Bullpen Report: Sunday, June 7, 2015
Pedro Strop replaced Hector Rondon on Saturday after Rondon walked the leadoff hitter in the ninth. Joe Maddon refused to anoint Strop as the Cubs new closer, but you should definitely monitor this situation and don’t be shy about picking up Strop if he’s available.
Carson Smith got the nod on Saturday night over Fernando Rodney. Lloyd McClendon hasn’t outright said that Smith will be the closer, but he does seem to be the best option over Mark Lowe and Charlie Furbush. Rodney will get a chance to straighten out his issues, but it remains to be seen if that will happen in lower-leverage situations for now, or if he’ll “strain his oblique” and spend some time on the DL.
Jumbo Diaz gave up a pair of runs on Saturday night and was promptly optioned to AAA. Tony Cingrani and J.J. Hoover will be the guys behind Aroldis Chapman in the Reds pen. Remember when the Braves traded Craig Kimbrel? The Reds are a ways back in both the NL Central and the Wild Card race. Is it really out of the realm of possibilities that the Reds could trade Chapman? Jeff Sullivan tackled this the other day. Hoover and Chapman kept a four-run lead by throwing a combined two perfect innings. Chapman struck out a pair.
Going into action on Sunday, Brad Boxberger hadn’t thrown a pitch in a game since Wednesday. As long as he pitches well, he’s not going to be ceding his role to anyone anytime soon. Kevin Jepsen grabbed a save the other night when Boxberger was given two nights off by Kevin Cash after slinging over 30 pitches in that Wednesday appearance. A save opportunity didn’t present itself on Saturday, so he got another day of rest. Jake McGee is still lurking in the pen as well, so the Rays have a couple of viable options if Boxberger should falter.
Luke Gregerson blew his second save of the season on Sunday. Toronto tagged him for four hits and three earned runs, as they came back from a two-run deficit to send the Astros back to America with a loss. He did get Jose Bautista to pop up with one out, but Jose Altuve couldn’t physically travel through Jose Reyes to catch it, and the ball fell to the turf. Blue Jay hitters swung ten times, and only missed once. His slider is lacking its usual bite, so keep an eye on that. There is no shortage of capable arms in the Houston pen, and with a shot at the postseason, you’d think A.J. Hinch wouldn’t rip a page from the Lloyd McClendon book of managing and stick with him if he starts to scuffle. His ERA jumped to 4.50 after today. He came into action with a HR/9 of 1.52, and the Jays got to him without any balls clearing walls. His K%-BB% was close to a career-best 22.8%(23.9% in 2010 with the Padres is his high-water mark). This isn’t to say a change is in the works, they’re in first place and what they’ve been doing has been working so far, but just keep an eye on it. Chad Qualls and Pat Neshek would be next in line. The Astros pen has five guys in the top 30 amongst relievers on the K%-BB% leaderboard, and there is no shortage of guys who could close.
What happened in Boston on Sunday afternoon? Evan Scribner and Tyler Clippard both failed to do what they usually do, and instead gave up seven hits and six earned runs in their combined third of an inning. This isn’t hinting that changes are afoot in the Oakland pen, just pointing out a seven-run shellacking. If Scribner has a clean inning on Sunday, maybe there are rumblings of a change, but he didn’t, so there are no rumblings.
Kelvin Herrara gave up two hits and an earned run to the Rangers on Sunday. Wade Davis performed admirably, working around a hit to throw a scoreless inning with a strikeout, paving the way for Greg Holland to come in and grab his ninth save with a perfect ninth.
Of Note: Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller ravaged the Angels on Sunday, striking out five of the six hitters who had the unfortunate task of facing them. The Cleveland Indians unleashed Austin Adams on the Orioles on Sunday. He threw 23 four-seamers, touching triple digits, and averaging 98.5 mph. He got Oriole hitters to swing fourteen times. They had eleven whiffs. On fourteen fastballs. Not that he’s supplanting Cody Allen, but that’s pretty impressive. He ended up with four strikeouts in his 1.7 innings of relief. Mark Melancon struck out a pair of Braves and earned his 18th save. The Braves bullpen pitched four innings of shutout relief. That’s not notable unless it’s the Braves pen that did it. They signed Dana Eveland and David Aardsma to minor league contracts and Peter Moylan is down in Gwinnett coming back from his second Tommy John. Ken Giles got the win, going 1.7 innings, striking out three Giants to pave the way for Jonathan Papelbon to come in and grab his 12th save. Papelbon lowered his ERA to 1.13 in the process. Joakim Soria got his 16th save after J.B. Shuck smashed a hanger into Miguel Cabrera’s glove for the final out of the game. Glen Perkins worked around a two-out walk and got his 21st save of the year, helping the Twins to claim the best record in the American League.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
Darren contributes to RotoGraphs when he isn’t watching the Braves or shoveling snow. Follow him on Twitter @shinesie.
Is it time to pick up Soriano? Where does he end up and will he be in line for saves or holds?
I would only own him in deeper leagues. Until you know where he signs, its impossible to judge his fantasy value. Plus, I worry he will be like Drew and Morales last year, who waited to sign until mid-season and then were terrible after they joined the Twins and Red Sox. Soriano hasnt faced MLB hitters since September, is 35 years old and has had declining stuff for awhile now.