• With Anthony Swarzak on the shelf, the Mets end of game situation has turned into a bit of a committee approach. Last night Bobby Wahl got the second out in the 7th and handed the ball off to Gsellman who finished the 7th and 8th innings. In the 9th, Jerry Blevins came in for the save, his first of the year. Gsellman looks like he’s being used as the relief ace with Wahl, Blevins and Seth Lugo lingering around for potential saves. Wahl has the stuff you would normally see in a closer but it doesn’t look like the Mets are going to turn over closing duties to him right away by any means. I’m keeping Gsellman ahead of the committee here but look for Lugo, Blevins and Wahl to get involved as well moving forward. If the Mets get enough leads over the next week, we will have a better idea which direction they might be leaning.

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Just one day being used in a low-leverage situation, Corey Knebel was thrust into the 10th inning of a tie game with the Rockies. To his credit, Knebel breezed through the inning, allowing only a two-out walk to David Dahl. Three of the four batters he faced were left-handed, and Knebel’s recent struggles have occurred disproportionately against right-handed batters. Craig Counsell left Knebel in for the 11th inning, and after retiring leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon, he was set to face two tough righties, DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado. The latter put the Rockies ahead with a solo home run.
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We’re doing an evening edition of the Bullpen Report tonight, with the HOU/LA and TOR/SEA contests still playing at the time this article is being written. With that said, there were only a handful of save opportunities today, but some interesting topics nonetheless.

Corey Knebel entered the day having allowed runs in three of-his-last seven appearances, including three earned runs over his last four innings pitched overall. In tonight’s game against the Rockies, the Brewers elected to bring him out in the seventh inning of an 8-2 game. Milwaukee obviously wanted to give him an opportunity to pitch in a low-leverage situation, and he was successful. He posted a clean inning, getting first-pitch strikes to all three hitters he faced, notching a strikeout, and throwing 9-of-13 pitches for strikes. Last month Knebel had trouble getting ahead in counts (48% F-Strike, 56% career) and started getting less swinging-strikes (9%, 12% career) and strikeouts (9.0 K/9, 12.5 career). He’s now logged back-to-back scoreless outings with three strikeouts, no walks, and one hit allowed. His most recent appearances over the last week were in the ninth inning, and while the Brewers wanted to get him work in the seventh, they ended up having to deploy Josh Hader (more on that in a second) to secure the win. Knebel is still the leading candidate for saves as of right now, but with Jeremy Jeffress getting a save chance just a few days ago, Joakim Soria hanging around, and Josh Hader being……Josh Hader, there’s certainly a good amount of risk.

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There’s a fine line between stubborn and obstinate, and Bud Black seemingly walks it each year with struggling closers. It’s encouraging to see he trusts his ninth inning arm, but in the midst of a playoff chase, can he afford to keep providing save chances to Wade Davis? Davis blew his second straight save on Friday night in Milwaukee culminating on a three-run walk-off home run by Eric Thames. With the knowledge Davis converted 11 straight saves prior to these implosions, one can make the case for Black to stand by his man. However, Davis has blown six saves this year and giving up wins in the spotlight applies more pressure to his now tenuous hold on the closer role. Especially with Adam Ottavino thriving in the eighth inning.

Colorado could give Davis a couple of mental days off or let him work in lower leverage for an outing or two to get him back on track without removing him from his present role. On the surface, he’s giving up eight percent more contact, to be expected with half of his games in Coors, and generating fewer swinging strikes (down five percent compared to last year). During the last 30 days, Davis has pitched in 12 games (11.1 innings) with a 12:5 K:BB, 7.94 ERA, 4.67 FIP and 1.24 WHIP. Hardly inspiring. Ottavino’s not allowed an earned run over his last 14 outings (15 innings) and secured his last three saves along with eight straight holds since June 28th. Suggesting a change from the outside looking in can be easy, seeing how the Rockies respond to Davis’ recent struggles remains to be seen. Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday’s slate of games did not feature that much closer intrigue, as five of the 12 games were decided by at least six runs. Three of the blowouts were won by teams scoring 15 or more runs.

