• It was known that Koji Uehara wasn’t made of steal steel but it’s unexpected and unfortunate to see him fracture his wrist ending his season. The Red Sox expect Uehara to make a complete recovery, which would mean he will be the closer starting next year. However, while some Red Sox fans might have forgotten about 2015, fantasy owners are still on the grind. Junichi Tazawa should fill in for Uehara in the meantime. Normally I would make this situation yellow or even green as he’s an obvious replacement but he’s had a few bumps recently and John Farrell said that they wanted to limit Tazawa’s innings. Still, expect Tazawa to be the closer with Alexi Ogando and Jean Machi around in those situations where Tazawa is limited.

UPDATE: Ignore everything I just said as I missed the news that Jean Machi was named closer. This goes along with limits on Tazawa’s innings. Jean Machi had a nice run in SF but he’s been bad this year, put on waivers by the Giants and then claimed by Boston.He’s remained unimpressive on the Sox but saves are saves. Definitely pick up Machi  even though tamper your expectations as he hasn’t had the same results he did in 2013 and 2014.

Read the rest of this entry »

A go-ahead solo home run off the bat of Jacoby Ellsbury in the home half of the seventh-inning provided Andrew Miller an opportunity to convert his 24th save of the season in 24 chances. With the Yankees up 2-1 on their chief rivals, Miller secured the three outs necessary to remain a perfect 24-for-24 in save chances this season. The lefty surrendered a free pass along with a single, but escaped unscathed in a 17-pitch effort to seal the deal. In 37 frames this season, Miller is 0-2 with 24 saves, a 1.46 ERA (2.55 FIP) and a 28.4% K-BB%. Entering tonight, Miller’s owned career bests in swinging strike rate (17.4% SwStr%), nailing the first-pitch strike (66.4% F-Strike%), limiting contact on pitches both in (76.3% Z-Contact%) and out (35% O-Contact%) of the zone as well as inducing swings on pitches outside of the zone (33.2% O-Swing%).
Read the rest of this entry »

Kevin Cash went with arguably his best reliever in the eighth inning of a tie game in Chicago, with the heart of the White Sox order coming up. He set them down and with the game still tied, he went with Brandon Gomes to face the bottom of the order, saving Brad Boxberger for the tenth inning to try to keep the Rays alive. After Adam Eaton singled to lead off the inning, he ended up at third after a fielding error on his steal attempt of second. After retiring one, Boxberger was ordered to load the bases by intentionally walking both Jose Abreu and Melky Cabrera. He then walked in the winning run. He’s still in the closer seat for now and his line isn’t as bad as it looked as two IBBs and an error played a huge part. For the White Sox, David Robertson was dominant, striking out four in his extended two-inning outing.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Some brilliant loyal readers and Twins fans called to my attention Trevor May’s recent bullpen usage on last night’s post, so I’ve added him to the grid below, replacing Casey Fien. May has some solid pedigree and if he moves to relief fulltime, his role could continue grow in the Twins bullpen. May’s ERA has been better in 11.2 innings out of the pen compared to his time in the rotation but his wOBA against and defensive independent pitching statistics are essentially the same. Either way, I’m placing May above Fien for the time being. I would still expect newly acquired Kevin Jepsen to see the ninth over May if something were to happen to Perkins, even if May is a more likely long term candidate.

• Carson Smith was less than stellar again last night and he’s now allowed runs in four of his last five outings. Fernando Rodney has been a disaster all year but Smith can’t continue to pitch like this with no consequence to his role on the team. It’s still his job but I’ve placed Smith under code red, a situation very familiar to Seattle’s line on the grid this year.

• Everyone expected the Blue Jays to be players for Jonathan Papelbon at the deadline, but instead of replacing Osuna they simply beefed up their bullpen depth with Mark Lowe. Early returns suggests that it was the right move as Osuna’s continued his excellent play, pitching a scoreless ninth tonight for his 8th save on the year. At only 20 years of age, Osuna is pitching to a 2.22/2.51/3.43 ERA/FIP/xFIP pitching line with 53 strikeouts in 48.2 innings. The Blue Jays might have something special in the ninth here and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Osuna take a leap next year into a top tier closer.

• Ken Giles might not still be closing on the next great Phillies team but he’s closing now and doing a nice job. Who knew pitchers don’t just crumble once they start an inning in the ninth and not the eighth? Giles actually earned a rare four-out save tonight, closing the door on the Dodgers for his third save on the year. Also, speaking of future top tier closers – a full season out of Giles with saves and not just holds could make him a top fantasy option next year, albeit with likely less save totals on the Phillies.

