BULLPEN THOUGHTS

Some thoughts on four bullpens that are in a bit of upheaval at the moment from me. For more on these situations, and all bullpens, take a look at Howard Bender’s Closer Report and for even more detail check out the Bullpen Report.

ATHLETICS: Sean Doolittle is on the DL, again, with a shoulder situation. Don’t think anyone can be trusting him at the moment. That leaves the 9th inning to Ryan Madson who has 17 saves this season. Alas, he’s blown five chances and his ratios continue to climb (3.64 ERA and 1.34 WHIP) while over his last six outings he’s pitched terribly with three homers allowed leading to a 9.95 ERA and a 2.28 WHIP. Meanwhile Ryan Dull has a 2.01 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 9.47 K/9 and 1.61 BB/9. At this point, he’s pitching the best of that group with ease. Madson should be looking over his shoulder. Of course, John Axford could be next in line given his track record of 9th inning work. Hence the problem with trying to predict what happens if the top guy goes down.

BREWERS: According to Chris Cotillo, the Brew Crew is far from certain to hold on to closer Jeremy Jeffress. The Brewers are 38-48 and they aren’t making the playoffs. If they can trade their closer for pieces they can build around – that makes a lot of sense to me. If Jeffress is dealt I would seem that Will Smith, purported to be the closer before injuring his knee this preseason, would likely take over. Smith has appeared in 18 games with a 2.12 ERA and 0.88 WHIP. Tyler Thornburg could also be in the mix with his 2.57 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 48 strikeouts in 35 innings.

DIAMONDBACKS: The club sent Brad Ziegler to the Red Sox. That leaves an open 9th inning in the dessert. While it’s not 100 percent, it’s gotta be well in the 90’s, that Tyler Clippard will close with Daniel Hudson working in a setup role. "Those two guys have the most experience, so I would imagine right now one of those two would be in the ninth," D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "Probably more Clippard today than Huddy just because he's been off." Hudson agreed. "I would just assume that Clip slides into Zig's role just based on I've missed a few days here and wasn't exactly throwing the ball fantastic before.” Clippard has a 2.97 ERA and 1.20 WHIP this season with 41 strikeouts over 33.1 innings. He’s also pitching well with 11 strikeouts and just one walk over his last seven outings. As for Hudson, he has allowed 13 runs and 17 hits over four innings (read that again). It’s Clippard here.

RED SOX: Craig Kimbrel will be out 3-6 weeks with a knee issue. What do the Sox do in the interim? They made a deal with the D’backs to add Brad Ziegler. However, it sounds like Koji Uehara will get the first crack. Ziegler is the fall back option in Boston and with the continual concerns about Uehara’s arm, it’s likely that Ziegler will pick up saves here and there as the Sox manage Koji’s workload. Ziegler would likely take over the 9th, not Junichi Tazawa, if Uehara were hurt or struggled. As for Koji, it’s not been as pretty this season as we are used to with the righty, but it’s hard not to be excited about the skills that have allowed him to post the following numbers: 12.83 K/9, 5.33 K/BB and a 1.10 WHIP. His HR/FB ratio is double his career level at 17.4 percent, so if that number recedes everything should be fine with Koji.

PIRATES UPDATES

I’ve given my thoughts on Tyler Glasnow (Daily Trends) and Josh Bell (Player Profile) previously. Here’s where we are at with both player as we enter the All-Star break.

When asked about Glasnow, GM Neal Huntington had this to say. “He's certainly a viable option for us as we go forward. He is certainly a viable candidate for us.” That sure sounds like he could be part of the Pirates rotation in the second half.  “We're piecing this rotation together based upon health, based upon off days, based on need.”

The best I can figure is the best group of five with the Pirates would be; Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, Jameson Taillon, Tyler Glasnow, Jeff Locke. However, Cole is still working his way back from a triceps issue. Liriano leads baseball in walks per nine. Taillon is dealing with a tired shoulder. Glasnow has had a hard time throwing strikes, and like Taillon has an innings pitched limit this season. Locke has been better of late, but he’s a real nobody who could be replaced by Jon Niese or Chad Kuhl. Would the Pirates really go with both youngsters – Taillon and Glasnow – when they have been so reluctant to do so all season? I would say the time is now so they will. The real question is; what do they do when those guys runs out of innings?

As for Bell… it sounds like he will be sent back down to the minors. “Recognize the small-sample-results monster is rearing its head right now,” Huntington said. “Josh made it look really easy, but he's not going to hit 1.000.” He wasn’t the only one to say something negative after getting heat from fans and the press. Manager Clint Hurdle even referenced the heat that the team took with how it handled Gregory Polanco. “Let's revisit Polanco. We're banging the drum. We got him up too late. Then he went off. ... Then we want him out of here,” Hurdle said. “I'm sure we've got it all figured out outside these walls. You normally do. That's the beauty of sport. And I love the fact of how much confidence it's probably brought for him. But we can watch a whole lot of tape on swings this year, too, that are a lot different than the last two swings. We love the kid. He's going to find his mark and his opportunities. There's no doubt about that.”

Bravo to the Pirates. They are thinking about the development of the player and his long-term health, not pandering to the lowest common denominator – public pressure. Hurdle also poo-poo’d the idea of using Bell in the outfield if there was a need there with Polanco a bit beat up. “Would that be fair to the young man to throw him out in the outfield in a day game?” he asked. “It's not to me.” Good for him again.

Summation…

Be cautious with rookies. It’s not just about talent with young players.

Seems like I’ve made that statement about 18,000 times the last 15 years.

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).