Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report: June 1

2016 Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report

Closers & Saves

Apologies for not having this column up on its usual day, but an obvious disturbance in the force was apparently what compelled me to hold it back. And what was that disturbance, you might ask? Look no further than the bullpen of the Tampa Bay Rays where Brad Boxberger made his long-awaited return. Oh, let’s just cut to the chase – after allowing two runs on two hits, one walk and a hit batsman over just two-thirds of an inning, Boxberger was diagnosed with a muscle strain on his left side, basically re-injuring the core muscle on which he had surgery back in March. He is expected to head back to the DL, though no timetable for his return has been given, so we don’t know if this will be a two-week setback or if he could be out for longer. But for all of you Alex Colome owners who heeded my advice over the last couple of weeks and wisely kept him stashed instead of dropping him too quickly, I applaud you. Enjoy your new, old closer. If you didn’t, well you’ll just have to wait and see what the next update will be on Boxberger to tell you just how long you’ll be stashing him on your fantasy DL.

While studies have been inconclusive, ask any fantasy owner of David Robertson if closers perform worse in non-save situations than they do in save situations and you’ll get a resounding yes. It might be difficult to hear through all the sobbing after Saturday’s six-run debacle, but there is little doubt that they’re still crazy pissed even after he rebounded with a scoreless inning and a save Tuesday. I mean, let’s face it…something like that in a roto league is crazy painful, but it can flat-out cost you a win in head-to-head play. You could have had one of your starters throw a complete-game shutout and Robertson’s “effort” still would have ruined it. Not to worry though as Robertson remains a high-end closing option and no one else in the bullpen is doing anything to push him for the job.

Let this be a lesson to those of you who don’t read past the inflammatory headline. In a recent interview, Tigers closer Francisco Rodriguez revealed that he suffered from the Zika virus during the offseason and way too many people jumped to both immediate and wrong conclusions when they heard. Is it dangerous? Yes. Is it comparable to West Nile virus and possibly even malaria (yellow fever)? Yes. Is K-Rod still dealing with it? No, not really. He’s through the woods and while he struggled early on in the season, he was well on his way to righting the ship before this recent stumbling block. Manager Brad Ausmus is not thinking about any sort of change right now, so feel free to stick with him. If you’ve got depth elsewhere, you can always try to package him up with another player for a closer you trust more, but dropping K-Rod is not the move to make.

The Astros closer situation is starting to warrant a little extra monitoring as both Luke Gregerson and Ken Giles seem to be running a little too hot and cold lately. While Gregerson was having his early-to-mid May struggles (three earned runs in four-straight outings with three blown saves, Giles was making scoreless appearance after scoreless appearance. Now that Gregerson is back on track and has notched a save in each of his last four appearances, Giles is now struggling on the hill. It’s not that manager A.J. Hinch has indicated a potential switch, but if the two guys continue to run so hot and cold, he could conceivably turn it into a platoon where the hot hand gets the work. Again, just something to keep your eye on.

After a month on the disabled list, Huston Street has finally been activated and is ready to resume his work as the Angels closer. He made one appearance upon his activation and not only threw a scoreless frame, but he also vulture the win as well. Quite fortuitous if you were able to activate him. If not, no big deal as he’ll be racking up stats for you in no time. Kudos to Joe Smith for, once again, doing a solid job, but all good things must come to an end. If you’re in a holds league, he’s got some value, but with a feeble strikeout rate, he won’t do much else for you in the immediate future. Long run, maybe he helps keep the ratios stabilized, but you can find plenty of middle relievers able to do that while also racking up some respectable strikeout numbers.

Another closer who has returned from a lengthy absence is Milwaukee southpaw Will Smith. Originally, the assumption was that Smith would slot back into a set-up role because the Brewers had no other lefties in the pen (much like the Oakland situation we’ve been monitoring), but according to manager Craig Counsell, he is now considering more of a platoon situation so that he can play the match-ups a little better. Jeremy Jeffress has done a rock-solid job as the team’s closer – 12 saves, 2.28 ERA, 16 K – so while it’s easy to understand why Counsell wants to play the match-ups, it’s a bit disappointing to see someone undeservedly lose opportunities. Don’t go dropping anyone here, though, as this situation could be in flux for a little bit of time.

Relievers & Holds

Tuesday’s loss for the Cubs was momentous in the sense that it was the first time they lost in the last 24 games started by Jake Arrieta, but the thing to really key in on is that they’ve returned to their overall winning ways (six of their last seven) in the past week. With that, the bullpen is returning to their early-season form and fantasy owners are reaping the benefits. While Hector Rondon gets the majority of attention as the closer, his opportunities are courtesy of the strong performances of Justin Grimm and Pedro Strop. The two relievers have combined for four holds, a 1.69 ERA and a 5:1 K:BB over 5.1 innings with the only blemish being a meaningless home run allowed by Grimm in a game the Cubs had a six-run lead. There’s really no reason to doubt the winning ways of the Cubs, so their set-up men should continue to provide supplementary numbers.

The Rockies just got back Jason Motte back from the DL and the team might be thinking ‘why bother?’ with the way he’s thrown the ball thus far. His first outing was fine as he tossed a scoreless inning against the Red Sox, but since then, he’s made two appearances and given up two runs on four hits (one home run) with no strikeouts over two innings. Maybe it’s just the rust coming off, but while he’s working out the kinks, Justin Miller should continue to be a potential source for holds alongside Chad Qualls. Motte can certainly redeem himself, but given the injury history and the usual fly ball rates, you can probably do a whole lot better from almost anywhere around the league.

It was a bit of a busy week for the Nationals bullpen as they’ve won three-straight and played a fair number of recent close games. But it’s actually been the set-up men getting the extra work as opposed to Jonathan Papelbon and the biggest beneficiary has been Felipe Rivero who now has a hold in each of his last seven-straight games and has thrown 7.1 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and no walks in that span. There’s obviously an ebb and flow with middle relievers nailing down holds, so you can’t rely on these results regularly, but there’s nothing better than owning some stable relievers in a bullpen that seems both balanced and strong.

Strength of Bullpen

Closer Grid