• Mildly interesting night in Chicago in the 9th inning for the Cubs. The last third of the game started as usual with Steve Cishek handling the 7th and Carl Edwards pitching in the 8th with the ball being handed to Strop for the final frame.  In the 9th, Strop walked Jose Bautista to start the inning, got Jose Reyes on a force out and then gave up a single to Kevin Plawecki. With two on and one out, Joe Maddon called on Justin Wilson to face the lefty Jay Bruce. Wilson couldn’t get Bruce out and exited the game with bases loaded and still just one out. New-ish Cub Jesse Chavez then came on and struck out Amed Rosario and Austin Jackson for his 3rd save of the year. While Pedro Strop wasn’t given the opportunity to clean up his mess, I believe he’s still very much the Cubs closer. However, we can’t be surprised to see Joe Maddon give anyone the quick hook if he feels someone else gives him the best option. Strop’s done a great job and Morrow doesn’t look likely to return right away so I would still bet on his saves total being the highest from here on out over anyone in Chicago, even if Justin Wilson or Jesse Chavez gets a rogue chance. Note that I didn’t include Brandon Kintzler in that grouping and took him off the grid as he’s been quite abysmal in Chicago. He might play his well into higher leverage set up innings but he’s not sniffing the 9th.

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With Kelvin Herrera having returned from the DL last Tuesday and Ryan Madson (back) and Sean Doolittle (toe) on the mend, it looked as if the injury-plagued Nationals bullpen was finally going to enjoy some stability. That just might not be in the cards, though, as Herrera injured his foot in the Nationals’ 15-0 win over Mets on Sunday. In just his second appearance since getting activated, Herrera hurt himself while fielding a Jose Bautista grounder, and he had to be carted off the field. X-rays taken after the game came back negative, but he is scheduled for more tests on Monday.
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Although nothing’s set in stone, the first Yankees save opportunity went to Zach Britton, in his former ballpark, and he converted it despite ceding a home run to Chris Davis. It’s Britton’s first save with New York and snaps a three game scoreless streak. However, Britton seems to be turning a corner with the Yankees not walking a batter his last five appearances and getting the ball down in the strike zone which yields success for the veteran closer. This will be important since Aroldis Chapman received a platelet-rich plasma injection and will miss the next two weeks as a result. The team hinted a triumvirate could be deployed in late innings so high leverage could evolve. Dellin Betances recorded his 32nd consecutive outing with at least a strikeout in the eighth inning. Over his last 33 games, Betances has a 0.56 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 32.1 innings. Chad Green garners the win in relief striking out two in the ninth and David Robertson pitched in the seventh, for the first time in a week, giving up a two-run home run to Jonathan Villar. Use last night as a template with Betances in the eighth and Britton in the ninth until further notice.

It seems like the Indians would prefer Cody Allen to succeed in the ninth, but he blew his fifth save of the season serving up back-to-back home runs to Ryan O’Hearn and Hunter Dozier in the ninth en route to his fifth loss of the year. Allen’s allowed runs in three straight outings working two innings with four earned runs, two walks and one strikeout in them. He whittled down his ERA to 3.98 on August 17th but it’s ebbed back to 4.50 as a result of the last three games. Brad Hand notched his ninth hold walking one in the eighth inning. Hand’s been scoreless his last seven outings with 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings and scoreless in 12 of his 14 appearances with Cleveland. With five saves and six holds since joining the team, it’s likely Hand gets the next save chance. Especially with Andrew Miller starting to look like his old self registering his third straight scoreless outing last night with a strikeout. Read the rest of this entry »

Prior to Thursday’s game in Colorado, fantasy owners may have had few outward reasons to be concerned about Kirby Yates. Since becoming the Padres’ closer after the July 19 trade of Brad Hand to the Indians, he had not blown a save and tallied 20 strikeouts in 11.2 innings. Yates finally got that first blown save on Thursday, when he gave up Ian Desmond’s two-run walk-off homer. Given that it was at Coors Field, owners may be willing to forgive Yates.

