Dull days in the unrelenting chase for saves rarely occur, Wednesday was no exception. Brandon Morrow owners breathed a collective sigh of relief seeing him record his 19th save on Wednesday giving up a hit with a strikeout. Morrow did not pitch on Tuesday after working 1.1 innings on Sunday to the dismay of the fantasy community. Returning from a mild back injury, it’s clear the Cubs will be handling Morrow with care. He only needed 19 pitches on Sunday retiring four of the five hitters he faced. But Pedro Strop notched the save on Tuesday, his second this year, in lieu of Morrow. As for Morrow, he’s converted 12 straight saves, 19 of 20 this year with a 1.40 ERA which underscores why fantasy owners want more. But, in deference to Morrow’s injury riddled past, the Cubs keeping him fresh and not committing to giving him a heavy workload could work out best in the long run no matter how frustrating. Plan accordingly.

With Seranthony Dominguez settling in as a more traditional one inning closer, or at least his owners hope, he received a much deserved day off on Wednesday. Dominguez locked down his fourth straight save on Tuesday but needed 28 pitches over 1.1 innings to do so. After Victor Arano pitched a clean top of the eighth, he stayed in for the ninth walking one and striking out three en route to his first major league save. Arano’s been scoreless his last five outings and could be in the periphery of saves in this type of scenario going forward as the Phillies try to make a push for the playoffs. Read the rest of this entry »

• With Shane Greene on the DL, Joe Jimenez was called on for  his first save last night and proceeded to blow the lead in the ninth, allowing three walks and a hit but only one run. Jimenez was handed a win when the Tigers scored in the 10th with Blaine Hardy securing his first save of the year. Right now we currently have Alex Wilson and Louis Coleman ahead of Hardy on the grid as they have been relievers all season and have pitched in the set up innings. Hardy has made 15 appearances overall this year with 8 of them as starts. It sounds like the Tigers are making him a full time reliever which might place him on the grid if this usage continues. However, since he’s transitioning from the rotation, the Tigers might use him for multi-innings than as a 7th inning set up. Either way, one blown save won’t move Jimenez as the closer while Shane Green remains on the shelf.

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On a day where there were far more developments regarding setup relievers, Sergio Romo further consolidated his status as the Rays’ primary closer. He did allow the second of Evan Gattis‘ two home runs in Sunday’s 3-2 win over the Astros, but a walk to Tyler White was the only other blemish on Romo’s ninth inning. He recorded his eighth save of the season and has been the recipient of seven of the Rays’ last eight saves.

The lone exception came on Friday, when Jose Alvarado retired Marwin Gonzalez for a one-out save. Even then, it was Romo who started off the ninth inning with a one-run lead. Alvardo was summoned only when Romo yielded a two-out Gattis single, and Kevin Cash opted to turn Gonzalez around to bat right-handed. Entering Friday’s game, Gonzalez’s .285 wOBA against lefties was 25 points lower than his mark against righties. While Alvarado could take an occasional save away from Romo when matchups dictate, it looks safe to assume that the former Giant and Dodger will be receiving the vast majority of save chances.
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The Twins bullpen had an afternoon to forget to close out June. Addison Reed entered the game in the fifth inning with the Twins holding a three-run advantage and was unable to complete the frame. He got Javier Baez to strike out to begin the inning, but would allow four-of-the-next-five hitters to get a hit – yielding two runs in the process. Zach Duke came in with runners on first-and-third and two outs but was equally ineffective. He gave up three-straight singles, letting both of Reed’s inherited runners to score and one of his own.

Duke would allow another hit in the sixth inning, but was able to get out of the frame unscathed. Trevor Hildenberger entered the seventh inning having not allowed a run in 16-straight appearances. Unfortunately, that streak came to an end as he walked four hitters (two intentionally) and gave up four hits in route to five earned runs allowed in a third of an inning. He came into the outing with a 0.00 ERA and 0.65 WHIP in June (both top-10 among qualified relievers) with a 26% K. He’s still the top choice behind Fernando Rodney in this bullpen despite the blip on the radar.

Addison Reed had made it four-straight appearances without allowing a run after a stretch before hand in which he gave up 5 ER over 4.2 IP (five appearances). He’s only logged four strikeouts in the month of June, and posted a terrible HR/9 (2.1), Hard-hit% (49), and xFIP (6.58). Duke has now allowed a run in two-of-his-last four games, but will remain in high-leverage roles as the main LHP option late in games. On the other side of this game, Justin Wilson earned his second win of the season after notching only his second clean appearance in his last six. Pedro Strop also worked 1.2 IP, striking out two and not allowing a baserunner. It was his third consecutive clean appearance since getting blown up by the Reds a week ago.

