Even before Josh Staumont landing on the IL, Scott Barlow had pulled away in their closer committee and has had a somewhat quiet yet very effective past two months as the Royals top reliever. Over this timespan, Barlow has a 2.73 ERA, 1.025 WHIP, and 27 K’s over 26.1 innings, with his 14 SV+HLD’s good for sixth most in all of baseball. The strikeout rate may be down, but it has been rising as of late and his chase rate is fantastic (36.4%), leading to believe there’s some upside left here.
Notes
- It’s weird seeing John Schreiber this high on the list, but I think it’s justified. His 2.10 SIERA, and 27.2% K-BB rate rank inside the top 15 amongst all relievers, with his 35.1% Whiff rate just missing the top 15 (18th). As far as SV+HLD’s go, he leads all of MLB with 18 SV+HLD’s over the past two months, also picking up 2 wins in the process. Just keep on riding this until the wheels fall off.
- With the return of Liam Hendriks, Kendall Graveman gets bumped down a bit while I also could see some (slight) negative regression coming his way over the second half. Graveman’s not one to get Whiffs (21.7%) and there’s value in sinker balling ground ball relievers, but it does leave a lot up to chance, and that 1.34 WHIP isn’t making me feel confident about him holding a 2.45 ERA this way.
- Alexis Díaz is scheduled to return to the Reds bullpen today, and it will be interesting to see if he’s able to get back into the saves mix again. My guess is he won’t because that seems like a thing the Reds would do, but either way, he should at the very least get into the mix for holds and once again provide value for those of you in holds leagues as the best Reds relief option.
- David Bednar, Phil Bickford, Wil Crowe, and Alex Lange each had 3 SV+HLD’s this past week. Bickford is a bit of a surprise on the list but with all the injuries the Dodgers bullpen has suffered (now Brusdar Graterol) Bickford has worked himself back into a setup role. I say back into because he was actually effective in high leverage work for the team last season, compiling 10 holds with a 2.50 ERA and 1.03 WHIP over 50+ innings.
Injured List
| PITCHER | TIER | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Kenley Jansen | 2-4 | Heart. Jansen is targeting next Tuesday to return, but that may seem optimistic? |
| Drew Pomeranz | 3-5 | Flexor Tendon. On the 60-day IL so don’t expect to see him until late July. Progressing to bullpens. |
| Nick Anderson | 3-5 | UCL. Still out until (at least) August. Has done some mound work but still experiencing discomfort. |
| 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. Don’t expect to see Yates until August (at the earliest). Has been throwing off a mound at ST complex. |
| Blake Treinen | 3-6 | Shoulder. Now out until August. Began throwing off a mound which is progress |
| Jonathan Loáisiga | 4-6 | Shoulder. Throwing live bullpens now and could return in early August. |
| Jonathan Hernández | 5-7 | TJS. Still rehabbing at AAA. 4.76 ERA, 2.12 WHIP over 13 games there this season. |
| Pete Fairbanks | 5-7 | Torn Lat. Has started his rehab at AAA and could return in the coming weeks. |
| Trevor May | 5-7 | Arm. Completed his first bullpen and could return at some point in early August. |
| Aaron Bummer | 5-7 | Lat. Not throwing off a mound yet (7/7), likely out until mid-late August now. |
| Josh Staumont | 5-8 | Neck. Out with a neck strain, there’s been no update since he was placed on the IL. |
Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)
