Archive for wade davis

Chasing saves in Colorado could be tenuous, but avoiding Wade Davis for fantasy right now would be advisable. Davis entered a tied game on the road and promptly served up a go-ahead solo home run to Carson Kelly. He rebounded to strikeout Adam Jones then yielded a single to Jarrod Dyson, who stole second moving up on a throwing error to third. Davis also struck out Ketel Marte but a walk to Eduardo Escobar with two outs led to his exit. Jake McGee entered putting gas on the fire giving up a triple to David Peralta with two more earned runs charged to Davis’ ledger. It’s been a tough stretch for Davis allowing runs in five of his last 19 appearances, but he’s given up at least three runs in each of these occasions. Plus, Davis entered with a 0.63 ERA on the road in 14.1 innings prior to this outing which jumps to 2.40 courtesy of the last night’s results. There’s no clarity as to which Rockies reliever will get the next save chance, but:

#Rockies manager Bud Black said he's not ready to anoint the next closer, but expect to see Jairo Diaz and Carlos Esteves get chances to pitch the ninth.

— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) August 19, 2019

If using August as a guide, Carlos Estevez pitched after Jairo Diaz on Saturday when trying to gauge the pecking order. However, Diaz owns the better numbers this month with a robust 13:1 K:BB, 2.16 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over 8.1 innings. As for Estevez, his 5:4 K:BB this month in six innings includes a meltdown on the third when he did not retire a batter yielding two hits along with two walks leading to two earned runs. It remains to be seen who Black will turn to, but time will tell. Archie Bradley racked up his fifth save working around a solo home run by Charlie Blackmon preserving Arizona’s win. Bradley’s been scoreless in 16 of his last 18 appearances with a 1.30 ERA over 20.2 innings with 26 strikeouts. Yoan Lopez garners his second win inducing an inning ending double play.

Extra innings before a doubleheader does not bode well for the Angels and Rangers bullpen. Cam Bedrosian suffered his third blown save allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk with a strikeout. Consecutive singles by Hunter Pence and Rougned Odor tied the game for Texas versus Bedrosian who entered unscored upon in 11 of his previous 12 outings. Hansel Robles navigated 1.1 scoreless innings giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout. Since June first, he’s recorded a 1.73 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 31.1 innings. Noe Ramirez incurs the loss serving up a walk and two hits in the bottom of the 11th resulting in his second loss. Jose LeClerc survived walking the bases loaded with two outs inducing a pop out to second base by Luis Rengifo. This marks LeClerc’s first three walk game since July 28th. He held on for his fifth straight scoreless contest, but his struggles usually include issuing free passes. Rafael Montero gets his second win logging two innings giving up two hits and two walks in them.

Save number five for Andrew Miller working 1.1 scoreless against the Brewers. Miller opted to work around Christian Yelich in the eighth inning with runners on second and third with two outs getting Mike Moustakas to ground out to second base ending the threat. Returning for the ninth inning, Miller retired all three Milwaukee hitters in a row closing out a win for St. Louis. Miller’s recorded three saves in the second half. This month, he’s allowed more walks (5) than strikeouts (4) registered. No longer a ratio protector, Miller maintains his value with ancillary save chances. Giovanny Gallegos notched his 12th hold with a scoreless inning. He did give up the only hit in the game to Yasmani Grandal, but been scoreless in 13 of 14 appearances in the second half with a 0.51 ERA and 20:5 K:BB over 17.2 innings since the break.

Holding on for his 24th save, Alex Colome yielded three hits leading to an earned run while striking out one in Minnesota. Although Colome owns a 1.37 ERA in save situations this year spanning 26.1 innings, he’s allowed runs in five of his last seven outings. He’s also given up multiple hits in three of these contests resulting in eight runs (three earned) and seven walks with nine strikeouts within this sample. Evan Marshall gets his 11th hold striking out one in a clean eighth inning. Aaron Bummer coughed up a solo home run to Jorge Polanco en route to his 17th hold allowing two hits with a strikeout.

