Archive for Will Smith

The Braves continued the upgrading of their bullpen, which they began at this year’s trade deadline, by signing Will Smith on Thursday. In inking the lefty to a three-year, $40 million deal with a fourth-year team option, they added a reliever who struck out 96 batters over 65.1 innings and recorded 34 saves for the Giants in 2019. Smith’s ex-teammate (and now new teammate), Mark Melancon, was effective as the Braves’ closer down the stretch this season, but I was probably not alone in assuming that Smith would go into spring training as the team’s new closer.
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Entering the ninth inning with a win potential of just under 93 percent, the Giants bullpen coughed up a chance to preserve a home win for Madison Bumgarner versus the Pirates. It started rather innocuously with Tyler Rogers returning to the mound with a two run lead in the top of the ninth after retiring the side in order in the eighth inning. However, a lead-off single by Kevin Newman chased Rogers from the game with San Francisco bringing in Fernando Abad to face Cole Tucker. Abad induced a fielder’s choice groundout allowing Newman to reach second base, then walked Josh Bell before giving up a single to Elias Diaz loading the bases with one out.

This prompted Bruce Bochy to bring Jandel Gustave into the game for the save chance fresh off his first on on Saturday getting the game ending double play versus the Dodgers. It also sounded the alarms for Will Smith owners who remains out due to back tightness. He last pitched on September sixth with very little news about when Smith will return. Tony Watson also remains sidelined with a wrist injury last working on September fourth. Kevin Newman greeted Gustave with a game tying single scoring two runs then Bryan Reynolds gained a measure of revenge versus his former franchise hitting a single driving in the go ahead run for Pittsburgh. A fielder’s choice ground out allowed Melky Cabrera to reach first again loading the bases and Jose Osuna drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Pablo Reyes popped out ending the inning but not before Gustave suffered a blown save leading to an eventual loss to Abad, his second of the season. Read the rest of this entry »

Barreling towards the last six weeks of the season, bullpens will continue to play a pivotal role in not only how the pennant races take shape, but which teams will qualify for the playoffs. Due to a combination of injuries and performance, Cubs relievers suffered a walk-off for the second straight game as noted by their beat writer: Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday’s schedule did not produce many notable performances from closers, but it did produce one from a possible future closer. Nathan Eovaldi made his first appearance for Triple-A Pawtucket, and he pitched a scoreless inning. He struck out the side but also issued a walk.

This would appear to be the only rehab appearance Eovaldi is going to make. He has already joined the Red Sox, who are in Baltimore for their weekend series, and he could be activated as soon as Saturday. While earlier reports had suggested that Eovaldi was going to be used as the Red Sox’s closer, Alex Cora has only specified that he plans to use the converted starter in high-leverage situations. Eovaldi’s imminent activation might not mean it’s the end of Brandon Workman’s recent run as the team’s primary closer. Matt Barnes and Heath Hembree, who have combined for six saves, may still figure into saves situations as well.
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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.
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Perhaps Al Melchior moonlights reading tarot cards, or he just proved to be prescient highlighting Oliver Drake in yesterday’s Bullpen Report. In a pivotal game for the Rays, they used Diego Castillo to preserve a one run lead starting the sixth inning. Castillo recorded 1.2 scoreless innings giving up a walk and striking out two. Then, Emilio Pagan entered with two outs in the seventh. Pagan coughed up a home run to Giovanny Urshela leading to his fifth blown save. Over his last 15.2 innings, Pagan owns a 3.44 ERA but he’s yielded five home runs within them. He’s been a stabilizing force in the bullpen all season however, the trend of home runs should be taken into account when adding him for saves. Andrew Kittredge took over for Pagan in the eighth allowing a two out single to Aaron Hicks then a two run home run to Edwin Encarnacion giving up the lead. 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 »

Two factors could make this a very intriguing trade deadline. First, with seven teams within seven games of each other in the Wild Card race in the American League along with 11 teams in the National League, the sellers face tough decisions. Second, due to a rule change, the July 31st trade date will be a hard deadline with no waiver transactions in August. So, the onset of the second half will not only dictate which players may be traded, it could change how teams finish within their divisions. Read the rest of this entry »

Owning Raisel Iglesias comes with its ups and downs. His multiple inning usage can cap save totals year to year, but he’s saved 71 since the start of 2017. Last night, Iglesias once again struggled with his command leading to his removal from the game in the ninth inning without recording a save. Instead, Iglesias gets his second hold of the season to the dismay of his owners. In the eighth inning, Iglesias entered with a runner on base and one out. He induced a pop out to shortstop by Robinson Chirinos but walked Tyler White in the next at-bat. Iglesias ended the inning on a Tony Kemp ground out and returned for the ninth inning. But, he walked lead-off hitter Myles Straw then retired Alex Bregman on a pop out to first base. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a tenuous time of year for fantasy owners. Amidst all the buy low and sell high noise, one needs to take stock of trends along with the standings. For instance, representing one of the top two picks at the position, Blake Treinen seems a bit off compared to last year. He recorded his 13th save last night, but needed to work around a hit and two walks. Through four innings this month, Treinen’s walked five batters with only two strikeouts. Overall, his 3.16 ERA accompanies a 4.79 xFIP with a drop in ground ball percentage by over 12 percentage points while his walk rate continues to rise sitting at 12.7 percent, his highest rate over his career. It could be mechanics or a hangover from usage last year, but it needs to be monitored. Read the rest of this entry »