Tony Cingrani recorded his third save today coming into the game with the bases loaded and one out and a five run cushion. He retired the next two batters to lock down the save after blowing one on Wednesday. No official announcement has been made regarding his status as closer, but for now if you really need a closer, you can roll with Cingrani. How long he holds the role is another story as he has struck out 15 over 17 innings, but has also walked 10. His HR/FB rate is also way below his average, so if that normalizes, that can be a recipe for disaster accompanied with those walks. Personally, I’m staying away from this situation despite Cingrani seemingly having the 9th inning job because I am not sure how many save opportunities the Reds are going to have to make it worth risking my ERA and WHIP. Go after him at your own risk.
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So the Phillies bullpen is becoming a strength after a rough start, as Hector Neris and Jeanmar Gomez were perfect in the 8th and 9th, each striking out one. Neris continues to impress by not allowing a run in 17 of his 20 appearances, posting a 1.64 ERA (3.32 FIP). The FIP is high probably because of the 3 home runs he has given up, but outside of that he has looked very strong and also earned his ninth hold of the year for those of you counting. Gomez has also been such a pleasant surprise, despite really only a slight uptick in both his K/9 and K%. The ERA is down from last year (3.01 to 2.61), but the FIP has gone up (3.25 to 3.63). Still has been an excellent closer so far, but the question is how long will this last?
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For the first time since undergoing “core muscle repair in mid-March,” right-hander Brad Boxberger of the Rays took the bump in a live game during extended Spring Training. Boxberger surrendered two hits and a walk but fanned two batters in the 22-pitch outing. If he feels well tomorrow, Boxberger could head out on a rehab assignment as early as Monday and target a return to the Rays toward the end of this month or early June. Keeping the closer’s chair warm in Tampa has been 27-year-old Alex Colome. He’s a perfect 9-for-9 in save opportunities with a 1.80 ERA (1.88 SIERA) and a 29.1% K-BB%. His velocity is up a couple of ticks on each of his offerings and his swinging strike rate (13.9%) is currently a career best. Despite the stellar start for Colome, Rays’ skipper Kevin Cash indicated he’ll settle back into the eighth-inning setup role once Boxberger is deemed ready for the show. Box is only owned in 61% of Y! Leagues and should be added if available. Even with the “demotion,” Colome is one of those relievers I’d consider giving a roster spot given his ability to close, steady strikeouts and fine ratios. If you need the roster spot, I’d still hang with him for a week or two to make sure Boxberger transitions well back into his former gig.
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• With Shawn Tolleson unavailable this afternoon, Sam Dyson picked up the save with a clean ninth inning. If it wasn’t clear enough, this solidifies Dyson has the second in line behind Tolleson, which could be important as the latter has not been at his sharpest so far in 2016. Tolleson’s 5.40 ERA and 6/4 shutdown/meltdown ratio are ugly, but the 3.67 xFIP isn’t all bad. His fastball velocity is right where it’s been in the past, but the swinging strike rate is down a few ticks, which is also noticeable in the strikeout rate. While Dyson’s raw stats (2.25 ERA) have been better, his 3.62 xFIP is almost identical to Tolleson’s. Dyson has also had the same pattern of similar velocity but somewhat suppressed stuff in the early going. Tolleson should be back on the bump for the next Texas save opp, but speculators (or Tolleson owners looking for a handcuff) should hold onto Dyson, as it’s not quite a green light situation. However, this doesn’t seem like one of those setups where a pitcher head and shoulders better than the incumbent is waiting in the wings, so don’t go out of your way to fret too much about pen turnover here.

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A few notes from Monday:

• Aroldis Chapman is back playing for New York. There was no save opportunity but Chapman came in the game throwing is normal ~100 mph heat. Chapman allowed a run to score but he didn’t issue a walk and struck out two batters throwing his regular velocity. Whether or not he stays in the Bronx all season long, Chapman must be considered a top-five closing option in fantasy moving forward.

• Bryan Price has yet to name a closer but after his save last night, Cingrani has now recorded the last two saves for the Reds. Two successful saves is about as good as anyone has done on the Reds so I would expect Cingrani to continue to be the ninth inning guy.

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We don’t always post Bullpen Reports on a Sunday but when we do, we talk about the Reds.

