Archive for Jose Urena

In Sunday’s edition of the Bullpen Report, Ben Pasinkoff covered some of the key happenings from Sunday afternoon’s games, and the most notable of those was Justin Wilson getting the save in the Mets’ 6-3 win over the Reds. This is a hard move to interpret, as not only was Seth Lugo available, but he set up for Wilson in the eighth inning. It was also not a matter of Mickey Callaway using Lugo in a high-pressure situation in which the Reds’ best hitters were due up. Lugo entered the game with a three-run cushion and Tucker Barnhart, José Iglesias and José Peraza coming up. These were the Reds’ 5-6-7 hitters. Lugo gave up a leadoff home run to Barnhart but nothing else. It was the first home run yielded by Lugo since Juan Soto went yard against him on Aug. 10.

The Mets got the run back in the top of the ninth inning on Brandon Nimmo’s solo shot off Sal Romano. Wilson protected the 6-3 margin, allowing only a walk to Joey Votto. It was the lefty’s fourth save of the season, and given that there is no clear alternative explanation for this pattern of reliever usage, one can only assume that Wilson and Lugo will be splitting whatever save opportunities come the Mets’ way over the final week.
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The Mets’ 11-10 loss to the Nationals on Tuesday night, as heartbreaking as it was, merely reinforced the team’s bullpen hierarchy. Seth Lugo has been used consistently as the closer for the last two-and-a-half weeks (including in the top of the ninth inning in tie games), and he was in line for a two-inning save against the Nationals. He relieved Jacob deGrom in the bottom of the eighth inning after the Mets’ starter gave up a two-run homer to Juan Soto that cut the lead to 5-4, and Lugo retired all three batters he faced. However, when the Mets blew the game open with five runs in the top of the ninth, the save opportunity was gone, and Mickey Callaway opted to let Paul Sewald finish out the game.

In retrospect, it’s easy to say that Callaway should have left Lugo in, as Sewald retired only one of five batters he saw, and he bequeathed a 10-6 lead with runners on first and second base to Luis Avilán. Yet Sewald had been superb since rejoining the Mets from Triple-A Syracuse, allowing one run over 7.1 innings with 13 strikeouts, one walk and four hits allowed. After Sewald departed, Avilán gave up a single to Juan Soto, so Edwin Díaz entered with still only one out and the bases loaded.
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The Mets did not need a closer in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Braves, but if they did, it would not have been Edwin Díaz. On Saturday, Díaz came in for the top of the ninth inning, one inning after Brad Brach had already allowed the Braves to unlock a 5-5 tie on Ronald Acuña Jr.‘s RBI single. He allowed the Braves to increase their lead on Freddie Freeman’s leadoff homer, and two batters later, Díaz was lifted due to tightness in his trapezius muscle. He was unavailable for Sunday’s game, and an IL stint is not off the table.

For however long Díaz is out, it is probably safe to assume that Seth Lugo would be used as the closer, Lugo already has a pair of saves in August, and he was essentially used as the closer against the Braves on Friday, when he pitched the top of the eighth and ninth innings in a tie game. Regardless of Díaz’s health status, owners — particularly those in saves-plus-holds leagues — should keep tabs on Paul Sewald. Since getting recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Aug. 16, he has struck out 10 batters in five innings, including four batters in two innings on Sunday. Sewald did allow his first run since getting promoted, giving up Josh Donaldson’s second home run of the game.
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It’s been a fun season covering discount starting pitcher options here at Rotographs, and in the final week I’ll be talking exclusively about streams through the rest of the week to consider to stream to pull ahead through the weekend, beginning with Friday, September 27th.

I’ll be keeping them under 30% owned per usual, with all numbers pulled from Fantasy Pros’ consolidated ownage metrics.

Jose Urena vs. New York Mets (Friday) – Urena’s ownership rates have climbed steadily over the past few weeks, and justifiably so as he’s allowed 1 ER or fewer in five of his last six starts, with the sole exception coming against the elite Red Sox lineup. He gets quite the opposite against the Mets this weekend and Urena can take advantage. His two-seamer that consistently bores inside to right-handers means plenty of weak contact, though those looking for strikeouts should look elsewhere – these six starts have tallied just 24 punchouts.

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The season numbers aren’t great but we’ve picked up some steam over the last few weeks and hopefully will finish strong. As always, if you have any suggestions or tips, please feel free to mention them in the comments section, and thank you for reading.

