Archive for Relievers

In Wednesday’s Bullpen Report, I chronicled the apparent changing of the guard that occurred for the White Sox’s closer situation over the course of their Tuesday doubleheader with the Twins. On Wednesday, that transition was made complete.

The White Sox held a 5-2 lead heading into the eighth inning against the Twins, and Nate Jones — who had clearly been the team’s closer just a day-and-a-half earlier — was brought in. He dispensed with his three batters quickly, but despite needing only 13 pitches, it was Joakim Soria who came out for the ninth inning. Soria, who recorded the save in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader, yielded only a Brian Dozier single en route to his sixth save of the season.
Read the rest of this entry »

The White Sox’s doubleheader against the Twins on Tuesday served as a closer drama with two acts. In the first game, the Sox crusied into the bottom of the eighth inning with a 2-0 lead, and they were on the verge of something they hadn’t had since May 22 — a ninth-inning save situation. Nate Jones, who recorded the team’s last save in that game from 15 days ago, was brought in for the eighth inning to face the Twins’ 8-9-1 portion of the batting order. He retired Ehire Adrianza and Mitch Garver at the bottom of the order, but leadoff hitter Brian Dozier reached on a single. After walking Eddie Rosario, Jones allowed Miguel Sano to cut the lead to one run with an RBI single. Then Eduardo Escobar snatched the lead away with a three-run homer.
Read the rest of this entry »

For the second game in a row, an Angels reliever made the ninth inning a little too interesting. On Saturday, closer Blake Parker blew a one-run lead in an eventual 3-2 extra-innings loss to the Rangers. When the Angels pulled into the ninth inning of Sunday’s series finale with a two-run lead, Mike Scioscia turned to Justin Anderson to get the save. Anderson was one pitch away from retiring the side, but Ronald Guzman sat on an inside full-count fastball to give the Rangers a baserunner. Then he walked Joey Gallo on a pitch that appeared to catch the corner of the strike zone and loaded the bases with a third straight full-count walk, this time to Shin-Soo Choo. Scioscia stuck with Anderson, who stranded all three runners by inducing a shallow fly ball from Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

In all likelihood, Parker sat out Sunday’s game due to having pitched on both Friday and Saturday, though he threw all of four pitches in the first of those appearances. It’s probably too early to read anything into Anderson getting the save chance on Sunday, but this situation bears monitoring.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Pirates may have been insisting that Felipe Vazquez is healthy, but something appears to be wrong. After rebounding from a string of subpar performances with solid outings on Tuesday and Wednesday, Vazquez blew his fourth save in 12 days on Thursday night against the Cardinals. He was entrusted with an 8-5 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, but before he could get an out, he loaded the bases and then gave up a two-RBI single to Luke Voit. (In fairness to Vazquez, Tommy Pham reached base by way of a Sean Rodriguez fielding error.) On Vazquez’s very next pitch, Yairo Munoz homered on a 96 mph fastball in the middle of the plate for a walk-off victory.

Clint Hurdle summed up his closer’s performance when he said Vazquez “couldn’t get any swings outside the zone and they barreled up everything in the zone.” That has not only been the case for Thursday’s performance. Over his last six appearances, Vazquez has induced chases on only 26.0 percent of his pitches that have missed the strike zone. He has allowed 23 hit balls over this stretch, and nine of them have been line drives. These trends have contributed to Vazquez allowing nine runs (seven earned) on 12 hits and three walks over just 3.2 innings.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tuesday’s most interesting closer development actually came in a non-save situation. Felipe Vazquez — much to the surprise of many fantasy owners — reportedly said he would be ready to pitch on Tuesday, even though he had to be lifted early from Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals due to forearm discomfort. As a man of his word, Vazquez pitched the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s contest against the Cubs, even though the Pirates were behind, 8-4.

Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk concluded that Vazquez had minor flexor muscle irritation that required rest and treatment. Vazquez did seem to be fine on Tuesday, getting all three hitters he faced to ground out while averaging 100.0 mph on his fastball.
Read the rest of this entry »

Felipe Vazquez just hasn’t been himself lately, and now we may have an explanation. The Pirates’ closer blew his third consecutive save on Sunday, and the news got even worse, as he had to leave the game with left forearm discomfort. He was examined after Sunday’s game, and as of Monday morning, Vazquez said that he felt well enough that he expects to available on Tuesday against the Cubs.

