Archive for fantasy closers

It was another fun weekend for bullpen activity across the major leagues. There was some all-too-familiar drama for a few teams, an injury to a key closer, and a couple of spectacular performances by an underrated set-up man. Let’s get right into the report:

• Francisco Rodriguez melted down in consecutive games against the A’s this weekend. On Saturday, with a one-run lead and two outs and nobody on in the 9th inning, he issued a walk, a game-tying double, and a walk-off single. On Sunday, also with a one-run lead, K-Rod walked the leadoff man, allowed a game-tying double, then, after a lineout, Ryon Healy hit a walk-off home run. The Tigers closer is now just 7 for 11 in save opportunities, and he’s allowed 19 hits, 11 earned runs, and four home runs in 11 2/3 innings this year. He has a 8.49 ERA/6.55 FIP/4.79 xFIP, and he’s only gotten ground balls on 29.3% of balls in play against him compared to his career mark of 43.3%. Rodriguez’s job should be in jeopardy after the back-to-back blown saves and the overall poor performance this year. Set-up man Justin Wilson has been excellent this season, pitching mostly in the 8th. He has seven holds on the year, and a brilliant 1.32 ERA/1.65 FIP/2.03 xFIP to go along with a 45.7% K%. The situation is “red” in Detroit, with manager Brad Ausmus saying after Sunday’s game that the team is going to discuss its closer situation during tomorrow’s off day, which is usually a strong indication that a change is forthcoming.

Read the rest of this entry »

It was another exciting weekend for bullpen activity across the major leagues. There were several late blown leads, and there could be multiple role changes this week. On Saturday, we witnessed one of the most improbable 9th-inning comebacks in recent memory. Since there was so much activity on both days this weekend, this report is broken into two sections, one for each day:

Sunday:

• Bud Norris continued to shine as the fill-in for the injured Cam Bedrosian. With the Angels leading 4-2, Norris entered in the 8th inning with two on and two out. He struck out Rougned Odor to end the inning, then came back out for the 9th with the Angels up by three. After walking Elvis Andrus to start the inning, Norris struck out the next three batters he faced ­— Joey Gallo, Shin-Soo Choo, and Mike Napoli — to notch his fifth save of the season (and of his career). In 14 innings this season, Norris has 19 strikeouts against six walks and zero home runs allowed, good for a 2.57 ERA/1.78 FIP/2.97 xFIP. The formerly mediocre starting pitcher has been lights out for the Halos, and may be worth owning in deeper leagues even after Bedrosian returns. Bedrosian hasn’t started throwing yet in his attempt to return from a groin injury that has kept him out of action since April 21.

Read the rest of this entry »

It was a busy weekend for bullpen news around the major leagues. As such, this report is broken into two sections, one for each day.

Saturday:

• Cam Bedrosian (groin) was placed on the 10-day DL on Saturday. In his stead, Bud Norris allowed just a single in an otherwise clean 9th inning to record the first save of his career. Norris has been pretty good this year for the Angels, and he looks to be first in line for saves in Bedrosian’s absence.

• Since Hector Neris and Joaquin Benoit had each pitched in back-to-back games, Edubray Ramos was tasked with finishing off the Braves on Saturday. The Phillies reliever couldn’t get it done: he served up a game-tying solo home run to Brandon Phillips with two outs in the 9th. Neris had notched two consecutive saves, but still hadn’t been named the team’s closer. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said on Friday that he feels comfortable with both Neris and Benoit in that role. Neris is younger and more intriguing than Benoit, but the Phillies may want to go with Benoit in that role so they can trade him for a greater return at the deadline, and because preventing Neris from accruing saves would likely save them money in arbitration.

Read the rest of this entry »

Santiago Casilla, who we have listed as the A’s closer, relieved Liam Hendriks in the 7th inning with runners on the corners and one out with a two-run lead.

Casilla got Jose Altuve to ground into a force out, on which a run scored, then struck out Carlos Correa after falling behind in the count, 3-0, and allowing two steals to Altuve.

Casilla came back out for the top of the 8th, at which time the A’s still had a 5-4 lead, and he issued a lead-off walk, a stolen base, another walk, and a sacrifice bunt. He was then replaced by Sean Doolittle, with runners on second and third and one out for Nori Aoki.

Doolittle’s first pitch was a fastball in the dirt that got away from the catcher. The tying run scored and the go-ahead run moved up to third with one out. Aoki then gave the Astros the lead with a sacrifice fly to center field, and both runs were charged to Casilla. Doolittle then allowed a single and a home run by George Springer.

Before Casilla and Doolittle entered the game, the score was 5-3, Oakland. When they left, it was 8-5, Houston.

Long story short: stay away from the volatile A’s bullpen until things settle down.

… Read the rest of this entry »