Archive for Yankees

For the skills over role consensu, Kyle Barraclough continues to thrive as the closer for the Marlins in spite of starting the season as the primary setup reliever. Barraclough notched his fifth save firing a clean ninth inning with two strikeouts in his fourth outing over the last five days. He’s yielded no runs his last 16 games spanning 15.2 innings and only allowed one hit in these appearances. During the season, Barraclough’s not given up a hit in 25 of his 32 outings and been scoreless in 28 of them. Although he’s battled control issues in the past, Barraclough’s 1.15 ERA and 0.80 WHIP suggest he’s settling into the role quite well. Just plan on Miami giving him a day off on Saturday if possible to keep him healthy going forward.

It feels like one step forward and two steps back with Felipe Vazquez this season. He did record his 13th save allowing a hit but striking out two, including Joey Votto, to secure a win for the Pirates on Friday night. On the surface, Vazquez has blown four of his last eight save chances with an ERA of 4.55 yet a FIP of 2.87, so which number should fantasy owners focus on? Vazquez has cut down his hard hit percentage allowed by 5.6 points. However, he’s traded ground balls for line drives. His underlying discipline statistics do not display complete erosion of his skills as his swinging strike percentage approaches his 2016 numbers, but owners drafted Vazquez for the upside he displayed in the first half of last year. Over the last 14 days, Vazquez has worked 5.1 innings with nine strikeouts against five walks with a 3.38 ERA and 2.53 FIP. Almost a encapsulation of his season so far with hints of upside paired with the high amount of walks. Perhaps he can turn this around like Kenley Jansen did in April, but it’s not for the risk averse. Read the rest of this entry »

Gabe Kapler has cast a wide net for the Phillies’ closer committee, using four different relievers to start off a final inning in a save situation since removing Hector Neris as the full-time closer. Neris, who has been a part of that mix, flubbed the one high-leverage situation he has had over the last three weeks. Luis Garcia has been entrusted with several high-stakes situations lately, but it may be hard for Kapler to trust him as a setup reliever, much less as a closer, going forward. Garcia has allowed six runs over his last three innings, and in each of the Phillies’ last two games, he has bequeathed a save opportunity onto a teammate after making a mess in the ninth inning.

On Sunday, Garcia gave way to Tommy Hunter after allowing a single and a double against the Brewers, but he got into more serious trouble in Tuesday’s series opener against the Rockies. Garcia started off the ninth inning with a comfortable 5-1 lead, but he allowed four consecutive singles before handing a bases-loaded, no-out save situation over to Seranthony Dominguez. The Rockies continued to go station-to-station against Dominguez, as Chris Iannetta singled in Gerardo Parra to cut the lead to 5-3. DJ LeMahieu’s sacrifice fly shaved off another run, but Dominguez retired Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado for his third save.
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Owning Edwin Diaz can be a wild ride. After his hot start to the season, he’s allowed runs his last two appearances causing his ERA to rise from 1.59 to 3.03 as a result. Prior to this rough patch, Diaz pitched seven times in a 10-day stretch from May 20th through his four run implosion on the 29th. Recalling last year, Diaz did lose his mechanics and the closer role for a brief period. In spite of the recent struggles, Diaz has a 43.1 strikeout percentage and saves in 19 of his 22 chances this season and WHIP still below one (0.91). His new teammate, Alex Colome could help share the burden of high leverage since the Mariners attract close games.

Since joining the Mariners, Colome’s recorded two holds and a save retiring nine of 10 batters faced. Prior to joining Seattle, Colome had notched 10 consecutive saves for the Rays. Due to the patience the team has displayed in the past with Diaz, his owners should not panic. But continued struggles will put pressure on Diaz who should benefit from the tutelage of Colome and insurance he provides giving Diaz a much needed break from over usage patterns. Read the rest of this entry »

Anytime news breaks regarding an injury or the need for a change at closer, the speculation ensues. With Toronto’s Roberto Osuna placed on administrative leave by baseball, adding the correct Blue Jay reliever means a chance at procuring saves. Some focused on Seung-Hwan Oh who owns closing experience, but he pitched the sixth inning with his team down by one. Others took a chance on John Axford, he’s been pitching very well of late with seven straight scoreless outings over 9.1 innings with eight strikeouts and only one walk. Alas, he worked the seventh inning and his ability to work more than one inning could keep him out of the save mix going forward unless he records a “Hader”.

So, it boiled down to Ryan Tepera or Tyler Clippard. Manager John Gibbons opted for the closer experience with Tepera keeping his role in the eighth inning. Tepera garnered the win giving up a walk with a strikeout after Toronto rallied for four runs in the bottom of the frame. Then, Tyler Clippard entered for his first save of the year giving up a hit with two strikeouts. Over his last six appearances, Clippard’s registered three holds, a win and a save allowing four hits, an unearned run and a walk with 10 strikeouts. Although regression will happen with Clippard, it’s his role to lose with Toronto until more clarity emerges with Osuna’s pending suspension.

