It’s the first official weekend of summer, and I have decided to look at some numbers ahead of discussing this week’s bullpen edition.
This week’s numbers:
- 139 MLB pitchers have saves as of 6.24.23. There were 222 different pitchers who earned saves in all of 2022. By the numbers:
- 64 earned five or more saves.
- 35 earned 10 or more saves.
- 18 earned 20 or more saves.
- 10 earned 30 or more saves.
- Five closers have 20 saves thus far: Emmanuel Clase (22), Jordan Romano (22), Alexis Diaz (21), Camilo Doval (21) and Felix Bautista (20).
- Erik Swanson leads MLB with 19 holds. Yennier Cano has 17, Steven Wilson 16, and Tyler Rogers 15.
- Jack Carter earned two holds this week for the resurgent BYB Majors Dodgers. He’s cut down the walks and punched out six guys in three innings this week.
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MLB Bullpen Report
AL East
Kenley Jansen just keeps getting it done, earning his 16th save last night against the inept Chicago White Sox offense. A look at his Statcast shows lots of blood-red color still, and a whopping 82% of his pitches have been his famous cutter. A very successful June for Jansen after a rough end of May: a win, five saves, a 1.80 ERA, 12 punchouts, and only two walks after eight walks last month. Continue to use him with confidence. Chris Martin remains the best bet for holds here with 13 on the season.
Despite lots of handwringing from New York Yankees fans, Clay Holmes has solidified the back of their bullpen. Over the course of the last month, he has four saves to one for Michael King, Tommy Kahnle, and Wandy Peralta. Holmes has been far better than King over that time period: two wins, four saves, a 1.46 ERA, and a .81 WHIP. King has three losses (including one last night), one save, a 5.84 ERA, and 1.54 WHIP. Holmes is the guy you want right now. A name to watch is Kahnle: he has yet to surrender a run in nine appearances this year and should be in line for some holds if he continues this trend.
AL Central
Detroit’s Alex Lange had the closer job locked down for much of the early part of the season. but has run across hard times the last few weeks. Using a committee approach is really nothing new for Detroit, but Jason Foley has catapulted himself into the closer committee here. It’s important to note that while manager A.J. Hinch is using both Lange and Foley late in games, Lange did have a clean outing against the moribund Kansas City Royals this week. This is a tough one to predict, but my hunch is that Detroit wants Lange to succeed in this role to build his trade value at the upcoming deadline.
The Chicago White Sox continue to be an absolute mess in all facets of the game. Closer Liam Hendriks has been on the IL for two weeks now and just began a throwing program this week as he recovers from elbow inflammation. At this time, it appears that Kendall Graveman would get the scant save chances for a bad baseball team. Would be option Reynaldo Lopez has four saves, but five blown saves and a bloated 5.52 ERA, and a 12% walk rate. His xFIP is a run lower at 4.36. Aaron Bummer is simply having a bad year: a 7.03 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and a whopping 15 walks in 24 innings. Yet his xFIP is 3.77; his left on-base percentage is a Little Leaguish 52.5%. Seems to be some bad luck but he’s not pitched well, but perhaps better days are coming? It will likely be too late for the Sox to get back into a winnable AL Central. It’s hard to recommend anyone but Graveman in the short term here.
AL West
Trevor May earned his fourth save of the season last night in a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. May has more walks than strikeouts this month but he is the closer in Oakland. More importantly, he’s battling his anxiety and going out there on a daily basis and using his platform to shine a light on mental health. Kudos to him. Mental health impacts all of us, but men are particularly loath to talk about it with others. With more high-profile people and athletes like May talking about it, we can normalize discussion of mental health for all of us.
NL East
A name many have been watching is Andrew Nardi in Miami. He has been spectacular for the Marlins, who still have A.J. Puk in the closer role. But Nardi is a name to consider if you are looking for second-half save opportunities; while Puk is the closer and has been very good, he’s also injury-prone and if he misses any time, the only competition for Nardi here would seem to be Dylan Floro. Floro has been able to do the job when called upon mostly but seems more clearly suited for a setup role.
Carl Edwards Jr hit the IL with shoulder inflammation. The Washington bullpen remains a work in progress, but Mason Thompson should find himself in a more expansive role. Kyle Finnegan leads the team with 11 saves, but his peripherals have not been great: 4.03 ERA, a 1.52 WHIP. He has zero saves in June but has been pitching well in the opportunities he has been getting: only one run surrendered this month. Hunter Harvey has four saves in nine opportunities this season, earning one on Wednesday this week. This is another one you might want to turn and run from for fantasy purposes.
NL Central
Is it finally safe to call Adbert Alzolay the closer on Chicago’s North Side? I think so. My friend Doug Dennis of Baseball HQ fame pointed out in Arizona (at First Pitch, which you should plan on attending) in November 2022 that Alzolay would be the guy in Chicago. In June, Alzolay is spotless in six outings with two saves in that span. He’s had at least one strikeout in each of those games. Mark Leiter Jr. continues to be equally good, but it seems like the Cubs and manager David Ross prefer to use him as s stopper. We will keep watching but I have been advising anyone who asks (all three of you) to get Alzolay where you can.
In St. Louis, Jordan Hicks has emerged as the closer in the short term with the injury to Ryan Helsley. He has the last three save chances for the Cards, and the strikeouts are eye-popping: 14 in 8.2 innings this month, and 49 in 31.1 innings overall this season. Hicks has been working to cut down walks: nine in April, seven in May, four in June. As long as he does that he should have the potential to earn saves. The last few opportunities, Giovanny Gallegos has set Hicks up. Gallegos is a jack of all trades in this bullpen and now has seven holds on the season.
NL West
We have brought up Scott McGough a few times over the last month, and he appears to be at the top of the committee for now in Arizona. That can happen when you don’t give up any runs: he’s gone 15 straight appearances without a blemish. Shout out to my friend Tim McLeod for staying on McGough all year when I openly questioned the right role for McGough.
So Jake Bird started the game for the Colorado Rockies as an opener on Wednesday. I don’t think this portends to a different role; it appears this was a one-time thing, and that Bird will be available in high-leverage roles for the Rockies. It looks like Justin Lawrence is the closer…for now. That being said, there were no save chances for the Rockies this week. Lawrence did earn his third save last night.
Last thing: I know many people have questions about bullpens, and I am always here to try and answer those and help out. But more importantly, many people suffer from mental health issues on a daily basis. Don’t suffer in silence. Reach out to those around you who love you. I am always here if you need someone to talk to or need resources.