Archive for Brewers

For someone who had managed to pile up 28 saves, Bud Norris never seemed to have a firm grasp on the Cardinals’ closer role. Now he has lost his grip on the job entirely.

On Sunday, Mike Shildt named Carlos Martinez as the team’s new closer, and Norris is being moved to a lower-leverage role, albeit one that will still involve the later innings. Martinez had already been called upon to close out Wednesday’s 7-6 win over the Nationals, as Norris was unavailable, and then he recorded his first save as the team’s official closer on Sunday. His 1-2-3 ninth inning finished off a 5-2 win over the Tigers.
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With attention shifting to football for many fantasy owners, remaining vigilant with baseball will be important when projecting roles for next season. For example, Ty Buttrey notched the first save of his career last night for the Angels striking out one in a clean outing. His role continues to grow in high leverage and Buttrey’s been scoreless in eight of his nine appearances this season. He, along with Jose Alvarez own the best peripheral numbers in the Angels bullpen over the last 30 days. As for Buttrey, he’s pitched 9.1 innings since his promotion with a 0.96 ERA, 1.97 FIP, 1.07 WHIP, 10:3 K:BB, 16.9 swinging strike percentage, an ERA- of 23 and limiting contact to 65.5 percent. Keep in mind, Blake Parker recorded the previous two saves for the Angels but has not pitched since September third. This could just be a preview of next year for Buttrey, but if he moves into a share of the closer role, he’s an intriguing pickup for the remainder of the season. Read the rest of this entry »

When the game reached the seventh inning and Kenley Jansen remained in the dugout, it became apparent the Dodgers were going to keep him out of a potential save situation in Texas. Jansen’s allowed runs in each of his four appearances since returning from the disabled list without a rehab outing resulting in seven earned runs, two losses and a blown save. Less than optimal in the midst of a pennant chase. Kenta Maeda recorded his first save of the year, and second in his career during the regular season, allowing a hit, an earned run and two walks with a strikeout. He’s made six appearances as a reliever this year with a 2.69 ERA, 10 strikeouts against two walks and a matching 1.42 WHIP and FIP. While it’s apparent Maeda will back up Jansen going forward, the team will use their veteran closer this weekend in the role in a key match-up versus Arizona:

Kenley Jansen will be ready to close tomorrow against Arizona, Dave Roberts said.

— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) August 30, 2018

In other Dodgers news, the team placed a waiver claim on Ryan Madson in an attempt to bolster the bullpen before September. The teams have until Friday afternoon to consummate a deal. Stay tuned to world of evolving bullpens. Read the rest of this entry »

Although nothing’s set in stone, the first Yankees save opportunity went to Zach Britton, in his former ballpark, and he converted it despite ceding a home run to Chris Davis. It’s Britton’s first save with New York and snaps a three game scoreless streak. However, Britton seems to be turning a corner with the Yankees not walking a batter his last five appearances and getting the ball down in the strike zone which yields success for the veteran closer. This will be important since Aroldis Chapman received a platelet-rich plasma injection and will miss the next two weeks as a result. The team hinted a triumvirate could be deployed in late innings so high leverage could evolve. Dellin Betances recorded his 32nd consecutive outing with at least a strikeout in the eighth inning. Over his last 33 games, Betances has a 0.56 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 32.1 innings. Chad Green garners the win in relief striking out two in the ninth and David Robertson pitched in the seventh, for the first time in a week, giving up a two-run home run to Jonathan Villar. Use last night as a template with Betances in the eighth and Britton in the ninth until further notice.

It seems like the Indians would prefer Cody Allen to succeed in the ninth, but he blew his fifth save of the season serving up back-to-back home runs to Ryan O’Hearn and Hunter Dozier in the ninth en route to his fifth loss of the year. Allen’s allowed runs in three straight outings working two innings with four earned runs, two walks and one strikeout in them. He whittled down his ERA to 3.98 on August 17th but it’s ebbed back to 4.50 as a result of the last three games. Brad Hand notched his ninth hold walking one in the eighth inning. Hand’s been scoreless his last seven outings with 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings and scoreless in 12 of his 14 appearances with Cleveland. With five saves and six holds since joining the team, it’s likely Hand gets the next save chance. Especially with Andrew Miller starting to look like his old self registering his third straight scoreless outing last night with a strikeout. Read the rest of this entry »

Wilmer Difo seems to be taking the Daniel Murphy trade in stride.

