Thursday’s slate was short on games and also short on any sort of closer developments. We also got a break from the ongoing late-inning soap opera being acted out for us by the Brewers and Cardinals. The former team had the night off, while the latter blew out the Reds, 13-4.

Oddly enough, the Cardinals’ bullpen produced one of the two saves recorded on Thursday. Mike Mayers pitched the final three innings, giving the late-inning contingent a rest during a lopsided game. Mayers shut out the Reds over his three frames, allowing only a double, a single and a walk while striking out two batters.
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Yesterday featured the drama surrounding the Cardinals bullpen, Wednesday transitioned to another rendition of who will close in Milwaukee. One day after Jacob Barnes wild pitching the tying run in, Josh Hader worked high leverage as usual recording four outs, three via strikeouts,  but allowed his second hit of the year. Of course, the hit came in the form of a Tommy Pham home run which prompted a move to Matt Albers to face the two right-handed power hitters in the ninth inning. Albers allowed a single to right field by Marcell Ozuna against the shift, then a single to Jose Martinez before retiring the next two hitters for his first save with the Brewers.

However, nothing seems to be settled here. Fantasy owners still yearn for Hader to ascend to closer, but his ability to work multiple innings seems to prohibit this move. By the way, Hader’s worked 7.2 inning this year with 17 strikeouts. Personally pulling for him to get three more in his next 1.1 innings to reach 20 strikeouts in nine innings. As for Milwaukee, will the next save chance go to Barnes? Albers? Wild cards still exist in the forms of Jeremy Jeffress, who struck out Ozuna on Tuesday, and rookie Taylor Williams. Due to the recent volatility with this situation, those who avoided entering the fray should be relieved. If invested, patience will still be required.

Seguing to Atlanta, no change will be imminent. But, two of the last three outings by Arodys Vizcaino leave his owners hoping for a rebound. For starters, Vizcaino’s yet to register a save this year. He blew the opportunity for a save on Wednesday yielding a home run to Matt Adams. More worrisome, he then allowed a two single to Michael A. Taylor which led to a errant throw to first base in a pick-off attempt moving him to second. Then a wild pitch moving Taylor to third. Thanksfully, Vizcaino escaped the ninth giving up the tying run and not a walk-off, thus avoiding a Carlos Marmol-esque meltdown. Many hoped A. J. Minter could eventually take over the ninth inning. Following a slow start with decreased velocities, Minter looked very good Wednesday striking out the side in the eighth inning. However, like Hader, Minter’s ability to work in high leverage could keep him from the ninth inning. Tracking how Jose Ramirez and David Winkler pitch going forward makes sense, but the Braves need Vizcaino to close and will give him rope to rebound.

It’s easy to overlook the strong start to the year by Edwin Diaz, but he’s been dominant out of the gate. He’s faced 18 batters this year and struck out 12 of them for a remarkable 66.7 percent strikeout percentage. Small sample size should be duly noted, but at age-24 and under the tutelage of Juan Nicasio, Diaz seems more confident translating to a 27.5 swinging strike percentage so far with reduced contact and increased swinging strikes outside the zone. Like any closer, Diaz will suffer hiccups, but he also could be on the precipice of a breakout season.

An encouraging bounce back by Wade Davis who worked a clean ninth with two strikeouts for his fifth save of the year. Working below the radar, Adam Ottavino continues to surge with two more strikeouts en route to his second hold of the season. Ottavino’s moving up in the pecking order with the Rockies riding his 64 percent strikeout rate (16 against 25 total batters faced). Injuries seem to depress Ottavino’s value, but those in leagues which reward holds or strikeout to walk ratios should see if he’s available.

Do not overreact to Nate Jones notching his first save since July of 2016 yesterday. With the team trailing, Jones warmed up to pitch the ninth no matter the outcome and benefited with the save opportunity when his team rallied for two runs off of a fatigued Rays bullpen. Jones issued a walk but struck out two to record the save. It’s still Joakim Soria in the role, but those hoping for Jones to eventually emerge will be encouraged by his initial results on Wednesday. Also, do not forget about Bruce Rondon. He worked the eighth inning and garnered the win. He’s retired all seven hitters he’s faced this year with five strikeouts. Again, small sample size,  but intriguing results.

Lost in the sauce of all the Mets saves by Jeurys Familia, he leads the majors with six, is the value for those in head-to-head formats in the forms of Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo. Gsellman struck out the side Wednesday night in Miami and he’s whiffed 12 of the 27 batters faced this year. Add in a 61.5 ground ball percentage with a 16 percent swinging strike rate and he makes for a nice pitcher to own as a daily plug in the starting pitcher spot as a reliever. Lugo’s also worked well in the bullpen so far, and Zach Wheeler’s debut should keep Lugo in a relief role. Lugo’s pitched six innings over three appearances giving up no runs, two hits and three walks with seven strikeouts equating to a 0.83 WHIP. Those hoping A.J. Ramos would get the save yesterday, he pitched to the last two hitters, not recording a full inning with a three run lead or pitching with the go ahead run in the on-deck circle. Rules, they’re a killer.