Here’s how we’re doing so far this season (through half of Week 23). Since this is the last column of the year, find me on twitter or on the #2xSP hashtag for end-of-season results:

45-41 record
4.73 ERA
7.8 K/9
2.4 K/BB
1.40 WHIP
45 quality starts

Here are this week’s recs (with team wRC+ for this season in parentheses):

RHP Jake Junis – 20.1% ESPN – v. DET (99), v. ARI (94)

Junis gets a couple nice offensive matchups here, though the numbers are certainly deceiving in that the Diamondbacks will be tougher than the true-talent Tigers. But nevertheless, it’s two nice matchups for Junis before considering how good he’s been lately. Since more or less moving back into the rotation — save for one relief appearance — to begin August, he’s been terrific: 3.02 ERA, 41-6 K/BB ratio in 50.2 innings and an OPS against of .632. Four of the 17 earned runs he’s allowed in that time frame came in one relief appearance, which is worth noting as well. I’ve already grabbed Junis in my deep keeper for safe winter storage — you might want to do the same. Read the rest of this entry »

The season numbers aren’t great but we’ve picked up some steam over the last few weeks and hopefully will finish strong. As always, if you have any suggestions or tips, please feel free to mention them in the comments section, and thank you for reading.

Here’s how we’re doing so far this season (through half of Week 19)

34-34 record
4.72 ERA
7.7 K/9
2.3 K/BB
1.43 WHIP
37 quality starts

Here are this week’s recs (with team wRC+ for this season in parentheses):

RHP Jhoulys Chacin – 35.5% ESPN – v. SFG (83), v. LAD (109)

It’s easy to love the Giants matchup and really hard to get on board with the Dodgers one — they’re the second-best offense in the game — but Chacin has been really, really good since an up-and-down start to the season. Since posting a 5.77 ERA through the first two months of the season, he’s gone 3.00, 2.51 and 3.58 in the three months since. On the whole, what does that look like? It’s a 3.02 ERA, .667 OPS against and a K/BB ratio of 72-39 over 89.1 innings/15 starts. Those numbers over what’s basically half a season would certainly garner a higher ownership figure. He’s faced the Dodgers twice in that stretch as well, allowing just one earned run over 10 innings. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not one to make excuses, but man this has been rough this year. With pitching injuries, the fluctuation of even moderate starters and the advent of the 10-day disabled list, trying to find viable candidates for these kinds of columns has been…..let’s just say a bit difficult. Thanks for hanging in there all season, as we’ve picked up some steam lately. Be sure to check out the #2xSP hashtag on Twitter if you don’t see this column, as I’ll list my recommendations there as well.

Here’s how we’re doing so far this season (through half of Week 15)

25-25 record
4.82 ERA
7.6 K/9
2.2 K/BB
1.47 WHIP
28 quality starts

Here are this week’s recs (with team wRC+ for this season in parentheses):

RHP Mike Foltynewicz – 36.3% ESPN – @PHI (85), v. MIA (96)

I’ve been a big fan of Folty’s all season long, as he’s taken a really nice step forward as a key cog in future Braves rotations. He’s improved every year in red and blue ERA-wise, and has stayed fairly consistent with strikeouts and walks while tightening up most other aspects of his game. The WHIP is still a bit concerning at 1.39, but he’s been prone to some really strong streaks this year. The best part here is that Folty also misses out on the mid-week series against the Dodgers — the No. 2 offense in baseball (111 wRC+). Read the rest of this entry »

Well, we’re moving ever so slightly back in the right direction as we sliced nearly two-tenths of a run off the ERA — nearly under 5.00! — and are at least trending in the right way rates-wise. As reminder, there’ll be no column next week due to the All-Star Game festivities. Enjoy!

Here’s how we’re doing so far this season (through half of Week 12)

20-21 record
5.04 ERA
7.5 K/9
2.1 K/BB
1.52 WHIP
22 quality starts

Here are this week’s recs (with team wRC+ for this season in parentheses):

RHP Aaron Nola – 43.9% ESPN – v. PIT (89), v. SD (81)

I’m just licking my chops over these matchups for Nola, an immensely talented righty who I think is criminally under owned at this point. Sure, his ERA isn’t great (4.13), but his FIP is pretty solid (3.82), he’s fanning nearly a batter per inning and isn’t giving up a ton of homers (1.1 per nine) despite the league having gone crazy in that respect. He was really, really good in June, too: 3.24 ERA, 35-11 K/BB ratio in 33.1 innings and .633 OPS against. Read the rest of this entry »