On Friday night, Gabe Kapler told reporters he would continue to use Hector Neris as the Phillies’ closer if he presented them with “the best option.” The next day, Kapler clarified what that meant in a discussion with the righty, who has amassed 34 saves going back to last season. The Phillies’ manager told Neris he was no longer going to have a designated closer. Instead, he would employ Tommy Hunter, Luis Garcia, Seranthony Dominguez and Edubray Ramos, along with Neris, in a variety of roles, with each getting chances at saves based on matchups.

On Sunday, the Phillies took a 3-1 lead against the Mets in the bottom of the sixth inning, and then Kapler went to work, sequencing his relievers in preparation for a ninth-inning save. He brought in Tommy Hunter to face pinch-hitter Dominic Smith and Amed Rosario to start off the seventh inning, and he retired them via strikeout and ground out, respectively. However, Hunter failed to get left-handed Brandon Nimmo to make the final out, as he singled, and Kapler kept him in for switch-hitting Asdrubal Cabrera. The Phillies do not currently have a lefty in their bullpen, though Hunter (.264 wOBA allowed), Garcia (.196 wOBA allowed) and Dominguez (no hits allowed in five plate appearances) have all had success against them this year. Upon Cabrera driving in Nimmo with a double, Kapler turned to Garcia to retire Yoenis Cespedes for the third out.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Orioles and Rays played a double-header on Saturday, and in Game 1 the Orioles gave the save opportunity to none other than long-time “LIMA” favorite Mychal Givens. He entered the game with one out and a man on first in the eighth inning, and proceeded to get Daniel Robertson to get under an 0-2 slider for a fly-out before allowing a single that Manny Machado could’ve made a play on.

With two-on and two out, Givens fired a 97 mph fastball to the inside-half of the plate on Brad Miller to get him to fly-out to Adam Jones on a fairly tough play. He came back out for the ninth, getting two quick outs on four pitches before going down 3-1 on Carlos Gomez. The end result was a groundball back at Givens for the final out. It was Givens first career save. Brad Brach did convert a save a day prior, and has tallied three-straight scoreless appearances with a 5/1 K:BB ratio since taking a loss on May 4th against the Athletics.

Read the rest of this entry »

For the second night in a row, Raisel Iglesias nailed down a save for the Reds. In getting the final two outs of his club’s 6-2 win over the Dodgers, he extended his string of scoreless appearances to seven. During that stretch, Iglesias has three saves and win. To be sure, he’s been missing a lot of bats, but when Iglesias has allowed contact, it’s been of the airborne variety. Of the 15 batted balls he has permitted, only four were grounders.

For the second time in three nights, Tyler Clippard was used as a closer would be. After securing a save against the Mariners on Wednesday, Clippard tossed a perfect top of the ninth inning on Friday, keeping the Blue Jays tied with the visiting Red Sox. Like Iglesias, Clippard has had past and current success as a closer despite some strong flyball tendencies. Calling Clippard’s flyball tendencies “strong” is actually a gross understatement. His career ground ball rate is 28.4 percent and so far this year, it’s a microscopic 18.2 percent.
Read the rest of this entry »

With Keynan Middleton and Corey Knebel being activated within the last two days, we fantasy owners needed some clarity as to whether they would be eased back into closing or be given save opportunities right away. Fortunately, both the Angels and Brewers obliged by getting themselves into save situations on Thursday night.

Things started to get real for the Angels when they jumped ahead of the Twins, 6-4, in the bottom of the sixth inning. After Jose Alvarez struck out Logan Morrison to start off the seventh inning, Mike Scioscia played the matchups, bringing in Cam Bedrosian to face Mitch Garver, and then kept him in for switch-hitter Ehire Adrianza. Shohei Ohtani homered in the bottom of the inning, but with the lead at three runs, Scioscia had to plan for a potential save in the ninth inning. He opted to bring Middleton in for the eighth inning, and he worked around two walks and a double to keep the lead at 7-4. Jim Johnson pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first save of the season.
Read the rest of this entry »

Anytime news breaks regarding an injury or the need for a change at closer, the speculation ensues. With Toronto’s Roberto Osuna placed on administrative leave by baseball, adding the correct Blue Jay reliever means a chance at procuring saves. Some focused on Seung-Hwan Oh who owns closing experience, but he pitched the sixth inning with his team down by one. Others took a chance on John Axford, he’s been pitching very well of late with seven straight scoreless outings over 9.1 innings with eight strikeouts and only one walk. Alas, he worked the seventh inning and his ability to work more than one inning could keep him out of the save mix going forward unless he records a “Hader”.

So, it boiled down to Ryan Tepera or Tyler Clippard. Manager John Gibbons opted for the closer experience with Tepera keeping his role in the eighth inning. Tepera garnered the win giving up a walk with a strikeout after Toronto rallied for four runs in the bottom of the frame. Then, Tyler Clippard entered for his first save of the year giving up a hit with two strikeouts. Over his last six appearances, Clippard’s registered three holds, a win and a save allowing four hits, an unearned run and a walk with 10 strikeouts. Although regression will happen with Clippard, it’s his role to lose with Toronto until more clarity emerges with Osuna’s pending suspension.