Quick Hits: Brad Peacock took the loss in Minnesota, but the weather affected Houston’s staff with gripping the baseball. Chris Devenski worked in the fifth inning and Ken Giles still seems shaky. This could be a bullpen with turnover in saves as well going forward. Sean Doolittle allowed two walks but recovered with two strikeouts in a 10th inning outing in a tied game. Ryan Madson struggled taking the loss giving up three hits, two walks and two earned runs. Raisel Iglesias looked terrific in a non-save two inning outing striking out four. However, Hector Neris incurred a blown save yielding three hits and an earned run. There’s no immediate replacement available for Neris, but keep tabs on when Tommy Hunter returns to the Phillies. Brad Brach seems to be settling in for the Orioles and recorded his third save. Last but not least, Keynan Middleton upset Elvis Andrus owners, but did finish a 1.2 inning save in Texas, though he did fatigue.

If closer drama is what you’re looking for, you can find all you need in St. Louis, where the Cardinals are hosting the Brewers. For the second night in a row, the teams went into extra innings after both bullpens floundered in the ninth inning. In Tuesday night’s affair, Bud Norris was entrusted to keep the Cardinals knotted in a 1-1 tie, with Greg Holland apparently being given the night off. Norris yielded a two-out RBI single to Domingo Santana. That set the Brewers up with a save situation, and fantasy owners everywhere waited anxiously to see who would get the call.

It turned out to be Taylor Williams, who had struck out the side in the eighth inning in his second appearance of the season. However, he was removed after walking Tommy Pham and allowing a sacrifice bunt to Greg Garcia. A more familiar face, Jacob Barnes, came in to face Dexter Fowler, and he promptly unleashed two wild pitches that allowed Pham to tie the game.
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• Alex Colome has had some struggles of late and although he allowed the first two batters to reach base last night, he didn’t allow one to score and held onto the one run lead for his second save of the year. On the year Colome has allowed four runs in 3.1 innings, which can happen early on for a reliever after a rough outing but what’s troublesome is his 4.8% K% and 14.3% BB%. For his career, Colome has a 11.6% SwStr% and this year it’s only at 8.6%.

Colome displayed fantastic swing and miss stuff in 2016 paired with a better walk rate, but both of those went in the wrong direction last year and that trend has continued this year. There seems to be no real concerns with his velocity and he will have a long leash in Tampa Bay but it’s worth noting his appearances here on out. If he continues to slip look for Sergio Romo, Jose Alvarado, and Chaz Roe to be next in line. Roe and Alvarado shared the 6th and 7th innings last night with Romo getting four outs and three strikeouts to set up Colome with the save.

• Rough start to the Greg Holland era in St. Louis. Holland came on in the 10th inning last night and walked four batters while only getting one out. Bud Norris finished the inning but the damage was done as Holland received the loss. The Cardinals didn’t pay Holland to give him just one save opportunity but it might take a few appearances in non-closing situations before he’s given the role. I’d expect Bud Norris to see the next save opportunity with Dominic Leone, Tyler Lyons, and Jordan Hicks setting up along with Holland.

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As we enter the weekend, the Milwaukee bullpen continues to be the most volatile situation to speculate for saves. The word from the Brewers today regarding Corey Knebel was unfortunately bad news. According to the Milwaukee manager, Craig Counsell, Knebel will miss “a minimum of six weeks” with his left hamstring strain. For those who missed the injury, it was a lot worse than it sounds. Knebel fell to the ground after delivering a pitch in the 9^th inning down 6 to 0 in Thursday night’s game against the Cubs.

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After a relatively calm first week for closers, the fantasy world got rocked on Thursday night. While the pitching the ninth inning of the Brewers’ series opener against the Cubs at Miller Park — a game that was firmly in the grasp of the visiting team — Corey Knebel hopped uncomfortably after making his second pitch to Tommy La Stella, then quickly fell to the mound. Knebel sustained an injury to his left hamstring, and according to multiple reports, he will undergo an MRI on Friday to determine the exact nature and severity of the issue.
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While many pondered the potential outcomes when deciding on taking Ken Giles in preseason drafts and auctions, Brad Peacock emerged as a popular target in the later rounds. In spite of his transition to the bullpen to start the year, Peacock’s 13 wins, 29.5 strikeout percentage and 161 strikeouts over 132 innings in 2017 made him an interesting pitcher to pair with Charlie Morton or an upside arm to deploy as a reliever with starting pitcher eligibility in leagues which use designations. After two strong innings on Wednesday, the Astros opted to leave Peacock in for three innings and the win rather than adhere to standard procedure by using their closer, Ken Giles to secure the last three outs against the Orioles.

