If you follow the Bullpen Report here, you might have noticed a new name pop up as the “second” guy in the Pittsburgh bullpen (meaning the guy behind both the closer and the guy most likely to usurp the closer). Benajmin Pasinkoff bestowed that honor on one Arquimedes Caminero in last night’s Bullpen Report, displacing Jared Hughes as the man behind the man (Tony Watson) behind the closer (Mark Melancon).

Given that I know nothing of this Arquimedes fellow other than the fact that his parents might have been trying to name him after the Greek mathemetician (I like to think Archimedes would have liked sabermetrics), I gave his player page a gander. One portion of his player page stood out in particular. Read the rest of this entry »

• Miguel Castro is out and Brett Cecil is back in as closer for Toronto. This isn’t necessarily the alignment that the Blue Jays will stick with all season but Gibbons said he will “try” Cecil as closer, with Loup-Osuna in 7th-8th. Miguel Castro will be moved to other innings and theoretically could regain the role at a later date. The fact Castro is staying in the majors might signal a somewhat legitimate commitment to him in Toronto. He and Osuna have their young warts but are very talented arms. Brett Cecil might go as far as his velocity takes him, as its been a bit of a roller coaster this year, but he was above 90 mph tonight as he recorded his first save of the year. If he’s healthy and maintains velocity like he had tonight, Cecil could hold the role but he’ll have plenty of power arms behind his back. Another road block in Cecil’s saves future could be Aaron Sanchez. If he gets demoted to the bullpen, he’s likely their best pitcher there but the Jays should continue to trot him out there every five days for a few more turns before making a change.

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• Rough break for Adam Ottavino owners as he hits the DL with inflammation in his right triceps. Ottavino’s velocity had a sudden drop in his last two outings, and now we know why. Walt Weiss said “If we have the lead in the ninth tonight, it’ll be Axford,” so I would say he is the guy to own right now in Colorado. Rafael Betancourt will certainly be in the mix, but provided Axford successfully closes his next opportunity, it would be hard seeing Weiss look to Betancourt instead. Ottavino won’t necessarily be out for long but Verlander has been dealing with a similar issue since the start of the season. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as to Ottavino’s return.

• Steve Cishek was unable to hold the one run lead for the Marlins, blowing the save against the Mets on a three-run homer by Daniel Murphy. Cishek’s defense didn’t do him any favors after Marcell Ozuna allowed Juan Larages to get to second base on a misplay in the first at bat of the inning. Still, it was a poor performance for Cishek who saw his ERA balloon to 11.37 on the year. Cishek won’t maintain a paltry 23.3% LOB% all season long, but he’ll have to start getting shutdown innings to prevent A.J. Ramos and Mike Dunn from breathing down his neck.

• Miguel Castro gave up hits and runs for the fourth time in his last five appearances. Tonight he allowed three hits and a run to the Red Sox for his second loss of the year. Roberto Osuna blew the lead in the eighth inning and Brett Cecil has struggled mightily this year, so there aren’t necessarily great options behind him as a replacement. However, Castro is also a 20 year old rookie struggling lately with major league hitters. His raw stuff is immense and the there have been no talk out of Toronto aboutof Castro being removed from the closer’s chair at the moment, but Castro will have to turn this around if he wants to stay in Toronto, not to mention the ninth inning.

• Miguel Castro’s loss netted Koji Uehara the win tonight. Uehara has been a little more brittle and a little more hittable this year but he was effective pitching a perfect ninth with two strikeouts. Uehara’s velocity dipped a bit earlier this year but he was back at 87-88 mph against the Blue Jays, which is more in line with his recent years. Junichi Tazawa is ownable in all leagues, for ratio help alone, but his chances at saves are looking slimmer so long as Uehara throws like this.

• Andrew Miller converted his eighth save in eight tries tonight continuing his awesome start for the Yankees. I still don’t think Girardi has officially named a closer, but there is also no need when it’s this obvious. In 9.1 scoreless innings pitched, Miller now has 17 strikeouts against four walks, good for a 1.34 FIP/2.06 xFIP. Meanwhile Betances, who was expected to close at the start of the season threw another scoreless inning himself lowering his 0.00 ERA to 0.00. Betances has 17 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched with a 1.91 FIP/2.50 xFIP of his own. QuanGorMo was effective several years ago on the Yankees but the BetanMiller duo has that beat and is possibly the best set up and closer option in all of baseball, real or fantasy.

• Quick Hits and Tidbits: Jeurys Familia nailed the save for the Mets and is a perfect 9-9 in save opportunities since replacing Mejia as closer. Aroldis Chapman allowed several inherited runners to score but got two outs to end the game the only way he knows how, via the strikeout. Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis closed out the final two frames for the Royals tonight. There was no save situation involved but the Royals, particularly when Greg Holland returns, challenge the Yankees for the best relief combo in baseball. Zach McAllister threw 1.1 scoreless innings tonight, hitting 96.5 mph in the process. His stay in the bullpen could be a lengthier one and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him throw multiple solid innings out of the pen for the Indians and even inch his way up the pecking order in Cleveland.

Closer Grid:

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]

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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