Archive for White Sox

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 »

Brad Brach’s most recent reign as the Orioles’ closer came to an end after just five days, as they traded him on Sunday to the Braves for $250,000 in international slot money. It is not yet clear what role Brach will fill with the Braves, though given how well A.J. Minter has settled into the closer’s role, he appears to be destined for work in the seventh and/or eighth innings.

With Brach and Zach Britton both gone, Mychal Givens would be the obvious heir apparent to the closer’s role in Baltimore, though his tenure could be shorter than Brach’s. Givens, too, has been the subject of trade rumors. Earlier in the month, he had been tied to the Indians, and more recently, he has been floated as a possibility for the Pirates.
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Joakim Soria brought some stability to the White Sox’s closer situation over the last couple of months, but now he is leaving a gaping void in the bullpen, having been traded to the Brewers on Thursday. If we were to speculate on Soria’s replacement based on usage patterns, we would need to run out and pick up Jeanmar Gomez, who has received the bulk of the recent eighth-inning setup work, particularly against right-handed batters. However, Rick Renteria suggested he will go with a committee, though he did single out a reliever who could get a chance to win the job outright — and it wasn’t Gomez.
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The last two weeks of June did not go smoothly for Brad Hand, but the Padres’ closer got his July off to a good start. Making his first appearance in five days, Hand preserved a 6-3 lead against the Diamondbacks for his 24th save of the season. After giving up a soft ground ball single to Daniel Descalso to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, Hand struck out the next three Diamondbacks in succession.

Over his final six appearances in June, Hand had no problem missing bats, posting a 17.9 percent swinging strike rate, but when he did allow contact, it tended to be airborne (36.8 percent ground ball rate) and not gentle (10.5 percent soft contact rate). That contributed to him allowing at least one run in four of those appearances for a total of seven runs over five innings. It’s a little too soon to determine if Hand is past his difficulties, but Thursday’s outing was a step in the right direction.
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With Jeurys Familia landing on the disabled list due to shoulder soreness, the Mets will need a new closer going forward. Of course, this takes into account the team has lost 12 of its last 14 contests and the bullpen owns a 7.22 ERA with nine losses within this rough stretch. Fantasy owners should look to Robert Gsellman who recorded the last save for New York last Sunday. Gsellman’s worked in high leverage this year with five holds and two saves under his belt along with winning five games. Over his last 17.2 innings, Gsellman’s held opponents to four runs for a tidy 2.04 ERA and his ability to get left handed hitters out could translate to success in the role. Add in starting pitcher eligibility in some formats as a sweetener along with reports the Mets will not rush Familia back until he’s ready and hope Gsellman can continue to be fantasy relevant as the anchorman in the Mets bullpen going forward. For those in deeper leagues, taking a flier on Anthony Swarzak also makes sense as he rounds into form back from stint on the disabled list.

Owning Shane Greene can be frustrating. He’s held on to the closer role in Detroit, although tenuously at times, for 15 saves this season. On the other hand, he’s also lost three games and blown three saves due to his propensity to give up home runs (six in 30.1 innings). Last night, Greene allowed two hits, three earned runs and a walk after entering a tied game. He has converted his last five save chances in a row but seems to be working on borrowed time as the Tigers could trade him to a contender as the deadline approaches. With this in mind, Greene should continue his role in the ninth inning but Joe Jimenez is steadily closing the gap. Jimenez notched his first save last Sunday, has the superior strikeout to walk ratio, better ratios in ERA and WHIP through an increase in his swinging strike percentage while reducing hard contact this year. Those looking to stash for saves should roster Jimenez sooner rather than later in an effort to save in FAAB bids. Read the rest of this entry »

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.
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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.
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As bullpen usage continues to evolve, chasing saves could become even more difficult. For example, over the last seven games the Phillies have used three different pitchers in save opportunities. A week ago Saturday, Seranthony Dominguez notched the first major league save of his career. On Monday, Hector Neris returned to the ninth inning en route to his ninth save. Yesterday, Dominguez worked 1.1 innings, one out in the seventh and the eighth inning paving the way for Luis Garcia to pitch the ninth. Garcia yielded one hit and struck out one for his first save of the season. Four players on the roster have registered a save this month, including Edubray Ramos. Due to Philadelphia’s depth in the their bullpen, this could persist through the remainder of the season with other teams watching closely.

Losing Andrew Miller to the disabled list (knee inflammation) will continue to test the already fragile psyche of Cleveland’s bullpen. For one day at least, they rebounded to close out the Astros. Zach McAllister did give up a run during his 1.1 innings of work but held on for his third hold. Tyler Olson and Dan Otero shared the eighth inning with Olson getting one out and Otero pitched two-thirds of an inning. Cody Allen, the saving grace so far, notched his eighth save in a clean ninth inning with a strikeout. Allen’s made 18 scoreless appearances out of 22 this year and over his last seven games has worked 6.2 innings with a 2.69 ERA, 0.60 WHIP and seven strikeouts. He will be tested with a shaky bridge leading up to him going forward. 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.
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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.
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