Archive for Mariners

The Cubs activated Craig Kimbrel on Thursday after he spent two weeks on the IL with right elbow inflammation. With the Cubs never holding a lead in Thursday night’s game against the Cardinals and trailing 4-1 heading into the ninth inning, it did not appear they would need Kimbrel to pitch, at least as a closer. Pedro Strop took the mound for the top of the ninth, so it looked like Kimbrel would have to wait at least another day to make his return.

Carlos Martínez came in for the bottom of the ninth, and with him riding a streak of 11 straight scoreless appearances and having a three-run buffer, the Cubs’ chances of winning or at least forcing extra innings looked slim. Over those 11 outings, Martínez had struck out 14 batters and allowed only two hits over 10.2 innings.
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Greg Jewett made a speculative call in Tuesday’s Bullpen Report that doesn’t look so speculative now. He noted how Shaun Anderson has thrived since moving to the bullpen, and given how depleted the Giants’ relief corps is right now, he could see some save opportunities in the former starter’s future. The first of those opportunities came as soon as Tuesday night against the Pirates. With Will Smith (back) still unavailable and Tony Watson (wrist) likely out for the season, Anderson got the call to pitch in the top of the eighth inning with two outs and a 5-4 lead, which had been a 5-0 advantage heading into the inning.

In getting José Osuna to fly out to end the threat in the eighth and pitching a scoreless ninth, Anderson recorded his first career save. With Smith’s return not looking imminent, Anderson and Jandel Gustave, who blew a save chance in Monday night’s series opener, figure to be the primary candidates for save opportunities in the near term.
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It feels like bullpens settled in over the last few days but blips always arise. There’s no impending change in Cincinnati, but it will be intriguing to see if the Reds move Raisel Iglesias in the off-season. Iglesias entered last night’s outing having converted his last nine save chances. However, a lead-off single by Colin Moran followed by consecutive hits from Jose Osuna and Adam Frazier tied the game in Pittsburgh resulting in Igelsias’ fourth blown save and first in over a month. Jacob Stallings bunted two runners into scoring position, the only out recorded by Iglesias before a walk-off single by Pablo Reyes resulted in loss number nine for Iglesias. With the Reds retooling for next year, they seem to be building a solid bullpen leading up to their closer, especially Amir Garrett and Robert Stephenson. Garrett recorded his 19th hold with a clean eighth inning striking out one. Stephenson tossed a clean seventh with a strikeout during a tied game. Over his last 11 appearances, Stephenson owns a 0.73 ERA with a 0.65 WHIP and 15:4 K:BB spanning 12.1 innings.

Pittsburgh’s Felipe Vazquez notched his fourth win in relief working a clean top of the ninth. It’s been slim pickings for Vazquez in terms of save chances since the inception of the second half, which could create a unique buying opportunity for 2020 when fantasy players focus on save totals, not performance. Focus on Vazquez’s 14 strikeouts versus two walks in 11.2 innings since the All-Star break with no earned runs and a minuscule 0.51 WHIP in them.

Perhaps turning the corner, Brad Hand snapped a personal three game skid of blown saves securing his 30th save last night. Hand yielded a lead-off single to Alex Gordon but erased him quickly inducing a double play ground ball by Cheslor Cuthbert before ending the game on a Bubba Starling ground out. More important than the save, Hand getting his outs via grounders compared to fly balls. Hand’s 41.8 fly ball percentage this year represents a career high, but any migration towards his old career 43 percent ground ball rates would be welcomed by his owners. There’s no guarantee Carlos Carrasco will even make it back to Cleveland despite all of our best wishes. First, here’s an update regarding his rehab outings going forward:

Carlos Carrasco will throw “2ish” innings for Columbus on Sunday. He’ll take a few days off, then pitch another inning, take another few days off and toss another frame after that.

Tito: “Put him in the bullpen and he has a chance to do some special things.”

— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) August 23, 2019

Second, Carrasco could figure into late inning match-up situations like Cody Allen used to share with Hand in September as covered in this link from Indians beat writer, Paul Hoynes. Stay tuned and continued prayers for Cookie in his battle with Leukemia.

