Bullpen Report: September 5, 2018

Heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Nationals, we had already been given an indication that if the Cardinals needed a closer, they were not likely to go with Bud Norris. Mike Shildt told reporters that he was probably going to avoid using his incumbent closer on the night after he had given up Bryce Harper’s game-tying home run, which came the day after he yielded back-to-back 10th inning homers to Eugenio Suarez and Brandon Dixon. In fact, neither Norris nor Carlos Martinez were available for Tuesday night’s game against the Nationals, so Shildt set out to use Jordan Hicks as his closer, should he need one.

When the Cardinals entered the seventh inning with a 7-5 lead, Shildt put his late-inning plan into action, deploying Dakota Hudson in the seventh inning and Dominic Leone in the eighth. However, with the Cardinals tacking on four runs in the top of the ninth via Yadier Molina‘s grand slam, Shildt kept Leone around to start the ninth inning. Leone began the frame by allowing consecutive singles to Adam Eaton and Trea Turner, and Eaton scored on an Anthony Rendon double. Leone gave way to John Brebbia who allowed Turner and Rendon to score on Ryan Zimmerman’s two-out double. Shildt kept Brebbia in to walk to Wilmer Difo, and only then did Hicks enter the game to get the final out.

Since Norris was unavailable, we can’t assume that Hicks is the Cardinals’ new closer. It does seem safe to assume that if Norris does get demoted from the role that Hicks would be Shildt’s most likely choice to succeed him.

The Dodgers did not need a closer in their 11-4 win over the Mets on Tuesday night, but if they don’t use Kenley Jansen in Wednesday night’s series finale, he may not pitch again until Monday. That’s because the team is considering having Jansen skip the trip to Denver for their upcoming weekend series. It was during the Dodgers’ last series at Colorado when Jansen was hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat, and he also experienced the same issue during a 2012 visit. Kenta Maeda and Ryan Madson would appear to be the leading candidates to fill in, though neither pitcher has been especially effectively lately.

Jose Leclerc has been effective, to say the least. He recorded his ninth save against the Angels on Tuesday night, and for his fourth consecutive appearance, Leclerc pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Since becoming the Rangers’ closer, he has not allowed a run and only one hit over 12 innings, and he has 22 strikeouts and three walks over that span. Among relief-eligible pitchers, only Edwin Diaz and Blake Treinen have had more Roto value than Leclerc over the last 30 days (per ESPN’s Player Rater).

Dellin Betances looked primed to get his third save opportunity in the last six days on Tuesday night, but with the Yankees doubling their lead from two to four runs in the top of the ninth inning against the Athletics, he wound up pitching the ninth inning in a non-save situation. He pitched a clean inning to preserve the 5-1 win. Zach Britton, who set up Betances with a perfect eighth inning, has not had a ninth-inning save situation since Aug. 24. He remains in the closer grid but is no longer included as a member of the Yankees’ closer committee.

Sean Doolittle is scheduled to throw a simulated game on Wednesday. He experienced a loss in velocity during his previous sim game, which was on Sunday. Previous reports suggested that Doolittle could return sometime this week.

Quick hits: Hector Rondon (hand) was unavailable for the Astros’ game on Tuesday night against the Twins and is expected to also be unavailable for Wednesday’s series finale. Rondon may not have been needed on Tuesday in any event, as the Astros built a 5-1 lead heading into the eighth inning. However, closer Roberto Osuna was needed in the ninth inning after Chris Devenski started off the frame by giving up a Jorge Polanco home run and walking Robbie Grossman. Osuna stranded Grossman and registered his 13th save…In getting the final five outs against the Mariners, Mychal Givens got his first multi-inning save since Aug. 5, when he recorded four outs against the Rangers…Reyes Moronta was charged with four runs and the loss at Colorado on Tuesday night. He has now allowed eight runs over his last 8.2 innings after having posted a 1.72 ERA over his first 52.1 innings this season.