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Predictably, Sam Dyson struggled as the interim closer with Hunter Strickland sidelined due to a self inflicted injury. With intriguing arms like Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson and Will Smith, the Giants had options for the ninth inning with better ratios and performance over the last month. Bruce Bochy opted for Will Smith in the ninth inning in Arizona for a chance to record his first save since April 13th, 2014. Smith responded with a clean inning and striking out two. Returning from a myriad of injuries, Smith’s been terrific this season and especially in June. His 0.75 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and 21 strikeouts to four walks punctuate how good Smith’s been over his last 12 innings.

Delving a bit deeper, Smith’s 24 swinging strike percentage along with a 47.8 O-swing percentage (chase rate) combined with his 56.7 percent contact allowed fuel his surge in June. On the season, Smith’s limited left-handed hitters to a .180/.200/.231 slash line in 10.2 innings with 18 strikeouts and right-handed hitters to a .071/.191/.103 average against with 15 strikeouts. If Smith remains the preferred option for Bochy going forward, both Tony Watson and Reyes Moronta will remain on the periphery of saves if Smith needs a break. Watson possesses closer experience and currently in the midst of a 13.1 scoreless inning streak spanning 14 outings. Moronta notched his fourth hold last night and has 11 strikeouts, three wins and a save with a 3.71 ERA his last 12 games. Read the rest of this entry »

It looks as if we have a full-blown committee situation in San Francisco.

That’s because Sam Dyson, who was annointed as the primary closer 10 days ago after Hunter Strickland broke his hand punching a door, has allowed six runs (five earned) in seven innings since said annointment. On Thursday, Dyson blew a save and took the loss against the Rockies, having given the visitors the lead by allowing DJ LeMahieu’s two-run homer.
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Jeurys Familia has had his ups and downs this season, but he hit a new low on Wednesday when he did not retire any of the four batters he faced in the Mets’ 5-3 loss to the Pirates. He began the top of the ninth inning with a 3-1 lead, and he allowed three straight singles. Familia stayed in to face Jordy Mercer with the bases loaded, but a four-pitch walk cut the lead to a run and ended his night. He was relieved by Anthony Swarzak, who did him no favors by allowing David Freese‘s two-RBI single and Josh Bell’s sacrifice fly.

While this most recent outing was particularly bad for Familia, he had been struggling on and off for a month and a half. Over a span of 15.2 inning entering Wednesday’s game, Famila had compiled a 3.45 ERA and 1.72 WHIP, and a .408 BABIP rate was key to the bloating of his ratios. Going back to May 13, Familia has allowed hard contact at a 34.0 percent rate, but that slightly-elevated rate hardly seems to be cause for an astronomical BABIP. According to Baseball Savant, there is reason to be skeptical — and hopeful — about Familia’s recent trend. While he has allowed batters to hit .353 against him over his last 15 appearances, his opponents’ collective xBA is just .277 over that period.
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Entering the Giants’ Tuesday night game against the Rockies, it had been one week since Sam Dyson had recorded his one-and-only save since Hunter Strickland was placed on the DL. Given that he had a couple of shaky outings in the interim and that Bruce Bochy called on Will Smith to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning in a tie game with the Padres on Sunday, one had to wonder if Dyson was still the Giants’ primary closer.

Whatever worries Dyson — or his fantasy owners — may have had were somewhat assuaged in Tuesday’s 3-2 win. Dyson pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his third save of the season, though there were some nail-biting moments. He gave up a leadoff double to Tom Murphy and issued a one-out walk to pinch hitter Chris Iannetta. Dyson appeared to get out of the inning on a DJ LeMahieu double play ball, but the Rockies challenged the call, which was ultimately upheld.
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• Edubray Ramos was placed on the DL and in a corresponding move the Phillies recalled Hector Neris from AAA. Hector Neris threw two innings in the minors, striking out two while issuing a walk. While we can’t clean much from that performance he pitched better in the majors than his ERA would suggest with a 2.96 SIERA not matching his 5.79 ERA. Neris pitched in the 7th inning last night, striking out two batters in a perfect inning. Although he won’t lead the saves committee in Philly, I put him back on the grid with Seranthony Dominguez and Tommy Hunter ahead of him. As you know, it’s hard to tell how Kapler will run the bullpen on any given day but Neris should have a chance to make some noise again.