• Tony Cingrani threw 1.2 innings for the save on Friday, his first of the season. However, Bryan Price hasn’t suggested that it means Cingrani will now be the closer. In today’s game – Blake Wood blew a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning so I wouldn’t count on future saves from him in the near future. Ross Ohlendorf was called on in the eighth, and he gave up the go ahead run on a Jonathan Lucroy homer. Ohlendor stayed in to throw a scoreless ninth and finished the day with two innings, four strikeouts, three baserunners and the loss.  Although Price hasn’t named Cingrani (or anyone for that matter) the closer, I’m going to move him to the top spot for now, with knowledge that this situation remains hilariously fluid. After throwing two innings today it’s likely that Ohelndorf will get Monday’s game off as well, so expect Cingrani to see the opportunity if one arises.

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Somewhat quiet night on the bullpen front tonight…

• Luke Gregerson certainly did not look great tonight, coughing up three runs in a tie game and talking the loss. With the outing, the righty’s xFIP climbed to a palatable, but less exciting 3.16 on the young season. While the Astros’ closer hasn’t really hasn’t been striking too many guys out (20% K%), he has been inducing ground balls at a Zach Britton-like rate (71%) which is one of the reasons both xFIP and SIERA seem happy with him in the ninth inning. His closest competition likely remains Ken Giles, who didn’t have a great outing himself today. While most folks have jumped ship on Giles and his 9.26 ERA, it’s worth noting that he’s off to a pretty unlucky start, with a .382 BABIP and a 61% strand rate. His fastball velocity is right where it was last year, and it’s not like he’s walking a ton of guys. Unfortunately, he seems to be pretty far away from save opps right now, but I’d hold in deeper leagues — the rates should be back soon enough.

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• Well, it finally happened — Jeanmar Gomez finally blew a save. It wasn’t pretty either, as the righty was touched up for two runs on three hits and a pair of walks. The outing was ugly enough to bring his (SSS) xFIP from 3.27 to 3.81, which is actually not too far off last year’s 3.98 mark. We’ve mentioned here a couple times that Gomez is probably just good enough to hold onto the gig when things are going well, but he doesn’t have enough swing-and-miss stuff to avoid bad stretches where guys are making solid contact and putting the ball in play. He has been used a lot lately (8 times in the Phillies last 12 games), so maybe a day or two off will do him good. I expect he’ll get the next save opportunity, but we’ve kept him yellow even through the “good times” for a reason. I’ll slide Hector Neris (2.05 xFIP, 43% K%) ahead of David Hernandez (2.26 xFIP, 39% K%) based on his save a couple games ago (when Gomez was getting a day off). However, it wouldn’t be shocking if either of them (or even Andrew Bailey) saw run in the ninth inning for Philly at some point going forward.

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Seattle’s Tony Zych will be placed on the 15-day DL for rotator cuff tendinitis, as the origins and timetable for return are not known. Last year in a small sample Zych looked very strong. Zych was continuing to open eyes with a 14.25 K/9 this season, but his control was also concern with a BB/9 of 6. Steve Johnson was called up to fill his roster spot, but not his role as the second set-up man. Johnson impressed in AAA this year with 20 K’s and 2 BB’s over 16 innings. Yet in his limited major league exposure, Johnson has produced a 4.25 ERA (4.33 FIP) with a good K rate (10.49 per 9) and poor BB rate (5.46 per 9). Nick Vincent will be second in line for saves it seems, and he has performed well this season. Vincent had been a solid low leverage reliever for the Padres, and there appears to have been improvements made this year. His strikeouts are slightly up from the past and he has yet to issue a walk. The two dings on his numbers this year have been the two home runs he gave up this year, but I’m still intrigued by the batted ball data. His previous career high GB/FB ratio was 1.26. This season: 2.17. I know, it’s early and we need to see more if we can conclude whether something has changed. He can still be a nice source for Holds while Zych is sidelined.
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Zach Britton left a tied game with a lower body injury and took the loss. Britton struck out the first two batters he faced, and then left the game after Adam Eaton bunted towards him. Vance Worley came in to replace Britton and gave up the inherited run with two walks and a single. We don’t know the severity of Britton’s injury yet, but certainly monitor that situation moving forward. A potential replacement if he were to be shelved for any time would probably be Darren O’Day, who earned his first blown save of the season. O’Day pitched the 8th gave up three hits including a three-run homer by Todd Frazier.
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