Yet for fantasy owners counting on Kyle Barraclough or Wade Davis, there was more than enough drama. Barraclough may have blown a save against the Phillies, but the Marlins’ closer had another nemesis to battle: his own control. He threw only six of his 24 pitches in the strike zone and did not issue a first-pitch strike to any of the six batters he faced. His one-out walk to Asdrubal Cabrera loaded the bases, and then Nick Williams‘ groundout brought in Scott Kingery for the tying run. Three pitches later, Maikel Franco finished off Barraclough and the Marlins with a walk-off home run.
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In the midst of his walk year to free agency, it’s been anything but easy for Kelvin Herrera. He’s been traded from the organization he grew up in, lost his closer role upon arrival in Washington and has struggled since moving to the National League. Herrera did record his second save for the Nationals on Wednesday afternoon, but it did not come easy. After getting the first out, he then allowed a home run, off the glove of Juan Soto, to Wilmer Flores, a double to Michael Conforto and a walk to Jose Bautista. Herrera did induce a game ending double play but he’s allowed runs in back-to-back games and in five of his last 10.

Of more concern, in 16 games in Washington, Herrera’s 4.30 ERA, 6.59 FIP and 1.77 WHIP do not provide confidence going forward. He’s walked seven in only 14.2 innings as a National after issuing two walks in 25.2 innings for the Royals. Over the last month, Herrera’s use of his change has increased along with throwing fewer sliders and fastballs. Not sure if this plan comes from the coaching staff or a lack of trust in a pitch, but Herrera’s yielded a .318 batting average against this year with the change compared to .200 against with the slider. With Sean Doolittle still sidelined with his foot injury and Brandon Kintzler traded, Ryan Madson lies in the wings if needed for saves. Madson had been scoreless in his previous seven outings until giving up a run as well on Wednesday. There’s no immediate threat to Herrera’s role, but it’s tenuous at best right now for him to remain in the ninth until Doolittle returns. Read the rest of this entry »

As the trade deadline approached, it seemed as if about half of the relievers on non-contending teams were rumored to get traded. There was just not enough demand to meet the supply, so many of those relievers are staying put for the time being. Just among current closers, here’s who did not get moved: Shane Greene, Raisel Iglesias, Kyle Barraclough, Fernando Rodney, Sergio Romo, Kirby Yates, Mychal Givens and Blake Parker. Some of these relievers could still get dealt if they can pass through waivers, so if you’ve been stashing the likes of Joe Jimenez, Jared Hughes or Drew Steckenrider, don’t drop them just yet.
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• The first of two big trades in the bullpen world yesterday was the Houston Astros trading with the Blue Jays for Roberto Osuna in a deal including Ken Giles. The Astros are deserving of all the bad publicity they’re getting for acquiring Osuna and his disgusting recent transgressions but on a purely baseball level, Osuna is an upgrade to their bullpen. Osuna is expected to pitch in another minor league appearance this week before being activated in Houston for Sunday. While we expect Osuna to be the main closer in Houston once he is acclimated, Hector Rondon should man the ninth until then.

Ken Giles was demoted after struggling a bit this year in Houston, but now in Toronto it’s expected that he will be back in the majors, closing games. However, we’re going to start the grid with Ryan Tepera still manning the ninth inning for now even if the expectation is that Giles has it soon.

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Brad Brach’s most recent reign as the Orioles’ closer came to an end after just five days, as they traded him on Sunday to the Braves for $250,000 in international slot money. It is not yet clear what role Brach will fill with the Braves, though given how well A.J. Minter has settled into the closer’s role, he appears to be destined for work in the seventh and/or eighth innings.

With Brach and Zach Britton both gone, Mychal Givens would be the obvious heir apparent to the closer’s role in Baltimore, though his tenure could be shorter than Brach’s. Givens, too, has been the subject of trade rumors. Earlier in the month, he had been tied to the Indians, and more recently, he has been floated as a possibility for the Pirates.
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It was reported by Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram on Saturday that five teams were on hand scouting Keone Kela when the Rangers faced off against the Astros. The five teams included the Giants, Indians, Pirates, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox. While Kela didn’t get a chance to pitch himself, fellow relievers of interest on the trade market – Jake Diekman and Jose Leclerc – both notched scoreless frames, resulting their 13th and 14th holds respectively. Depending on who’s moved there could be multiple options that take over the closer role from Kela in the coming days. If Leclerc remains on the team he’d be the likely candidate, but in the event all three relievers depart, Chris Martin – who’s starting a rehab assignment this Sunday – could be someone for fantasy owners to keep their eye on.

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