With the MLB season in full swing, some bullpen hierarchies are becoming a lot clearer, while others have fallen apart. Though some managers may keep fantasy owners guessing, it is important to at least have an idea of who has a chance at a save, and who is most likely not even going to appear in a game today. Don’t sleep on saves! In a shortened season, they all count that much more.
First, notes from last night and thoughts on today’s games:
Notes
- As is customary on Mondays, a few teams will have the day off and will be able to rest their bullpens. You can ignore situations for the Red Sox, White Sox, Mets, Giants, Padres, Pirates, Yankees, Braves, Dodgers, Orioles, Phillies, and Mariners—at least for the day.
- Brandon Workman recorded his first save for the Phillies on Sunday night, giving up a run on two hits and a walk in the process. It may be telling that Philadelphia went with Workman, who threw 26 pitches the night before while taking the loss, and left Hector Neris in the bullpen who only threw 12 pitches the night prior.
- Taylor Williams put up another save for Seattle. Nothing too much to report here, it just continues to solidify his spot in not only the Mariners’ bullpen, but perhaps most surprisingly, his spot as a top closer in the league this season.
- Taylor Rogers recorded saves for their respective teams. His biggest threat to closing duties, Sergio Romo, was used to clean up the end of the seventh inning. Neither threw more than 21 pitches and should both be available on Monday.
- Emilio Pagan recorded his second save for San Diego on Sunday, pitching a clean ninth on 13 pitches thrown. His struggles throughout the year are well documented, but he should be considered the safest play for saves in the Padres’ bullpen moving forward.
- Ty Buttrey took the loss in extra innings for the Angels, letting the placed runner score in Oakland on a single hit by Matt Chapman and a walk-off sac fly off the bat of Mark Canha. Buttrey needed 18 pitches to get through this one and had thrown 19 pitches during his save the night prior, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if we see the Joe Maddon call upon someone with less recent mileage like Hansel Robles just to make us all question this situation.
- Meanwhile, Liam Hendriks got credited with the win for the Athletics. That’s his fourth outing in the past five days. Look for Yusmeiro Petit to get the high-leverage spot on Monday.
- Craig Kimbrel came in to relieve Yu Darvish to start the eighth inning, and got two outs via strikeout, but also walked two, giving way to Jeremy Jeffress, who recorded the last four outs of the ball game and the save. Rowan Wick only threw 18 pitches on Saturday, though they weren’t exactly productive pitches. Jeffress, Wick, and Kimbrel have each picked up one of the Cubs’ last three saves and the situation doesn’t look to clear up soon.
- With Keone Kela being shut down, Richard Rodriguez picked up his first save for the Pirates, as expected. Rodriguez should be the one getting the bulk of the opportunities while Kela is out, even if they are far and few between.
- Someone new got the save for the Rays (shocker, I know). John Curtiss picked up his first career save on Sunday. With most other teams, you’d assume it had something to do with Nick Anderson hitting the IL, but with the Rays, it could go in any direction for any reason. Of non-injured Rays pitchers, Jalen Beeks got the last save for the Rays so keep an eye on him moving forward.
- Joe Jimenez may very well be out as closer for the Tigers after his three-run outing on Sunday. He recorded just one out while allowing two walks and a home run to Greg Allen. Yes, Greg Allen. This set up the save opportunity for Jose Cisnero, which he converted by striking out Cesar Hernandez and getting Jose Ramirez to ground out to end the ballgame. Based on recent usage, we’d expect Buck Farmer to get the next shot at the ninth inning if and when the opportunity arises for Detroit.
- After Cole Sulser needed 33 pitches on Saturday, it looked like Mychal Givens was going to be asked to finish off the game for the Orioles. After recording the final two outs of the eighth inning, Givens came back out for the ninth and recorded two outs in that inning before being relieved by Tanner Scott, who promptly gave up a two-run home run to Jackie Bradley. After giving up an additional hit, Scott induced a ground ball out from Kevin Pillar to record his first save on the season. Expect Sulser back in the ninth if needed on Tuesday.
Bullpen Depth Charts
Green = closer is available/long reliever expected to pitch after starter
Yellow = closer pitched previous day/LR has chance to pitch after starter
Red = closer has pitched back to back days and likely has the day off
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)