Archive for Jordan Hicks

This past weekend was an eventful one for the Cardinals’ bullpen. At the team’s Winter Warmup, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said that Carlos Martínez was ahead of schedule in his return from offseason shoulder surgery, giving momentum to his push to become a starter again. Martínez was slated to begin his road back with a bullpen session on Tuesday, and barring a change in plans, bullpen roles are now up for grabs. Once Jordan Hicks was shelved by a torn UCL and subsequent Tommy John surgery last summer, Martínez took over as closer. He secured 22 of the Cardinals’ 30 saves after Hicks’ season had come to an end.

There was also news regarding Hicks. He is currently tossing on flat ground two or three times a week and could return by the middle of the season. While it seems unlikely that Mike Shildt would put Hicks immediately back in the closer’s role, it does complicate our calculus for determining who (if anyone) we should target from the Cardinals for saves in this year’s drafts. Even if there was a clear successor to Martínez as the team’s closer, that reliever could conceivably get pulled from the role if Hicks made a sufficiently early and strong return.
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For nearly three months, Jordan Hicks put on a breakout performance in 2019. He became a much more prolific strikeout pitcher and seamlessly moved into the Cardinals’ closer role, locking down 14 of his 15 save opportunities. Now his 2019 campaign is officially over, as he is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery on Wednesday morning. Carlos Martinez is officially the Cardinals’ closer now.

In his 15 innings this season, Martinez has not been especially proficient at getting swings-and-misses (9.8 percent SwStr%) or strikeouts (23.3 percent K%), but he has been masterful at inducing ground balls (61.5 percent rate) and soft airborne contact. Of the 447 pitchers who have allowed at least 40 batted balls this season, only one (Taylor Cole) has yielded a lower average exit velocity on flyballs and line drives than Martinez has (86.0 mph). Given that Martinez has pitched barely more than a month’s worth of innings, as he started his season late due to a shoulder strain, it’s hard to know if he will be better, worse or about the same now that he will serve as a closer. Even with that uncertainty, Martinez is worth adding in just about every league where he is available.
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Kirby Yates doesn’t get the attention he deserves in this column, because he has literally been automatic. Entering Sunday’s series finale with the Pirates, he had converted all 26 of his save opportunities this season. Only twice had he allowed more than one hit in an appearance, and he had yet to allow more than two hits in an outing.

Yates entered uncharted territory on Sunday, as he did not protect the Padres’ 7-4 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning. His inning began with Elias Diaz reaching as a result of a Manny Machado error, and he subsequently allowed an Adam Frazier double and RBI singles to Kevin Newman and Bryan Reynolds. Yates would not allow any more hits, but thanks to Starling Marte‘s sacrifice bunt that advanced Newman and Reynolds, Melky Cabrera’s lightly-hit grounder down the first base line was enough to bring Newman home to tie the game. Cabrera was out at first, and then Yates retired Colin Moran to send the game into extra innings.
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Another packed Friday night of high leverage events makes for a busy Saturday trying to sift through them. Starting with a wild game in Coors Field, the Rockies blew a seven run lead after the seventh inning, the largest blown lead, win or lose, since June 15th of 2017 according to Elias Sports. Mike Dunn started the ninth inning with the Rockies ahead by six. However, he served up four hits, including a three-run home run to Hunter Renfroe, before departing with four runs against while recording one out. Wade Davis entered allowing back-to-back singles to Wil Myers and Ian Kinsler before getting Austin Hedges to lineout. But, a wild pitch during Manuel Margot’s at-bat ending up in a walk loaded the bases for a Fernando Tatis Jr. two-RBI single before ending the inning with a strikeout of Josh Naylor. Read the rest of this entry »

Alex Cora tabbed Matt Barnes as his highest leverage reliever in the preseason. This did not translate necessarily to usage exclusively like a traditional closer. Barnes faced the heart of the order in the seventh or eighth innings as necessitated trying to preserve wins for Boston. Last night, Barnes received a save chance but left after 17 pitches to some boos from the home crowd. Barnes induced a pop out on a bunt attempt by Delino DeShields but then yielded a single to Danny Santana, a double to Elvis Andrus and a two RBI single to Nomar Mazara blowing the win for Sale and resulting in Barnes fourth blown save of the season. Barnes bounced back to strikeout Hunter Pence and then walked Asdrubal Cabrera intentionally before departing. Read the rest of this entry »

It has not been easy to predict who will get the Red Sox’s next save on any given day, but with 20-20 hindsight, there has usually been a clear logic to Alex Cora’s bullpen usage decisions. I will fully admit, though, that I am lacking for a convincing explanation as to why he had Matt Barnes pitch the eighth inning with an 8-2 lead against the Yankees on Sunday night.

