Archive for Diamondbacks

Chasing saves in Colorado could be tenuous, but avoiding Wade Davis for fantasy right now would be advisable. Davis entered a tied game on the road and promptly served up a go-ahead solo home run to Carson Kelly. He rebounded to strikeout Adam Jones then yielded a single to Jarrod Dyson, who stole second moving up on a throwing error to third. Davis also struck out Ketel Marte but a walk to Eduardo Escobar with two outs led to his exit. Jake McGee entered putting gas on the fire giving up a triple to David Peralta with two more earned runs charged to Davis’ ledger. It’s been a tough stretch for Davis allowing runs in five of his last 19 appearances, but he’s given up at least three runs in each of these occasions. Plus, Davis entered with a 0.63 ERA on the road in 14.1 innings prior to this outing which jumps to 2.40 courtesy of the last night’s results. There’s no clarity as to which Rockies reliever will get the next save chance, but:

#Rockies manager Bud Black said he's not ready to anoint the next closer, but expect to see Jairo Diaz and Carlos Esteves get chances to pitch the ninth.

— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) August 19, 2019

If using August as a guide, Carlos Estevez pitched after Jairo Diaz on Saturday when trying to gauge the pecking order. However, Diaz owns the better numbers this month with a robust 13:1 K:BB, 2.16 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over 8.1 innings. As for Estevez, his 5:4 K:BB this month in six innings includes a meltdown on the third when he did not retire a batter yielding two hits along with two walks leading to two earned runs. It remains to be seen who Black will turn to, but time will tell. Archie Bradley racked up his fifth save working around a solo home run by Charlie Blackmon preserving Arizona’s win. Bradley’s been scoreless in 16 of his last 18 appearances with a 1.30 ERA over 20.2 innings with 26 strikeouts. Yoan Lopez garners his second win inducing an inning ending double play.

Extra innings before a doubleheader does not bode well for the Angels and Rangers bullpen. Cam Bedrosian suffered his third blown save allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk with a strikeout. Consecutive singles by Hunter Pence and Rougned Odor tied the game for Texas versus Bedrosian who entered unscored upon in 11 of his previous 12 outings. Hansel Robles navigated 1.1 scoreless innings giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout. Since June first, he’s recorded a 1.73 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 31.1 innings. Noe Ramirez incurs the loss serving up a walk and two hits in the bottom of the 11th resulting in his second loss. Jose LeClerc survived walking the bases loaded with two outs inducing a pop out to second base by Luis Rengifo. This marks LeClerc’s first three walk game since July 28th. He held on for his fifth straight scoreless contest, but his struggles usually include issuing free passes. Rafael Montero gets his second win logging two innings giving up two hits and two walks in them.

Save number five for Andrew Miller working 1.1 scoreless against the Brewers. Miller opted to work around Christian Yelich in the eighth inning with runners on second and third with two outs getting Mike Moustakas to ground out to second base ending the threat. Returning for the ninth inning, Miller retired all three Milwaukee hitters in a row closing out a win for St. Louis. Miller’s recorded three saves in the second half. This month, he’s allowed more walks (5) than strikeouts (4) registered. No longer a ratio protector, Miller maintains his value with ancillary save chances. Giovanny Gallegos notched his 12th hold with a scoreless inning. He did give up the only hit in the game to Yasmani Grandal, but been scoreless in 13 of 14 appearances in the second half with a 0.51 ERA and 20:5 K:BB over 17.2 innings since the break.

Holding on for his 24th save, Alex Colome yielded three hits leading to an earned run while striking out one in Minnesota. Although Colome owns a 1.37 ERA in save situations this year spanning 26.1 innings, he’s allowed runs in five of his last seven outings. He’s also given up multiple hits in three of these contests resulting in eight runs (three earned) and seven walks with nine strikeouts within this sample. Evan Marshall gets his 11th hold striking out one in a clean eighth inning. Aaron Bummer coughed up a solo home run to Jorge Polanco en route to his 17th hold allowing two hits with a strikeout.