Oakland will be adding some potential upside to its bullpen with A.J. Puk set to be activated prior to Tuesday’s game. Puk features a high-90’s fastball with a plus slider and a change-up in his arsenal. He’s allowed six runs as a reliever at Triple-A in 11 innings with 16 strikeouts against three walks. Puk recorded a 36.4 strikeout percentage while in the Pacific Coast League and could work his way into high leverage spots with a strong start. But, he’s more of a deep league target for fantasy purposes unless he can channel his inner Chris Sale from 2010 cutting his teeth in the majors as a relief pitcher for the White Sox (21 games, 23.1 IP, two wins, four saves, 34.8 strikeout percentage, 1.07 WHIP). Also of interest, Carlos Carrasco made his debut as a reliever with Double-A Akron last night:

Carlos Carrasco finishes off his inning with a strikeout and a roaring ovation. He threw 16 pitches, 9 for strikes.

0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K pic.twitter.com/FQO2RGMoRF

— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) August 20, 2019

Carrasco hit 97, 96, 96 and 96 MPH on the radar gun on his first four pitches returning from his treatments for Leukemia. Rooting hard for Carrasco not only to overcome his fight with leukemia, but to return for high leverage moments with Cleveland. With Brad Hand struggling of late, perhaps Carrasco could reprise the role of Cody Allen with Hand providing the Indians with match-up options late in games. It’s too early to predict, but not out of the realm of possibilities. Reports also indicate the Cubs will activate Steve Cishek before Tuedsay’s game having sent David Bote to Triple-A. This adds much needed length to its bullpen for the stretch run.

Quick Hits: Javy Guerra vultures the win taking over for Joe Ross in Pittsburgh. Guerra tossed 3.2 innings with a strikeout for the Nationals…Save number 22 for Ian Kennedy working around a solo home run to Rio Ruiz in the ninth. It’s his first run allowed since July 23rd snapping a seven game scoreless streak…Kirby Yates held on for his third straight save, and 36th this season. Yates allowed three hits, an earned run and hit a batter with a strikeout. He will get Tuesday off. Those chasing saves hope an Andres Munoz chance lies in the offing…Lucas Sims fired two clean innings for the Reds striking out three. He’s not given up a run in his last five contests (6.1 innings)…Roberto Osuna notched his 28th save yielding a hit with two strikeouts.

When the Rockies opened their series against the Marlins on Friday night, it was business as usual for Scott Oberg, who tossed a scoreless inning to record his fifth save of the season. On Saturday, in response to feeling heaviness in his right arm, Oberg ultimately underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot from the arm. He was placed on the IL on Sunday, and in all likelihood, he will not pitch again this season.

With Oberg out, the Rockies turned to recently deposed closer Wade Davis to finish off a game they were leading 4-3 heading into the top of the ninth inning. Davis faced three batters, but he did not retire any of them. He began by walking Jorge Alfaro and then had two runners in scoring position as a result of a Lewis Brinson double. Then Davis blew the save by allowing a Neil Walker single. Carlos Estévez took over from there, but he allowed the Marlins to tack on two more runs, which were both charged to Davis.
Read the rest of this entry »

While fantasy owners try to discern who could end up closing with so many situations in flux following the trade deadline, a change occurred in Colorado seemingly below the radar. Although Wade Davis only owns two blown saves, his home ERA (11.29 over 18.1 innings) and 1.74 WHIP this season sealed his fate moving forward. Scott Oberg will take over as closer going forward for the Rockies and, he could run with it. Over the last statistical year, here’s a comparison between the two pitchers:

• Oberg: 7 wins, two losses, four saves, 78.2 innings, 84:23 K:BB, 1.72 ERA, 3.19 xFIP, 0.93 WHIP, 20.5 K-BB percentage
• Davis: three wins, eighth losses, 27 saves, 52 innings, 61:24 K:BB, 5.71 ERA, 4.12 xFIP, 1.40 WHIP, 16.4 K-BB percentage

On Friday night, Oberg yielded two hits but emerged unscathed not giving up a run for his fourth save of the season. Jairo Diaz logged two scoreless innings allowing a hit with three strikeouts for his fourth win. There’s no guarantee Oberg will hold the position until the end of the season, but it’s in Colorado’s best interest to find out how he does in the role. Stay tuned.

For Jose LeClerc owners, the good news, he held on for his sixth save on Friday night. However, he also allowed two hits, two earned runs and two walks in the process. It’s been a tough year for LeClerc and when he struggles, it’s due to his command. Over his last two outings, LeClerc’s issued five walks in 1.1 innings. Jesse Chavez also yielded an earned run on three hits in the eighth inning. Keep tabs on newly promoted Emmanuel Clase. Armed with a fastball which can hit triple digits, he should make his debut this weekend with Texas. Clase converted 11 of 13 save chances in Double-A with 39 strikeouts against eight walks in 37.2 innings.

