Archive for Bullpen Report

Sean Doolittle was named to his first National League All-Star team on Sunday (he was also an American League All-Star with Oakland in 2014), and he’s clearly been worthy of the distinction in both the real and fantasy worlds. He has compiled a 1.45 ERA, 0.54 WHIP, 22 saves and 49 strikeouts to date and ranks as the top reliever in terms of Roto value in the NL (per ESPN’s Player Rater).

Not all of the news for Doolittle was positive on Sunday. Earlier in the day, reports surfaced of Doolittle having a strained toe. By multiple accounts, the injury is minor, and he may even have been able to pitch in the series finale against the Marlins. It was a moot point, as the Marlins won in a 10-2 laugher.
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It’s no secret many players push through nagging injuries with the All-Star break fast approaching. Aroldis Chapman’s no exception and left Saturday’s game early when the tendinitis in his knee flared up after striking out Randal Grichuk. With a four run lead, there was no need to push him. However, the recurrence of this injury means it’s something fantasy owners remain cognizant of going forward. Chapman’s been terrific this year converting 24 of his 25 save chances with a 1.42 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 38 innings, including 24 over his last 14.2 innings. Working three games in a row to start the month could have prompted this flareup. As for his backup, it’s unlikely Dellin Betances sits on a waiver wire. He’s in the midst of a tremendous stretch during which he’s recorded 18 straight scoreless outings, spanning 17.2 innings, allowing three hits and 11 walks with 30 strikeouts against 67 total batters faced.

Trying to predict the machinations of Gabe Kaplar and how he will deploy the bullpen remains confounding. Eight different Phillies pitchers have notched a save this year as this hierarchy continues to evolve. It seemed like Seranthony Dominguez could emerge as the ninth inning option with four saves his previous four outings leading up to yesterday. But, Dominguez pitched the eighth inning for his 10th hold giving up a hit and striking out two. Victor Arano recorded his second save, in consecutive outings, also allowing a hit and striking out two. Philadelphia’s beat writers did not broach the subject suggesting a clear cut closer exists on the team. Delving into the batters faced, Dominguez faced Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Colin Moran and Elias Diaz, hitters two through five in the Pirates order. It remains to be seen if Dominguez was used in the highest leverage spot, regardless of role or if Arano’s moving up in the pecking order. For now, leaving Dominguez atop the committee but also promoting Arano to second on the list. Read the rest of this entry »

It seemed like Kenley Jansen would close out his 22nd straight save with a two strike count against Shohei Ohtani in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. However, Ohtani battled back drawing a walk, then stole second base during which an errant throw allowed him to move to third. A single by David Fletcher tied the game, then a single to right field by Ian Kinsler eventually scored Fletcher after a bobble and an overthrow to home let the winning run score. On the surface, it’s tough loss. Jansen owned not backing up home on the play which resulted in the winning run scoring, saying and I quote, “That’s my fault.” The blown save is Jansen’s first since April 17th when he fell to two-for-four in saves with an inflated 8.10 ERA. Since then, Jansen whittled his ERA down with a 1.06 ERA over 34 outings converting 21 straight saves, until last night.

However, when targeting a closer at Jansen’s average draft position, it’s to own an elite closer with strong ratios. Jansen’s accrued 23 saves so far this year but with a 2.40 ERA, 3.01 FIP and 0.97 WHIP. Very good, but not in the upper echelon of closers this season. Perhaps it’s his losing a tick off of his velocities on his fastball and cutter or it’s the cumulative effect of pitching in the postseason each of the last five years including into the World Series last season. He’s only blown three saves but the strikeout percentage drop of over 16 percent, Jansen’s swinging strike percentage decrease of almost six percent along with his contact allowed up over nine percent. Getting the All-Star break off could help Jansen but due to his peripheral statistics lagging compared to past performance, he will be fine going forward, just not his to his usual elite status from seasons prior. Read the rest of this entry »

The last two weeks of June did not go smoothly for Brad Hand, but the Padres’ closer got his July off to a good start. Making his first appearance in five days, Hand preserved a 6-3 lead against the Diamondbacks for his 24th save of the season. After giving up a soft ground ball single to Daniel Descalso to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, Hand struck out the next three Diamondbacks in succession.

Over his final six appearances in June, Hand had no problem missing bats, posting a 17.9 percent swinging strike rate, but when he did allow contact, it tended to be airborne (36.8 percent ground ball rate) and not gentle (10.5 percent soft contact rate). That contributed to him allowing at least one run in four of those appearances for a total of seven runs over five innings. It’s a little too soon to determine if Hand is past his difficulties, but Thursday’s outing was a step in the right direction.
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Dull days in the unrelenting chase for saves rarely occur, Wednesday was no exception. Brandon Morrow owners breathed a collective sigh of relief seeing him record his 19th save on Wednesday giving up a hit with a strikeout. Morrow did not pitch on Tuesday after working 1.1 innings on Sunday to the dismay of the fantasy community. Returning from a mild back injury, it’s clear the Cubs will be handling Morrow with care. He only needed 19 pitches on Sunday retiring four of the five hitters he faced. But Pedro Strop notched the save on Tuesday, his second this year, in lieu of Morrow. As for Morrow, he’s converted 12 straight saves, 19 of 20 this year with a 1.40 ERA which underscores why fantasy owners want more. But, in deference to Morrow’s injury riddled past, the Cubs keeping him fresh and not committing to giving him a heavy workload could work out best in the long run no matter how frustrating. Plan accordingly.