Oakland will be adding some potential upside to its bullpen with A.J. Puk set to be activated prior to Tuesday’s game. Puk features a high-90’s fastball with a plus slider and a change-up in his arsenal. He’s allowed six runs as a reliever at Triple-A in 11 innings with 16 strikeouts against three walks. Puk recorded a 36.4 strikeout percentage while in the Pacific Coast League and could work his way into high leverage spots with a strong start. But, he’s more of a deep league target for fantasy purposes unless he can channel his inner Chris Sale from 2010 cutting his teeth in the majors as a relief pitcher for the White Sox (21 games, 23.1 IP, two wins, four saves, 34.8 strikeout percentage, 1.07 WHIP). Also of interest, Carlos Carrasco made his debut as a reliever with Double-A Akron last night:

Carlos Carrasco finishes off his inning with a strikeout and a roaring ovation. He threw 16 pitches, 9 for strikes.

0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K pic.twitter.com/FQO2RGMoRF

— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) August 20, 2019

Carrasco hit 97, 96, 96 and 96 MPH on the radar gun on his first four pitches returning from his treatments for Leukemia. Rooting hard for Carrasco not only to overcome his fight with leukemia, but to return for high leverage moments with Cleveland. With Brad Hand struggling of late, perhaps Carrasco could reprise the role of Cody Allen with Hand providing the Indians with match-up options late in games. It’s too early to predict, but not out of the realm of possibilities. Reports also indicate the Cubs will activate Steve Cishek before Tuedsay’s game having sent David Bote to Triple-A. This adds much needed length to its bullpen for the stretch run.

Quick Hits: Javy Guerra vultures the win taking over for Joe Ross in Pittsburgh. Guerra tossed 3.2 innings with a strikeout for the Nationals…Save number 22 for Ian Kennedy working around a solo home run to Rio Ruiz in the ninth. It’s his first run allowed since July 23rd snapping a seven game scoreless streak…Kirby Yates held on for his third straight save, and 36th this season. Yates allowed three hits, an earned run and hit a batter with a strikeout. He will get Tuesday off. Those chasing saves hope an Andres Munoz chance lies in the offing…Lucas Sims fired two clean innings for the Reds striking out three. He’s not given up a run in his last five contests (6.1 innings)…Roberto Osuna notched his 28th save yielding a hit with two strikeouts.

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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As the Wild Card standings and divisional races take shape, it’s obvious bullpens will play a part in the final outcomes. A wild night in the National League East featured one save conversion, an implosion in New York and a change in who closes in Atlanta. It’s been a rough transition for Shane Greene and Chris Martin since arriving with their new team. Martin allowed two hits, three earned runs and a walk with one strikeout in two-thirds of an inning in Miami. Shane Greene did record his first hold with the Braves but let an inherited runner from Martin score on a single by Starlin Castro in the bottom of the eighth inning. Bouncing back to strikeout Lewis Brinson, Greene left with his team still ahead by four runs. Mark Melancon pitched the ninth giving up a lead-off single to Jorge Alfaro then striking out two before inducing a game ending ground out to shortstop. However, it’s the post-game quotes by manager Brian Snitker which grabs the attention of those still chasing saves: Read the rest of this entry »

Tuesday night’s game in Cleveland was rained out, but the visiting Rangers generated one of the bigger stories regarding closers. Chris Woodward told Levi Weaver of The Athletic that José Leclerc would continue to be the team’s closer, even after Shawn Kelley’s (biceps) activation from the IL. Kelley was officially activated on Wednesday morning, and he will join the Rangers’ cadre of setup relievers, which also includes Jesse Chavez, Rafael Montero and the recently-promoted Emmanuel Clase.

Aside from a pair of subpar performances last week, Leclerc has been generally solid over the past month, as he did not allow a run in any of his 10 other appearances. In those outings, he struck out 10 batters over 8.2 innings with no walks and two hits allowed. However, Leclerc also compiled a 35.3 percent Zone% and a 29.3 percent O-Swing% over the entire one-month stretch, so walks could still be an issue going forward.
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The Mets were hardly in need of a closer during Sunday’s 13-2 win over the Pirates, but on a day full of reliever drama, they were the biggest story in terms of closer news. After Sunday’s game, Mickey Callaway said to reporters, “I don’t think we can lock ourselves into one thing,” and in this context, the “thing” was the team’s closer. The incumbent, Edwin Díaz, has allowed at least one run in each of his last four appearances, so that has opened the door for the primary setup reliever, Seth Lugo, to at least enter the saves mix. For now, Díaz and Lugo are listed in the closer grid as co-closers with Lugo designated in the lead role.

