Archive for Jim Johnson

After seeking a second opinion on a course of action for his damaged UCL, Keynan Middleton has opted to undergo Tommy John surgery.  He came off the 10-day disabled list on May 10 after a minimum stay for right elbow inflammation, and he made just three appearances before exiting early in his most recent appearance on Sunday.

As has been the case for much of this season, the Angels’ closer situation is murky at best. Jim Johnson appeared to be emerging as the closer during Middleton’s initial absence, but he no longer looks like a candidate. His two most recent appearances have come with the Angels in a deficit, including Thursday’s seventh-inning outing against the Rays. Johnson entered with the Angels down only by a run, but he coughed up four runs (three earned) in just one-third of an inning.
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With Keynan Middleton and Corey Knebel being activated within the last two days, we fantasy owners needed some clarity as to whether they would be eased back into closing or be given save opportunities right away. Fortunately, both the Angels and Brewers obliged by getting themselves into save situations on Thursday night.

Things started to get real for the Angels when they jumped ahead of the Twins, 6-4, in the bottom of the sixth inning. After Jose Alvarez struck out Logan Morrison to start off the seventh inning, Mike Scioscia played the matchups, bringing in Cam Bedrosian to face Mitch Garver, and then kept him in for switch-hitter Ehire Adrianza. Shohei Ohtani homered in the bottom of the inning, but with the lead at three runs, Scioscia had to plan for a potential save in the ninth inning. He opted to bring Middleton in for the eighth inning, and he worked around two walks and a double to keep the lead at 7-4. Jim Johnson pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first save of the season.
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If you took the weekend off from baseball to enjoy the beautiful spring weather (or for any other reason), you can rest assured that the Angels’ closer situation remains as confusing as ever.

Based on recent usage patterns, it looks like Jim Johnson may be the Angels’ closer, or at the very least, at the head of their closer committee. When the Angels grabbed a 7-6 lead in the top of the 10th inning in Saturday’s game against the Mariners, Johnson was brought in for the save. Perhaps even more to the point, Mike Scioscia had already used Cam Bedrosian in the sixth inning and Justin Anderson in the eighth inning — both in situations where the Angels held a two-run lead — so it appeared the manager was saving Johnson for the save. The night before, Scioscia had Anderson set up for an apparent save, having him get the final out of the seventh inning and all three outs in the eighth inning. Even though the Angels expanded their lead to five runs in the ninth inning, Johnson came in to pitch a scoreless bottom of the frame.
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When the Cardinals seemingly have one of the majors’ more stable closer situations, you know it’s been a strange night of baseball.

On Tuesday, prior to the Cardinals’ series opener against the White Sox, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak clarified what many suspected — that Bud Norris was back to being the team’s closer, and that Greg Holland would not “be used in the ninth inning at this time.” Given the way the Cardinals’ bullpen situation has played out so far in 2018, it would not have been surprising if Norris then went out and promptly blew a save against the White Sox. Instead, he was called upon to pitch the top of the ninth inning with a one-run deficit, and he tossed a perfect frame that turned into his first win of the season.
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As we enter the weekend, the Milwaukee bullpen continues to be the most volatile situation to speculate for saves. The word from the Brewers today regarding Corey Knebel was unfortunately bad news. According to the Milwaukee manager, Craig Counsell, Knebel will miss “a minimum of six weeks” with his left hamstring strain. For those who missed the injury, it was a lot worse than it sounds. Knebel fell to the ground after delivering a pitch in the 9^th inning down 6 to 0 in Thursday night’s game against the Cubs.

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The Braves’ solid late-innings trio has taken a couple of hits lately. Jim Johnson blew his seventh save of the season Friday night, and it was his fifth blown save since May 23. Over that stretch, Johnson has a 5.59 ERA with a 4.7 BB/9 ratio, after posting a 2.84 ERA and 1.4 BB/9 ratio prior to this stretch. His BABIP has also risen from .245 to .323, though some of that increase could be a function of pitching in less favorable counts.