He received starts at second base in the first two games of the post-Murphy era in D.C., and he went 3 for 8 with each hit being for extra bases. (He also started for a third straight day on Thursday, though as of this writing, he is taking an 0-fer.) Difo has speed and can spray line drives, but power has not shown up as a key part of his skill set over his time in the majors. The flyball revolution is not for everyone, and Davey Martinez made sure to remind his 26-year-old infielder of that.
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The Twins had a lot more trust in Fernando Rodney heading into this season than fantasy owners did. While Rodney got a $4.5 million deal from the Twins to be their closer last December, fantasy owners typically passed him over until after the first 200 picks were made (220 NFBC ADP, 239 Fantrax ADP). Several opening day closers lost their grip on the role long ago, but Rodney was the Twins’ unquestioned closer all season long.

Until now. The Twins traded Rodney to the Athletics for minor league right-hander Dakota Chalmers on Thursday night, joining an already deep bullpen where Blake Treinen, Jeurys Familia and Lou Trivino have settled into their respective late-inning roles. Holds, much less saves, could be hard to come by for Rodney with his new club.
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Something seemed off kilter with Kelvin Herrera once he arrived in Washington. Following a strong start to his season as a Royal, Herrera’s performance with the Nationals did not come close to matching. Speculation of an injury surfaced when Herrera left the mound on Tuesday and underwent an MRI on Wednesday morning. Although his MRI did not reveal any structural damage, Herrera was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a shoulder impingement. He will not throw for a few days then resume a regimen to get back on the field and, hopefully more productive for the stretch run. In 19 games with the Nationals, Herrera’s recorded a 4.76 ERA, 6.03 FIP and 1.82 WHIP in 19 games (17 innings) striking out 15 against eight walks.

Owners chasing saves have already added Ryan Madson, but if he sits on the wire and the need for saves exists, he will take over as the closer while both Herrera and Sean Doolittle work towards a return. Madson’s pitched well of late yielding only one earned runs his last 11 outings with a save, four holds and a tidy 9:2 K:BB in them. However, the bridge getting to Madson could be slippery. Newly acquired Greg Holland could be asked to pitch in high leverage after being released by the Cardinals. Plus, Washington shipped out Brandon Kintzler to the Cubs, so Sammy Solis and others will need to step up to secure leads going forward. Trusting Madson’s past track record as a closer and his recent performances seems easy, getting him to the ninth with a lead could be precarious. Read the rest of this entry »

Just one day being used in a low-leverage situation, Corey Knebel was thrust into the 10th inning of a tie game with the Rockies. To his credit, Knebel breezed through the inning, allowing only a two-out walk to David Dahl. Three of the four batters he faced were left-handed, and Knebel’s recent struggles have occurred disproportionately against right-handed batters. Craig Counsell left Knebel in for the 11th inning, and after retiring leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon, he was set to face two tough righties, DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado. The latter put the Rockies ahead with a solo home run.
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In the midst of his walk year to free agency, it’s been anything but easy for Kelvin Herrera. He’s been traded from the organization he grew up in, lost his closer role upon arrival in Washington and has struggled since moving to the National League. Herrera did record his second save for the Nationals on Wednesday afternoon, but it did not come easy. After getting the first out, he then allowed a home run, off the glove of Juan Soto, to Wilmer Flores, a double to Michael Conforto and a walk to Jose Bautista. Herrera did induce a game ending double play but he’s allowed runs in back-to-back games and in five of his last 10.

Of more concern, in 16 games in Washington, Herrera’s 4.30 ERA, 6.59 FIP and 1.77 WHIP do not provide confidence going forward. He’s walked seven in only 14.2 innings as a National after issuing two walks in 25.2 innings for the Royals. Over the last month, Herrera’s use of his change has increased along with throwing fewer sliders and fastballs. Not sure if this plan comes from the coaching staff or a lack of trust in a pitch, but Herrera’s yielded a .318 batting average against this year with the change compared to .200 against with the slider. With Sean Doolittle still sidelined with his foot injury and Brandon Kintzler traded, Ryan Madson lies in the wings if needed for saves. Madson had been scoreless in his previous seven outings until giving up a run as well on Wednesday. There’s no immediate threat to Herrera’s role, but it’s tenuous at best right now for him to remain in the ninth until Doolittle returns. Read the rest of this entry »

As the trade deadline approached, it seemed as if about half of the relievers on non-contending teams were rumored to get traded. There was just not enough demand to meet the supply, so many of those relievers are staying put for the time being. Just among current closers, here’s who did not get moved: Shane Greene, Raisel Iglesias, Kyle Barraclough, Fernando Rodney, Sergio Romo, Kirby Yates, Mychal Givens and Blake Parker. Some of these relievers could still get dealt if they can pass through waivers, so if you’ve been stashing the likes of Joe Jimenez, Jared Hughes or Drew Steckenrider, don’t drop them just yet.
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