The past week has been an eventful one for bullpens. A whole slew of committees has emerged. Injured guys have returned. A couple challengers have even been thrown back into the muck of non-ninth inning pitching. The most notable of the returning closers was Sean Doolittle. He’s really settled in as the closer for Washington and they have been very comfortable with him there. Most of us dislike seeing the doctor and opponents of the Nationals are no different. Hopefully, you’ve received an infusion of save opps as you look to close out the 2018 season. If not, SAGNOF at will.
- Sean Doolittle was activated from the DL this week. He got straight to work collecting two effective saves. Barring another injury he’s the Nats man in the ninth.
- The long-awaited return Andrew Miller also happened recently. Just to keep things interesting in Cleveland he recorded their most recent save. I would guess that it was a matchup thing for Tito and Miller is still their fireman. A third head to their bullpen monster is great in real baseball, not as great in fake baseball.
- The other shoe that people have been waiting to drop for Trevor Hildenberger is maybe starting to fall. He’s yielded 5, 1, and 1 ERs in his last three appearances, though one was for a save. I’d expect Taylor Rogers to get the ninth if lefties are due up.
- Was the Yankees closer situation not clear enough for you? They activated Aroldis Chapman just to keep us on our toes. It makes sense for them to be cautious with his workload so this is a committee until further notice.
- It’s nice to see Nate Jones back. He figures to get the scant majority of save chances for the White Sox. Chicago just doesn’t win enough games to prioritize him.
- Another messy situation has cropped up in Wrigleyville. The Cubs are going with a committee and I’m sure Joe Maddon is a pig in sh*t getting to play matchups with four RP options. My guess is Chavez gets the most chances with Cishek handling things if there are no lefties due up.
- Ty Buttrey popped up out of nowhere. He’s been a buzz saw since the Red Sox traded him to L.A. He’s probably been snatched up in your league, but check to be safe. Who couldn’t use an 11.15 K/9 with ratios sub 1?
$12 Salads
You know that restaurant your girlfriend/wife/what-have-you likes to go to that charges, like, $12 for a salad? Every time you go there, you have a thoroughly solid meal. No complaints, except you just paid $12 for a salad when you could’ve went to McDonald’s and stuffed you and your woman for ten schmools and had $2 in quarters left over to make the hotel bed vibrate. These closers are $12 salads.
1. Craig Kimbrel – (Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree)
2. Edwin Diaz – (Alex Colome, Adam Warren)
3. Jose Leclerc – (Alex Claudio, Chris Martin)
4. Blake Treinen – (Jeurys Familia, Fernando Rodney)
5. Roberto Osuna – (Hector Rondon, Ryan Pressly)
Donkeycorns
Imagine you’re following a donkey, who’s wearing a wool cap, through a desert for 1700 miles. Why are you following a donkey? Because he promises you something wonderful and you just need to trust him. Does the donkey talk? Yes. Yes, he does talk. So when you and the donkey in the wool cap arrive at his destination, he removes the wool cap to reveal a horn. The donkey is a unicorn and his gift to you for your trust is saves. These closers are Donkeycorns.
6. Kenley Jansen – (Ryan Madson / Kenta Maeda)
7. Cody Allen / Brad Hand / Andrew Miller
8. Felipe Vazquez – (Richard Rodriguez, Kyle Crick)
9. Aroldis Chapman / Dellin Betances / David Robertson / Zach Britton
10. Ken Giles – (Ryan Tepera / Tyler Clippard)
11. Will Smith – (Mark Melancon, Tony Watson)
12. Raisel Iglesias – (Jared Hughes, David Hernandez)
13. Sean Doolittle – (Koda Glover/ Greg Holland)
14. Wade Davis – (Adam Ottavino / Seung-Hwan Oh)
Employed
These guys are the men that make the save market go round. They punch in, punch out. Have the job, no real threat to speak of, and are basically just there to collect great benny’s so they can take care of their crippled brother. Who is only really crippled because he is scared of the sun.
15. Sergio Romo – (Jose Alvarado, Chaz Roe)
16. Carlos Martinez / Bud Norris / Jordan Hicks
17. Shane Greene – (Joe Jimenez, Alex Wilson)
18. Josh Hader / Jeremy Jeffress / Corey Knebel
19. Mychal Givens – (Paul Fry, Miguel Castro)
20. Nate Jones / Jace Fry – (Juan Minaya)
21. Kirby Yates – (Craig Stammen, Phil Maton)
22. Robert Gsellman / Seth Lugo (Anthony Swarzak)
23. Wily Peralta – (Jason Hammel, Brandon Maurer)
Brain Freezes
I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing apples, bananas and Carlos Marmol– Wait, he just gave up 12 earned runs and hit Castro in the head with a pick-off throw. Brain freeze! Make it stop! Use the following closers at your own risk.
24. Brad Boxberger / Archie Bradley / Yoshihisa Hirano
25. Trevor Hildenberger / Taylor Rogers– (Trevor May)
26. Blake Parker / Ty Buttrey – (Justin Anderson)
27. Jesse Chavez / Steve Cishek / Jorge De La Rosa (Carl Edwards, Jr.)
28. Seranthony Dominguez / Pat Neshek / Tommy Hunter
29. Drew Steckenrider / Adam Conley / Tayron Guerrero
30. A.J. Minter / Arodys Vizcaino / Brad Brach
