Archive for Marlins

As is usually the case, the selection of streamable starting pitchers is much heavier on risk than reward, but there is actually a widely-available starter who looks like a pretty safe bet to help your rotation. It’s Felix Pena, who is unowned in at least 85 percent of the leagues on ESPN, CBS and Yahoo and more than 75 percent of Fantrax leagues. In a column I wrote just last week, I made the case for viewing Pena as Patrick Corbin Lite.
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Welcome to September as the marathon reaches its final stage. An encouraging outing by Kenley Jansen notching his first save since August seventh. Jansen needed to survive the heart of the Diamondbacks order and only yielded a double to Paul Goldschmidt of the four batters he faced including striking out the red hot David Peralta. As for Jansen, he’s stopped taking the medication which made him feel like he was “sleepwalking”, which may not be in the best interest of his health with a heart condition, but Jansen snapped a four outing streak of allowing a run in each with last night’s scoreless save. Jansen’s shown the ability to overcome a slow start in April to surge, so his owners will hope for a similar bounce back in September. Los Angeles did add veteran Ryan Madson in a waivers trade and plan on deploying him in high leverage to lead up to Jansen. Bullpen evolution never ceases.

A return to the ninth inning for veteran David Robertson who converted his fifth save of the season, and second in his last three outings. He’s made three consecutive scoreless appearances with seven strikeouts, two walks and one hit allowed in them. Robertson also finished August without ceding an earned run in 11.2 innings, but did give up three unearned in them. With Dellin Betances under the microscope after serving up back-to-back home runs in Thursday’s loss, the closer by committee to fill-in for Aroldis Chapman should continue. However, do note, Zach Britton’s last save was a week ago and he’s been working in a set-up role since. While the Yankees intimated a three-headed closer timeshare could ensue, it’s been Robertson and Betances in the ninth the last seven days. Read the rest of this entry »

When the game reached the seventh inning and Kenley Jansen remained in the dugout, it became apparent the Dodgers were going to keep him out of a potential save situation in Texas. Jansen’s allowed runs in each of his four appearances since returning from the disabled list without a rehab outing resulting in seven earned runs, two losses and a blown save. Less than optimal in the midst of a pennant chase. Kenta Maeda recorded his first save of the year, and second in his career during the regular season, allowing a hit, an earned run and two walks with a strikeout. He’s made six appearances as a reliever this year with a 2.69 ERA, 10 strikeouts against two walks and a matching 1.42 WHIP and FIP. While it’s apparent Maeda will back up Jansen going forward, the team will use their veteran closer this weekend in the role in a key match-up versus Arizona:

Kenley Jansen will be ready to close tomorrow against Arizona, Dave Roberts said.

— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) August 30, 2018

In other Dodgers news, the team placed a waiver claim on Ryan Madson in an attempt to bolster the bullpen before September. The teams have until Friday afternoon to consummate a deal. Stay tuned to world of evolving bullpens. Read the rest of this entry »

Although nothing’s set in stone, the first Yankees save opportunity went to Zach Britton, in his former ballpark, and he converted it despite ceding a home run to Chris Davis. It’s Britton’s first save with New York and snaps a three game scoreless streak. However, Britton seems to be turning a corner with the Yankees not walking a batter his last five appearances and getting the ball down in the strike zone which yields success for the veteran closer. This will be important since Aroldis Chapman received a platelet-rich plasma injection and will miss the next two weeks as a result. The team hinted a triumvirate could be deployed in late innings so high leverage could evolve. Dellin Betances recorded his 32nd consecutive outing with at least a strikeout in the eighth inning. Over his last 33 games, Betances has a 0.56 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 32.1 innings. Chad Green garners the win in relief striking out two in the ninth and David Robertson pitched in the seventh, for the first time in a week, giving up a two-run home run to Jonathan Villar. Use last night as a template with Betances in the eighth and Britton in the ninth until further notice.

It seems like the Indians would prefer Cody Allen to succeed in the ninth, but he blew his fifth save of the season serving up back-to-back home runs to Ryan O’Hearn and Hunter Dozier in the ninth en route to his fifth loss of the year. Allen’s allowed runs in three straight outings working two innings with four earned runs, two walks and one strikeout in them. He whittled down his ERA to 3.98 on August 17th but it’s ebbed back to 4.50 as a result of the last three games. Brad Hand notched his ninth hold walking one in the eighth inning. Hand’s been scoreless his last seven outings with 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings and scoreless in 12 of his 14 appearances with Cleveland. With five saves and six holds since joining the team, it’s likely Hand gets the next save chance. Especially with Andrew Miller starting to look like his old self registering his third straight scoreless outing last night with a strikeout. Read the rest of this entry »

Largely by default, Koda Glover was thrust into the Nationals’ closer role when the team put Ryan Madson (back) on the 10-day disabled list this past Tuesday. It has not gone swimmingly. Just before Madson was placed on the DL. Glover took a loss against the Cardinals on Monday, giving up a walk-off home run to Paul DeJong, and while he got the save in Thursday’s series finale, he allowed the tying run to get into scoring position.

