Defending World Champions, Houston, entered the relief pitching market adding Ryan Pressly to their bullpen in an effort to rebuild the struggling bridge to current closer, Hector Rondon. It’s evident they need add arms to their bullpen, especially with the recent struggles of Chris Devenski. For the second straight outing, Devenski did not record an out while giving up multiple earned runs in an appearance. Over his last four games, Devenski’s yielded 11 earned runs in 2.1 innings pushing his ERA to 4.19 on the season. On the other hand, Pressly’s surging in July riding a seven game scoreless streak with a 0.90 ERA in July and 14 strikeouts against three walks in 10 innings. Plus, Pressly’s under team control via arbitration through the 2019 season.

His former team, Minnesota could see more upheaval in the bullpen in the days ahead. Fernando Rodney did blow his sixth save on Friday night allowing a home run to Rafael Devers while pitching in his third consecutive game, and fourth in five days. He’s been in trade rumors as a potential setup pitcher on a contending team due to his experience and 2.90 ERA over 32 games since May first converting 19 of 22 save chances. Many believed Pressly or Trevor Hildenberger would replace Rodney in the event of a trade, however Pressly will not be a factor. If Rodney does get moved, the Twins could use Addison Reed as the closer keeping Hildenberger in the eighth inning role. Reed’s had a tough transition to the team, but could return soon after receiving a cortisone shot in his elbow and a clean image on his MRI. Reed’s been a very effective reliever and being paid as the backup to Rodney, so overlooking him going forward could be a mistake. Read the rest of this entry »

Joakim Soria brought some stability to the White Sox’s closer situation over the last couple of months, but now he is leaving a gaping void in the bullpen, having been traded to the Brewers on Thursday. If we were to speculate on Soria’s replacement based on usage patterns, we would need to run out and pick up Jeanmar Gomez, who has received the bulk of the recent eighth-inning setup work, particularly against right-handed batters. However, Rick Renteria suggested he will go with a committee, though he did single out a reliever who could get a chance to win the job outright — and it wasn’t Gomez.
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On Tuesday night, the Twins shut out the Blue Jays, 5-0, and while it was a superb performance by Jose Berrios, there wasn’t much of interest as far as relief work goes.

Or so I thought. A commenter for Wednesday morning’s Bullpen Report, docgooden85, pointed out a few things that are worth noting for those speculating on future Twins saves. Trevor Hildenberger, who we have listed in the “First Up” column in the closer’s grid, did pitch the eighth inning, but in the aftermath of a couple of recent ineffective performances, he did it with a five-run lead. Also, in Ryan Pressly (1.38 ERA and 18 strikeouts over his last 13 innings) and the recovering Addison Reed (elbow impingement), Hildenberger has a couple of rivals for saves down the stretch, should the Twins trade Fernando Rodney.
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After more than a year of trade rumors, the Orioles have finally dealt Zach Britton.

On Tuesday, the Yankees acquired Baltimore’s long-time closer in exchange for three minor league pitchers: former first-round pick Dillon Tate, lefty Josh Rogers and right-handed reliever Cody Carroll. We can presume that Aroldis Chapman will continue to close games for the Yankees, though Britton adds yet another layer of insurance in the event that Chapman needs time off due to his knee tendinitis.
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• There was no save last night between the Cardinals and the Reds but there was a save opportunity that was blown as Bud Norris allowed two runs in the ninth for his third blown save and third loss on the year. Jordan Hicks threw a scoreless eighth inning and weirdly enough both relievers now support matching 3.38 ERAs. Hicks has the blazing fastball but Norris’ peripherals have been quite a bit better. Hicks has been better of late generating whiffs but on the year has a 3.55 FIP and 3.98 SIERA compared to Norris’ 3.06 FIP and 2.36 SIERA. With the Cardinals closer to last place than first in the division at a .500 record, it’s possible they are mini-sellers with Norris being a trade candidate. But at the same time, it’s already July 24th, which doesn’t leave considerable time for a move to be done. If the Cardinals do decide to pack it in, they may give Hicks an extended look either way as Norris is a Free Agent next year and isn’t necessarily likely to return to St. Louis.

• Sergio Romo wasn’t feeling well last night and the Rays turned to Jose Alvarado for a four-out save against the Yankees. Things got a bit interesting in the ninth when Alvarado allowed two guys on but he closed the door for his fourth save. Sergio Romo is still the closer in Tampa but Alvarado looks to be securely behind him and ahead of Diego Castillo who gave up two runs in the seventh inning last night. Like every other soon to be free agent reliever on a non-playoff team, Romo is a trade candidate but there are no real rumors that he has been involved in of late, which is probably because he isn’t all that good. If he is moved, it’s hard to expect what the Rays will do but Alvarado and Castillo look like potential closers.

• Jacob deGrom pitched great and to the surprise of nobody, didn’t win which gave San Diego a save opportunity for Kirby Yates. Yates finished the 9th for his third save of the year and his first since being named closer after Brad Hand was moved. With two years of team control after this season, the Padres are in no rush to move Yates but as we saw with Hand, they aren’t in the business of hoarding relievers. I expect Yates to stay on the team however and enter next season as a close to top tier closer. Whether he’s closing on an upstart young team ready to take a leap or on another rebuilding team ready to be moved at the deadline, we don’t know.