There’s not reason for panic by Giles owners, yet at least, since leaving Peacock, while in a rhythm, translated into him retiring nine of the 11 hitters he faced. Peacock whiffed five of them, allowed two hits and issued zero walks. All told, Peacock threw 39 pitches in three innings generating 12 swinging strikes (30.8 swinging strike percentage in the appearance) and notching his, and Houston’s first save of the season. A.J. Hinch proved last postseason he would not be averse to using pitchers in roles outside the popular think box to close out games with Lance McCullers Jr. taking over high leverage last October. It’s a marathon of a season and Giles owners have reason to be upset, but it’s not time to panic, yet. Houston’s powerful offense could also cut into potential save chances as the year progresses, so Giles owners need to plan accordingly. Read the rest of this entry »

We are not quite a week into the 2018 season, but as far as surprising stories go, Kenley Jansen being one of the shakiest closers has to be at the top of the list. On Tuesday night, the Dodgers dropped to 2-4, as Zack Godley outdueled Clayton Kershaw, and Jansen got the night off. The Diamondbacks opened up their lead in the seventh inning against Scott Alexander, and with the Dodgers failing to rally, there was no need for Dave Roberts to call on his closer. We will have to wait at least another day for Jansen to reassure his fantasy owners.
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While the closer grid might start green it doesn’t take too long for some different colors to emerge.

• The current situation in Anaheim has been interesting to say the least. Blake Parker’s hold on the job was never seen as particularly strong and he hasn’t done himself any favors early on this year, needing to be bailed out by Keynan Middleton as Al Melchior mentioned last night. I’ve changed this situation to yellow and added Middleton to the grid. It might be anyone’s guess who gets the next save opportunity but I’m keeping Parker in the lead for now. If Mike Scioscia wants to go with the hot hand he could turn to Middleton again and there’s also Bedrosian who’s been deployed a setup man thus far as well as Jim Johnson who does have that trademarked closer experience. At some point this situation might settle but for now there are a few guys who are worthy of speculative adds but also not provide any saves. Helpful, I know.

• As far as other colors go, we’re sticking with Baltimore at yellow before moving to a code red. Brad Brach obviously has not looked effective so far but until we see O’Day pitching in a save situation or Buck Showalter address the situation, we’re going to keep Brach in the lead. Darren O’Day did get some action on Monday but he entered in the 8th inning in a 6-1 game. It’s possible he’s was getting some work in as he had only pitched on Thursday so far this season. O’Day did look effective, striking out a pair in a perfect inning. If he’s still on the wire I would definitely look to grab him over Mychal Givens.

• We had Pedro Baez as the next-in-line in LA but it looks like Josh Fields is the man of the eighth for now. Baez looked good getting four perfect outs but he entered the game in the fourth inning. Josh Fields meanwhile took the ball in the eighth and pitched around a hit, striking out two batters. If something were to happen to Kenley Jansen I would keep an eye on Baez, but Fields would be the man to own. Speaking of Jansen, after taking the loss in his first appearance this year he doubled down with a blown save tonight, allowing three earned in the ninth. Jansen’s velocity has been down a few ticks this year and consider me worried. We don’t know if something is going on yet but I would look to grab Fields if I was in need of saves. If one is willing to chase saves in Miami, they should be willing to use a speculative add on Fields. Jansen certainly has a laughably tighter grasp on the role than Brad Ziegler but the payoff on getting the Dodgers closer is much greater than one in Miami. I’m a little hesitant to jump the gun here and make this situation yellow, but better safe than sorry with a big payoff if Jansen is to miss anytime.

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Now that the first series of the season are the in the books, it’s time to break out the Bullpen Report closer grid. At the conclusion of each installment, we will list the current closer, a color-coded rating for the stability of the closer situation and the two most likely closer replacements in the event of an injury or role change for the incumbent.

The initial version of the grid is practically a sea of green. Though a few closers have had their first meltdowns of the season already, none has endangered himself to the point of earning the dreaded red designation. Only three situations — the Orioles, White Sox and Cardinals — are currently coded as yellow. The first two teams entered the season with co-closers, while the Cardinals are going with a committee until newly-signed Greg Holland is ready to report to the big-league team. Holland is working with Advanced Class A Palm Beach for now, but once he is promoted, he will get the closer’s spot in the grid. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that should happen in 10 days, when Holland will be eligible to be promoted.
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