Archive for Bullpen Report

It has now been a full week since Aroldis Chapman put himself in jeopardy of blowing a save against the Red Sox by starting the ninth inning with three consecutive walks. Little has gone right since then.

To recap, he blew a save on Sunday, recorded a save on Tuesday despite allowing an Amed Rosario two-run homer and sat out Wednesday and Thursday due to a hamstring injury. Though Joe Girardi has insisted that Chapman is still his closer, on Friday, he brought him in for the bottom of the eighth inning against the Red Sox even though the Yankees trailed by a run. Once again, Chapman dug himself a hole, allowing a leadoff single to Rafael Devers (who homered off him on Sunday), walking Christian Vazquez and then allowing a double steal. That set up a two-RBI single by Jackie Bradley, Jr., all before Chapman recorded his first out.
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In a tumultuous season for the Cardinals’ bullpen, it was starting to look like Trevor Rosenthal was creating some stability. He had rattled off seven consecutive saves over a 16-day period, the first six of which were scoreless.

On Wednesday night, it took just eight pitches to ruin that placid state. On his second pitch — a 91.4 mph four-seam fastball — Rosenthal gave up a home run to Xander Bogaerts. Six pitches later, Mitch Moreland took a free pass. Mike Matheny was sufficiently concerned that he removed Rosenthal for Zach Duke. Rosenthal averaged 94.3 mph on the six four-seam fastballs he threw, after he had hovered around 97 mph over his previous six appearances. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Duke and John Brebbia didn’t fare much better, and the latter gave up Mookie Betts‘ walk-off double.
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The Twins blew an 11-6 seventh-inning lead on Saturday. Their new (interim?) closer Matt Belisle relieved Trevor Hildenberger in eighth after Hildenberger allowed a two-run homer with two outs. Belisle got a strikeout to end the inning, but then allowed a leadoff single and a walk-off home run to Justin Upton in the ninth.

The next day, Hildenberger was summoned with two outs in the eighth to face Upton, who represented the tying run. He struck him out on three pitches, then came back out for the bottom of the ninth. He remained very sharp as he struck out two and induced two weak ground balls for his first career save.

The strong appearance, coupled with Belisle’s struggles in the ninth on Saturday, mean that Hildenberger could seize the closer’s role and run with it. His numbers in his brief major league career are impressive: in 23 innings this year, Hildenberger has a 26.8 percent strikeout rate, a 3.1 percent walk rate, and a 58.5 percent ground ball rate. He has a 3.13 ERA/2.79 FIP/2.67 xFIP. He’s allowed just two home runs. He seems more than capable of handling the closer’s role, and he’s probably worth grabbing in all formats before he successfully converts a few more save chances and gains national attention. It’s worth noting that Glen Perkins is expected to return from the disabled list sometime this week, and his presence may further complicate the outlook for Belisle and Hildenberger. Read the rest of this entry »

Given how abysmally he had pitched over the last two-and-a-half weeks, it seemed clear that Bud Norris was going to lose his job as the Angels’ closer. Given how Mike Scioscia had been using his relievers, it seemed nearly as clear that Blake Parker was going to replace him. Parker had been pitching frequently in the eighth inning, usually in close games. Erstwhile closer Cam Bedrosian had recently been relegated to the middle innings, and when he pitched the eighth inning on Tuesday, setting up Keynan Middleton’s first career save, it was because Scioscia was trying to manage Parker’s workload (as mentioned in Wednesday’s Bullpen Report).

So naturally, when Scioscia replaced Tyler Skaggs in the seventh inning of Thursday’s game against the Mariners and needed to call on someone to preserve a 3-0 lead, he brought Parker out. And when he needed a closer in the bottom of the ninth, he used Bedrosian, who incidentally provided a perfect inning.
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In the aftermath of the Brandon Kintzler trade, the Twins were going to use a committee to close games, but those committee meetings have not been well-attended. Ever since the Twins dealt Kintzler on July 31, Matt Belisle has been the only closer the Twins have called upon (not including Dillon Gee’s four-inning save on Tuesday), and he is the only one they have needed.

