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.
May the fourth be with you, and the force be strong in the unyielding chase for saves. During a game with twists and turns in the win probabilities, the Giants outlasted the Reds despite trailing by eight runs at the end of the third inning. Raisel Iglesias incurred his second blown save giving up a game tying home run to Stephen Vogt in the top of the ninth inning. It’s been a tumultuous season for Iglesias, who seemed to be turning the corner of late, but he’s been asked to record more than three outs in three of his last four outings and five times of his 14 outings this season.
A somewhat wild Friday evening will leave some fantasy owners sleepless about Seattle. Hunter Strickland will undergo an MRI on Saturday after experiencing tightness in the back of his shoulder. It could be inflammation, but resulted in Strickland blowing his first save of the year after convincing his manager to leave him in. Strickland allowed two hits, including a three-run home run to Mitch Moreland, and a walk in one-third of an inning. Roenis Elias finished the ninth inning getting a strikeout versus the two hitters he faced. If Strickland does land on the injured list, this could signal a committee approach in Seattle until Anthony Swarzak returns.
Hard to say which right-handed reliever will emerge, but Matt Festa or Cory Gearrin could get save chances along with either Zac Rosscup or Elias if facing a left-handed lean in the final stanza. Plan accordingly. Read the rest of this entry »
I came here to defend Greg Holland. But before I do, I want to talk a little about Mark Melancon.
The year was 2015. Melancon’s velocity was down, both on his four-seamer and cutter, through the first two months, but he started to overcome a rough start to the season (.292 Avg allowed through May 15) in the latter part of May. Then his velocity rebounded closer to his 2014 levels over the season’s final four months.
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For someone who had managed to pile up 28 saves, Bud Norris never seemed to have a firm grasp on the Cardinals’ closer role. Now he has lost his grip on the job entirely.
On Sunday, Mike Shildt named Carlos Martinez as the team’s new closer, and Norris is being moved to a lower-leverage role, albeit one that will still involve the later innings. Martinez had already been called upon to close out Wednesday’s 7-6 win over the Nationals, as Norris was unavailable, and then he recorded his first save as the team’s official closer on Sunday. His 1-2-3 ninth inning finished off a 5-2 win over the Tigers.
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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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