With both Ken Giles and Justin Shafer unavailable, Toronto turned to Derek Law for a two inning save. Law answered the call in spite giving up two hits and two wild pitches for two scoreless innings with one strikeout. This marks the first two inning save for the franchise since Roberto Osuna’s on June 22nd in 2015. As for the Blue Jays bullpen, when Giles returns he will get save chances but Shafer remains in the conversation and should not be dropped in 12-team or deeper formats for save speculators.

Perhaps a change in the bullpen hierarchy in Minnesota. Once again, newly acquired Sam Dyson struggled serving up four hits leading to three earned runs in the top of the eighth inning last night. Dyson departed with a runner on base stranded by Sergio Romo. Romo notched his first save with the Twins, and 18th this year working 1.1 scoreless innings allowing a hit with two strikeouts. Another day of rest should benefit Taylor Rogers but the closer chart reflects the change of Romo moving ahead of Dyson for save chances going forward.

It’s tough to ignore the wild 15 inning game between the White Sox and Phillies on Friday night. Philadelphia eventually lost with Roman Quinn on the mound. Due to Hector Neris serving a three-game suspension, he will not be available this weekend. Juan Nicasio entered the ninth inning for the save but served up a one-out double to Eloy Jimenez before striking out James McCann. Playing match-ups, Gabe Kapler replaced Nicasio with Jose Alvarez to face left-handed hitting Ryan Goins with two outs. Goins recorded an infield hit then pinch hitter Matt Skole singled to right field scoring Jimenez resulting in Alvarez’s second blown save. Then, things got crazy with Zach Eflin leaving the mound during his warm-up pitches in the top of the 14th inning due to triceps soreness. Ranger Suarez could not get loose to throw, so Quinn took the mound leading to Vince Velasquez playing left field. Velasquez threw one runner out at home, just missed a second assist and made a diving catch which made Statcast data take notice. After all of this, John Osich tossed two clean innings with two strikeouts in a White Sox win on the road. Alex Colome logged a scoreless ninth inning giving up a hit. For the Phillies, Blake Parker fired two clean innings with four strikeouts putting him on the radar for the next save chance with Neris out through Sunday.

Quick Hits: Felipe Vazquez worked a clean ninth with a four run lead…Save number 28 for Aroldis Chapman striking out one in a much needed clean outing after a rough July (11 walks in 8.2 innings). Zack Britton recorded his 21st hold with a clean eighth and Tommy Kahnle his 21st hold as well giving up a hit with a strikeout in the seventh. Kahnle owns a 0.66 ERA his last 14 appearances (one earned run in 13.2 innings)…Nathan Eovaldi worked his first clean outing this year as a reliever in the loss to New York. He’s been scoreless his last two games…Raisel Iglesias converted his 21st save with two strikeouts in a clean inning against Atlanta…Save number 24 for Sean Doolittle firing a clean ninth striking out one in Arizona…Kirby Yates recorded his first save since July 17th yielding a hit with a strikeout in Los Angeles. Yates has locked down 32 saves in 34 chances this year. Andres Munoz notched his second hold and has yet to give up a run in nine innings this year with a 11:2 K:BB and 0.56 WHIP.

Maybe when Wade Davis gets lit up by the Dodgers, it’s a good thing.

A little less than a year ago — on Aug. 9, 2018, to be exact — Davis was charged with a loss against the Dodgers after giving up home runs to Chris Taylor and Brian Dozier in what was the latest in a series of poor outings. The Rockies’ closer made some tweaks to his mechanics, and over the rest of the season, he gave up only one run and was 11 for 11 in his save opportunities.
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.
Read the rest of this entry »

Emilio Pagan woke up on Monday morning to find himself near the top of the most-added lists for relievers on ESPN, CBS and Yahoo. (I’m actually guessing he probably didn’t check.) Owners were certainly responding to Pagan’s one-out save against the Orioles on Sunday, as well as his growing prominence in high-leverage ninth-inning situations for the Rays.