It’s hard to believe, but Craig Kimbrel’s never recorded a save requiring him to get more than four outs. He tried again to make history last night, but not only blew the save, his outing led to a Red Sox loss. Many will question his entering the game so soon, but with it on the line, Alex Cora made the right move, it just did not work out. Kimbrel entered with runners on first and third with one out giving up a triple to Brett Gardner to turn the tide then Aaron Judge hit a home run to center before Kimbrel retired the last two by strikeouts to end the inning. In spite of the blown save, Kimbrel’s been trending in the right direction of late. Speaking of which, Aroldis Chapman closed the door notching his ninth save giving up a hit and striking out three working on back-to-back days. Same goes for Chad Green, so if a save chance presents itself in the Bronx tonight, plan on David Robertson to get the opportunity.  Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday, CBS Sports’ Chris Towers took to Twitter to put a bit of a scare into Aaron Judge’s hype-men and -women, posting the following set of images:

*whispers* less than most people are pretending pic.twitter.com/fUsNuMfRTn

— ADP Boy (@CTowersCBS) March 12, 2018

Frankly, I loved it. This word is overused, but, alas: it certainly “triggered” some of his followers. Folks were quick to defend Judge, shielding him from the likenesses he shares with Chris Davis that might, in some version of the near future, manifest in a similar player trajectory. Granted, much of praise for Judge was warranted; an additional 8 percentage points of walks elevates his floor a bit higher than Davis’. Fact of the matter, though, is Judge’s power has few modern comps — namely, Davis, Giancarlo Stanton, Ryan Howard. And I’ve compared Stanton to Howard more than once, so the four of them share the same curiously constructed boat.

What caught my attention, though, aside from the similarities between Judge and Davis that are far more striking than most are willing to admit, is, perhaps surprisingly, the doubles column. In Davis’ monster 2014 campaign, he hit 17 more extra-base hits than Judge did in 2017. Seventeen! That’s no small number. And it got me thinking: a ratio of 52 home runs to 24 doubles is actually kind of alarming. They (whoever “they” are) say a season with lots of doubles but fewer home runs than expected portends more power in the following season. Testing that wisdom, conventional or not, is outside the scope of this post. What I’d rather test is the inverse: does a season with lots of home runs but few doubles (or, generally, other extra-base hits) portend less power?

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On Wednesday, for the first time since Aug. 12, Scott Alexander gave up a run. In fact, he coughed up two of them in the ninth inning against the White Sox, taking the loss for the Royals. While Alexander’s ERA grew from 2.00 to 2.26 as a result, there is a possible silver lining in that Ned Yost entrusted him to preserve a tie in the top of the ninth. Yost also gave Alexander the ball for Tuesday’s save opportunity against the White Sox, so there is at least the appearance of him being at the head of the Royals’ closer committee.

Alexander has certainly done everything possible to earn that distinction. While going a month and 15 innings without yielding a run, Brandon Maurer has posted a 7.71 ERA over that same period. Mike Minor has been more reliable over the last 30 days, though he has been less effective at getting batters to chase pitches out of the zone (29.1 percent O-Swing rate, as compared to a 35.8 percent season-to-date mark).
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Dellin Betances is hard to figure out. Being able to make sense of his performance not only matters to Betances’ fantasy owners, but also to those who own Aroldis Chapman and are trying to determine whether they should drop him. On the Chapman side of the equation, there have been a nagging series of injuries — the latest being some discomfort in his left elbow — and his ever-declining whiff rate. One would think that would ease the concerns that Betances’ owners might have about his job security, but he has his own issues.

First, there is the matter of Betances’ inconsistency. Despite a 13.2 percent walk  rate, he was dominant in April and May this season, compiling an 0.52 ERA, an 0.98 WHIP and a 47.1 percent strikeout rate. In June and July, he walked 22 batters in 20 2/3 innings, which contributed to a 4.35 ERA and 1.69 WHIP. Then through Wednesday, Betances had rebounded in August, allowing one run over 11 innings with 16 strikeouts and four walks.
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It has now been a full week since Aroldis Chapman put himself in jeopardy of blowing a save against the Red Sox by starting the ninth inning with three consecutive walks. Little has gone right since then.

To recap, he blew a save on Sunday, recorded a save on Tuesday despite allowing an Amed Rosario two-run homer and sat out Wednesday and Thursday due to a hamstring injury. Though Joe Girardi has insisted that Chapman is still his closer, on Friday, he brought him in for the bottom of the eighth inning against the Red Sox even though the Yankees trailed by a run. Once again, Chapman dug himself a hole, allowing a leadoff single to Rafael Devers (who homered off him on Sunday), walking Christian Vazquez and then allowing a double steal. That set up a two-RBI single by Jackie Bradley, Jr., all before Chapman recorded his first out.
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In a tumultuous season for the Cardinals’ bullpen, it was starting to look like Trevor Rosenthal was creating some stability. He had rattled off seven consecutive saves over a 16-day period, the first six of which were scoreless.

On Wednesday night, it took just eight pitches to ruin that placid state. On his second pitch — a 91.4 mph four-seam fastball — Rosenthal gave up a home run to Xander Bogaerts. Six pitches later, Mitch Moreland took a free pass. Mike Matheny was sufficiently concerned that he removed Rosenthal for Zach Duke. Rosenthal averaged 94.3 mph on the six four-seam fastballs he threw, after he had hovered around 97 mph over his previous six appearances. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Duke and John Brebbia didn’t fare much better, and the latter gave up Mookie Betts‘ walk-off double.
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We may have just taken a four-day break from games that count, but closer drama did not take a vacation. The trade market heated up over the All-Star break, and while no closers were dealt, there were plenty of reports and rumors regarding closer trades.

None was more attention-grabbing than Jon Heyman’s report for FanRag Sports that the Dodgers called the Orioles to check on Zach Britton‘s availability. While Heyman noted that the Orioles have not yet made Britton available, the possibility that he could head out of Baltimore to be Kenley Jansen’s set-up man is exciting from a fan’s perspective, but it’s a fantasy nightmare.
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