The new high-strikeout, pitching-focused environment has changed the game in many ways, but one of the more significant ways is the rising value of middle relievers. For years I used to roster 2-3 middle relievers in an AL- or NL-only league to supplement my staff instead going with the fourth- or fifth-starter from some middling team. The linked article was done in 2011 when it was still kind of a niche strategy that maybe a couple of teams could pull off. There wasn’t the overwhelming volume of viable relievers that we see now with gaudy strikeout rates and microscopic ratios.

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Not a large schedule of games today but a few bullpen bullet points to mull over this evening or in the morning with your coffee…

• Joakim Soria closed his fifth door of the year tonight, pitching a perfect inning against the Yankees. Meanwhile Joe Nathan is eligible to come off the DL on Wednesday but will likely “need a simulated game or rehab appearance in the minor leagues to get up to game speed.” So, the same Joe Nathan that was horrible in 2014, horrible in Spring Training and hurt himself immediately upon the start of the season is coming back soon and last we heard he was going to reclaim the job from Soria immediately. I’m tempted to call BS on Ausmus putting Nathan over Soria right away, but we might have to take the manager at his word as he makes the call. However, even if Nathan returns at closer I don’t like his chances of holding it for the rest of the year. Soria is the better option and I’m betting still ends the year with more saves. If Nathan is sitting on the wire, it’s worth picking him up and flipping him if/when he’s the closer again, but other than that hold onto Soria.

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The title of the article is an allusion to Schott’s Miscellany, which you should definitely check out if you never have and feel compelled to know that a group of larks is called an exaltation or that a member of the 32nd degree of Freemasonry is known as a Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.

–Fast Fastballs—

In deeper formats like Ottoneu where setup men can still be usable, I like to take early looks at which relievers are throwing hard each season. Every now and then, those relievers turn out to be Tom Wilhelmsen or Dellin Betances, and you can end up with an elite closer for no cost other than a used roster spot for a month or two. Here are the relievers with one or fewer saves and two or more innings so far this season:

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After the Bullpen Report posted last night, Fernando Rodney blew a save against the Dodgers. Given that he allowed four runs and six base runners in his previous outing on Sunday, my baseball writer-heavy Twitter feed was awash with the names Danny Farquhar and Yoervis Medina with the pseudo-hipsters of the group bringing up Carson Smith’s name.

Some seem to think Rodney has already lost the closer’s job or will imminently, while others simply think he won’t last the year with the job. Given that he has 133 saves in the last three years and saved 48 games last year while blowing just two, I’m not as convinced that his job is in much danger. But to get a better idea, I want to take a look at Lloyd McClendon’s history dealing with struggling closers.  Read the rest of this entry »

• As some of you brilliant readers noticed last night, Mark Melancon was missing several mph off of his fastball. While I don’t believe his job is in danger due to performance, his decreased velocity could signal struggles to come, in which case Tony Watson and co. could replace him in the ninth inning. After averaging 92 mph on his fastball last year, Melancon sat at 89 mph last night. That’s obviously not a good sign but doesn’t signal a changing of the guard quite yet. Melancon will have ample opportunity to remain closer but closer monitoring of his velocity, coupled with any struggles could signal a future change.

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Every year, pitchers add wrinkles in the spring. Most years, they forget them once they have to get batters out and the results count. In the case of today’s pitchers, though, we have three guys that found a new thing and stuck with it when the calendar switched to April. The results weren’t uniformly amazing for each of them, but a third pitch might mean wonders for misters Jimmy Nelson, Nathan Eovaldi, and Brad Boxberger.

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Darren rounded up last night’s closer news this morning, I’ll just hit up on what we have seen so far today.

• LaTroy Hawkins‘ recent implosions has led to his removal from the ninth inning in Colorado. According to Walt Weiss, Hawkins is getting a “break” but the feeling here is that it will be an extended one. It’s rare that struggling 42 year old relievers on bad teams lose their job to more talented relievers and get it back. If you’re in a deep, deep league I guess you can hold onto Hawkins, but I think it’s safe to give him the axe.

Adam Ottavino was long expected to fill in for Hawkins at some point this year but it looks as though Rafael Betancourt could have the closing duties for now. Betancourt received the save opportunity today and nailed it, throwing a perfect inning with two strikeouts in 16 pitches. Adam Ottavino was unavailable to pitch, and is the best reliever in the pen, but after Betancourt’s outing, he should get another chance. This one might be a coin toss with a slight lean towards Betancourt getting the next few opportunities, but both are must owns in all leagues.

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Neftali Feliz and LaTroy Hawkins both picked up their first saves of the season last night. Per ESPN’s live draft results, Feliz was drafted as the 25th reliever off the board on average and just inside the top 200 overall. Hawkins was drafted 38th among relievers and went at pick 226 overall. These are a couple of the names you wound up with if you chose not to pay for saves.

Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I assume the plan if you own guys like Feliz and Hawkins is to ride them out as long as they hold on to the closer’s job and squeeze as many saves out of them as you can. I ascribe to the “don’t pay for saves” philosophy and scrounge around late in drafts and on the waiver wire to acquire my saves. Typically when I get a guy who has the ninth inning job, I ride it out until he loses the job. But it occurs to me, as it may have occurred to you, that maybe it’s better to cash in that asset after a string of un-blown saves. Read the rest of this entry »

There isn’t any particularly breaking news today, but a few important updates on some previous bullet points discussed yesterday.

• Jenrry Mejia had a MRI today and although there was no structural damage, Mejia was placed on the DL with elbow inflammation. Jeurys Familia is the new closer and although a healthy Mejia is the better pitcher, there isn’t a particularly big difference so if Mejia is out for an extended period of time, Familia can hold onto the job. If he falters Carlos Torres and Rafael Montero are right behind him. Mejia can’t throw for at least the next 10 days after which he might feel no pain and be back in the ninth inning before we know it, but it’s still an unknown.

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Opening Day is here and the closer carousel is in full swing.

• Colin touched up on the Craig Kimbrel trade fall out last night and as expected Jason Grilli was tabbed as Kimbrel’s replacement. Grilli threw a perfect inning today with two strikeouts for his first save of the year. Grilli’s fastball topped out at 97 mph today and he was consistently hitting 95 mph which is actually better than in his heyday as the Pirates closer. The options behind Grilli aren’t too appealing so if Grilli pitches reasonably well he should have no problem holding on to the job. Strangely enough, in some sense the better Grilli pitches the worse his job security would be as he would become an intriguing trade commodity for competing teams considering the Braves have clearly played their hand on not competing this season. Either way, I would advise you to run to the waivers to put a claim on Grilli and don’t be afraid to spend a lot of your FAAB budget on him as well.

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