Nonetheless, the waiver wire frenzy over a potential new Pirates closer has begun. In Yahoo and Fantrax leagues, Edgar Santana is already near the top of the most-added list for relief-eligible pitchers. It’s actually been Michael Feliz who has entered in the eighth inning to set up for Vazquez in each of his last five save chances, including Sunday’s. Just as Vazquez has struggled lately, so has Feliz, and Sunday’s difficulties made it necessary for Clint Hurdle to call on Vazquez to try to get the final five outs. Over his last three appearances, Feliz has allowed seven runs in two innings of work.
Read the rest of this entry »

On a day that featured only eight games on the schedule, the only real closer intrigue took place in Cincinnati. In the first Reds game that provided a save opportunity since Raisel Iglesias (biceps) went on the 10-day disabled list on Wednesday, it looked as if Amir Garrett was primed to record his first career save. The lefty relieved David Hernandez with two outs in the top of the seventh inning and a 5-2 lead against the Pirates. He proceeded to get the next four outs, three of which came by way of strikeout.

Having used only 16 pitches to get those outs, Jim Riggleman brought Garrett out for the ninth inning to finish the game. Corey Dickerson put the first blemish on Garrett’s afternoon, singling on an 0-2 pitch, but then he appeared to get back on track, striking Jose Osuna out on three pitches. Then, with one swing, Garrett’s campaign to get the save took a blow when Austin Meadows turned on a 95 mph fastball that caught the inside of the plate and pulled it for a two-run homer. With the Reds’ lead carved down to one run, Jared Hughes took over and got the final two outs, as well as the save.
Read the rest of this entry »

Raisel Iglesias has been steady as the Reds’ closer, so speculating on his potential replacement has seemed like a largely intellectual exercise. Now that speculation could have some consequences for fantasy owners, as the Reds placed their closer on the 10-day disabled list with a strained left biceps.

Jim Riggleman has taken some of the guesswork away from us, as he has already cited Jared Hughes, Amir Garrett, Wandy Peralta and the just-activated Michael Lorenzen as possible replacement options. His lack of commitment to a single replacement makes it less attractive to speculate on any one reliever as a future source of saves. Riggleman’s comments about the nature and severity of Iglesias’ injury also suggest that he may not be out long, making it even less urgent to try to add one of the foursome. The interim manager told reporters that “Iglesias’ left biceps has been bothering him for some days. It’s just tender…Rather than continue to deal with it, we’re just going to DL him…”
Read the rest of this entry »

When the White Sox faced the Rangers this past weekend, they found themselves in late-inning situations with a slim lead and a cluster of lefties due up. That situation availed itself on both Saturday and Sunday, and both times, Rick Renteria turned to Jace Fry. After an eighth-inning rally against the Orioles on Tuesday night, it was déjà vu all over again for Renteria, but this time, it was Nate Jones who got the call.

Jones started off the ninth inning by walking Chris Davis, but then he struck out Pedro Alvarez, giving himself some breathing room before facing right-handed Mark Trumbo. On the first pitch from Jones, Trumbo singled into center field, but even with lefties Jace Peterson and Chance Sisco due up, Jones stayed in the game. Fortunately for Jones, he retired them both for his fourth save. Unfortunately for Fry’s fantasy owners, the young lefty was robbed of a chance for his second save in three days. And we all lost, because we were deprived of the chance to see a Jace-Off between Fry and Peterson.
Read the rest of this entry »

In the span of two days, Jace Fry has gone from being an emerging lefty getting his first taste of some setup work to being firmly in the saves mix for the White Sox. On Saturday, Fry was used in the eighth inning with a two-run lead against the Rangers. Brought in to face Nomar Mazara, Jurickson Profar and Joey Gallo — a pair of lefties sandwiching a switch-hitter — and he came back for the ninth inning to handle left-handed Rougned Odor. Rick Renteria did not opt to give Fry a two-inning save, as he let Nate Jones handle right-handed Robinson Chirinos, even with lefty Ronald Guzman on deck.

On Sunday, the trio of Profar, Mazara and Gallo were due up in the ninth inning, and Renteria let Fry have an encore performance — this time with a 3-0 lead and a save at stake. Fry set the trio down in order, retiring the latter two with strikeouts. Through the first seven performances of his major league career, Fry has yet to allow a hit or a run, and over 8.1 innings, he has 12 strikeouts and two walks. While he has been highly adept at inducing whiffs, posting a 15.9 percent swinging strike rate, he has been even more impressive in his ability to freeze batters, inducing called strikes at a 24.3 percent rate.
Read the rest of this entry »