Archive for Brewers

Although Brad Hand returned to Cleveland’s bullpen, Carlos Carrasco recorded his first save of the season working 1.1 scoreless innings while walking one. Carrasco’s story this year cannot be ignored and he’s turned in two straight scoreless outings as a reliever. His ability to work multiple innings could translate to more save chances down the stretch. Perhaps Terry Francona wishes to ease Hand back into high leverage in order to ensure success. Following heavy usage in the first half, Hand struggled after the All-Star break with a 6.00 ERA in 18 innings from July 15th on, including four home runs in the 19 game stretch. Hand owners will need to monitor his usage and effectiveness once he returns to the mound but remain hopeful since he did record five consecutive saves before leaving the team for an MRI. He last pitched on September eighth. All reports suggest Hand’s bullpen sessions went well leading up to last night. Stay tuned. Read the rest of this entry »

For the final time this season, let’s see who’s movin’ and shakin’ in National League lineups.

Arizona

Wilmer Flores continues to hit and keep his bat in the lineup, starting four of the last six games. Conversely, Jarrod Dyson’s epic slump (3 for 41 prior to Wednesday’s game against the Marlins), has meant a reduction in playing time, as he has started two of the last five games against righties. The most recent of those starts was on Wednesday, when Ketel Marte was out of the lineup. With Marte’s back issues possibly keeping him out for the rest of the season, Dyson could get an opportunity to work his way out of his slump. He did go 2 for 4 on Wednesday, though he was dropped to the eighth spot in the batting order.
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As Greg Jewett noted in Tuesday’s Bullpen Report, Felipe Vázquez was arrested on Tuesday morning. Subsequent to his arrest on charges of computer pornography, solicitation of a child and providing obscene material to a minor in Florida, the Pirates placed him on the restricted list. Vázquez is also facing charges in Pennsylvania for statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old.

In pitching two scoreless innings to wind up the Nationals’ 6-2 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday night, Daniel Hudson collected his fourth save of the season. It was also the first save for any Nationals reliever since Aug. 16 and the team’s first ninth-inning save situation since Aug. 30. Hudson’s performance snapped a string of six consecutive blown saves by the Nationals’ bullpen. During the time since their last save, the Nationals’ relievers have collectively compiled a 5.49 ERA, which is the third-highest for any team over that period. Hudson (2.61 ERA) is the only Nationals reliever to pitch at least 10 innings over this stretch and post an ERA below 3.50.
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Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth inning against the Orioles for his 29th save on Thursday night, and it was the sort of uneventful outing that typically only gets a mention in the “Quick Hits” section of this column. Yet it was notable, not for what happened in this particular appearance, but how it fit into a larger trend.

The Dodgers’ closer threw 18 pitches, and only seven of them were in the strike zone. That 38.9 percent Zone% gave Jansen a string of eight outings in which he has recorded a Zone% below 40 percent in all but one appearance. Six of those eight performances have resulted in Jansen throwing no more than one out of every three pitches in the strike zone, and his cumulative Zone% over this eight-inning span is just 29.0 percent. To put this into perspective, no qualified reliever between 2014 and 2018 finished with a rate below 32 percent.
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Greg Jewett made a speculative call in Tuesday’s Bullpen Report that doesn’t look so speculative now. He noted how Shaun Anderson has thrived since moving to the bullpen, and given how depleted the Giants’ relief corps is right now, he could see some save opportunities in the former starter’s future. The first of those opportunities came as soon as Tuesday night against the Pirates. With Will Smith (back) still unavailable and Tony Watson (wrist) likely out for the season, Anderson got the call to pitch in the top of the eighth inning with two outs and a 5-4 lead, which had been a 5-0 advantage heading into the inning.

In getting José Osuna to fly out to end the threat in the eighth and pitching a scoreless ninth, Anderson recorded his first career save. With Smith’s return not looking imminent, Anderson and Jandel Gustave, who blew a save chance in Monday night’s series opener, figure to be the primary candidates for save opportunities in the near term.
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This is not the first time that I will be pointing out that Brad Hand has been going through a rough patch in recent weeks, but it is the first time in awhile that there are some encouraging signs to report. Hand’s save against the Twins on Sunday — his 34th of the season — was not entirely without drama, as he put LaMonte Wade Jr. on first base with two outs with a hit-by-pitch and then moved him up to second base with a four-pitch walk to Jonathan Schoop. It took seven pitches, but Hand ended the threat by striking out recently-acquired Ryan LaMarre with a 92.9 mph fastball on the inside edge of the strike zone.

