances this season.
• For the first time in 2012, Craig Kimbrel spent more than an inning on the bump for the Braves. Kimbrel was summoned with two outs in the eighth in relief of Eric O’Flaherty to attempt the four-out save. The righty faced five batters — striking out four and walking one — en route to his 33rd save of the year.
• Rafael Soriano made quick work of the Rays in the ninth tonight — inducing fly balls to each of the three batters he faced on just 12 pitches. Since taking over the closer’s role for the Yankees, Soriano is 36-of-39 in save opportunities, good enough for third best among all MLB closers at the time of this writing. The right-hander needs just nine more saves to tie a career best of 46, which he achieved while a member of the Rays in 2010.
For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here is a matchup you may be able to exploit.
A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Tyler Clippard (WAS) vs. CHC
Jordan Zimmerman takes the hill tomorrow against the Cubbies, and if he performs like he has most of the season, he should put the Nationals in a good spot for a save. Clippard quietly racked up 30 saves so far this season and is perfect in each of his last eight chances.
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 happened in SD last night? Some guy I’ve never heard of got the last out and the save after gregerson got the first 2 outs in the ninth. What had happened?