Archive for Drew Steckenrider

With New Year’s Day rapidly approaching and Pitchers-and-Catchers-Report Day less than eight weeks away, plenty of closer situations are still in flux. Potential contenders like the Cardinals, Phillies and Twins have reportedly been in the closer market and look like strong candidates to add to the back ends of their bullpens. Rebuilding teams are less likely to do so. If anything, they could be sellers in the coming weeks.

So while teams that are long shots to contend in 2019 may not have their bullpens completely set just yet, they are more likely to ultimately settle their closer situations by turning to in-house options. It is premature to speculate on the value of someone like Jordan Hicks, who could inherit the Cardinals’ closer role, but could also find himself setting up for a free agent signee like Zach Britton. It is not too early, though, to start scoping out the fantasy value of potential closers for non-contenders.
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Largely by default, Koda Glover was thrust into the Nationals’ closer role when the team put Ryan Madson (back) on the 10-day disabled list this past Tuesday. It has not gone swimmingly. Just before Madson was placed on the DL. Glover took a loss against the Cardinals on Monday, giving up a walk-off home run to Paul DeJong, and while he got the save in Thursday’s series finale, he allowed the tying run to get into scoring position.

On Saturday night, Glover was called on to keep the Nationals in a tie with the Marlins in the top of the 10th inning, but after getting into trouble again, there was no escape this time. Back-to-back one-out singles put the go-ahead run in scoring position, and after a force out and an intentional walk, Isaac Galloway brought home two runs on a bloop single into center field. Since the Nationals failed to rally in the bottom of the inning, Glover was left with his second loss in six days.
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Several closer situations have flipped in recent days, and on Saturday, we got an early look at how four of them could play out in the coming weeks. The Twins’ trade of Fernando Rodney created a void, as well as one of the harder ninth-inning situations to read. Despite his recent difficulties in the setup role, Trevor Hildenberger got the first crack at a save in the post-Rodney era. Unfortunately, he stayed true to recent form, allowing multiple runs for the fourth straight appearance. Fortunately, the two-run homer he allowed to Niko Goodrum was not enough to wipe out a three-run lead against the Tigers. Hildenberger did not allow any further damage, so he was credited with his first save of the season.
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When Kyle Barraclough had to get bailed out to prevent him from blowing his fourth straight save on Monday, that was the last straw for Don Mattingly. On Tuesday, the Marlins’ manager announced he was removing Barraclough from the closer’s role, though his replacement “was not going to be one guy.” Drew Steckenrider, who has been used consistently as the eighth-inning setup reliever, would be a strong candidate to get the Marlins’ next save chance, though a report from MLB.com beat writer Joe Frisaro cited Adam Conley and Tayron Guerrero as candidates to close as well.
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Thursday’s slate of games did not feature that much closer intrigue, as five of the 12 games were decided by at least six runs. Three of the blowouts were won by teams scoring 15 or more runs.

Yet for fantasy owners counting on Kyle Barraclough or Wade Davis, there was more than enough drama. Barraclough may have blown a save against the Phillies, but the Marlins’ closer had another nemesis to battle: his own control. He threw only six of his 24 pitches in the strike zone and did not issue a first-pitch strike to any of the six batters he faced. His one-out walk to Asdrubal Cabrera loaded the bases, and then Nick Williams‘ groundout brought in Scott Kingery for the tying run. Three pitches later, Maikel Franco finished off Barraclough and the Marlins with a walk-off home run.
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