A marathon in New York ended with the Braves emerging victorious after 14 innings. Mark Melancon locked down his fifth save, and fourth in a row striking out one in a scoreless appearance. Luke Jackson garnered his seventh win in relief working two scoreless frames allowing two hits with two strikeouts. Shane Greene logged his fifth straight scoreless outing with a clean eighth inning. Chris Martin pitched a scoreless ninth inning and has retired 12 of the last 13 hitters he’s faced. Seth Lugo fired two scoreless innings for the Mets in a tied game walking two and striking out four. He lowered his home ERA to 1.86 in the process. But, Lugo needed 38 pitches over his two innings so he’s likely unavailable on Saturday. This could result in a save chance for Edwin Diaz. He turned in a clean 10th inning keeping the game tied with two strikeouts and riding a four game scoreless streak. Jeurys Familia absorbed his second loss allowing two hits, an earned run and two walks with three strikeouts in the top of the 14th inning. He’s only given up five earned runs since July seventh but owns an 18:16 K:BB in this stretch, tread lightly.

Matt Magill recorded his third save with a clean ninth inning against the Blue Jays. Since he’s received each of the last four save chances for the Mariners, his shared status with Anthony Bass has been removed on the closer chart. Not sure Magill can stay hot, but since joining Seattle, his 15 strikeouts versus three walks in 12.1 innings will keep him in the ninth inning. Austin Adams will continue his rehab in the minors and could be a factor down the stretch, but his health can be fickle. Do not forget about Adams next year if he makes it back from his rehab.

Quick Hits: Aaron Slegers gets his first save working the last three innings against the Orioles. Slegers allowed three hits and an earned run, but all saves count the same in the books…Speaking of Baltimore, they placed Shawn Armstrong (right forearm strain) on the injured list to provide him with some rest. This puts Hunter Harvey even closer to a save chance and probably the last chance to stash him if desperate for a save in the Orioles bullpen…Kyle Zimmer will work exclusively from the stretch going forward. He fired two scoreless innings against Cleveland yielding a hit and walking one with two strikeouts last night…Save number 31 for Roberto Osuna working for the fourth time in the last five games. With Ryan Pressly on the injured list, Houston will likely ride Osuna hard. Monitor his workload…Jeremy Jeffress allowed an unearned run in the ninth inning. Josh Hader would have worked if the no-hitter was in play…Buck Farmer gets his 12th hold giving up two runs on a home run to Miguel Sano. Joe Jimenez coughed up a solo home run to Jake Cave in a non-save outing in the ninth…Sergio Romo allowed two urns on three hits in two-thirds of an inning…Alex Colome tossed a clean ninth inning getting in work with a strikeout…Luke Farrell fired two clean innings with two strikeouts for Texas…Miami’s not recorded a save since July 24th.

On Saturday, Matt Magill became eighth Mariner to record a save this season, and on Tuesday night, he joined a more selective group, becoming the fifth Mariner to record a second save. Given that the Mariners are just 53-73, have a staff with a collective 5.07 ERA that doesn’t hand off many leads in the late innings and have recorded only 26 saves on the season, we can be excused for not having much of an appetite for chasing saves in Seattle. That apathy could be compounded by Magill’s status as a 29-year-old journeyman with a history of pedestrian strikeout rates, questionable control and a propensity for allowing homers.

However, this version of Magill is not the same as the earlier one we may be more familiar with. He is throwing fewer four-seam fastballs, but he has roughly doubled his SwStr% on the pitch from 6.4 percent to 12.9 percent. Magill has also increased his curveball usage, and it’s a pitch that has been less prone to hard contact over the last two season (90.9 mph EV FB/LD) than his four-seamer has been (95.1 mph EV FB/LD). As a result, Magill has a more impressive strikeout rate (28.1 percent) and SwStr% (14.5 percent), and he also has an HR/9 ratio (1.13) that is well below the major league average.
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Just when it seemed like Tuesday night’s three-team blockbuster was going to be the marquee deal of this year’s deadline trades, Mike Hazen needed someone to hold his beer in the final hours of trading. In dealing Zack Greinke to the Astros for four prospects (which, incidentally, included Seth Beer), the Diamondbacks’ executive vice president and general manager may have helped to change the complexion of this year’s postseason, but in terms of impacting the fantasy landscape, Greinke was going to be a must-start pitcher whether in Arizona, Houston or anywhere else.

