Bullpen Report: Everyone Do The Bullpen Shuffle

The holds leaderboard has been basically demolished as guys have switched roles. Three out of the top-10 holds guys (Bettances, Herrera, and Watson) currently are holding down the closer roles for their respective teams.  Add in two more from the top-20 (Andrew Miller and Ken Giles) and you can see that 20% of the entire holds leaders are double dipping in stats.  Not always a bad thing, but when you are counting on one stat from a guy and then it switches to another, it detracts from the previous.  Have no fear, because the bullpen aficionado is here to steer you through the muck and mire that is the bullpen shuffle.  So for this week, we are going to look at guys who aren’t in a closing role.  I have taken current closers out of the equation for the chart, because this is a holds piece and we don’t want “their kind” infiltrating the holds stuff.  So be active on the waiver wire as we come down to the end of the season, there should be no commitment in the relief game.

• Addison Reed is the belle of the hold ball.  If the Mets get a lead, he is usually almost as automatic an everyday pitcher as Familia is.
• I know this is a holds piece and I said nothing about closers, but Zach Britton hasn’t allowed a run since April.  34 straight appearances.  For reference, he had 3 runs unearned in that span, but has only given up 18 hits in 39 innings.
• With all the David Robertson hate being tossed around for blowing saves in 3-of-his-last-7 appearances, he only has 5 on the year.  Nate Jones, his heir apparent, has 7.
• With all the injury and shuffling in the Twins pen, Ryan Pressley has easily been their best pitcher all year, starter or reliever.  He has 6 wins and is one off the team lead of 7, yet hasn’t started a game.
• Got lots of Derek Law love in last post, so I wanna dig further for you guys.  Since his last earned run allowed on 6/30, he has 16 straight appearances with a K-Rate over 12, a win, and 5 holds.  Caveat is that Josh Osich is due to return after a three week absence and was pitching brilliantly in high-leverage situations.  A good LH/RH match-up thing for the Giants who will rely a lot on their pen to get them home.
• I think we see what Rasiel Iglesias has in the closer role every once and a while for the remainder of the season.
• Ken Giles will be away from team this weekend, grab some Neshek and Will Harris shares for speculation.
• The Braves may be, record-wise, awful, but they have an abundance of quality in the pen Arodys Vizcaino is due back shortly. With Cabrera popping a 100 and Johnson being claimed and taken off waivers, it could become a muddled up mess.
• Jason Grilli is the guy you want from the Blue Jays, 6 holds over last month and gets the off day save.
• The first place Indians have the same number as Holds as the Reds and less opportunities then the two of the worst teams in baseball the Minnesota and D-Backs.