While Díaz — one of last season’s elite closers — has had his ups-and-downs throughout the season, two of this season’s best closers faltered on Sunday. Kirby Yates blew his third save in 35 tries in the Padres’ 11-10 loss to the Dodgers, as he gave up Max Muncy‘s walk-off two-RBI double in the bottom of the ninth. Yates was also charged with his third loss, though he may have been spared that fate if not for a fielding error by Luis Urías that allowed Alex Verdugo to be safe at second base on Corey Seager’s fielder’s choice, just before Muncy’s double. The one earned run that Muncy drove in was the first allowed by Yates since June 23 and just the sixth he has allowed all season.
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Just when it seemed like Tuesday night’s three-team blockbuster was going to be the marquee deal of this year’s deadline trades, Mike Hazen needed someone to hold his beer in the final hours of trading. In dealing Zack Greinke to the Astros for four prospects (which, incidentally, included Seth Beer), the Diamondbacks’ executive vice president and general manager may have helped to change the complexion of this year’s postseason, but in terms of impacting the fantasy landscape, Greinke was going to be a must-start pitcher whether in Arizona, Houston or anywhere else.

However, Hazen made two other trades involving pitchers that will likely have an effect on some fantasy owners. Meanwhile, the trade involving possibly the largest impact on a pitcher’s fantasy value will get less notice for its real world consequences.
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In what feels like the calm before the storm one day prior to the trade deadline, not one of the seven games on Monday night ended with a save. However, with so many teams searching for bullpen help this article will focus on some of the key points leading up to the deadline. Starting in Washington, the Nationals relief corps yielded a run for the eighth time over the last 11 games and it was the closer who served it up. Read the rest of this entry »

The anticipation is over. Greg Holland is out as the Diamondbacks’ closer.

Torey Lovullo told reporters on Sunday morning that he was making a change, though he did not rule out reinstalling Holland back in the role in the future. In the meantime, Lovullo will employ a closer committee consisting of Yoan Lopez, Yoshihisa Hirano, Archie Bradley and Andrew Chafin. Given the potentially temporary nature of this arrangement and the lack of a clear primary option, this situation can be avoided by owners in most fantasy formats.
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Greg Holland picked a very bad time to lose control.

The Dodgers have been the most selective team in the National League, swinging on only 28.3 percent of the pitches they have seen outside of the strike zone. On Tuesday night, Holland was on the verge of collecting his 13th save for the Diamondbacks, pitching to Chris Taylor with a 4-3 lead, two outs and an 0-2 count. None of his next four pitches were close to the zone, and Taylor walked. Then Holland walked Russell Martin, Alex Verdugo and Matt Beaty, allowing the Dodgers to tie the game without getting a hit. He was lifted for T.J. McFarland, and when he left he had thrown 22 of his 30 pitches outside of the strike zone. Martin swung at one of them — a slider that missed the bottom of the zone by more than a foot — and none of Holland’s other out-of-zone pitches induced a swing.
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Due to all the volatile bullpens across the landscape, Brad Hand could be underappreciated. Last night, he did not convert a save, but did garner his fourth win after a Jason Kipnis walk-off home run versus the Royals. Hand fired a clean top of the 10th with a strikeout and secured 22 straight save chances this year for Cleveland. In June, Hand’s surged with a 17:1 K:BB in 11.2 innings resulting in one earned run against (0.77 ERA) and minuscule 0.60 WHIP in a complete hitter’s environment. Over his last 17 games, Hand’s recorded 26 strikeouts in 17.2 innings with a 0.51 ERA anchoring an evolving bullpen. Nick Wittgren did incur his second blown save allowing two hits and a walk in his two innings and the game tying run. Tyler Clippard yielded a hit in a scoreless seventh for his second hold.

As for the Royals, Wily Peralta absorbs the loss serving up the home run to Jason Kipnis. Peralta’s given up runs in back-to-back outings and four earned runs in only seven innings this month. Jake Diekman worked around a hit and a walk during a scoreless eighth inning and Jorge Lopez did strikeout two in 1.1 innings but also allowed one hit along with a walk in his appearance. Suffice it to say, fantasy owners should only own Ian Kennedy in this bullpen and if he’s traded, hope one of the arms in the minors can take over in high leverage.

Perhaps a rebound outing to get Wade Davis back on track in San Francisco? He logged his first clean inning since returning from the injured list on June seventh. Davis notched his 10th save and moved to three-for-five in save chances this month. However, he’s yielded far too much traffic since his activation giving up 12 hits and five walks over 7.1 innings translating to a 2.33 WHIP, less than optimal for a closer. Davis did turn his season around last year after watching video so hope lies in health and his track record. He could be a speculative buy low from a frustrated owner, but note his performance going forward. Scott Oberg gets his sixth hold striking out two in a clean eighth inning and Jairo Diaz nets his fifth hold working around two hits with a strikeout in the seventh.