While the 31-year-old is not among the most highly-owned closers, not many of his current owners are sitting him. Yates is 59 percent owned in CBS leagues but benched in 14 percent of leagues. On Fantrax, he has a 57 percent ownership rate but is being sat in only 8 percent of leagues.
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In what seems like the most volatile August in recent memory for closers, the attrition continues with Aroldis Chapman officially landing on the 10-day disabled list due to tendinitis in his knee. Luckily for the Yankees, their full stable of veteran pitchers stocked with closing experience along with the “Terminator” in the eighth, Dellin Betances should be able to survive Chapman’s absence and allow him to rest his knee, an injury which dates back to May. Due to the Yankees loss last night, there’s no clear blueprint to how Aaron Boone will handle high leverage going forward, but according to this tweet, plan on David Robertson (135 career saves) and Zach Britton (139 career saves) to be in the mix with Dellin Betances (32 career saves):

Boone said Yankees will “mix and match” with Britton, Robertson and Betances when it comes to closing games. With a deep and versatile pen, Boone feels Yanks are “equipped” to handle Chapman’s DL stint.

— JackCurryYES (@JackCurryYES) August 22, 2018

Recent usage suggests Boone may prefer to keep Betances in the eighth inning where he’s been a dominant force of late recording at least one strikeout in 31 straight games fueling his 0.58 ERA over his last 32 outings with 53 strikeouts. Robertson’s nursing a sore shoulder, which allowed Tommy Kahnle to record the save on Tuesday, but should be available going forward. Look for the Yankees to mix and match the ninth inning with the two veterans with “closing experience” while Chapman tries to get healthy.

It’s tough to pile on a struggling pitcher, especially one returning from an irregular heartbeat and the birth of his child, but Kenley Jansen suffered his second loss in the span of three days allowing three hits, two earned runs (on a home run by Paul DeJong) and struck out one during his appearance Wednesday night. Jansen’s given up home runs in back-to-back appearances twice this season after only doing so once his prior eight seasons. Also, Jansen’s served up nine home runs in 2018 in 56.1 innings which matches his total from the previous two in 137 innings. With the velocity and effectiveness of his cutter vacillating this season, Jansen’s struggles exposes the entire Dodgers bullpen. During the second half, Jansen’s saved five games with the two recent losses, produced a 4.50 ERA in nine games with a 5.96 FIP but 15 strikeouts against two walks with a 1.20 WHIP. His 33.3 home run per fly ball rate should stabilize but only if the 44 percent hard hit percentage subsides. It’s a tenuous time to own Jansen, in fantasy and real life.

Looking past the hot start of Seranthony Dominguez could be tough to do. However, his sluggish second half suggests fantasy owners may need to bench him if the home runs persist. Dominguez started his save chance looking strong recording outs against the first two hitters he faced. Then, Dominguez could not bury a slider enough to get Juan Soto to swing and miss resulting in a foul ball. Soto then hit the next pitch down the line for a double leading to Ryan Zimmerman’s walk-off two run home run. Dominguez battled control issues last in July but has not walked a batter in August instead, he’s served up three home runs leading to five earned runs allowed. Like Jansen, Dominguez has seen his home run per fly ball spike since the break to 27.3 percent, his hard hit rate to 37 percent while getting fewer swings and misses (11.7 swinging strike percentage). This equates to Dominguez 6.10 ERA, 6.74 FIP and 1.65 WHIP in the second half. If he can get the movement back on his slider, Dominguez could bounce back, but stashing Pat Neshek (three saves already this season) may be a good idea with the team needing to convert every win possible. Stay tuned.

Although A.J. Minter threw a positive side session on Wednesday, and being available on Wednesday night, manager Brian Snitker wanted to provide him with one more day of rest to get Minter’s back healthy. Jonny Venters notched his second save of the season, and first since May 28th with Tampa Bay, allowing a hit with a strikeout in Pittsburgh. Venters has been terrific since joining the Braves with 8.2 scoreless innings along with three holds and a save his last four appearances. Minter owners can breathe a sigh of relief knowing he will be back in the saddle as the closer going forward.

