It was a rocky week for major league bullpens this week. Yet most managers seem to be in a forgiving mood as few if any changes are getting made due to lack of effectiveness. It’s early for sure, but there are several things to watch as we move forward into the season’s third week. Here are some news and notes as we get ready for the coming week.
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Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Update
AL East
I watched Felix Bautista dismantle the Chicago White Sox last night in the ninth inning. He is a lesson in pure filth. He retired the side on 15 pitches.
A bullpen I have been watching is the New York Yankees. Clay Holmes has been a tad shaky in seven outings thus far with a 5.40 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, but he has four saves in five opportunities thus far. What I am watching is the action behind Holmes, where Wandy Peralta, Ron Marinaccio and Michael King continue to be impressive. If you are looking for a handcuff here with Jonathan Loaisiga out with forearm and elbow issues, King would be my lean at this time. We know this can change week to week, even day by day. But should Holmes struggle at all in a very competitive AL East, King could get a shot. At the very least he should be rich in holds opportunities.
In Toronto, Jordan Romano continues to be highly effective with five saves and two wins in seven appearances.
AL Central
The White Sox await the return of Liam Hendriks, and my word, do they need him. This bullpen has been moribund and keeps finding ways to lose games. Many anointed Reynaldo Lopez as the closer with Hendriks out, but he now has an 8.53 ERA, giving up a bases-loaded walk and then a three-run double on an 0-2 pitch to Adley Rutschman. He’s not it, despite pundits anointing him. In fact, the White Sox look like they may stink, and that the manager may not have been the issue. This bullpen is hot garbage so far.
Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase was at the top of most draft boards this winter, and for good reason: 42 saves and a sparkling 1.36 ERA and .73 WHIP in 2022. Yet while he has four saves thus far on the 2023 season, there is some cause for possible concern here. The velocity on his noted cutter is down almost two ticks and his walk rate is at 12.5% (four walks total on the season). With his proven track record, he will get every opportunity to work through any issues, but keep in mind that the Guardians have James Karinchak and Trevor Stephan out in the bullpen too.
Alex Lange finally earned a save for the Detroit Tigers. Yawn. He will likely get the bulk of the opportunities for now, but how many will he truly get for a team that sits at 3-9? Not too many, it would appear at this time.
In Minnesota, Jhoan Duran has gotten the bulk of the chances thus far with Jorge Lopez in a setup role. The thing is, both have pitched extremely well thus far. Duran has four saves while averaging 101.6 MPH on his fastball/sinker pitch. It’s unhittable most of the time, whatever you call it. Yet he’s also given up two home runs thus far. Lopez has one save and has shown a different pitch mix this season, featuring a harder slider far more often (10.7% in 2022 to 34.2% in 2023) with good results. We will bump Duran into the closer chair for now, free in the knowledge that this could be a bit of a timeshare as the season progresses.
AL West
After sitting on pins and needles to start the season, Carlos Estevez got his first save for the Los Angeles Angels this week.
Andres Munoz hit the injured list this week for the Seattle Mariners with a right deltoid strain. He’s expected to miss the next couple of weeks. Make sure you have Paul Sewald in those starting lineups as he should get every save opportunity at this time with Munoz out. Potential new holds candidate here: Justin Topa.
NL East
Atlanta: Nick Anderson, the former Ray, got a save this week for the Atlanta Braves. I would not read too much into it at this point as AJ Minter will continue to get the bulk of the chances while Raisel Iglesias recovers from his shoulder woes. Interestingly, he is not yet throwing off a mound but is playing catch on flat ground, so it could still be a couple of weeks until he returns to game action.
In Miami, it appears that A.J. Puk is settling in as the closer with Dylan Floro getting the eighth inning ahead of him. If you have Puk on your bench, get him in there this week. The Statcast data is blood red and Puk might finally be hitting his stride after years of yo-yoing in Oakland. Here’s hoping.
I lean towards David Robertson for the New York Mets, but manager Buck Showalter is using both Robertson and Adam Ottavino in the closer role thus far. Both are going to get holds and saves, with Showalter mentioning last week in interviews that he views Robertson as the “stopper” to put out the fires. That could be the seventh inning, or it could be the ninth inning. Both will get chances, but I slightly lean Robertson for more save chances at this time.
After a nightmarish three-home-run, five-run performance against Tampa Bay, Kyle Finnegan has quietly put together three scoreless outings in a row, earning one save in the process. The Nationals do have other options that could use in Carl Edwards Jr. and Hunter Harvey, but it looks like Finnegan is getting some leeway to work through his early issues. Keep an eye on this one in the coming days and weeks.
NL Central
Not much to report this week in the NL Central. Closers remain static here: Michael Fulmer (slight lean) in Chicago, Alexis Diaz in Cincinnati, Devin Williams in Milwaukee, David Bednar in Pittsburgh, and Ryan Helsley in St. Louis.
NL West
If you’re watching Arizona at all, Andrew Chafin earned his second save this week, picking this one up after Scott McGough pitched the eighth inning. My guess is that this remains a committee with both Chafin and McGough getting some chances, and maybe even other arms like Miguel Castro getting opportunities. Who knows what will end up happening, but I lean slightly more toward Chafin at this point.
Josh Hader looks to be healthy and effective in San Diego thus far, with four saves in four chances and 11 punchouts in six innings. While early on in the season, Hader has thrown his sinker a whopping 80% of the time; last year he threw it 69% of the time. His 45.8 K% is in the top 1% of all major league pitchers. Too early to read too much into it, but he’s looked like himself to start the season, which is great for baseball and the Padres.