However, Hazen made two other trades involving pitchers that will likely have an effect on some fantasy owners. Meanwhile, the trade involving possibly the largest impact on a pitcher’s fantasy value will get less notice for its real world consequences.
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When we size up our weekly or daily pitching matchups, most of us probably get a nervous feeling when thinking about starting our hurlers against the Yankees, Red Sox, Twins or Dodgers. Lately, the Indians have become one of those feared teams, too. But it’s been occurring to me that it’s not much fun owning pitchers who ply their craft in the American League West.

Of course, there are the always-tough Astros, but they are not alone as difficult matchups. Going back to June 1, the Angels and Mariners have the two lowest O-Swing rates in the majors, and the Athletics and Astros rank sixth and seventh. The Astros and Angels have the lowest SwStr%, and the Mariners have the 10th-lowest. The A’s, Angels and Astros are in the top 10 for ISO. While the Rangers lag behind their division-mates in these categories, they — along with the A’s and Astros — rank among the eight teams with the highest hard contact rates.
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In spite of a limited slate which shrunk due to a postponement in Washington, plenty of high leverage events occurred on Monday night. Starting in Pittsburgh in a game which required extra innings to be decided, both bullpens pitched well until the 10th inning. Clay Holmes coughed up a grand slam to Paul Goldschmidt providing the Cardinals with what seemed to be a comfortable lead. Chasen Shreve took the mound with the four run advantage allowing back-to-back doubles to Starling Marte and Josh Bell leading to a run. This prompted the Cardinals to bring in their closer, Carlos Martinez. This marked his seventh appearance over the last 10 days.

Martinez yielded a home run to Jung-Ho Kang cutting the lead to one run. A single by Corey Dickerson put the tying run on base with no outs. Kevin Newman reached on an error by Paul DeJong putting the go ahead runner on base as well. A bunt by Elias Diaz forced out Dickerson at third base for the first out. Jacob Stallings entered hitting a pinch hit single to left field but St. Louis cut down Newman at the plate for the second out. An Adam Frazier fly out ended the game providing Martinez with his eighth save, and fifth in a row despite the drama. It’s been rocky recently for Martinez yielding runs in four  of his last five appearances but he’s getting the work, perhaps too much as the clear cut closer in this bullpen. Shreve garnered his first win of the season despite giving up two earned runs in one-third of an inning.

In Milwaukee, both bullpens imploded ceding leads resulting in a wild finish. Cincinnati used Michael Lorenzen in the seventh inning in relief of Sonny Gray. Lorenzen worked two-thirds of an inning walking two and striking out one for his eighth hold. Amir Garrett entered with runners on walking Christian Yelich but bounced back to strikeout Yasmani Grandal ending the inning. Garrett returned for the start of the eighth inning but left after allowing a lead-off single to Mike Moustakas. Raisel Iglesias took over against Jesus Aguilar giving up a single then issued a walk to Keston Hiura loading the bases with no outs. Iglesias struck out Orlando Arcia then served up a grand slam to Tyler Saladino, his second in two days. After striking out Ben Gamel, Iglesias then allowed a single to Lorenzo Cain leading to his departure from the game recording two outs with three hits and three earned runs against.

Wandy Peralta took over for Iglesias in the eighth inducing a ground out by Yelich to first base. However, the damage had been done by Iglesias resulting in his third blown save of the season snapping his save streak at 11 in the process. Milwaukee turned to Jeremy Jeffress for the save chance with Josh Hader having worked in back-to-back games over the weekend. Jeffress struck out Derek Dietrich starting the ninth but gave up a one out single to Nick Senzel. Joey Votto grounded out to third letting Senzel move up a base before Eugenio Suarez hit his second two run home run off a Brewers reliever last night. The second Suarez homer handed Jeffress his third blown save and third loss of the year. It’s been migration to the mean for Jeffress battling injury issues and too much traffic on the bases. Cincinnati stayed with Peralta in the bottom of the ninth. He retired Grandal on a lineout to and Moustakas on a fly out. Jared Hughes then entered to face Aguilar but walked him prior to striking out Manny Pina ending the game for his first save of the season.

