Archive for drew pomeranz

Although Brad Hand returned to Cleveland’s bullpen, Carlos Carrasco recorded his first save of the season working 1.1 scoreless innings while walking one. Carrasco’s story this year cannot be ignored and he’s turned in two straight scoreless outings as a reliever. His ability to work multiple innings could translate to more save chances down the stretch. Perhaps Terry Francona wishes to ease Hand back into high leverage in order to ensure success. Following heavy usage in the first half, Hand struggled after the All-Star break with a 6.00 ERA in 18 innings from July 15th on, including four home runs in the 19 game stretch. Hand owners will need to monitor his usage and effectiveness once he returns to the mound but remain hopeful since he did record five consecutive saves before leaving the team for an MRI. He last pitched on September eighth. All reports suggest Hand’s bullpen sessions went well leading up to last night. Stay tuned. Read the rest of this entry »

As Greg Jewett noted in Tuesday’s Bullpen Report, Felipe Vázquez was arrested on Tuesday morning. Subsequent to his arrest on charges of computer pornography, solicitation of a child and providing obscene material to a minor in Florida, the Pirates placed him on the restricted list. Vázquez is also facing charges in Pennsylvania for statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old.

In pitching two scoreless innings to wind up the Nationals’ 6-2 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday night, Daniel Hudson collected his fourth save of the season. It was also the first save for any Nationals reliever since Aug. 16 and the team’s first ninth-inning save situation since Aug. 30. Hudson’s performance snapped a string of six consecutive blown saves by the Nationals’ bullpen. During the time since their last save, the Nationals’ relievers have collectively compiled a 5.49 ERA, which is the third-highest for any team over that period. Hudson (2.61 ERA) is the only Nationals reliever to pitch at least 10 innings over this stretch and post an ERA below 3.50.
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Greg Jewett made a speculative call in Tuesday’s Bullpen Report that doesn’t look so speculative now. He noted how Shaun Anderson has thrived since moving to the bullpen, and given how depleted the Giants’ relief corps is right now, he could see some save opportunities in the former starter’s future. The first of those opportunities came as soon as Tuesday night against the Pirates. With Will Smith (back) still unavailable and Tony Watson (wrist) likely out for the season, Anderson got the call to pitch in the top of the eighth inning with two outs and a 5-4 lead, which had been a 5-0 advantage heading into the inning.

In getting José Osuna to fly out to end the threat in the eighth and pitching a scoreless ninth, Anderson recorded his first career save. With Smith’s return not looking imminent, Anderson and Jandel Gustave, who blew a save chance in Monday night’s series opener, figure to be the primary candidates for save opportunities in the near term.
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The Mets did not need a closer in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Braves, but if they did, it would not have been Edwin Díaz. On Saturday, Díaz came in for the top of the ninth inning, one inning after Brad Brach had already allowed the Braves to unlock a 5-5 tie on Ronald Acuña Jr.‘s RBI single. He allowed the Braves to increase their lead on Freddie Freeman’s leadoff homer, and two batters later, Díaz was lifted due to tightness in his trapezius muscle. He was unavailable for Sunday’s game, and an IL stint is not off the table.

For however long Díaz is out, it is probably safe to assume that Seth Lugo would be used as the closer, Lugo already has a pair of saves in August, and he was essentially used as the closer against the Braves on Friday, when he pitched the top of the eighth and ninth innings in a tie game. Regardless of Díaz’s health status, owners — particularly those in saves-plus-holds leagues — should keep tabs on Paul Sewald. Since getting recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Aug. 16, he has struck out 10 batters in five innings, including four batters in two innings on Sunday. Sewald did allow his first run since getting promoted, giving up Josh Donaldson’s second home run of the game.
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Over the last several weeks, I’ve scoured Baseball Prospectus’ PitchF/x leaderboards for the league’s underthrown pitches. We’ve covered two different pitch types each week starting with four-seam fastballs and sinkers in the first installment, cutters and curves in the second, and sliders and changeups last week. This week, we put it all together. Now that we’ve identified the most underthrown pitches, who should consider overhauling his entire pitch mix to make the most of his electric stuff?

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According to WAR, the 2014 Oakland rotation was the tenth best staff in the league. But without 185 or so combined innings from Jon Lester and Jeff Samardzija, it’s going to be hard for them to repeat that feat. They brought in a few new faces, but for the most part, they’ll begin the year by filling the holes with internal options. Read the rest of this entry »

RotoGraphs asked me to post my first-ever column for the site with six days left in the season. That’s right, six days.

This can only mean one thing, of course – they firmly believe that I will bring such brilliant and insightful advice that I can swing a full season of fantasy baseball with 500 words, less than a week before the season ends.

Well, maybe that isn’t what they had in mind, but I am going to give it a shot anyway. So here are six guys who are a) available in at least 90% of leagues (according to Yahoo) and b) will give you a chance to pick up those last couple points to break into the money or take the title.

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– If MLB.com is to be believed, the second game in the Red Sox-Orioles double header will be one for the ages. Brian Matusz, owner of a 9.84 ERA, will face off against John Lackey, who sports an ERA over 6.00. If you’re a betting man, I’d suggest putting all your monopoly money on the over. It doesn’t matter what the line is, because no line could be high enough for this game.

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– Even though I get to watch him almost any time I want, it’s still strange to see Mike Carp take home the AL Rookie of the Month Award (presented by, who else, Gillette). Looking toward next year, Carp’s BABIP may be high, but he tends to absolutely crush the ball when he’s at the dish. He started to flash a little bit of power last year in the hitter friendly PCL, but he really crushed the ball in AAA earlier this season, and it may have finally translated over to big league success. If I were to predict a line for next season, I’d like to think Carp could hit at least .270 while smacking 25 homers out of the park and posting a league average walk rate. Plus, if you can only draft players with facial hair of some kind, then Carp is eligible for your roster.

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