[closing_time_2019 list_id=”31822″ include_stats=”1″]
- While it was a shaky week for a lot of closers, Cubs closer Steve Cishek may have had it the worst. In his one save attempt this past Friday, he proceeded to walk the leadoff hitter before giving up a go-ahead 2-run HR to Eugenio Suarez before promptly being pulled from the game. He hasn’t pitched since and with Pedro Strop due back this week, a door might have opened for Strop to get his job back upon returning. My best guess is they will form some sort of committee until one of them proves to be the superior option.
- The Red Sox seem dead set on going with a full-blown “whoever’s available for the 9th can pitch” approach with the closer position with Marcus Walden seeing two chances the past week. Matt Barnes is almost exclusively working the 7th and 8th innings now, and Ryan Brasier hasn’t seen a save chance in over a month so, for now, I’ll say Walden is the favorite for the bulk of saves now, but next week it could be Brandon Workman, or who knows, maybe it will be Heath Hembree.
- Scott Oberg is filling in for injured closer Wade Davis for the next week or so and might be worth a look for those desperate for saves. The K/BB rate is gross and his FIP (4.20) is much more indicative of his true talent than his 1.88 ERA, but he’s still first in line for saves on a team that isn’t completely terrible.
- Mychal Givens has been removed from the closer role after a tumultuous week, leading to Shawn Armstrong earning a save yesterday. He’s not a recommended add, nor is anyone else worth owning in this bullpen at the moment.
are you worried about osuna at all? he’s been through a rough patch as of late, and he was overly lucky to begin the season, so i see this as simple regression. velocity is up over the last few outings, even.
that said, his numbers still have plenty of room to regress. with a few more of these, might hinch move to pressly? how long is osuna’s leash?
I think this is just simple regression, and I don’t see much more coming anytime soon. He’s got a long leash and barring a disastrous week or two, I don’t foresee Pressly taking his job anytime in the near future.
The TB bullpen is still so frustrating. By now, one would think a clear closer would emerge, or is this just the new norm? Castillo is getting forgotten by his manager.
It feels like they are trying to limit Castillo and Alvarado’s usage by using one or the other more often for certain stretches. But with Alvarado’s recent struggles, maybe we see Castillo used more in that closer role again.
I see you added a few stash candidates at the bottom of the list this week. However, for the most part you’ve excluded pitchers with any sort of longer term injury. If these are supposed to be ROS rankings, which I believe they are, why exclude injured pitchers? A pitcher going from UR to Top 15 makes no sense.
Ignore.
Who would you drop now between Oberg and Cishek?
tough one, I guess Oberg though since he definitely won’t be closing a month from now. Cishek still has a chance.