Bullpen Report: Sunday, September 6, 2015
Sean Doolittle hit 95 mph on Sunday afternoon! His velo has been steadily increasing since he came back. They were trailing, but Drew Pomeranz was tasked with the eighth, and Doolittle had the ninth. It looks like he’s inching closer and closer to reclaiming the closer gig for the A’s. This could be the week that he gets some save opportunities. Ryan Dull kept up his strong debut with a perfect seventh, notching two more strikeouts. He’s someone who can help you with ratios and maybe grab you the odd hold. He doesn’t have any yet, but he’s looking good. Tom Wilhelmson needed 24 pitches to get five outs and his tenth save for the Mariners.
The Mets let one slip away on Sunday, allowing the Nationals to creep ever closer to them in the NL East. Addison Reed pitched a strong seventh, but Tyler Clippard was unable to keep the Marlins off the board, surrendering single runs in the eighth and ninth. He was left in to heave 41 pitches. A little odd considering that Jeurys Familia hasn’t seen action since last Monday. That number was up thanks to Martin Prado fouling off six full count pitches before hitting the game-winning sac fly. The Mets will need all hands on deck as they travel to Washington for three with the Nats. They do have four free spaces on the bingo card after this series, as they head to Atlanta for four. A.J. Ramos loaded the bases before getting Travis d’Arnaud to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Trevor May had one of his few shaky outings since being moved to the pen in early July. His 22.9% K%-BB% since then has been strong, but he gave up three runs without recording an out after coming on with two outs and the Twins nursing a 2-0 lead. He gave up a walk, a single, a grand slam and another single before being removed. Chad Qualls couldn’t get it done in the ninth with a five-run lead, and Luke Gregerson was called on to get the final out, recording his 26th save.
Notes From Sunday: David Robertson pitched a perfect ninth for his 29th save, completing a weekend sweep of the Royals. Zach Duke struck out the side in the eighth for his 23rd hold. Justin Wilson nailed down his 25th save Sunday against the Rays. Dellin Betances gave up a run in his 1.3 innings, but also got a hold, his 22nd. Andrew Miller came on for the ninth, striking out a pair and working around a duo of hits to get save 31. J.J. Hoover gave up a run for the third consecutive game, but still picked up his 16th hold. His velo is dropping a bit and he may be getting a little tired. He’s not way up in innings or anything, just hitting a rough patch. Aroldis Chapman struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 28th save. Santiago Casilla got his 32nd save, striking out a pair of Rockies in the ninth. Hunter Strickland(15), Javier Lopez(15), and Sergio Romo(29) all got holds. The Cardinals announced that Jordan Walden isn’t going to return in 2015.
Notes From Saturday: Since being moved to the bullpen in early July, Alex Colome has a 23.2% K%-BB%, and sports a 1.75 FIP. He’s been handy in picking up the slack from the loss of Jake McGee. Colome hasn’t given up a run since the first day of August, and he picked up his sixth hold Saturday. 11 of his 19 appearances have seen him retire four batters or more. Rad Brad Boxberger picked up his 34th save with a perfect ninth.
Since a four-run outing against the Orioles where he found out he was tipping pitches, he’s rocking a solid 23.1% K%-BB% and hasn’t given up a single run in his 21 innings of work. He’s kind of the forgotten man in the Blue Jays bullpen behind Roberto Osuna and Aaron Sanchez, but Brett Cecil has been as good as anyone. He only has four holds in that time, but he’s not hurting your ratios if you need help there in a deeeeeeeep league. He pitched a perfect ninth Saturday, striking out one and preserving a four-run lead.
Luke Gregerson came into a tie game in the ninth and surrendered a pair of runs. He was saddled with the loss, and Kevin Jepsen picked up his eleventh save. He’s handy to have with the question marks surrounding the health of Glen Perkins.
Chris Hatcher picked up his ninth hold and he’s slid onto the grid. His 24.4% K%-BB% has been strong since he was activated from the DL in mid-August, helping him arrive at a 1.74 ERA in that time. Jim Johnson just can’t be on the grid right now. He’s rocking a 13.91 ERA with the Dodgers, obviously inflated with an eight-run outing against the Pirates. 71.4% GB% would seem to portend good things, but a 12.1% K%-BB% coupled with a .471 BABIP are not a recipe for success. Add in the three homers he’s surrendered in his 11 innings as a Dodger, and he’s not helping. The problem is that there aren’t a ton of guys who scream closer behind him. I’m putting Pedro Baez in the third spot for now, but it could be anyone.
Francisco Rodriguez(34), Hector Rondon(26), Kenley Jansen(29) and Shawn Tolleson(29) saved games Saturday.
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.
“Justin Wilson nailed down his 25th save Sunday against the Rays”
No.
*Hold
Wilhelmsen is no more red
What SP eligible RP do you like better for Holds in a H2H 7×7 – Hochevar or Colome? I have Wade Davis, so does that factor? Timeframe is playoffs over the next 3 weeks.
I would go with Colome. If only because Hocheaver has way more competition for Holds in KC and in Tampa you pretty much know if they have a lead in the 7th or 8th that Colome is getting the ball behind Boxberger.
Colome by a landslide. Hochevar isn’t even the 7th inning guy, is he the 6th? Colome has been setting up recently for Boxberger, I believe.
Casilla may hit free agency this offseason, if he doesn’t reach his club/vesting option. The Casilla/Romo/Strickland combo has been quietly awesome. Who do you think will be closing games for the Giants in 2016?
So Casilla’s club option only vests if he finishes 55 games in 2015. Right now, he’s at 44 games finished for the season. The Giants have 24 games left in the season and have been struggling lately, so it’s a very real possibility that he doesn’t reach the 55 game mark, as the current closer. At his current rate, he’s finished a game about every 3 games. If that continues, he’ll only finish 8 more games for the rest of the season, so I’m guessing his club option won’t vest. That said, as a Giants fan, I know that Sabean (now slightly more behind the scenes) and Bobby Evans will probably try to re-sign him because the Giants love keeping players they’re familiar with around, even way beyond that player’s prime. But he has no guarantee of remaining the closer in the future and the Giants could use the offseason (or even a few more consecutive stumbles this season) to install a new closer. I think they want Strickland to eventually close, but they want his offspeed pitches to be more solid, cause right now he depends really heavily on his fastball. Another roadblock is Sergio Romo, who has that “closing experience” card in his back pocket that managers like Bochy value, even if Strickland is a better RP than both Casilla and Romo. I think they want it to be Strick, but Bochy may initially go with one of the “safer” choices (safe because they have the vaunted closing experience) in Romo or Casilla initially.