It’s hard to believe, but Craig Kimbrel’s never recorded a save requiring him to get more than four outs. He tried again to make history last night, but not only blew the save, his outing led to a Red Sox loss. Many will question his entering the game so soon, but with it on the line, Alex Cora made the right move, it just did not work out. Kimbrel entered with runners on first and third with one out giving up a triple to Brett Gardner to turn the tide then Aaron Judge hit a home run to center before Kimbrel retired the last two by strikeouts to end the inning. In spite of the blown save, Kimbrel’s been trending in the right direction of late. Speaking of which, Aroldis Chapman closed the door notching his ninth save giving up a hit and striking out three working on back-to-back days. Same goes for Chad Green, so if a save chance presents itself in the Bronx tonight, plan on David Robertson to get the opportunity.  Read the rest of this entry »

Roberto Osuna was arrested in Toronto on Tuesday morning and charged with assault, and shortly thereafter, the Commissioner’s Office placed him on administrative leave. Osuna is scheduled for a June 18 court date, and meanwhile, Major League Baseball will be conducting its own investigation under the joint MLB-MLBPA Domestic Violence Policy.

With James Paxton tossing a no-hitter against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night, Toronto had no need for a closer. John Gibbons put the team’s closer situation in its proper perspective, given the seriousness of the charges against Osuna; he has yet to indicate who might fill the ninth-inning role. General manager Ross Atkins stated that Osuna could be out longer or shorter than the default seven-day leave period for an investigation, depending on how the investigation progresses. During that time, Ryan Tepera and/or Seung Hwan Oh would presumably be called upon in save situations.
Read the rest of this entry »

Not a particularly busy or thrilling night across the bullpens so here are a few nuggets of interest from last night…

• The Padres lost to the Nationals last night but Phil Maton threw a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout. In 13 innings this year Maton has 14 strikeouts and an unimpressive 7 walks leading to a 2.86 FIP and 4.10 SIERA but his minor league strikeout rates and 15.5% SwStr% this year suggest there is room to grow in the K department. We have Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen on the grid below but if Maton can up his strikeouts without walking the world, he could become a sneaky contributor in deep leagues.

• Keone Kela has struggled a bit of late in the ERA department, allowing five runs in his previous two appearances but he threw a scoreless inning last night, striking out two batters for his 7th save of the year. While Kela supports a 6.00 ERA rings the alarm, his 2.75 FIP and 3.40 SIERA suggest brighter days ahead. If Kela is able to string together a few good outings we will remove the yellow tag on him in the grid. Jose Leclerc pitched in the eight allowing a hit and an unearned run but also struck out two batters, lowering his ERA to 2.45. Jake Diekman pitched in the eighth, throwing a scoreless inning while also allowing a walk, something that is a legitimate issue as he now has issued 12 free passes in only 12.1 innings. Diekman has been setting up Kela thus far, so he’s second in line on the grid but if something were to happen to Kela I wouldn’t be surprised to see Leclerc leapfrog him for saves as he’s a righty with more swing and miss stuff.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you took the weekend off from baseball to enjoy the beautiful spring weather (or for any other reason), you can rest assured that the Angels’ closer situation remains as confusing as ever.

Based on recent usage patterns, it looks like Jim Johnson may be the Angels’ closer, or at the very least, at the head of their closer committee. When the Angels grabbed a 7-6 lead in the top of the 10th inning in Saturday’s game against the Mariners, Johnson was brought in for the save. Perhaps even more to the point, Mike Scioscia had already used Cam Bedrosian in the sixth inning and Justin Anderson in the eighth inning — both in situations where the Angels held a two-run lead — so it appeared the manager was saving Johnson for the save. The night before, Scioscia had Anderson set up for an apparent save, having him get the final out of the seventh inning and all three outs in the eighth inning. Even though the Angels expanded their lead to five runs in the ninth inning, Johnson came in to pitch a scoreless bottom of the frame.
Read the rest of this entry »

Before delving down the rabbit hole of chasing the next save, a moment to celebrate a milestone for Craig Kimbrel. He’s reached 300 saves in the fewest games (494) of any reliever, with the least save opportunities (330) and at the youngest age (29). Saturday’s save was Kimbrel’s ninth of this year and he did so in familiar fashion striking out two in a clean inning. Rounding into form, Kimbrel’s been a solid investment within the top tier of closers this season. Teammate Joe Kelly also worked out of a bases loaded jam to provide the save chance. Over his last 11 innings, Kelly’s recorded 12 strikeouts while limiting opponents to four hits and zero walks.

Now, it’s time to start trying to diagnose future save production. First, with Bud Norris leaving Saturday’s appearance with an injury, the team will need to reshuffle roles within the bullpen, again. For now, Norris will avoid the disabled list according to sources, but there’s no guarantees. Norris believes he needs a “few days” to recover since it’s an injury he’s managed before. He’s worked 17 times in 31 games including four of the last five for St. Louis. As for the next chance, here’s a quick look at the contestants: Read the rest of this entry »

Just when the St. Louis Cardinal fans thought the closer position was settled down Bud Norris goes out and pitches like… well… Bud Norris. Not exactly analysis, but ask most Cardinal fans what they think of their bullpen at the moment. In a game against their biggest rival, the Chicago Cubs and a game where Miles Mikolas pitched a gem, Norris was one swing away from blowing this one.

Read the rest of this entry »