It appears Brett Martin’s stint as closer in Texas could be coming to an end here, with Matt Moore picking up a save last night after Martin worked the 7th inning on Wednesday. After picking up three quick saves after Joe Barlow was removed from the closer role, things have been quiet for Martin on the save front as he also has suffered a blown save+loss while allowing 5 earned runs in back to back outings. While I do like Martin as a reliever, there’s just too many other higher upside options in this bullpen it feels like, so I can’t imagine him hanging on to this closer role much longer.
Notes
- I talked about Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck on Tuesday and on the podcast. While Whitlock has two saves this week, Houck went on to get a loss after allowing a home run in the ninth to Josh Naylor on Wednesday night. Whitlock’s ability to get lefties out as well as righties should make him the preferred option to close out games for this team and it could leave Houck without a set role moving forward.
- Diego Castillo was placed on the 15 day IL this week with a shoulder ailment, which should give Erik Swanson a bump in SV+HLD opportunities, at least in the short term. This bullpen is so deep that sometimes Swanson is the forgotten man, but he has been one of the better relievers in baseball this season with a 2.32 SIERA, to go along with 27.9% K-BB and 17.2% SwStr rates.
- A name to watch in the Padres bullpen as Taylor Rogers continues to struggle is Nick Martinez, who opened the year in the rotation but has thrived as a reliever this month. Rogers still has the closer role for now but has to be on thin ice at this point, so another meltdown could result in a change here.
- Alexis Díaz, Luis García, Zach Jackson each had 3 SV+HLD’s this past week to lead all relievers. It should only be a matter of time before Díaz starts getting the bulk of the save chances in Cincinnati, whether Hunter Strickland is traded or not (I mean 5.91 xFIP, .368 xwOBA, 4.7% K-BB rate…what are we doing here?). As I mentioned above with Martinez, García would also certainly be in the mix should the Padres make a chance at closer.
Injured List
| PITCHER | TIER | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Drew Pomeranz | 3-5 | Flexor Tendon. Threw a simulated game on 7/23. Still no rehab date yet. |
| Nick Anderson | 3-5 | UCL. Rehab has moved to AAA (7/30) where he figures to stay for a couple of weeks. |
| J.P. Feyereisen | 3-6 | Shoulder. Feeling better but still not throwing. Now on 60 day IL, out until August. |
| Kirby Yates | 3-6 | TJS. Rehab now moved to AAA (7/27) and could return in the next few weeks. |
| Blake Treinen | 3-6 | Shoulder. Will face live hitters today (7/29) with a rehab stint after if that goes well. |
| Diego Castillo | 3-6 | Shoulder. Placed on IL on 7/28, expected to be a minimum length stint. |
| Trevor May | 4-7 | Arm. Rehab is underway and he could return in early August if all goes well. |
| Aaron Bummer | 4-7 | Lat. Not throwing off a mound yet (7/7), likely out until mid-late August now. |
| Anthony Bender | 4-7 | Back. Began rehab assignment on 7/15, and could return in early August. |
Photo by John Bunch/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)