Belisle was brought in for the ninth inning against the Brewers on Wednesday and he struck out the side, but with a four-run lead, he was not credited with a save. However, he closed out the series opener against the Brewers on Monday as well as the finale against the Rangers on Sunday. While Taylor Rogers has looked better in his last few outings, Belisle seems to have a firm grip on the job. He has not allowed an earned run since June 24, and since the beginning of June, he has a 1.61 ERA with one home run allowed.
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Just like last Sunday, another meltdown for the Angels ‘pen was the highlight of the day. With a four-run lead and two outs in the eighth, Blake Parker allowed a single to Jed Lowrie, a home run to Khris Davis, and a double to Ryon Healy. With the lead down to two, he was pulled in favor of Bud Norris, who surrendered a run-scoring single to Chad Pinder (the run was charged to Parker), a double to Matt Chapman that put the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second, and finally he allowed a two-run single to Bruce Maxwell that gave Oakland an 11-10 lead. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Saturday, Jim Johnson blew his eighth save of the season, and apparently Brian Snitker had seen enough. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Johnson was being dropped as the Braves’ primary closer and, going forward, he would “mix and match” in save situations. On Wednesday night, Snitker had his first opportunity to pick a closer since demoting Johnson, and not surprisingly, he went to Arodys Vizcaino. After all, Vizcaino has been Snitker’s favored eighth-inning option and had successfully served as the Braves’ closer for part of 2016, collecting 10 saves.

Johnson is presumably still a candidate to close on occasion, and Jose Ramirez and Rex Brothers could be part of that mix as well, though the latter reliever has struggled in his recent forays in the late innings. Vizcaino has had no problems getting whiffs, posting a 14.9 percent swinging strike rate entering Wednesday, and while he does not have the best control of the closer candidates, he has been the best at getting chases on pitches outside of the strike zone. He successfully closed out the Dodgers on Wednesday, and he appears poised to take over the job. Among all of the relievers who have recently ascended to the closer’s role, only Brad Hand has a more enviable skill set, and Vizcaino is much more widely available.
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The Angels bullpen melted down in epic fashion on Sunday, blowing a 10-4 ninth-inning lead against the Blue Jays. Brooks Pounders started the frame by issuing a walk, a home run, and a double. He was then replaced by Bud Norris, who got one out but surrendered two singles, a walk, and a walk-off grand slam to Steve Pearce. It was the second walk-off grand slam against Norris (the first by Edwin Encarnacion) — and the second hit by Pearce — this week. Over his last 1.1 innings (13 batters faced), Norris has allowed eight earned runs on two grand slams, walked six, and recorded just one strikeout. His overall numbers have ballooned to a 3.89 ERA/3.87 FIP/3.59 xFIP in 41.2 innings. Given Norris’s recent struggles, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Halos look elsewhere for their next save opportunity.

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The Marlins pulled into the top of the ninth inning with a 7-3 lead against the Reds on Friday night, and even though it was not a save situation, it felt a little odd to see Junichi Tazawa — and not A.J. Ramos — take the mound. It had the feel of an audition for the closer’s role, given that Ramos was likely to be moved at any time. After letting Scott Schebler lead off the inning with a no-doubter blast to right field, Tazawa set the next three Reds down in order.

Shortly after the game, it became apparent why Don Mattingly didn’t call upon Ramos. The Marlins dealt their closer to the Mets in exchange for a couple of prospects: righty Merandy Gonzalez and outfielder Ricardo Cespedes. Before going to Tazawa, Mattingly brought in Dustin McGowan to hold the game at 3-3 in the seventh inning, and in the eighth inning, he summoned Drew Steckenrider to protect the four-run lead built in the bottom of the seventh. With Kyle Barraclough (shoulder) and Nick Wittgren (elbow) on the DL, it would not be surprising to see McGowan and Steckenrider in some future high-leverage situations. However, according to MLB.com, the Marlins are expected to activate Brad Ziegler (back) on Saturday. He will probably present the strongest challenge to Tazawa as the team’s future closer, though Ziegler has been out for more than a month, so he could conceivably start off in some lower-leverage situations upon his return.
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If you had been stashing Anthony Swarzak or Ryan Buchter in the hopes that they would inherit some saves, this has not been a good week for you. On Tuesday, the White Sox dealt Swarzak to the Brewers for 25-year-old outfield prospect Ryan Cordell. This came the day after Swarzak teased fantasy owners by notching his first career save, preserving a 3-1 win over the Cubs. Swarzak now figures to inherit a setup role for the Brewers.

On Monday, Buchter joined Padres’ ex-closer Brandon Maurer and Trevor Cahill in getting dealt to the Royals for Matt Strahm, Travis Wood and 18-year-old second baseman Esteury Ruiz. Maurer will likely set up Kelvin Herrera, while Buchter will probably slot into a suddenly star-studded Royals’ pen in a middle relief role. However, their departure from San Diego creates all sorts of new closer possibilities. In the short run, Brad Hand figures to be the frontrunner to get saves (in fact, he got one Wednesday night against the Mets), but he, too, is a candidate to get traded to a team that needs to fortify the backend of its bullpen.
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