Kenley Jansen had back to back horrible outings last week, leading to some concerns that he may be breaking down. Between the two outings, Jansen allowed 8 hits and 8 runs (6 ER) over 1.1 IP while only striking out one batter. So, how worried should we be? Well, his velocity has dipped a bit over the second half of the season but not to the point that should make a dramatic difference.

As Dave Roberts said after Jansens last blown save “he kept missing middle-middle” so I’ll chalk it up to poor control for two games and totally expect Jansen to be fine. For what it’s worth, he threw a clean inning in a non-save chance the night after his second meltdown and looked great.

Notes

 

• Nick Anderson and Diego Castillo continue to share the Rays closer role, and while it hurts both pitchers’ values, both should still be rostered in most 12 teamers for the remainder of the season.
• Taylor Rogers imploded again last night, and now has a 4.86 ERA and 1.56 WHIP on the season. He’s only blown 2 saves on the year, but in a bullpen full of quality relievers, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him lose the closer role down the stretch.
• Ken Giles returned to the Blue Jays bullpen last week and despite a rocky first outing back, he still may be in line to close out games starting this weekend. Rafael Dolis has been great filling in as the teams closer and is worth rostering for this week at least or until Giles gets a save chance.
• With Giovanny Gallegos heading to the IL with a groin injury, the Cardinals will likely turn to a committee to close out games the rest of the way. Ryan Helsley received the first save opportunity in game one of yesterday’s doubleheader and wound up blowing the save as he has really struggled since returning from the COVID IL.  Tyler Webb was able to close things out in the second game of the doubleheader and may now be the front runner for save chances for the time being. With 16 games left over the next two weeks, keep an eye on how this situation plays out as this team should continue to see plenty of save chances.

 

 

Rank	Pitcher	Change
1	Liam HendriksT1	-
2	Aroldis Chapman	+2
3	Kenley Jansen	-
4	Josh Hader	-2
5	Edwin Díaz	+2
6	Ryan Pressly	-
7	Brad Hand T2	+1
8	Mark Melancon	+3
9	Alex Colomé	+3
10	Trevor Rosenthal	+3
11	Raisel Iglesias	+4
12	Rafael Montero	+2
13	Nick Anderson T3	-3
14	Taylor Rogers	-5
15	Jeremy Jeffress	+6
16	Daniel Bard	+2
17	Héctor Neris	+UR
18		+6
19	Brandon Kintzler	+1
20	T4	+UR
21	Yoshi Hirano	+UR
22	Richard Rodríguez	-
23	Bryan Garcia	+3
24	Daniel Hudson	-7
25	Matt Barnes	-6
26	Rafael Dolis	+UR
27	Andrew Miller T5	+UR
28	Ty Buttrey	-5
29	Stefan Crichton	+UR
30	César Valdez	-

 

Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)