Archive for Closers

A light(er) and (less) important load today with a few teams off, but some bullpen notes for your reading pleasure below.

• Chris Perez isn’t joining the Indians quite yet, but he’s set to start throwing in a few days. In his place closing games for the Indians has been Vinnie Pestano and although he hasn’t pitched all that well this year (5.57 FIP) he’ll still get the ball in the ninth. Setting him up has been and will continue to be Joe Smith, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen. Mr. Allen might be the farthest away from getting a save but he’s also the most effective reliever in Cleveland, leading the bullpen in WAR(0.5), FIP (2.49) and K/9 (11.92). The Indians lost today against the Yankees, but Cody Allen finished the seventh inning with Joe Smith pitching a scoreless eighth. Whether it’s in a winning or losing effort, that distribution should continue for the Indians with everyone entering the game a little earlier once Chris Perez returns.

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Today we go real deep to find you potential hidden treasure that will catapult your fantasy teams into Yoo-Hoo shower stardom. Then again, you’re all definitely in first place already, because you read RotoGraphs every day and get the best advice on the planet.

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• Chris Perez was placed on the 15-day DL yesterday with a shoulder injury and after an MRI today, we now know he has rotator cuff tendinitis. While the news could have been worse, as shoulder injuries are always worrisome especially considering Perez had a few shoulder flare ups earlier this season, the Indians are glad he won’t have to miss any significant time due to the injury. In his place in the ninth inning will be Vinnie Pestano. Pestano has been an ace reliever the last couple of years but has struggled in 2013. Pestano has never had great control with a career 3.62 BB/9 but he compensated for it with terrific swing and miss stuff. This year his control has eluded him a bit (5.25 BB/9) as his strikeout rate (9.0 K/9) is down from his career numbers (10.87). Add it all up and Pestano is pitching to an ugly 4.99 FIP.

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• A day after blowing his third consecutive save chance, Jim Johnson pitched a scoreless tenth inning against the Yankees in a tie game this evening. Although it obviously wasn’t a save opportunity, Johnson was the pitcher of record when Nate McLouth hit the walk-off home run and before the game, Buck Showalter said that Johnson would still be used as the closer. While Johnson can’t really afford to blow another three consecutive saves, he’s still the man in the back of the bullpen with the support of his manager. Behind Johnson is Darren O’Day, who has been fantastic in 2013 (and 2012) with a 1.74 ERA, 3.56 FIP and a 9.58 K/9 on the season. O’Days control has left him a little this year with a 10.1 BB% after posting  a 5.3% BB% in 2012 and 6.8% in 2011 but if he can regress back to those normals this year, he should have the fancy peripherals to match the ERA.

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We’re going to do something a little different here. The Bullpen Report guys — Alan Harrison, Benjamin Pasinkoff and Colin Zarzycki — are knee-deep in every bullpen every night, just to update you. So they’re in a great position to rank relievers when it comes to 5×5 roto leagues.

So they’ve got the keys to the car, and now they get to wreck it.

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• Vinnie Pestano, Chris Perez and Joe Smith each gave up an earned run in the eighth, ninth and tenth innings respectively this afternoon against Seattle and in the bottom half of the tenth the Indians took back the lead, netting Joe Smith his second win of the season. Although Pestano blew the save today, back from the DL he’s slotted again into his usual set up/eighth inning role ahead of Chris Perez. Perez has struggled a tad of late, giving up a run today and blowing the save in his last appearance this weekend but his hold on the job remains secure.

In the same game, Tom Wilhelmsen blew a save of his own (his first of the year) in the ninth inning allowing a run to score via his own fielding error. On the season, Wilhelmsen’s strikeout rate (20%) is less than what we would expect thus far given his career (24.7% K%) but he’s still pitching to a 0.47 ERA and 2.24 FIP and remains in the upper half of closing options in fantasy baseball. Before the season I suspected Wilhelmsen to be a potential trade target and while that could still be a possibility, the Mariners are playing close to .500 ball and I’ve yet to hear any trade rumors/whispers. If anything were to happen however, Carter Capps and Charlie Furbush would look to take over.

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• Andrew Bailey is close to returning to the Red Sox, and when he’s back he’ll be in the closers role that Junichi Tazawa is currently occupying.  Tazawa has had a great season (2.86 xFIP) but since April 24 he’s given up five earned runs in 6.2 innings pitched. During that same rough stretch Tazawa was still able to showcase his swing and miss stuff, striking out 11 batters. Tazawa should continue to close in Bailey’ absence and when Bailey is back, Tazawa will remain a fine relief ace for your fantasy team providing elite strikeouts (11.57) with potential for  saves because as we all know, Bailey’s health always remains a risk.   Before getting hurt Bailey had 20 strikeouts in 12.1 innings pitched with a 2.74 xFIP and while he likely won’t maintain a strikeout percentage of 42.6%, Bailey’s always been very effective when healthy and that should continue while saving game in Boston.

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• Edward Mujica recorded his 10th save of the season tonight, throwing a perfect ninth inning against the Mets. In 15 innings pitched Mujica has struck out 15 batters and continued his strike throwing ways by only issuing one free pass, good for a 15.00 K/BB. Not bad. It goes without say that there is regression coming for Mujica as he won’t maintain a .172 BABIP or a 96.8% Left On Base Percentage all year, but you can’t deny he’s pitching quite well with a particularly strong grip on the roll at the moment. Behind Mujica for saves is the young Trevor Rosenthal, who after struggling earlier this season has brought his ERA down to 2.84 and after two strikeouts tonight, he now has 27 in 19 innings pitched with only five walks.  As the eighth inning guy in St. Louis, Rosenthal is a great source for holds who can help your ratios and strikeout totals, and if anything were to happen to Mujica, he’d see the ninth inning again.

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After putting together one of the best single seasons in relief pitcher history last season, Craig Kimbrel has ran into a rough patch in the early portions of this year, with many asking if anything is “wrong” with the flame thrower. With three blown saves and a 3.38 ERA compared to his career mark of 1.61, the first glance would point to there being some type of issue. However, when you realize he has thrown just 13.1 innings it becomes less evident. We all know how weighing early season small samples can distort analysis, and that is especially true with relief pitchers.
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• If you were smart, you wouldn’t have listened to me when I said Koji Uehara would get the first shot at saves in lieu of Joel Hanrahan’s injury because it’s Junichi Tazawa who will see the ninth inning now. Colin pretty much summed up the entire situation earlier today so I won’t add much and just lead you over to what he said. With Hanrahan and Bailey on the DL and the former struggling all year and the later always struggling with injuries, Tazawa could possibly see more than just a weeks worth of saves this year.

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