• When Kelvin Herrera was hurt I went through almost every reliever in Kansas City except Wily Peralta. So naturally Peralta gets the save chance last night, getting his first save and striking out two in the process. I’m going to put Peralta in the lead for saves with Kevin McCarthy next in line as he pitched a perfect 8th. As for the last slot, it’s between Tim Hill and Brandon Maurer but for now I will keep Hill on the grid, as a lefty he might see high leverage innings against lefty heavy lineups. While it looks like Peralta could run away with the job if he pitches well, he’s not likely to rack up a ton of saves on the Royals. I would pick him up if you need saves, but I wouldn’t consider the category safe because you have Peralta now.

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• Arodys Vizcaino was placed on the DL with right shoulder inflammation and it looks as if the Braves are going to proceed with a two-headed committee in Dan Winkler and AJ Minter. Last night, Dan Winkler took the 8th inning, pitching a scoreless inning (1 HBP) for his 14th hold and Minter pitched in the 9th but there was no save situation as the Braves scored two runs in the bottom half of the 8th.  Winkler and Minter have both been very solid this year putting up 2.46 and 3.49 SIERAs respectively and although this is a committee, since Minter got the first chance we will put him first on the grid. There were rumblings about Vizcaino becoming a committee earlier in the year, so if Minter or Winkler runs away with this while Vizcaino is on the shelf, I’m not entirely sure he grabs full ownership whenever he returns.

• As we all know, Brad Boxberger has struggled quite a bit of late. In his previous 8 June appearances, Boxberger has allowed 7 earned runs with three homers, which has been a problem for him. On the year he has a 20.8% HR/FB% which should regress but we are also heading to summer in Arizona and he’s never shown the ability to really limit the homers either, although his career high 50.8% GB% is a good start. Anywho, in spite of his recent struggles, Box threw a scoreless ninth, allowing just a base hit. While it would be nice for Boxberger owners to see a three stirkeout, shutdown inning, we will take a clean save to hold off the calls for Archie Bradley.

• Ryan Tepera entered the game yesterday in the 8th but allowed inherited runners to score leading to a blown save. Luckily for his owners though, he pitched a scoreless ninth and received a win for his troubles. Tyler Clippard closed the game for his 4th save and has his spot in the pecking order fairly firm. The Blue Jays will be sellers not buyers so while Tepera’s job is safe in Toronto, he garnering trade interest. As Jon Morosi notes, he’s not a Free Agent for a few years so the Blue Jays are in no rush to trade him, but by that same token, they would get a bigger haul for him. We have already seen Alex Colome and Kelvin Herrera traded before July and as we get closer to the deadline we will only see more trades leading to closing carousels.

• The ageless Fernando Rodney struck out the side for his 17th save on the year and now owns a 2.73 ERA and a K/9 approaching 10 (9.91). Every year before the draft, everyone (myself included) targets the Rodney handcuff and every year he keeps them at bay. At 41 I don’t know how much longer he can do this but his job is green and he will continue to rack up saves for the Twins. Trevor Hildenberger received his 9th hold pitching a perfect 8th and if something were to happen to Rodney, he would definitely be the man to own.

• While we all wait for Kyle Barraclough’s ERA to regress he keeps on putting up clean innings and getting saves, picking up his 7th save yesterday and dropping his ERA to 1.05. As mentioned his 3.40 FIP /3.70 SIERA and .093 BABIP (!!!) lead you to believe a few runs might be crossing the plate soon but his job is secure. Brad Ziegler pitched a scoreless 8th and Adam Conley a scoreless 7th, striking out a pair in the process. We have mentioned Conley before and it’s worth noting him again even if he’s far from saves at the moment. In 14.2 innings in relief he has a 17/4 K/BB, a 2.61 SIERA, 14.6% SwStr% and a 95.4 mph heater which is up from 89.9 last year. Stuff usually plays up in relief and after a few middling years as a starter it looks like Conley might have found a home. Conley might be more of a play for saves/high leverage innings in 2019 but he could help ratios and strikeouts from the pen this year.

•  Brad Hand blew the save last night, allowing two hits and a walk, raising his ERA to 2.82. He’s in trade rumors but on a good contract so the Padres could elect to hold onto him. Craig Stammen threw a scoreless 7th with two strikeouts, and Kirby Yates a scoreless 8th and 9th. Stammen is under contract next year as well with Yates a free agent, which might make him the most likely candidate to be moved. If Hand is to be moved, teams will obviously want to make sure he’s pitching well, as he’s blown his last two opportunities and has allowed runs in three of his last four outings.

• Quick Hits: The Brewers lost yesterday but Corey Knebel struck out three while issuing a walk. Seranthony Dominguez blew the save in the 8th last night. You never know how Kapler will use his pen and but I would still consider Dominguez the leader of the group. Sean Doolittle got his 21st save and so long as he’s pitching well he shouldn’t be too worried about Kelvin Herrera behind him.