Archive for Kenley Jansen

Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth inning against the Orioles for his 29th save on Thursday night, and it was the sort of uneventful outing that typically only gets a mention in the “Quick Hits” section of this column. Yet it was notable, not for what happened in this particular appearance, but how it fit into a larger trend.

The Dodgers’ closer threw 18 pitches, and only seven of them were in the strike zone. That 38.9 percent Zone% gave Jansen a string of eight outings in which he has recorded a Zone% below 40 percent in all but one appearance. Six of those eight performances have resulted in Jansen throwing no more than one out of every three pitches in the strike zone, and his cumulative Zone% over this eight-inning span is just 29.0 percent. To put this into perspective, no qualified reliever between 2014 and 2018 finished with a rate below 32 percent.
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As the Wild Card standings and divisional races take shape, it’s obvious bullpens will play a part in the final outcomes. A wild night in the National League East featured one save conversion, an implosion in New York and a change in who closes in Atlanta. It’s been a rough transition for Shane Greene and Chris Martin since arriving with their new team. Martin allowed two hits, three earned runs and a walk with one strikeout in two-thirds of an inning in Miami. Shane Greene did record his first hold with the Braves but let an inherited runner from Martin score on a single by Starlin Castro in the bottom of the eighth inning. Bouncing back to strikeout Lewis Brinson, Greene left with his team still ahead by four runs. Mark Melancon pitched the ninth giving up a lead-off single to Jorge Alfaro then striking out two before inducing a game ending ground out to shortstop. However, it’s the post-game quotes by manager Brian Snitker which grabs the attention of those still chasing saves: Read the rest of this entry »

The Giants-Rockies game at Coors Field on Tuesday night had all of the ingredients for a slugfest. The game-time temperature was 93 degrees, which just added to the hitter-friendly conditions at Coors Field. Somehow, starters Peter Lambert and Drew Pomeranz combined to allow three runs over 11 innings. With Will Smith bringing a 2.11 ERA into the bottom of the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead, it looked as if this would wind up as a low-scoring affair.

Trevor Story turned the tide with a leadoff home run, and three batters later, Ian Desmond tied the game with a two-run drive into the center field stands. That resulted in Smith’s second blown save in 26 opportunities. Raimel Tapia singled on Smith’s next pitch, but he would get stranded on first base after the lefty struck out Ryan McMahon and Tony Wolters.
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First and foremost, Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads. Like many of our fathers, high leverage never seem to take a break, hence the existence of this column. Starting in New York, once again, Edwin Diaz struggled with traffic, but held on for his 15th save against St. Louis. It started with a one out single Paul DeJong. Diaz bounced back to strikeout Marcell Ozuna and DeJong moved to second uncontested with two outs. Savvy veteran Yadier Molina singled to score DeJong moving the Cardinals within one and departed for pinch runner Jack Flaherty. Kolten Wong then laced a double with the game ending with Flaherty getting thrown out at home. Diaz yielded three hits but only one earned run and he’s allowed runs in back-to-back appearances. His struggled run deeper though giving up eight earned runs over his last 6.2 innings and a 5.06 ERA since May first. Read the rest of this entry »

Due to a four game slate, the normally voluminous Bullpen Report will seem paltry. But, there’s still some situations to monitor along with performances of note. It seems like Kenley Jansen turned a corner last month and carried it over to last night. Jansen locked down his 18th save allowing a ground rule double to Eduardo Escobar with two outs then inducing David Peralta to pop out to third baseman Justin Turner ending the game. Through 25.2 innings, Jansen owns a 3.16 ERA, 3.43 xFIP and 0.90 WHIP. More impressive, his improved results over the last 30 days during which Jansen’s recorded a 19.6 swinging strike percentage while reducing contact to 66.3 percent and 12 strikeouts against one walk. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

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By now, we have all become aware of the home run explosion that’s occurred in the early weeks and the appearance of a juiced ball. High-leverage relievers have not been immune to the deluge of dingers. Josh Hader, Matt Barnes and Kenley Jansen all allowed home runs on Sunday that led to a loss or a blown save. The three normally-reliable relievers have teamed up to allow seven home runs over their last 8.1 innings combined. Hader has allowed homers in each of his last three appearances, Barnes has allowed one in each of his last two outings, and Jansen has given up two homers over his last three appearances.

Despite the rash of long balls, it’s far too soon to be concerned about any of the three. Hader is still missing bats at a stratospheric rate, sporting a 22.8 percent SwStr%. However, his flyball rate of 72.2 percent is even more otherworldly. It’s nearly double the major league average of 36.7 percent. Not only is Hader letting the ball get lofted, but hitters are making a lot of hard contact on those airborne balls, averaging 97.4 mph in exit velocity (per Baseball Savant). As he accumulates more innings, this could become a real problem barring some serious regression, even with his healthy whiff rate.
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As a fantasy community, we liked Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel a lot more than all of the other projected closers on draft day this year. Jansen and Kimbrel lapped the field of relievers in Roto value (per ESPN’s Player Rater) in 2017, and owners typically rewarded them with one of the first 50 overall picks. Aroldis Chapman, Corey Knebel and the most popular of the remaining relievers had to wait a bit longer to get their names called (or clicked on).
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In my previous column, I looked at what went right and what went wrong (mostly wrong) with my team in the Tout Wars mixed auction league in regard to the five hitting categories. This time, I am turning my attention to my team’s performance in the pitching categories. With a fourth-place finish in these categories, it’s a less painful exercise than the last one, but not much separated my team from the two teams tied for eighth place. I was nowhere close to Tim Heaney’s league-leading 68 points, so this account of my pitching staff will include some cautionary tales.
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Edwin Diaz and Blake Treinen have stepped up as the elite relievers in 2018. We can’t know how Pedro Strop would have stacked up with The Big Two over a full season, because he was a setup reliever for most of the first half. However, after taking over for Brandon Morrow (biceps) after the All-Star break, Strop has been close to automatic as the Cubs’ closer. Only Diaz, Treinen and Jose Leclerc have had more Roto value among full-time closers in the second half (per CBS rankings).

Though he was not in a save situation, Strop was typically solid on Thursday, keeping the Cubs tied with the Nationals through 1.2 innings. With the Cubs taking the lead in the top of the 10th inning, Joe Maddon elected to have Strop bat in order to bring him back for a third inning. He pulled up with a hamstring injury while running out a grounder, and Randy Rosario had to come in to get the save.
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