It’s been a slippery slope predicting saves for the Reds. Iglesias seemed to regain his hold on the job prior to this meltdown. Home runs continue to plague Iglesias with last night’s slam the ninth against him in only 43 innings. He set a career high last year giving up 12 across 72 innings. Perhaps the team will go back to Lorenzen for the next save or Iglesias or eventually go to a fluid match-up bullpen like their pitching coach deployed with his former team Milwaukee last season.

Although it’s been a slow start to the second half for Will Smith, he did not get the save chance on Monday night due to past usage. San Francisco reported Smith unavailable after working six times in the previous 10 days. Sam Dyson recorded his second save, and first since April 13th navigating around a walk and a hit in the ninth inning. Dyson’s not been scored upon in 14 of his last 15 outings while leading the team in appearances (47) this season. He’s emerged as the number two option in a loaded bullpen. Drew Pomeranz made his debut as a reliever hitting 95 MPH on the radar with his fastball and striking out four of the six batters he faced in two clean innings. Trevor Gott gets his second win in as many days pushing his total to seven this year despite allowing an earned run on two hits. Pedro Strop incurred his fifth blown save and fourth loss giving up four hits and three earned runs in the bottom of the eighth leading to the Giants win. Strop’s allowed four earned runs his last three outings spanning three innings.

As reported by Al Melchior in the column yesterday, the Red Sox continue to explore options to bolster their team, including the bullpen. Nathan Eovaldi made his debut as a reliever last night with less than stellar results. Eovaldi yielded five hits, three earned runs and struck out two in two-thirds of an inning. Of more concern, the 112.9 MPH maximum exit velocity on the batted balls against Eovaldi in this outing. It can take time to transition to the bullpen so it may benefit Eovaldi owners to keep him reserved until he gains footing as a reliever.

No official word from the Rangers about who will replace Shawn Kelley as the closer other than Chris Martin and Jose LeClerc could share them. Kelley landed on the injured list with a biceps strain but hopes to return as close the minimum as possible escaping major injury. Stay tuned. In Seattle, Roenis Elias recorded a one out save after Cory Gearrin coughed up a solo home run to Rougned Odor then walked Ronald Guzman and hit Shin-Soo Choo with a pitch with two outs in the top of the ninth. Elias entered getting Danny Santana to fly out stranding both runners for his 12th save.

Quick Hits: Sergio Romo worked a scoreless eighth inning giving up a hit with a strikeout. He’s not received a save chance since July sixth…Save number 15 for Taylor Rogers working around two one out singles by Aaron Judge and Edwin Encarnacion. Rogers moved to 5-for-6 in save chances this month with 14 strikeouts over 10.1 innings with no walks. Lewis Thorpe gets his first win working 2.2 innings allowing four hits and one earned run with two strikeouts…Greg Holland notched his 17th save giving up a hit with two strikeouts. He’s recorded a save in each of his last five appearances with the last three being scoreless. Stefan Crichton gets his first hold with a clean eighth and Yoshihisa Hirano his ninth hold firing a clean seventh.

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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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 »

Wednesday was not a good day for the two best closers of 2018. Edwin Diaz blew his second save of the season after entering the bottom of the ninth with an 8-5 lead against the Dodgers. Coming into the game, the Mets’ closer had allowed little damage when facing lefties, holding them to a collective .071/.133/.214 slash line, but Joc Pederson and Max Muncy defied the trend, hitting back-to-back homers to begin the Dodgers’ half of the inning. Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger followed that up with consecutive doubles, with Bellinger’s erasing the lead. Diaz would face three more batters but would only retire the last one. Unfortunately, the batter was Alex Verdugo, who hit a walk-off sacrifice fly.

Just as he did a year ago, Diaz is missing a lot of bats (17.3 percent SwStr%), but despite that, he has already equaled last season’s total of home runs allowed (five). That may be something of a fluke, as his flyball rate is up only slightly, from 35.3 to 37.0 percent, as is his average exit velocity allowed on flies and liners, from 91.5 to 92.1 mph (per Baseball Savant). It may be a good time to get in touch with a frustrated Diaz owner.
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