Archive for Tom Wilhelmsen

–Edward Mujica blew his first save opportunity of the twenty-thirteen campaign on Independence Day, yielding two earned runs on four hits — one of which left the park — in a 6-5 loss to the Angels. The longball turned out to be the third of its kind Mujica allowed in his previous six trips to the bump — leading to five earned runs — spiking his ERA from 1.57 to 2.62. The fifth of July, however, seemed to be a bit friendlier to the veteran right-hander. Mujica faced the minimum in a clean ninth-inning of work on Friday, fanning two Marlins and inducing one worm burner en route to a 4-1 Cardinals’ victory and Mujica’s 22nd save of the season.

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Bobby Parnell secured his fourth save of the year as the Mets clipped the Cardinals 4-3 in Saint Louis. Parnell surrendered just one hit — a single to Matt Adams — in the bottom of the ninth frame, and struck out one to seal the victory for the Metropolitans. Parnell is now 4-of-6 on the season in save opportunities with a 1.04 ERA (1.86 FIP) and a 0.73 WHIP. However, owners should monitor his K% — which is up to 26% this season from 21% in ‘12 — despite missing fewer bats (8.4% SwStr% in ‘13, down from 10.1% in ‘12). The foreseeable future seems to favor those with shares of Parnell, considering the (unfortunate) news that Frank Francisco felt soreness in his surgically repaired elbow just as he was meant to return from the disabled list.

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–Edward Mujica snuck himself out of a jam tonight to earn the four-out save, his first since May 2012, in a 4-3 Cardinals victory over the Phillies. Mike Matheny called for the 28-year-old Mujica to bail out young gun Trevor Rosenthal with two down and two on in the eighth. The veteran subsequently fanned Laynce Nix to end the Phillies’ rally. Mujica then surrendered two consecutive singles of his own to start the ninth-inning, but was able to finish off the Phils with two infield groundouts and a strikeout, securing his first save of the season. Quickly after the save, our friend Drew Silva tweeted this:

Edward Mujica, acquired last July for, umm, Zack Cox, now has a 1.11 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 28/4 K/BB in 32 1/3 innings with the Cardinals.

— Drew Silva (@drewsilv) April 19, 2013

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• Tom Wilhelmsen needed 19 pitches in Toronto to earn his 26th save of 2012. Wilhelmsen surrendered a walk, but fanned two and induced a fly ball to lock down his seventh consecutive save. The Mariners ninth-inning man is now 4-3 on the year with 26 saves, a 2.50 ERA (1.14 WHIP) and a 2.33 K/BB. Wilhelmsen’s save tally is good enough for 12th-best season in club history, which is a huge accomplishment considering he didn’t take over the role until June 4th — 59 games into the season.
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To say that the closing situation in baseball has been a disaster this season would be a grave understatement.  Of the 30 teams this year, 18 teams have had to make changes and/or adjustments due to injury or an outright lack of success.  Some of the changes have been temporary while others have seen multiple relievers moved in and out of the role causing fantasy owners to spend far too much time playing the waiver wire in search of consistent saves.  But what happens once the dust settles and there’s almost no more turnover?  What happens when you can’t find saves on the waiver wire and you’re in need?  The trade market can be a very unforgiving place to shop. Read the rest of this entry »

They say that, in life, timing is everything. Yes, success is often something you achieve when you put in the proper amount of work, but for many, it can simply be a matter of being in the right place at the right time.  Sometimes, it can be an amazing occurrence in life, at least when it happens to you, and other times you just sit there and watch in complete disbelief, wondering how some people can catch such a break. It can be as big as randomly meeting someone who, in the end, offers you your dream job, or as small as simply flipping on the TV and catching a ballgame in the fourth inning that ends up being Matt Cain’s perfect game. 

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