Somewhat lost in Edwin Díaz’s dominance and Josh Hader’s downfall has been the season Liam Hendriks has been having on a disappointing White Sox team. Since the middle of May (over his past 30 IP) Hendriks has a 1.94 SIERA with 20.2% SwStr and 32.2% K-BB rates while accumulating 19 saves. Hendriks has been as steady as we’ve come to expect for a White Sox team that has been anything but steady this season, and once again proven his value as one of the top two or three relievers coming off the board in drafts this winter.

 

Notes

 

• Clay Holmes made his return to the Yankee bullpen last night, firing a perfect inning while adding a strikeout. He worked the seventh inning with the team trailing, and only threw seven pitches (all sinkers) but it’s still encouraging to see. Typically, someone in Holmes’s situation would be eased back into the closer role, but with the Yankees literally out of potential options to close out games, he may be Aaron Boone’s only choice, beginning as early as this weekend perhaps. Given what we saw in the first half, and the fact he’s made some mechanical tweaks, I think he remains worthy of a roster spot in all leagues.
• Brandon Hughes may be the unlikely post-trade deadline league winner waiver add for a lot of people out there and yet he is still only rostered in 25% of Yahoo leagues. He may only have three saves this past month, but they have all come over the past two weeks. Hughes also boasts a 2.81 ERA and .81 WHIP over 16 innings in August with 23 strikeouts. Add in the Cubs’ rest-of-season schedule (CIN x9, SF, COL @ home, MIA, and PIT, with some STL/NYM/PHI sprinkled in) and Hughes could be a true difference maker closer down the stretch.

 

• I don’t think at any point this year, up until this past week, anyone had even considered Nick Martinez as the potential closer for the Padres but here we are on August 30th with him getting the nod from manager Bob Melvin. As Josh Hader continues to struggle more and more (when is the inevitable IL stint coming?), the likelihood of Martinez finishing the season as the Padres closer grows stronger and stronger. Martinez has been awesome as a reliever this season as well, with a 1.35 ERA, .95 WHIP, and 17% K-BB rate over 40 relief innings.
• The best reliever in the Angels bullpen right now is Jimmy Herget and it’s not that close, so it’s great to see him pick up the team’s two saves this past week. Herget’s funky delivery generates a ton of awkward swings, and perhaps even more impressive is his ability to command the strike zone and keep his BB rate under 5%. There may not be a ton of upside if he hangs onto the role but he could be a solid add for the remainder of the season as someone who has allowed more than one earned run just twice since opening day (52 IP).

 

Rank	Pitcher	Change
1	Edwin DiazT1	-
2	Liam Hendriks	-
3	Devin Williams	-
4	Emmanuel Clase	-
5	Félix Bautista	+1
6	Jordan Romano T2	+1
7	Kenley Jansen	-2
8	Ryan Helsley	-
9	Paul Sewald	-
10	Clay Holmes	+UR
11	Jorge López T3	+1
12	Camilo Doval	-2
13	Scott Barlow	-2
14	Daniel Bard	-1
15	Brandon Hughes	+12
16	Gregory Soto	-2
17	Tanner Scott	-2
18	Kyle Finnegan	+2
19	Nick Martinez	+UR
20	David Robertson	-4
21	Alexis Díaz T4	-4
22	Garrett Whitlock	-4
23	Jimmy Herget	+UR
24	A.J. Puk	+UR
25	Jason Adam	-6
26	Jonathan Hernández	-5
27	Evan Phillips	-5
28	Wil Crowe T5	-3
29	Rafael Montero	+UR
30	Ian Kennedy	-

 

 

Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)