It’s that fastball velocity that should have Hand’s fantasy owners breathing a sigh of relief. He threw 14 fastballs, and they averaged 92.1 mph in velocity. This marks the first time in five appearances that his average fastball velocity exceeded 92 mph. However, only one of his 22 total pitches induced a swinging strike, so there is still some reason for concern. While Hand has held the opposition scoreless in five of his last six outings, his SwStr% over that span is still just 8.5 percent.
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The Mets did not need a closer in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Braves, but if they did, it would not have been Edwin Díaz. On Saturday, Díaz came in for the top of the ninth inning, one inning after Brad Brach had already allowed the Braves to unlock a 5-5 tie on Ronald Acuña Jr.‘s RBI single. He allowed the Braves to increase their lead on Freddie Freeman’s leadoff homer, and two batters later, Díaz was lifted due to tightness in his trapezius muscle. He was unavailable for Sunday’s game, and an IL stint is not off the table.

For however long Díaz is out, it is probably safe to assume that Seth Lugo would be used as the closer, Lugo already has a pair of saves in August, and he was essentially used as the closer against the Braves on Friday, when he pitched the top of the eighth and ninth innings in a tie game. Regardless of Díaz’s health status, owners — particularly those in saves-plus-holds leagues — should keep tabs on Paul Sewald. Since getting recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Aug. 16, he has struck out 10 batters in five innings, including four batters in two innings on Sunday. Sewald did allow his first run since getting promoted, giving up Josh Donaldson’s second home run of the game.
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The Diamondbacks’ promotion of Josh Rojas has created some unexpected fallout, while the Rockies, Phillies and Cardinals have given their outfields a new look. Here are the most noteworthy lineup changes for each National League team.

Arizona

The Diamondbacks have used a number of different platoons throughout the season, but a brand new one may be emerging between David Peralta and Adam Jones. Peralta has been out of the lineup for four of the last six games featuring a lefty starter, while Jones has started only once over the last seven games with a righty starter, including Friday night’s game against Jeff Samardzija and the Giants. The apparent beneficiary of Peralta’s and Jones’ reduced playing time is Rojas, who has started four of the team’s five games since he was called up to make his major league debut on Monday. For the one game he didn’t start, Tim Locastro got the nod in left field over Peralta versus lefty Kyle Freeland. Locastro has since been demoted to Triple-A Reno.
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The Red Sox’s bullpen has been among the most confusing ones for fantasy owners to figure out all season. In Tuesday night’s game against the Indians, we had more twists and turns to follow, but ultimately, much of what happened may not have a lasting impact.

The first surprise was seeing Nathan Eovaldi enter the game with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning with a 6-5 lead and a runner on second base. Eovaldi was supposed to begin his return to the Red Sox’s rotation on Wednesday as the scheduled starter for the series finale. Alex Cora has not abandoned that plan, but he put Eovaldi on a slight detour on his path back to a starting role because of what he called “probably the biggest inning of what we were trying to accomplish.” Eovaldi validated Cora’s decision, as he kept the slim margin intact by retiring Roberto Pérez and Jason Kipnis.
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It’s been a rough ride recently for the Cubs in regards to injuries. Craig Kimbrel landed on the 10-day injured list with right knee inflammation backdated to August fourth throwing the high leverage innings in flux. It seemed like Steve Cishek and his seven saves this year could be primed to close in the interim, but his usage on Monday night, nor performance, does not indicate he’s atop the bullpen hierarchy. Cishek entered with a four run lead in the top of the eighth inning serving up a lead-off double to Jurickson Profar before recording a strikeout of Chris Herrmann. Pinch-hitter Nick Martini hit a two-run home run off Cishek followed by a solo-home run by Marcus Semien. Cishek issued a walk to Robbie Grossman before being lifted. Read the rest of this entry »