Archive for Cardinals

After seeking a second opinion on a course of action for his damaged UCL, Keynan Middleton has opted to undergo Tommy John surgery.  He came off the 10-day disabled list on May 10 after a minimum stay for right elbow inflammation, and he made just three appearances before exiting early in his most recent appearance on Sunday.

As has been the case for much of this season, the Angels’ closer situation is murky at best. Jim Johnson appeared to be emerging as the closer during Middleton’s initial absence, but he no longer looks like a candidate. His two most recent appearances have come with the Angels in a deficit, including Thursday’s seventh-inning outing against the Rays. Johnson entered with the Angels down only by a run, but he coughed up four runs (three earned) in just one-third of an inning.
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After the Phillies announced there would be a committee approach to the ninth inning, fantasy owners should worry. Gabe Kapler’s still plying his trade as a first year manager armed with an emerging bullpen. Hector Neris started the year in the traditional closer role, but lost the role following a blown save last Friday. Edubray Ramos recorded his first save on Sunday yet no clarity arose. On Wednesday, Philadelphia started with Ramos in the top of the ninth in a save situation and he responded by striking out both hitters he faced on six pitches, both being right-handed batters. Then, they brought in Neris to pitch to Chris Davis, a left-handed slugger, who grounded out to second base securing the win. For the Phillies, the win will be the important factor, not preventing Ramos or Neris from notching a save. This will be important to remember when trying to chase saves in this bullpen going forward, especially given Ramos has limited left-handed hitters to a .200 batting average against this year compared .184 for Neris. No matter how the team spins the ninth, it’s going to be match-up based which will mean headaches for the saves chasers looking at this bullpen. All being told, it may be easier to avoid until clarity arises.

One day removed from suggesting a fluid bullpen, Atlanta provided Arodys Vizcaino with a redemption save chance last night. Vizcaino responded with his first clean save of the season. It’s Vizcaino’s eighth save and even though he has his warts, he’s closed out 20 of 23 save chances dating back to July 30th of last year. Of course, overlooking his 10 walks in 20.2 innings of work this year would be shortsighted, but dropping him due to the latest committee warning would be as well. A.J. Minter garnered the win in relief working one inning giving up a hit and striking out one. Many will keep tabs on Dan Winkler, and rightly so, due to his minuscule 0.98 ERA and 0.65 WHIP with 27 strikeouts versus 67 total batters faced (40.3 strikeout percentage) in 18.1 innings. With Vizcaino working the last two games, perhaps Winkler will get an audition on Thursday? Read the rest of this entry »

If you took the weekend off from baseball to enjoy the beautiful spring weather (or for any other reason), you can rest assured that the Angels’ closer situation remains as confusing as ever.

Based on recent usage patterns, it looks like Jim Johnson may be the Angels’ closer, or at the very least, at the head of their closer committee. When the Angels grabbed a 7-6 lead in the top of the 10th inning in Saturday’s game against the Mariners, Johnson was brought in for the save. Perhaps even more to the point, Mike Scioscia had already used Cam Bedrosian in the sixth inning and Justin Anderson in the eighth inning — both in situations where the Angels held a two-run lead — so it appeared the manager was saving Johnson for the save. The night before, Scioscia had Anderson set up for an apparent save, having him get the final out of the seventh inning and all three outs in the eighth inning. Even though the Angels expanded their lead to five runs in the ninth inning, Johnson came in to pitch a scoreless bottom of the frame.
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Before delving down the rabbit hole of chasing the next save, a moment to celebrate a milestone for Craig Kimbrel. He’s reached 300 saves in the fewest games (494) of any reliever, with the least save opportunities (330) and at the youngest age (29). Saturday’s save was Kimbrel’s ninth of this year and he did so in familiar fashion striking out two in a clean inning. Rounding into form, Kimbrel’s been a solid investment within the top tier of closers this season. Teammate Joe Kelly also worked out of a bases loaded jam to provide the save chance. Over his last 11 innings, Kelly’s recorded 12 strikeouts while limiting opponents to four hits and zero walks.