• OK closers on bad teams are always trade candidates but I didn’t actually expect Soria to be quality enough this year to be wanted in a trade. However, after getting his 15th save last night Soria is supporting a 2.63 ERA, 2.18 FIP, and 2.81 SIERA with the second highest K% of his career at 30% which is supported by the highest swinging strike % of his career (14.9%). If Soria isn’t dealt, he won’t get many saves for the remainder of the year but his grasp on the job would be firm and the way he’s pitching he would provide ratio and strikeout help. However, if he is moved it’s unlikely he’s seeing saves.  Who closes for Chicago if Soria is moved was asked in the comment section yesterday and I agree with Al’s assessment that it might be best avoided. While Soria is proving to be a quality reliever this year, the same can’t quite be said about Jeanmar Gomez, Juan Minaya, Jace Fry and co.

• Joe Jimenez was a popular pick for future closer this year but Shane Greene is still there in Detroit and there aren’t too many rumors with Greene leaving. Greene picked up the save last night against the Royals, for his 20th on the year. While he’s unlikely at this time to be on the move, if he struggles the Tigers could put Jimenez in the ninth in a more permanent role as he’s the future. However, with the Tigers looking at a more lengthy rebuild, Jimenez figures to be a cost controlled highly valued trade deadline piece next year.

Kelvin Herrera got his first save with the Nationals on Sunday, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings in a 6-2 win over the Braves. While Herrera has posted a 1.62 WHIP since leaving the Royals, he should receive at least a few more save opportunities. That’s because Sean Doolittle has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in his left foot that could keep him out for a few more weeks (though probably not for months).

Ryan Madson could be in the mix as well, either if Herrera continues to put runners on base or if there are situations where Davey Martinez opts to use his primary replacement closer to face the tougher part of the lineup prior to the ninth inning. Then again, Madson has had difficulty getting hitters to chase bad pitches, just like Herrera has. Over his last six innings, Madson has a 2.17 WHIP and a paltry 21.7 percent O-Swing rate.
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As daunting as chasing saves can be, adding in the pending trade deadline to trade rumors makes it difficult to publish an early report. But here we are. News of a hugwatch broke out on Twitter suggesting Jeurys Familia could be on the move. He did not enter an obvious save opportunity against the Yankees on the road leaving Robert Gsellman in for the two inning save. While news broke on which teams would not be adding Familia, it appears the focus centers on Oakland trying to obtain his services to add to their already stocked bullpen. If the A’s do not wish to overpay in a scarce starting pitcher market, why not try to shorten games with a deep bullpen? Familia’s yet to allow a run in seven scoreless outings in July yielding one hit in them. He’s also been scoreless in 10 of his last 11 appearances. It needs to be pointed out Familia should setup if he joins the A’s due to his inability to get left-handed hitters out this year (.288 batting average against).

However, since there’s no official word as of this writing, the charts will not be updated until teams announce a deal. As for the Mets, it appears Robert Gsellman could transition to the closer role with Anthony Swarzak struggling and Seth Lugo needed for multiple inning outings. Gsellman did give up two unearned runs against the Yankees on two hits and two walks with two strikeouts during his two inning save. It’s his fifth save this year but Gsellman will need to rebound in the second half in order to appeal to fantasy owners. He’s coughed up 13 earned runs over his last 12 games (14.1 innings) resulting in a 8.18 ERA. Perhaps the break will help him bounce back, but it could be a bumpy ride if he does ascend to the ninth inning. Read the rest of this entry »

The long-anticipated trade of Brad Hand finally went down on Thursday. The Padres dealt him and Adam Cimber to the Indians for Francisco Mejia, effectively remaking both teams’ bullpens.

The Indians find themselves in a similar spot to where they were two years ago, when they acquired Andrew Miller at the trade deadline. With Hand, they now have an elite lefty reliever who has performed better than Cody Allen, who has been the incumbent closer in both situations. Terry Francona is expected to stick with Allen as his primary closer, just as he did upon the team’s acquisition of Miller.
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With Thursday morning’s trade of Brad Hand and Adam Cimber to the Indians for Francisco Mejia, we have our first big reliever deal of the second half. While we now have to wait and see how Terry Francona balances his usage of Hand, Cody Allen and, eventually, Andrew Miller, we have had months to consider how Andy Green might deal with save situations once the Padres dealt their closer away.
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The final day of games before this year’s All-Star break was a busy one for bullpens…and for fantasy owners looking to make a surge in the saves category in the second half.

St. Louis was one site where there was intrigue, as brand-new interim manager Mike Shildt had a save situation to handle in his very first game as the Cardinals’ skipper. It seemed he would have had Bud Norris at his disposal, as his appearance in the final inning of the Cardinals’ 8-2 loss to the Reds on Saturday was his first in a week. That’s why it was especially curious that Shildt went with Jordan Hicks for the save on Sunday. For his part, Hicks continued his recent struggles, allowing a run on two hits, but it was enough for a 6-4 Cardinals win and the rookie’s second save of the season. It was Hicks’ fourth straight appearance in which he had allowed at least one run.
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