After being acquired by the Padres on opening day, Taylor Rogers got off to a scorching start for his new team, but he’s since cooled off. On May 27th, Rogers ERA and WHIP stood at a sparkling .44 and .64 respectively. Over his last 13 games however, Rogers has 4 loses and 6 saves, to go with an ERA of 7.30 and 1.22 WHIP. So is it time to be concerned yet? The short answer is no probably not, as Rogers has had some bad luck lately (.344 BABIP) and his 2.64 SIERA and 35.4% CSW% over this span is encouraging. Rogers inability to miss bats at high rate will lead to cold streaks like this from time to time, but Rogers command is what keeps him in this tier and he should bounce back over the second half of the season.

 

Notes

 

• Liam Hendriks returned from the IL yesterday and worked a perfect eight inning, striking out the side in order on 14 pitches. Hendriks velocity was down a bit in his first game back (-1.3 MPH) but I wouldn’t read too much into that as he didn’t get a chance to go on a rehab outing (which this essentially was). He should be closing out games by the end of the week so make sure to activate him now.
• Not only has Paul Sewald recorded the last five Mariners saves, but he is tied with only Josh Hader for the most saves over the past two weeks. It’s been a while since the Mariners have had a set closer, but it looks like the emergence of Andrés Muñoz and Erik Swanson paired with veterans Diego Castillo and Ken Giles have led to a change of heart from manager Scott Servais. If Sewald is still available in your league, go pick him up before it’s too late.

 

• Craig Kimbrel blew another save on Sunday (and was hit by a linedrive which was listed as the reason for him getting pulled from the game) and while Dave Roberts says he won’t entertain talk of removing Kimbrel from the closer role, he really has not pitched well this season. I’m tempted to move him further down, but Roberts confidence in him and the fact this bullpen is a bit depleted at the moment keep me thinking he may be a good second half bounce back candidate. Kimbrel has an ERA of 6.62 over his last 19 games, but it comes with a 2.39 SIERA and 38% K rate.
• Seranthony Dominguez may not actually get a chance to “run away with the closer role” like I had hoped, as Brad Hand continues to factor in and Corey Knebel has pitched well since being removed from the role. I’m still holding onto Seranthony for now and like others in committees (Jhoan Duran), I want him rostered in leagues where saves are hard to find.

 

Rank	Pitcher	Change
1	Josh HaderT1	-
2	Edwin Díaz	-
3	Liam Hendriks	+UR
4	Raisel Iglesias T2	-1
5	Emmanuel Clase	-1
6	Clay Holmes	-
7	Taylor Rogers T3	-2
8	Ryan Pressly	-
9	Jordan Romano	-2
10	Camilo Doval	-
11	Ryan Helsley	+1
12	David Bednar	-3
13	Paul Sewald	+11
14	Craig Kimbrel	-3
15	David Robertson T4	-2
16	Joe Barlow	-2
17	Daniel Bard	-2
18	Gregory Soto	-1
19	Jorge López	-3
20	Scott Barlow	-1
21	Tanner Rainey	-3
22	Tanner Houck	-
23	Tanner Scott	-
24	Jhoan Duran	-3
25	Seranthony Domínguez	-5
26	Will Smith	-1
27	Lou Trivino T5	-
28	Colin Poche	-
29	Mark Melancon	-
30	Hunter Strickland	-

 

 

Photo by John Adams/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)