Now, it’s time to start trying to diagnose future save production. First, with Bud Norris leaving Saturday’s appearance with an injury, the team will need to reshuffle roles within the bullpen, again. For now, Norris will avoid the disabled list according to sources, but there’s no guarantees. Norris believes he needs a “few days” to recover since it’s an injury he’s managed before. He’s worked 17 times in 31 games including four of the last five for St. Louis. As for the next chance, here’s a quick look at the contestants: Read the rest of this entry »

One day removed from his first blown save since last August, Craig Kimbrel rebounded by striking out the side punctuating his eighth save this year. Clean innings by closers prove to be ideal along with fantasy owners appreciating Kimbrel’s uptick in velocity averaging 97.5 MPH with his fastball on Wednesday. This save also puts Kimbrel on the precipice of history closing in on being the fastest reliever to 300 saves by games, save opportunities and age. Kimbrel’s converted 299 saves in 329 chances during his career translating to a 90.9 success rate as a closer. He’s also recorded at least three strikeouts in two of his last three outings while rounding into form after an abbreviated spring training.

Putting to rest controversy in the short term in St. Louis regarding which pitcher gets the ninth inning, Bud Norris notched his sixth save of the year by retiring all four hitters he faced with two strikeouts. He’s recorded a win, save or hold in seven of his last 10 appearances along with five straight scoreless outings. Until Greg Holland regains confidence in his fastball, it’s remains Norris as the closer for the Cardinals. Read the rest of this entry »

When the Cardinals seemingly have one of the majors’ more stable closer situations, you know it’s been a strange night of baseball.

On Tuesday, prior to the Cardinals’ series opener against the White Sox, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak clarified what many suspected — that Bud Norris was back to being the team’s closer, and that Greg Holland would not “be used in the ninth inning at this time.” Given the way the Cardinals’ bullpen situation has played out so far in 2018, it would not have been surprising if Norris then went out and promptly blew a save against the White Sox. Instead, he was called upon to pitch the top of the ninth inning with a one-run deficit, and he tossed a perfect frame that turned into his first win of the season.
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A bad start to the season somehow got worse for Lance Lynn on Monday night. He entered his fifth start of 2018 with a 7.71 ERA, having allowed five or more runs in three of his previous starts. By the time the Blue Jays forced his exit after five innings, Lynn’s ERA rose to a ghastly 8.37.
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This past week has been one steady drumbeat towards the inevitable anointing of Greg Holland as the Cardinals’ closer. He had pitched the ninth inning with a large lead or a tie in three games since Sunday, and he aced all three tests. On Friday night, Holland put those rehearsals behind him and pitched in an actual save situation against the Pirates.

It did not go well. He began by allowing a first-pitch double to Corey Dickerson, and four pitches later, a Francisco Cervelli single put runners on the corners. Then Colin Moran’s well-struck grounder got past Jose Martinez, allowing Dickerson to score. Clinging to a two-run lead, Holland fed Jordy Mercer a full-count slider that he drove off the center field wall for a game-tying double. Holland’s night ended without him retiring a single batter.
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For the third time in the last four games, Greg Holland pitched the ninth inning for the Cardinals. The last two times, it was in a tie game with the Cardinals as the home team. When Holland was brought in to face the Mets on Tuesday, incumbent closer Bud Norris was unavailable, but that was not the case in the series finale on Thursday afternoon. Norris pitched the eighth inning, and curiously enough, he did it with the Cardinals trailing by a run. Tommy Pham tied the game up with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth, and then it was Holland’s turn to keep the Mets off the board in the top of the ninth. All he yielded was a leadoff single by Michael Conforto.
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Has the switch been flipped in St. Louis?

On Sunday, Mike Matheny brought Bud Norris in for the eighth inning with a 6-2 lead against the Reds. Greg Holland pitched the ninth, but by that point, the Cardinals had expanded their lead to seven runs. On Tuesday night, Matheny sent a clearer signal that he may be close to re-installing Holland as his closer. He called on Holland to pitch the top of the ninth inning in 5-5 game with the Mets, and he responded with a perfect inning.
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