With Seranthony Dominguez settling in as a more traditional one inning closer, or at least his owners hope, he received a much deserved day off on Wednesday. Dominguez locked down his fourth straight save on Tuesday but needed 28 pitches over 1.1 innings to do so. After Victor Arano pitched a clean top of the eighth, he stayed in for the ninth walking one and striking out three en route to his first major league save. Arano’s been scoreless his last five outings and could be in the periphery of saves in this type of scenario going forward as the Phillies try to make a push for the playoffs. Read the rest of this entry »

On a day where there were far more developments regarding setup relievers, Sergio Romo further consolidated his status as the Rays’ primary closer. He did allow the second of Evan Gattis‘ two home runs in Sunday’s 3-2 win over the Astros, but a walk to Tyler White was the only other blemish on Romo’s ninth inning. He recorded his eighth save of the season and has been the recipient of seven of the Rays’ last eight saves.

The lone exception came on Friday, when Jose Alvarado retired Marwin Gonzalez for a one-out save. Even then, it was Romo who started off the ninth inning with a one-run lead. Alvardo was summoned only when Romo yielded a two-out Gattis single, and Kevin Cash opted to turn Gonzalez around to bat right-handed. Entering Friday’s game, Gonzalez’s .285 wOBA against lefties was 25 points lower than his mark against righties. While Alvarado could take an occasional save away from Romo when matchups dictate, it looks safe to assume that the former Giant and Dodger will be receiving the vast majority of save chances.
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Predictably, Sam Dyson struggled as the interim closer with Hunter Strickland sidelined due to a self inflicted injury. With intriguing arms like Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson and Will Smith, the Giants had options for the ninth inning with better ratios and performance over the last month. Bruce Bochy opted for Will Smith in the ninth inning in Arizona for a chance to record his first save since April 13th, 2014. Smith responded with a clean inning and striking out two. Returning from a myriad of injuries, Smith’s been terrific this season and especially in June. His 0.75 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and 21 strikeouts to four walks punctuate how good Smith’s been over his last 12 innings.

Delving a bit deeper, Smith’s 24 swinging strike percentage along with a 47.8 O-swing percentage (chase rate) combined with his 56.7 percent contact allowed fuel his surge in June. On the season, Smith’s limited left-handed hitters to a .180/.200/.231 slash line in 10.2 innings with 18 strikeouts and right-handed hitters to a .071/.191/.103 average against with 15 strikeouts. If Smith remains the preferred option for Bochy going forward, both Tony Watson and Reyes Moronta will remain on the periphery of saves if Smith needs a break. Watson possesses closer experience and currently in the midst of a 13.1 scoreless inning streak spanning 14 outings. Moronta notched his fourth hold last night and has 11 strikeouts, three wins and a save with a 3.71 ERA his last 12 games. Read the rest of this entry »

It looks as if we have a full-blown committee situation in San Francisco.

That’s because Sam Dyson, who was annointed as the primary closer 10 days ago after Hunter Strickland broke his hand punching a door, has allowed six runs (five earned) in seven innings since said annointment. On Thursday, Dyson blew a save and took the loss against the Rockies, having given the visitors the lead by allowing DJ LeMahieu’s two-run homer.
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Jeurys Familia has had his ups and downs this season, but he hit a new low on Wednesday when he did not retire any of the four batters he faced in the Mets’ 5-3 loss to the Pirates. He began the top of the ninth inning with a 3-1 lead, and he allowed three straight singles. Familia stayed in to face Jordy Mercer with the bases loaded, but a four-pitch walk cut the lead to a run and ended his night. He was relieved by Anthony Swarzak, who did him no favors by allowing David Freese‘s two-RBI single and Josh Bell’s sacrifice fly.

While this most recent outing was particularly bad for Familia, he had been struggling on and off for a month and a half. Over a span of 15.2 inning entering Wednesday’s game, Famila had compiled a 3.45 ERA and 1.72 WHIP, and a .408 BABIP rate was key to the bloating of his ratios. Going back to May 13, Familia has allowed hard contact at a 34.0 percent rate, but that slightly-elevated rate hardly seems to be cause for an astronomical BABIP. According to Baseball Savant, there is reason to be skeptical — and hopeful — about Familia’s recent trend. While he has allowed batters to hit .353 against him over his last 15 appearances, his opponents’ collective xBA is just .277 over that period.
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Entering the Giants’ Tuesday night game against the Rockies, it had been one week since Sam Dyson had recorded his one-and-only save since Hunter Strickland was placed on the DL. Given that he had a couple of shaky outings in the interim and that Bruce Bochy called on Will Smith to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning in a tie game with the Padres on Sunday, one had to wonder if Dyson was still the Giants’ primary closer.

Whatever worries Dyson — or his fantasy owners — may have had were somewhat assuaged in Tuesday’s 3-2 win. Dyson pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his third save of the season, though there were some nail-biting moments. He gave up a leadoff double to Tom Murphy and issued a one-out walk to pinch hitter Chris Iannetta. Dyson appeared to get out of the inning on a DJ LeMahieu double play ball, but the Rockies challenged the call, which was ultimately upheld.
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