2016 Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report: August 28

2016 Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report: August 28

Surprisingly, there’s not a whole heck of a lot of bullpen movement over this past week. There are a small handful of situations worth mentioning, but for the most part, like I tell my wife, this one’s gonna be a quickie!

Closers & Saves

Arizona Diamondbacks

Well this situation has just gone from bad to worse, hasn’t it? Following the trade of Brad Ziegler, the D-Backs went with Jake Barrett to close things out in the ninth. But after a few big bumps in the road, the team recalled Enrique Burgos and without much in the way of an announcement, the team moved into a committee situation. That it, of course, until Burgos showed his true colors. He’s now allowed runs (seven in total, to be exact) in four of his last five outings and has been charged with three blown saves in that span. While Barrett had his issues, he was nowhere near this bad. You can probably expect Barrett to get the opportunities moving forward, but again, there’s been no announcement regarding the bullpen recently and it looks like manager Chip Hale will just mix and match for the duration of the season. If you’re looking for September saves, look somewhere else. This bullpen is just atrocious right now.

Miami Marlins

As I said last week, Fernando Rodney should not have been dropped even with the return of A.J. Ramos from the disabled list. The saves haven’t been abundant for this team, but for the one save chance that they had over these last six days, it was Rodney who got the call. It’s not that Ramos has done anything wrong; it’s that neither has Rodney. It would appear that both are in line for save opportunities moving forward which means that, while neither has overwhelming value as a closer, if you are desperate for saves, both are worth owning at the moment. Not ideal, but at least it’s something.

Relievers & Holds

San Diego Padres

Not that the Padres will ever have a lead to hold moving forward, but just in case they do, there are a few different faces in the set-up roles lately. Ryan Buchter was optioned to Triple-A and now lefty Brad Hand seems to be the primary set-up man for closer Brandon Maurer. In addition to that, the primary right-hander is now apparently Carlos Villanueva. Now obviously these positions in the bullpen hierarchy are likely very fluid, so I wouldn’t get attached to anyone in particular, but if push comes to shove and you’re completely desperate with nowhere else to turn, well, then okay. You may want to give yourself a Hand. Yeah…sorry. Had to do it.

Texas Rangers

We’ve got a new hierarchy in the set-up roles as Jeremy Jeffress lands on the restricted list and is no longer active. We have him listed as injured on the closer grid because he could return, but for now, he’s dealing with a legal situation and the Players Association. Turns out, Jeffress was arrested for a possible DWI early Friday morning and, due to his troubled past, the Players Association and MLB are running a full investigation. He’s been placed on the restricted list and will now have to wait to find out if he is going to be allowed to play the rest of the season. For the Rangers, it’s a huge bummer as he was supposed to be a big part of that trade that also brought over Jonathan Lucroy, and help solidify the back end of the bullpen. Jake Diekman returns to the primary set-up role and Keone Kela again becomes a potential source for holds.

Strength of Bullpen

Closer Grid