Perhaps Barnes needed to get some work in? Not likely, as he, Brandon Workman and Marcus Walden all pitched with the Red Sox trailing on Saturday after not having been used in four days. Maybe Cora was being extra cautious with a tough part of the Yankees’ lineup coming up? That’s more likely, as the 1-2-3 hitters — DJ LeMahieu, Luke Voit and Gary Sanchez kicked off the Yankees’ portion of the inning. Barnes allowed each of them to reach base, and then LeMahieu scored on a balk. Voit and Sanchez would eventually score, too, whittling the Red Sox’s lead down to three runs.
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Although it’s never assured, it appears Anthony Bass assumed the role of interim closer in Seattle until Hunter Strickland returns. Of course, with the Mariners only winning seven games in May, it may not be a booming position to hold. Pressed into duty in the eighth inning with the bases loaded, Bass induced an out to left field by Jonathan Lucroy. Bass then returned for the ninth retiring the side in order with two strikeouts for his first save this season, the fourth of his career and first since 2014. Since joining Seattle, Bass owns six strikeouts, with no walks, a 1.47 ERA and 0.63 WHIP in five outings spanning 6.1 innings. Read the rest of this entry »

The Red Sox did something on Sunday that they hadn’t done since April 21. They had a reliever in consecutive save situations. Marcus Walden got the team’s last save chance, back on Wednesday against the Blue Jays, and in giving up a Danny Jansen RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, his first save opportunity of the season was an unsuccessful one. The 30-year-old righty made amends on Sunday, closing out a 4-1 win over the Astros with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

So should we assume Walden is the Red Sox’s new closer? Probably not, if for no other reason than Alex Cora doesn’t seem to be too concerned about using a specific reliever consistently in that role. Also, he had Matt Barnes pitch the eighth inning, starting off against the 9-1-2 hitters. Cora still seems to favor Barnes against some of the tougher batters in the opposing lineup (on Sunday, he wound up facing Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley), and if some combination of the 2-3-4 hitters were due up in the ninth inning, I suspect Cora would use Barnes then.
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When trying to predict the machinations of the Phillies bullpen, it’s frustrating. Gabe Kapler’s very public about his disregard for traditional bullpen roles, so investing in any reliever on his team will accompany ups and downs. One day removed from Hector Neris notching his first save in a clean outing, Pat Neshek faced the Nationals at home with the save opportunity. Seranthony Dominguez turned in a clean sixth inning and garnered the win in relief with a strikeout. Adam Morgan notched his fourth hold with a clean seventh and a strikeout. David Robertson worked around a Victor Robles single and struck out one in the eight. Neshek did record his first save of the year, but allowed a home run to Brian Dozier along with a double to Anthony Rendon. Through 5.2 innings this year, Neshek owns a 1.59 ERA and 0.88 WHIP, but the average exit velocity of his five balls in play last night, 96.9 MPH. There’s no clear reliever to own in this bullpen, so target accordingly. Read the rest of this entry »

Having recorded his second save of the season, Ryan Brasier has surged into lead for saves in the Red Sox’s bullpen. However, there will be no such surging into the lead spot in the Red Sox’s portion of the closer grid.

It appears that Alex Cora may trust Matt Barnes to handle the highest leverage situations, and over the long haul, that could translate into more saves for him than for Brasier. On Sunday, as soon as the Red Sox took a 1-0 lead against the Diamondbacks on Mitch Moreland’s homer in the top of the seventh inning, Cora installed Barnes to pitch in the bottom of the inning to face the 4-5-6 portion of the Arizona order. He stayed on to pitch the eighth inning as well and retired all six batters he faced. With the top of the order due, Brasier came in to finish off the Diamondbacks and did so, allowing only a David Peralta double.
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