The Twins brought in Alex Colomé this offseason to be able to use Taylor Rogers in different situations throughout the game, not just the ninth inning, being that he was their only left-handed reliever. After three weeks, it appears like Rogers may need to shift back into the traditional closer role he held for the past two seasons. With Colomé struggling and the emergence of Caleb Thielbar as a second lefty, it could allow for this transition to happen rather smoothly. Either way, Rogers is the only Twins reliever yet to have a meltdown this season and continues to find ways to be productive without a high whiff rate. Rogers 34.7% CSW ain’t too shabby, thanks to having the second-highest CStr% (Called Strike) this season, a stat in which he ranks first among qualified relievers since the start of the 2019 season (23%). And this is is why CSW exists, because Rogers is a much better pitcher than his whiffs (or lack thereof) suggest.
Notes
- Jordan Romano is set to come off the injured list tomorrow and could very well slot right in as the teams closer. Rafael Dolis was used in the 8th inning of Wednesday nights game while Tim Mayza and Anthony Castro combined to pitch the 9th to close out the game. No matter the role, Romano remains a must roster player for fantasy purposes.
- I’ve put a little higher priority on closers vs. set up men this week, as the entire holds list has struggled whereas the closers have been surprisingly effective for the most part. There’s only one non-closer in the top 14, as even the top holds option are dealing with issues to begin the season.
- Now may be a smart time to sell high on Alex Reyes, who has not looked as impressive as his numbers would seem to indicate. His slider is getting whiffs at a nice rate, but the command issues if not fixed, will come back to hurt Reyes eventually. Once Jordan Hicks starts showing some consistency, he should get his old job back.
- The Reds bullpen situation is a mess at the moment, with Amir Garrett and Lucas Sims trading L’s the past two days. Sims, in general, has still pitched much better this season than Garrett, who just can’t seem to find it out there. I think we are looking at Sims replacing Garrett eventually, but today didn’t help his cause.
- I’m not saying I believe they can continue dominating like this, but Ian Kennedy and César Valdez certainly deserve some more love for what they are doing right now. Two very different styles, but it’s awesome to see the two 36-year-olds making the most of their opportunities and succeeding.
- Kevin Ginkel, Tyler Rogers, and Jeffrey Springs led all relievers the past week with three SV+HLD’s. I talked about Rogers and Ginkel yesterday in The Hold Up, but I left Springs off the list, though he just missed. There is something there for Springs, especially with his changeup, but his mediocre sinker/slider combo makes him prone to bad outings as seen by his career 5.36 ERA and 1.66 WHIP. Still, he’s in a good spot in Tampa, and his ability to get swings and misses make him worth watching.
EDIT: Removed Corey Knebel following the news of his triceps injury
| PITCHER | TIER | INJURY (EST. RETURN) |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Anderson | 1/2 | Elbow (All-Star break) |
| Trevor Rosenthal | 2/3 | Shoulder (July at earliest) |
| Julian Merryweather | 3/4 | Oblique (late May) |
| Seth Lugo | 3/4 | Elbow (May) |
| Pete Fairbanks | 4 | Rotator Cuff (May) |
| Zack Britton | 4/5 | Elbow (early June) |
| Archie Bradley | 5 | Oblique (May) |
| Chris Martin | 5 | Shoulder (May) |
| Corey Knebel | 5/6 | Triceps (May at earliest?) |
| Wander Suero | 6/7 | Oblique (May) |
| Keone Kela | 7 | Shoulder (May?) |
| Pedro Baez | 7 | COVID (May) |
Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)
Where would Joakim Soria fit when he returns?
Or is he not even in top 100 as he isn’t on you IL list
Depends on his role, but he might make it into tier 8.
This is my favorite weekly list. Thanks for your work. I specifically root for my guys to rise each week (antone/clase/pomeranz/devin williams) and I think the last 3 are probably all top 12 guys and antone would be if they gave hime the closer role.
Any reason for the minor slides for pom and dev? It seems like dev is rounding into last years form after a late start, and pomeranz is just as lethal as ever. Thanks again!
Devin has looked better, and he’s still getting whiffs which is great. I don’t imagine he’ll be sliding anymore, and hopefully he gets back into a setup role soon.
Pomeranz is dealing with some shoulder tightness so the teams been reluctant to use him lately (see last night for example). It’s just a minor concern, considering they havn’t placed him on the IL yet but it’s still not ideal.
James Karinchak is number 8 despite 2 recent games in which he was used as a setup man for your 12th ranked guy Emmanuel Clase? I must be missing something
Whether he pitches the 8th or 9th, I’d still prefer Karinchak.
Karinchak: 2.09 ERA, .98 WHIP, 47.4% K, 37.2% CSW, 17.3% SwStr
Clase: 1.76 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 24.4% K, 28.6% CSW, 12.2% SwStr
Try to remember this is saves AND holds, not just saves
Think we might see Treinen and V Gonzalez swap places soon? Trienen has been putting a lot of guys on and Roberts has a very short leash as well as a deep pen. In Ratio leagues at the least, Gonzalez is the better SVHD guy to own imo.
Yea I can definitely see this happening. Gonzalez’s K, BB and Whiff rates are pretty subpar right now, but his slider is good enough to eventually help with the K and Whiff rates.
How confident are you in Tyler Duffey, especially in comparison to other T5 arms? Obviously SSS, but he’s walked at least 1 batter in 5 out of 6 appearances and the holds aren’t manifesting. The 1 IP / 0 ERA / 1 WHIP is starting to annoy me :)
There are a handful of guys in T5 & T6 available (Mayers, Hicks, Barlow, Antone, Garrett, Soto, & Matzek). My gut says to roll the dice on Hicks, but I want to make sure I’m not missing anything on Duffey.
Yea I don’t know what to make of Duffey at this point. Something seems off but I can’t quite tell what it is. The velocity is fine, so at least he has that back to normal.
I think I’d hang tight, although Antone is interesting depending on what stats you are looking for/need.
Just stopping by way too early for the Gregory Santos to the moon party.
I hope so haha. Between Santos and Doval that Giants bullpen has some serious longterm promise.
Why would Devin Williams get bumped down this week? We got good news, his velo is back up and he’s right back in his setup role.
I actually didn’t move him down, I just moved others ahead of him. It’s nice it seems like he has his old role back but he’s still struggling. He’s yet to have a clean outing in 7 appearances.