In a post-game interview, Brian Snitker said he has “no problem” with Johnson, so we can expect him to get the Braves’ next save opportunity. In general, when blown saves pile up, an ouster is almost inevitable. Remember when it seemed that Francisco Rodriguez and Matt Bush were on seemingly infinite leashes? Their respective managers stood by them far longer than many fans and fantasy owners would have preferred, but in both cases, patience and support had their limits. I suspect if Johnson’s next blown save occurs within a week after the All-Star break, Snitker’s patience will reach its end as well.
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Dodgers at Padres: Joaquin Benoit’s shoulder pain his back and Kevin Quackenbush should be owned in all leagues and perhaps for the rest of the season:

Why you’re not going to see #Padres closer Joaquin Benoit for a while http://t.co/LRTgQJhgQt

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) August 31, 2014

It’s not yet known when Benoit will be available again. At this point, maybe assume 11 days like the last timeframe since it’s similar pain.

Yankees at Blue Jays: Future starter/ace, current september bullpen asset, Aaron Sanchez looked great striking out 3 in 2 scoreless innings for his first major league save. He threw 19 of his 28 pitches for strikes. And on 12 swings, the Yankees were only able to put the ball in play 3 times. His minimum fastball velocity was 96 MPH. The one breaking ball he threw was a beaut. to Derek Jeter on a 2-2 count. Probably anyone other than Jeter would have chased (just missed low). He’s only given up 1 ER in his last 8 appearances with a 12K:1BB ratio. IMO he’s got a great Sinker-Fourseam-Curveball repertoire in conjunction with the velocity to succeed longterm. He’s only thrown 3 Changeups thus far, but I’d assume that remains part of his starting repertorie. If so, more whiffs should come; the groundball induction is already apparent; and his command (4.3% BB-rate) thus far is a huge bonus.

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By what we’ve learned over the last several year, we know that the closer’s role tends to be an extremely volatile position. Mental breakdowns, mechanical issues, whatever the case may be, we’ve seen numerous guys move in and out of the job on a variety of teams. However, there have also been some stalwarts; guys with strong job security that give you little reason to be concerned. More often than not, they notch the save and if they struggle, you never worry that they’re going to lose their job. Some of them are no-brainers, like what Mariano Rivera was. But others we’ve seen, no matter how poor they are pitching or how frail they may be (I’m looking at you Huston Street and Fernando Rodney), they still seem to stay right where they are. Maybe they lose an opportunity here and there, but if they’re healthy, they’ve always seemed to slide back into the job. So why, after 101 saves in the past two season….yes, that’s right, 101…does Jim Johnson get no love? Read the rest of this entry »

Just a few notes on a relatively slow night from the bullpen arms (at the time of this writing, at least)….

Jose Valverde needed just nine pitches in the bottom of the ninth-inning to close out the Rays and save a gem for starter Max Scherzer today. The Tigers stopgap last took the hill on 5/31 in Baltimore where he served up two long balls, leading to four earned runs and his second blown save of the year. So, it’s a safe bet that Detroit’s brass and his fantasy owners alike, took a deep sigh of relief at the conclusion of tonight’s efficient outing. With that said, Valverde’s velocity appears to be down a tick or more on both his fastball and splitter, entering tonight he’s been missing fewer bats (8.8% SwStr%) through 14 appearances versus his career 12.8% SwStr% and he’s been getting a bit lucky on balls in play (.156 BABIP). Hate to say it, but I see this glass as half-empty, and I’d be looking to add him as a sweetener in a larger deal with an owner in need of saves.

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Bobby Parnell notched his ninth save of the year in a 3-1 Mets victory over the Yankees tonight. For the Metropolitans, the win surprisingly sealed a series sweep against their crosstown rivals, providing them with some momentum as they head back into divisional play against the Marlins, Nationals and the Marlins again over the course of the next two weeks. For Parnell, it was his third consecutive save and the third outing in-a-row without surrendering a hit. The lanky right-hander whiffed one-of-three batters this evening, bringing his whiff rate to 25% on the season. The current 25% K% is actually higher than he’s had in the past two seasons — 23.9% and 21.2% respectively — despite missing fewer bats (8.6% SwStr%) than he has over that same time (9.8% SwStr% in ‘11, 10.1% SwStr% in ‘12). The previous data leads me to believe that Parnell’s strikeout rate could continue to rise if his ability to miss bats regresses toward his career 9.6% SwStr%. His recent success parlayed with the news that Frank Francisco was transferred to the 60-day disabled list today with continued elbow issues further proves that Parnell’s grip on the closer’s role in Flushing continues to get stronger.

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