Owning Robert Gsellman for fantasy must be frustrating. On the one hand, he’s in the midst of a 10.2 inning scoreless streak spanning nine games and struck out two batters in a clean eighth inning last night. However, during this streak, Gsellman’s recorded only two saves with three holds. In the eighth inning, the Mets used Gsellman to work the highest leverage inning remaining facing Buster Posey, Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria. Then, Mickey Callaway cobbled together the ninth inning using Daniel Zamora to strikeout Brandon Crawford and Paul Sewald for the last two outs resulting in his first career save. The good news, Gsellman’s remains Callaway’s most trusted reliever, the bad news, he’s the primary closer but will face teams best hitters when necessary to preserve a win.

Perhaps a sneak preview of coming events for the Astros? Roberto Osuna notched his first save with Houston in a clean ninth inning striking out one in Seattle. One day after the team hinted Osuna’s the primary closer going forward. This marks his first save since May sixth and fantasy owners should act accordingly, but keep in mind A.J. Hinch will play match-ups as well, so as Al Melchior suggested yesterday, cutting Hector Rondon in all formats could be a mistake in leagues where every save matters. Rondon’s converted 14 of his last 17 save chances and could pitch the ninth as he did on Tuesday.

Quick Hits: It appears the Brewers have reverted back to their shared ninth inning duties when Corey Knebel landed on the disabled list with Jeremy Jeffress and Josh Hader sharing the work. Jeffress converted his fifth save striking out one in 1.1 innings on Wednesday.

As the White Sox bullpen turns landed on Juan Minaya pitching 1.2 scoreless innings giving up two hits and Hector Santiago in the ninth allowing a hit and a walk with two strikeouts. Still leaning Jace Fry here for the next save, but it’s a mystery.

Jose LeClerc continues to thrive as the closer in Texas. He notched his sixth save despite walking two hitters with two strikeouts. LeClerc’s reeled off 11 straight scoreless outings and owns a 0.79 ERA his last 23 games. Over his last nine games, LeClerc’s held hitters to two hits in 29 at-bats, walked three and struck out 17 converting all six saves and finishing each of the Rangers’ seven wins in this stretch.

Working in a non-save outing, Felipe Vazauez struck out one in a clean ninth. He’s saved 17 in a row and struck out 40 his last 25 innings with a 0.74 ERA his last 24.1 innings.

Sergio Romo saved his 18th game allowing two hits but no runs. Romo’s converted his last five saves and been scoreless his last six. Scouts continue to watch him and Romo could be a waiver deadline trade to a contender. If this happens, stash Jose Alvarado now where available. Alvarado retired the only hitter he faced via strikeout and has struck out seven of the last 12 he’s faced.

Since Bud Norris pitched the two previous games, Jordan Hicks recorded his fifth save striking out the side in Los Angeles. He’s back to striking out hitters with six his last two outings and Hicks along with Dakota Hudson continue to provide depth in the bullpen for the Cardinals.

One injury update. Brandon Morrow continues to target September for a return but reports suggest it’s realistic and optimistic? Morrow’s been on the disabled list since Juley 18th and will undergo further testing on Friday for a clearer picture on how to proceed with his rehab and perhaps a timetable will emerge then.

After more than a month of not getting many swings and misses and getting dealt a pair of blown saves in the last two weeks, it seemed like Hector Rondon’s days as the Astros’ closer were numbered, particularly in light of the deadline deal that brought Roberto Osuna over from the Blue Jays. On Tuesday morning, A.J. Hinch announced that, indeed, Rondon was out as the team’s primary closer and that Osuna was in.