• Quick Hits: If Maryland does crab cakes then Aroldis Chapman does perfect innings with multiple strikeouts as he had two whiffs tonight en route to save number 23. Steve Cishek threw a scoreless inning in a losing effort and has been pitching well of late. If something were to happen to Trevor Rosenthal, Cishek could be part of a Kevin Siegrist platoon for saves. Drew Storen is probably still peeved that the Nationals brought in Papelbon but at least he vultured a win tonight, his second of the year. Meanwhile, Papelbon saved the game for his 19th this season.

Closer Grid:

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]

• Carter Capps (and his jump throws) has been one of the best, if not the best, relievers in the majors on a per inning basis this year. But, as Darren mentioned last night, Capps had a MRI on his elbow and he’s now been placed on the DL. There is no major damage to the elbow and it’s expected that Capps will resume throwing soon and he could return around when his DL stint is over in two weeks. While that’s good news after a MRI, you obviously never like to hear about pitchers having elbow issues. I’ve moved Mike Dunn to the next-in-line and added Bryan Morris to the chart. A.J. Ramos has been shakier of late but with Capps going down, Ramos’ job should still be quite strong.

Read the rest of this entry »

Shawn Tolleson is remaining in the closer role, but his cohorts on the grid are changing. Keone Kela has been sent to AA, and Tanner Scheppers hits the DL with a knee issue. Newly acquired Sam Dyson and Jake Diekman end up next in line for saves with the Rangers. With Tolleson being unavailable on Sunday after pitching four days in a row, the Rangers turned to the Dyson-Diekman duo to lock down a two-run lead in the ninth. Diekman walked Nori Aoki on four pitches and was replaced with Dyson. He generated three ground balls, the first two ending up in the outfield, and the last one starting a game-ending double play. It was Dyson’s first save as a Ranger.

Read the rest of this entry »

With less than 24 hours until MLB’s non-waiver trade deadline, team’s continue to exhaust their resources in a last-ditch effort to make a run at the playoffs — and hopefully make the World Series — as their trading partners look to restock the farm. A few bullpen arms were on the move Thursday, so we’ll briefly touch on that to determine how players should approach said situations going forward.
Read the rest of this entry »

• Continuing in their trade deadline reboot, the Oakland A’s have traded closer Tyler Clippard (and $1 million) to the Mets in exchange for 20 year old starting pitcher Casey Meisner. Eno Sarris and Kiley McDaniel provided insta-analysis of the trade so we will just stick to how this affects the bullpens. Clippard’s ERA is similar to what we have come to expect but his 3.89 FIP is more pedestrian than Clippard’s recent years and his 5.31 xFIP is potentially worrisome. Either way, Clippard should still help the Mets bullpen’s depth. Jenrry Mejia hasn’t allowed a run since he’s returned but his suspension prohibits him from joining the playoff roster, if the Mets were to make it there. So, while the Mets will use the options that best help them win games, I expect Clippard to have a more prominent setup role than Mejia moving forward, and have changed the grid accordingly with Familia still safe on top.

Read the rest of this entry »

Jeurys Familia blew his fourth save of the year for the Mets. For the Mets to make the postseason, they’ll need Familia firing on all cylinders, and for most of the year, he certainly has. Last year’s closer, Jenrry Mejia hasn’t given up a run yet this year, but he did miss the first 80 games due to a suspension. As a result, he’s not available for the postseason. I see Mejia having a place on the grid, but if Familia’s velocity continues to tick down, who will get the save opportunities that the Mets need converted to play in October? Mejia could close games and help them get to the postseason, but then what? Bobby Parnell has been there before, and he’s allowed to pitch in the postseason, should the Mets score some runs and get there. He saved 22 games in 2013. The problem is his miniscule 5.8% K%-BB% in his shortened 2015. And his velocity is down a couple ticks from his healthy 2013. I’d prefer Mejia over Parnell and have slotted him ahead of Parnell on the grid.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Cardinals added a nice piece to their bullpen when they acquired Steve Cishek on Friday for a minor leaguer. Regardless of the nice work that Kevin Siegrist has put in, barring injury, the Cardinals grid will soon be Trevor Rosenthal, backed up by Jordan Walden(who started a rehab assignment Thursday), and Cishek. Since being recalled in mid-June, Cishek has appeared in 13 games, and has only given up a run in one of them. His velo has gradually improved as the season has gone on, but he’s still a tick behind where he could be.  Siegrist was given the save opportunity Friday night with Rosenthal unavailable, Walden on a rehab assignment and Cishek still out of state, and he shakily nailed it down, throwing 25 pitches, striking out two, walking one and surrendering a single to Nick Markakis on a pitch he probably couldn’t have thrown any better. Siegrist is a good reliever, but let’s be real, Mike Matheny is going to any of those three before he’s going to Siegrist. Probably. For now, Siegrist is ahead of Cishek, but I doubt that lasts long at all.

Read the rest of this entry »