If there is a reliever in the Rays’ bullpen to own right now, it’s clearly Pagan, who has two saves in the team’s last five games. However, it is premature to assume that Kevin Cash is going to rely solely on him for saves. Diego Castillo is still only four days removed from being activated, and it is not yet clear what his post-IL usage patterns will look like. Especially with Jose Alvarado (oblique) on the IL, it would hardly be surprising to see Cash turn to Colin Poche for save situations that involve left-handed hitters.
Read the rest of this entry »

Unfortunately, the second half picked up where the tumultuous first half ended in terms of performances in high leverage. Both Josh Hader and Will Smith suffered blown saves in outings against their respective teams last night. Hader entered in the eighth inning serving up a lead-off home run to Tyler Austin. He settled in striking out Brandon Belt, getting Buster Posey to ground out and then a foul tip strikeout of Evan Longoria. Read the rest of this entry »

With July on the horizon and the trade deadline set to take center stage after the All-Star break, bullpen hierarchies will remain fluid. Ahead of all of this, things seem to be intensifying in Cincinnati with Michael Lorenzen receiving the save chance against the Cubs on Friday night. Lorenzen converted his fifth save, and third in a row giving up a hit in 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. More intriguing, Raisel Iglesias did not make an appearance in this game with the Reds protecting a three-run lead. Momentum and performance tilt to Lorenzen’s favor to the chagrin of Iglesias owners. Read the rest of this entry »

Roughly 24 hours ago, we may have wondered how soon the Cubs would use Craig Kimbrel as their closer once he was called up. That question was answered quickly and definitively on Thursday night. Mere hours after getting promoted from Triple-A Iowa, Joe Maddon called on Kimbrel to protect a 9-7 lead against the Braves in the top of the ninth inning. He got off to an auspicious start to his tenure with his new team, throwing strikes on each of his first six pitches and retiring former battery mate Brian McCann and Johan Camargo. Kimbrel struck out McCann on three pitches, though the called third strike did appear to be just outside the strike zone.

After getting Ronald Acuna into a 1-2 count, Kimbrel’s night took a slight turn for the worse. Acuna worked his way into a seven-pitch at-bat, ultimately blemishing Kimbrel’s debut with a ground rule double. Then his control briefly abandoned him in a four-pitch walk to Dansby Swanson. It only took one pitch for Kimbrel to end the threat, as Anthony Rizzo snagged a Freddie Freeman grounder hit down the first base line and got to the base just in time to get the final out.
Read the rest of this entry »

Due to all the volatile bullpens across the landscape, Brad Hand could be underappreciated. Last night, he did not convert a save, but did garner his fourth win after a Jason Kipnis walk-off home run versus the Royals. Hand fired a clean top of the 10th with a strikeout and secured 22 straight save chances this year for Cleveland. In June, Hand’s surged with a 17:1 K:BB in 11.2 innings resulting in one earned run against (0.77 ERA) and minuscule 0.60 WHIP in a complete hitter’s environment. Over his last 17 games, Hand’s recorded 26 strikeouts in 17.2 innings with a 0.51 ERA anchoring an evolving bullpen. Nick Wittgren did incur his second blown save allowing two hits and a walk in his two innings and the game tying run. Tyler Clippard yielded a hit in a scoreless seventh for his second hold.

As for the Royals, Wily Peralta absorbs the loss serving up the home run to Jason Kipnis. Peralta’s given up runs in back-to-back outings and four earned runs in only seven innings this month. Jake Diekman worked around a hit and a walk during a scoreless eighth inning and Jorge Lopez did strikeout two in 1.1 innings but also allowed one hit along with a walk in his appearance. Suffice it to say, fantasy owners should only own Ian Kennedy in this bullpen and if he’s traded, hope one of the arms in the minors can take over in high leverage.

Perhaps a rebound outing to get Wade Davis back on track in San Francisco? He logged his first clean inning since returning from the injured list on June seventh. Davis notched his 10th save and moved to three-for-five in save chances this month. However, he’s yielded far too much traffic since his activation giving up 12 hits and five walks over 7.1 innings translating to a 2.33 WHIP, less than optimal for a closer. Davis did turn his season around last year after watching video so hope lies in health and his track record. He could be a speculative buy low from a frustrated owner, but note his performance going forward. Scott Oberg gets his sixth hold striking out two in a clean eighth inning and Jairo Diaz nets his fifth hold working around two hits with a strikeout in the seventh.