On Saturday night, Glover was called on to keep the Nationals in a tie with the Marlins in the top of the 10th inning, but after getting into trouble again, there was no escape this time. Back-to-back one-out singles put the go-ahead run in scoring position, and after a force out and an intentional walk, Isaac Galloway brought home two runs on a bloop single into center field. Since the Nationals failed to rally in the bottom of the inning, Glover was left with his second loss in six days.
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Several closer situations have flipped in recent days, and on Saturday, we got an early look at how four of them could play out in the coming weeks. The Twins’ trade of Fernando Rodney created a void, as well as one of the harder ninth-inning situations to read. Despite his recent difficulties in the setup role, Trevor Hildenberger got the first crack at a save in the post-Rodney era. Unfortunately, he stayed true to recent form, allowing multiple runs for the fourth straight appearance. Fortunately, the two-run homer he allowed to Niko Goodrum was not enough to wipe out a three-run lead against the Tigers. Hildenberger did not allow any further damage, so he was credited with his first save of the season.
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When Kyle Barraclough had to get bailed out to prevent him from blowing his fourth straight save on Monday, that was the last straw for Don Mattingly. On Tuesday, the Marlins’ manager announced he was removing Barraclough from the closer’s role, though his replacement “was not going to be one guy.” Drew Steckenrider, who has been used consistently as the eighth-inning setup reliever, would be a strong candidate to get the Marlins’ next save chance, though a report from MLB.com beat writer Joe Frisaro cited Adam Conley and Tayron Guerrero as candidates to close as well.
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There’s a fine line between stubborn and obstinate, and Bud Black seemingly walks it each year with struggling closers. It’s encouraging to see he trusts his ninth inning arm, but in the midst of a playoff chase, can he afford to keep providing save chances to Wade Davis? Davis blew his second straight save on Friday night in Milwaukee culminating on a three-run walk-off home run by Eric Thames. With the knowledge Davis converted 11 straight saves prior to these implosions, one can make the case for Black to stand by his man. However, Davis has blown six saves this year and giving up wins in the spotlight applies more pressure to his now tenuous hold on the closer role. Especially with Adam Ottavino thriving in the eighth inning.

Colorado could give Davis a couple of mental days off or let him work in lower leverage for an outing or two to get him back on track without removing him from his present role. On the surface, he’s giving up eight percent more contact, to be expected with half of his games in Coors, and generating fewer swinging strikes (down five percent compared to last year). During the last 30 days, Davis has pitched in 12 games (11.1 innings) with a 12:5 K:BB, 7.94 ERA, 4.67 FIP and 1.24 WHIP. Hardly inspiring. Ottavino’s not allowed an earned run over his last 14 outings (15 innings) and secured his last three saves along with eight straight holds since June 28th. Suggesting a change from the outside looking in can be easy, seeing how the Rockies respond to Davis’ recent struggles remains to be seen. Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday’s slate of games did not feature that much closer intrigue, as five of the 12 games were decided by at least six runs. Three of the blowouts were won by teams scoring 15 or more runs.

Yet for fantasy owners counting on Kyle Barraclough or Wade Davis, there was more than enough drama. Barraclough may have blown a save against the Phillies, but the Marlins’ closer had another nemesis to battle: his own control. He threw only six of his 24 pitches in the strike zone and did not issue a first-pitch strike to any of the six batters he faced. His one-out walk to Asdrubal Cabrera loaded the bases, and then Nick Williams‘ groundout brought in Scott Kingery for the tying run. Three pitches later, Maikel Franco finished off Barraclough and the Marlins with a walk-off home run.
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Kelvin Herrera got his first save with the Nationals on Sunday, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings in a 6-2 win over the Braves. While Herrera has posted a 1.62 WHIP since leaving the Royals, he should receive at least a few more save opportunities. That’s because Sean Doolittle has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in his left foot that could keep him out for a few more weeks (though probably not for months).

Ryan Madson could be in the mix as well, either if Herrera continues to put runners on base or if there are situations where Davey Martinez opts to use his primary replacement closer to face the tougher part of the lineup prior to the ninth inning. Then again, Madson has had difficulty getting hitters to chase bad pitches, just like Herrera has. Over his last six innings, Madson has a 2.17 WHIP and a paltry 21.7 percent O-Swing rate.
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