Hinch was quick to add, however, that Osuna could still occasionally pitch in situations prior to the ninth inning, and one of those occasions arose on Tuesday night. He called for Osuna to warm up in the seventh inning with the top of the Mariners’ order due up, and while the former Blue Jay was not used then, he did come out to pitch the eighth inning with a two-run lead. Osuna did get all three outs by way of strikeouts, but he also allowed three singles, the last of which drove in Denard Span to cut the lead down to 3-2. For at least one night, Rondon got to stay in his accustomed role, closing out the Mariners on nine pitches.
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• After being used like a yo-yo in the rotation and relief, Sergio Romo has had his ups and downs this year but has actually been quite terrific of late in the closer’s seat in Tampa. On the year he’s supporting  a 3.48 ERA/3.40 FIP/3.26 SIERA and since June 19th he has an ERA of 1.33. With all of that said, the Rays went to Jose Alvarado last night for the save with Sergio Romo available as far as we know. Lefty Lucas Duda started the inning which could be why the Rays went to Alvarado over Romo but it wasn’t a particularly strong lefty heavy lineup that followed. The Rays situation was as fluid as any this year before Romo started putting up consistent zeroes, so we are keeping Romo alone in the chairr for now but if Alvarado starts seeing the ninth again we will have to consider moving this situation back to the frustrating committee situation we had to endure earlier.

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Between Paul Molitor‘s recent comments and the fact that Matt Magill and Taylor Rogers pitched the ninth inning in the Twins’ most recent save situation, we can be assured that Trevor Hildenberger won’t be hogging up all of the save opportunities in Minnesota. Hildenberger pitched the ninth inning on Sunday with a one-run lead against the Tigers, though because he got the final out of the previous inning just before Eddie Rosario’s go-ahead solo homer, he was pitching for a win and not a save. The situation was slightly different, but Hildenberger followed his recent pattern of creating a little stress. He began the ninth inning by allowing a Victor Reyes single, and two batters later, Reyes got into scoring position by way of a walk to Jose Iglesias. The drama ended there, as Hildenberger got the final two outs.
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Largely by default, Koda Glover was thrust into the Nationals’ closer role when the team put Ryan Madson (back) on the 10-day disabled list this past Tuesday. It has not gone swimmingly. Just before Madson was placed on the DL. Glover took a loss against the Cardinals on Monday, giving up a walk-off home run to Paul DeJong, and while he got the save in Thursday’s series finale, he allowed the tying run to get into scoring position.

On Saturday night, Glover was called on to keep the Nationals in a tie with the Marlins in the top of the 10th inning, but after getting into trouble again, there was no escape this time. Back-to-back one-out singles put the go-ahead run in scoring position, and after a force out and an intentional walk, Isaac Galloway brought home two runs on a bloop single into center field. Since the Nationals failed to rally in the bottom of the inning, Glover was left with his second loss in six days.
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It would not be August without some volatility in the ninth inning, right? After saving three straight for the Twins, fantasy owners could think Trevor Hildenberger would be the closer going forward for the Twins in spite of reports suggesting a committee. Paul Molitor held firm during the Fernando Rodney experience. However, this quote by Molitor throws a monkey wrench into things: “To be honest with you, with Hildy getting off to a good start, (he’s the frontrunner), but it might just not play out that way.” Insert the thinking face emoji. Last night, Minnesota started the ninth with Matt Magill on the mound seeking his first career save. However, he allowed two hits, an earned run and a walk with a strikeout in his two-thirds of an inning giving way to Taylor Rogers in the ninth. Rogers retired Jeimer Candelario to record his first career save instead.

There’s many moving pieces here. First, Hildenberger’s notched three of the four saves for the Twins since the Fernando Rodney trade. But, his 10.57 ERA and 1.96 WHIP through 7.2 innings in August do provide caution for deploying him as the primary closer. Add in his career 5.40 ERA in 10 previous innings versus the Tigers, and perhaps this played a factor in Molitor’s decisions Friday night. Rogers has reeled off 11 straight scoreless outings spanning 8.1 innings converting seven holds and a save in them. He also owns a 1.62 ERA his last 20 games (16.2 innings) dating back to July second. The presence of fellow southpaw Gabriel Moya in the bullpen allows Molitor to mix and match in high leverage innings. Moya’s also been hot of last with six straight scoreless appearances (7.2 innings). For fantasy purposes, based on recent usage, Hildenberger could be the primary closer going forward, but with Molitor’s quotes and last night’s usage, Rogers could be a factor as well. Those who added Trevor May in the hopes of getting saves can move on, due to his return from injury, Molitor said May will not be closing in spite of a 21 swinging strike percentage since May cannot work in back-to-back games as he builds up to returning from injury. Read the rest of this entry »