Bullpen Report: Wednesday, September 30, 2015
It’s the last Wednesday of the regular season and Adam Wainwright pitched in relief! He’s not going to crack the grid, but it’s sure nice to see him return.
Brad Boxberger picked up his 40th save of the year. That moves him into a tie with Huston Street, whose groin will not permit him to pick up another save this year. The Box could have the most saves in the AL. With an ERA well north of 3.50. He’ll be closing the rest of the season if you need some saves. Jake McGee is there if he gets tired, so don’t sleep on him. He’s probably lumpy anyway.
Arodys Vizcaino picked up his ninth save, and with the Braves playing the Nationals and the clinched Cardinals, he may see some save opportunities. He’s available in plenty of leagues, so pick him up! He had a perfect ninth and struck out one on Wednesday.
The Angels bullpen by committee was undone Wednesday by the fielders behind them seeing if they could go a few innings with skillets in their gloves. An error by Tyler Featherston(weird that there is no e at the end of his name…) opened the door for the A’s to tally four runs in the seventh off of Mike Morin and Trevor Gott. A C.J. Cron error allowed another run in the eighth. It’s not like the defense had something against the pen, all three runs starter Garrett Richards allowed were unearned as well. Joe Smith pitched a third of an inning, and that shows that he’s available and ready to be part of the Itty Bitty Hitty Committee, which would be the best name ever for a stingy bullpen. Better than the Nasty Boys. How has nobody come up with this before? This is bullpen gold! Sean Doolittle picked up his third save in this one, so keep him around if you have him.
With the Yankees trying to stave off their wild card pursuers, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller will continue to see work like they did on Wednesday. Betances gave up a two-out shot to Mookie Betts, and Miller threw 38 pitches over two dominant innings. He gave up a hit and a walk, but struck out three.
David Robertson gave up a two-run shot to Eric Hosmer in the top of the tenth, allowing the Royals to take a two-run lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Does relinquish mean you’ve linquished something again? Linquished isn’t even a word, but it’s kind of close to Derek Lilliquist, and he’s a bullpen coach for the Cardinals. Wade Davis picked up his 15th save and kept his ERA south of 1.00.
Of Note: Ken Giles picked up his 15th save on the year. He’s pitched three of the last four days, so don’t be surprised if you see Dalier Hinojosa get the call if the Phillies have a small lead tomorrow morning against the Mets. Oh yeah, the impending hurricane has caused a few games to be rescheduled for noon eastern if that impacts you at all in pickups.
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.
Eh, I’m lukewarm on the Itty Bitty Hitty Committee. Kind of sounds like a name for a group of hitters who succeed solely through small ball.