Like Hand above, Aroldis Chapman often gets referenced in the Quick Hits portion of this report due to his performance and relative safety of closing for the Yankees. It’s likely Chapman did not think he’d be pressed into duty while his teammates led by eight after six innings, but five earned runs allowed by Jonathan Holder changed things. Chapman recorded his 22nd save allowing a double to Randal Grichuk, with deference to an interesting route taken by Giancarlo Stanton who then bobbled the ball leading to Grichuk reaching third and an error charged to Stanton. A sacrifice fly by Rowdy Tellez resulted in an unearned run charged to Chapman. As for Chapman, he’s secured a save in each of his last five appearances and not allowed an earned run in his last 17 games. In this span, Chapman’s racked up 24 strikeouts against six walks in 16.1 innings.

Meanwhile in Boston, Brandon Workman benefits with his seventh win striking out the only batter he faced in the top of the ninth inning, Tim Anderson. Workman continues to log high leverage events for the Red Sox but predicting who will get the save proves frustrating. Josh Taylor pitched an inning walking one and striking out one. Both Colten Brewer and Marcus Walden tossed scoreless two-thirds innings as well. Boston could receive a boost in bullpen depth with the pending return of Steven Wright from suspension and Heath Hembree from injury as noted in this article by Alex Speier. Wright will fill a huge role being able to absorb multiple innings and Hembree worked into more high leverage before his most recent injury. Stay tuned to as the Cora turns.

For the White Sox, they’ve received a tremendous return so far in their trade for Alex Colome, but his setup pitcher Kelvin Herrera continues to struggle. Herrera gets his second blown save giving up two hits and an earned run. He’s allowed runs in each of his last two outings, a 4.50 ERA in June and 6.83 ERA this season. It remains to be seen if a contract will keep Herrera in his present role or if the team will shift him into lower leverage appearances in an effort to get him on track. Aaron Bummer did record his sixth hold navigating around a hit and a walk during his inning. Evan Marshall coughed up a home run to Mookie Betts during his one-third of an inning. Jace Fry takes the loss loading the bases with two outs prior to an infield hit by Marco Hernandez ended the game. As for any reliever, traffic usually leads to trouble but will not comment on whether or not Anderson should have tried for a force out at third rather than throw to first on the game ending play.

No save opportunity in Chicago, but Steve Cishek tossed a clean ninth striking out two preserving a win. Of course, fantasy owners would like to know when Craig Kimbrel returns, which could be a soon as Thursday with this weekend being the latest according to this tweet:

Theo Epstein said that Craig Kimbrel could be with the team by the end of the week pending outing in minors today and conversation with the group tomorrow .

— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) June 24, 2019

In Arizona, a meltdown by Dylan Floro of the Dodgers led to a save chance for Greg Holland. Floro served up four hits, four earned runs and a walk in two-thirds of an inning in the eighth. Holland notched his 11th save, and first since the 12th of June getting the last out of the game via strikeout. One out saves prove to be a crowd pleaser in the fantasy community. Holland owners should thank T.J. McFarland who gave up a hit and an earned run leading to the save opportunity. It remains to be seen if the Diamondbacks will hold or decide to sell at the deadline, but saves speculators may stash Yoan Lopez in case they do move pieces in the future. Lopez won his first decision last night after the rally giving up a hit with two strikeouts. He’s worked 8.1 scoreless innings in June with a tidy 7:1 K:BB allowing only three hits in this sample. If he can build upon his swinging strike percentage and continue to blossom as a reliever, more high leverage events could ensue.

Quick Hits: A sad trombone for Jordan Hicks. Reports surfaced on Monday about his injury and the MRI revealed a torn UCL ligament. He will likely undergo surgery to repair the ligament so his owners should plan accordingly. John Gant should assume primary setup duties with Carlos Martinez shifting to the primary closer role. This also shifts Andrew Miller into potential periphery save chances as well due to usage patterns. There’s no word on if the Cardinals will look to bolster the bullpen via trade, much will depend on how the Wild Card and division races evolve for St. Louis going forward…Still no definitive timeline with a return for Jose Alvarado, but his teammate Diego Castillo will miss the next two weeks with a shoulder impingement. This probably puts Castillo on the shelf until the All-Star break.