Like Hand above, Aroldis Chapman often gets referenced in the Quick Hits portion of this report due to his performance and relative safety of closing for the Yankees. It’s likely Chapman did not think he’d be pressed into duty while his teammates led by eight after six innings, but five earned runs allowed by Jonathan Holder changed things. Chapman recorded his 22nd save allowing a double to Randal Grichuk, with deference to an interesting route taken by Giancarlo Stanton who then bobbled the ball leading to Grichuk reaching third and an error charged to Stanton. A sacrifice fly by Rowdy Tellez resulted in an unearned run charged to Chapman. As for Chapman, he’s secured a save in each of his last five appearances and not allowed an earned run in his last 17 games. In this span, Chapman’s racked up 24 strikeouts against six walks in 16.1 innings.

Meanwhile in Boston, Brandon Workman benefits with his seventh win striking out the only batter he faced in the top of the ninth inning, Tim Anderson. Workman continues to log high leverage events for the Red Sox but predicting who will get the save proves frustrating. Josh Taylor pitched an inning walking one and striking out one. Both Colten Brewer and Marcus Walden tossed scoreless two-thirds innings as well. Boston could receive a boost in bullpen depth with the pending return of Steven Wright from suspension and Heath Hembree from injury as noted in this article by Alex Speier. Wright will fill a huge role being able to absorb multiple innings and Hembree worked into more high leverage before his most recent injury. Stay tuned to as the Cora turns.

For the White Sox, they’ve received a tremendous return so far in their trade for Alex Colome, but his setup pitcher Kelvin Herrera continues to struggle. Herrera gets his second blown save giving up two hits and an earned run. He’s allowed runs in each of his last two outings, a 4.50 ERA in June and 6.83 ERA this season. It remains to be seen if a contract will keep Herrera in his present role or if the team will shift him into lower leverage appearances in an effort to get him on track. Aaron Bummer did record his sixth hold navigating around a hit and a walk during his inning. Evan Marshall coughed up a home run to Mookie Betts during his one-third of an inning. Jace Fry takes the loss loading the bases with two outs prior to an infield hit by Marco Hernandez ended the game. As for any reliever, traffic usually leads to trouble but will not comment on whether or not Anderson should have tried for a force out at third rather than throw to first on the game ending play.

No save opportunity in Chicago, but Steve Cishek tossed a clean ninth striking out two preserving a win. Of course, fantasy owners would like to know when Craig Kimbrel returns, which could be a soon as Thursday with this weekend being the latest according to this tweet:

Theo Epstein said that Craig Kimbrel could be with the team by the end of the week pending outing in minors today and conversation with the group tomorrow .

— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) June 24, 2019

In Arizona, a meltdown by Dylan Floro of the Dodgers led to a save chance for Greg Holland. Floro served up four hits, four earned runs and a walk in two-thirds of an inning in the eighth. Holland notched his 11th save, and first since the 12th of June getting the last out of the game via strikeout. One out saves prove to be a crowd pleaser in the fantasy community. Holland owners should thank T.J. McFarland who gave up a hit and an earned run leading to the save opportunity. It remains to be seen if the Diamondbacks will hold or decide to sell at the deadline, but saves speculators may stash Yoan Lopez in case they do move pieces in the future. Lopez won his first decision last night after the rally giving up a hit with two strikeouts. He’s worked 8.1 scoreless innings in June with a tidy 7:1 K:BB allowing only three hits in this sample. If he can build upon his swinging strike percentage and continue to blossom as a reliever, more high leverage events could ensue.

Quick Hits: A sad trombone for Jordan Hicks. Reports surfaced on Monday about his injury and the MRI revealed a torn UCL ligament. He will likely undergo surgery to repair the ligament so his owners should plan accordingly. John Gant should assume primary setup duties with Carlos Martinez shifting to the primary closer role. This also shifts Andrew Miller into potential periphery save chances as well due to usage patterns. There’s no word on if the Cardinals will look to bolster the bullpen via trade, much will depend on how the Wild Card and division races evolve for St. Louis going forward…Still no definitive timeline with a return for Jose Alvarado, but his teammate Diego Castillo will miss the next two weeks with a shoulder impingement. This probably puts Castillo on the shelf until the All-Star break.