LAB REPORTS

Bullpen Notes🗒️(8/21)

MIL: Antonio Senzatela was brought in for the 7th with a 2-0 lead. He allowed a single but the was thrown out at second. He returned for the 8th and gave up two walks, two hits, and a run that made it 2-1. He would get out of the inning and pick up a hold. Trevor Megill pitched the 9th and he allowed a two out single but picked up the save. Megill is the closer and one of the best. They have Ashby, Senzatela, and Patrick working prior to the 9th and all are former starters who can go multiple innings. I think Ashby offers the best value for holds but all three will pitch in big spots.

STL: Caleb Ferguson pitched the 5th with the team down 3-2. He got a double play that helped him out. He would return for the 6th and let two of three reach. Gordon Graceffo came in and he allowed both of Ferguson's runners to score. He would be charged with a blown save. Justin Bruihl pitched the 7th inning with the team down and the 8th inning with the game tied. Luis Gastelum pitched a perfect 9th with the game tied. He would return for the 10th with a 6-5 lead and allow a single and triple that scored two and ended the game. He was charged with the loss. None of these guys are big pitchers in the bullpen and shouldn't be rostered. ROB is the closer and Soriano and Stanek are the holds guys but both are struggling.

PHI: Tim Mayza got the final out of the 6th and the first out of the 7th. He would allow hits in both innings. Orion Kerkering got two outs in the 7th and two in the 8th but allowed a couple runners to reach. Brooks Raley came on and allowed a single that scored a Kerkering unearned run. Kerkering picked up a hold and Raley was charged with a blown save. Jhoan Duran pitched the 9th and allowed a two out single with the game tied. Alex McFarlane pitched the 10th and picked up the win after allowing the ghost runner to score. Duran is the closer and despite them not using Bowlan today I think he is the best choice for holds.

TOR: It was a bullpen game so they used a lot of the scrubs. Go check the box score and make note that anyone who pitched doesn't need to be rostered.

NYY: With a 3-1 lead Brent Headrick pitched the 7th and allowed a two out triple. Paul Blackburn pitched the 8th and allowed a two out double. Both guys picked up holds. David Bednar pitched the 9th and allowed a lead off double. He would get the next three outs and pick up the save. Bednar is the closer and that was save number 30. Blackburn and Headrick are the holds guys and I think Headrick has slightly more value but both have been very good in big spots.

BOS: Erik Miller pitched a perfect 7th with a 6-4 lead against the top of the order. With a couple lefties coming up they went with Alex Gamboa who pitched well. Both of guys picked up holds. Aroldis Chapman allowed a one out walk in the 9th but stuck out the other three. He picked up a save. Chappy is the closer as we know but Miller offers pretty solid value for holds. Obviously Gamboa was used in a bigger spot than normal but it was do to with the LHBs coming up. Tyron Guerrero is still in the mix for the 7th and 8th which makes him a good holds option.

WSN: It was basically a bullpen game with Brad Lord starting. Will Dion came on in the 3rd and got the game into the 6th inning. With a 1-0 lead Orlando Ribalta got the final out of the 6th with two on and returned for the 7th. He would get through that inning and pick up a hold. Tom Cosgrove pitched in the 8th and allowed a triple and single that tied it. He was pulled for Clayton Beeter who allowed a single that put them down 2-1. They would tie it in the 9th and Beeter would return and load the bases before giving up the game ending single. Cosgrove would be charged with a blown save and Beeter ended up taking the loss. Same problem as always for the bullpen that lacks options to get the ball to the 9th so they are forced to use Beeter in non saves.

MIA: Josh Ekness pitched the 5th with a 0-0 score. Tyler Zuber allowed a solo homer in the 6th and was pulled with a couple on and two outs for Cade Gibson. He would get through the 6th, 7th, and get an out in the 8th before Calvin Faucher finished the inning. They took a 2-1 lead in the 9th and Pete Fairbanks struck the first two out before allowing a walk, stolen base, and single that tied it. He would be charged with a blown save but pick up a win when they ended it in the bottom of the inning. Fairbanks is still the closer and the same guy he has been all year. With the rest of the bullpen being pretty inconsistent his role is safe. Michael Petersen is my choice for holds and he didn't pitch tonight since they were down.

TBR: Garrett Cleavinger got an 8th inning in with the score 5-3. He needed it after a rough week. He has been a strong holds option all year long but right now Kevin Kelly is the better choice for holds.

BAL: With a 5-3 lead they used Andrew Kittredge for the 8th against the top the of the lineup and he gave up a one out single but got through the inning and picked up a hold. Rico Garcia had the 9th and was perfect picking up the save. Unfortunately this is how they use Kitty. He will face the best part of the lineup in the 8th or 9th so he only sees maybe 65-70% of the save chances. As I have been saying they love Garcia and Cano has struggled so Garcia is the main holds guy and could still see his fair share of saves.

NYM: Nate Lavender was perfect in the 7th and got an out in the 8th with the game tied at 4-4. Daniel Duarte got the final two outs of the 8th. Jefry Yan pitched the 9th and walked the lead off batter, got a couple outs, and allowed a game ending two run homer. He was charged with the loss. Senga was ready if they had taken the lead going into the 9th. He is the closer and Duarte is the best option for holds.

CHW: With the game tied at 4-4 Jordan Hicks pitched the 7th allowing a lead off single. Bryan Hudson pitched a perfect 8th. Grant Taylor had the 9th with the game still tied and allowed a lead off walk but picked up a win when they scored in the bottom of the 9th. That is three appearances in a row of only one inning for Taylor. I'm inclined to say this is great news as it is the first time it has happened this year. Taylor is the best option in the bullpen but other guys remain unable to get the ball to him consistently which forces them to bring him in prior to the 9th.

HOU: Bennett Sousa pitched the 6th with a 3-0 lead. He allowed a couple to reach but got out of the inning. Bryan Abreu had the 7th and walked a couple with one out. He would get out of the inning and both those guys picked up holds. They tacked on a run and used Steven Okert in the 8th and Enyel De Los Santos in the 9th. Hader is the closer and the rest of the bullpen should line up like we saw today with Okert and Abreu switching at times due to matchups.

LAA: The game 0-0 until the 10th. They used Jose Fermin in the 7th, Tayler Saucedo in the 8th, and Ryan Watson in the 9th. All three allowed hits in their innings and Watson also allowed a walk but none allowed any runs. They took a 1-0 lead in the 10th and turned to Ben Joyce. He got a couple quick outs but allowed a double that scored the ghost runner and tied the game. He walked a guy intentionally and the final run scored on an error. It would have been a great play since it was pretty had contact and a great play at third but a terrible throw. Joyce was charged with two unearned runs, a blown save, and a loss. I'm not worried about this since it was in the 10th. Joyce is still the closer and they really don't have anyone I would consider rostering for holds though Fermin and Watson seem like the best options.

TEX: With the game tied a 0-0 until the 10th they used Cole Winn in the 7th, Chase Silseth in the 8th, and Jacob Latz in the 9th. Silseth and Latz allowed walks in their innings. Tyler Alexander pitched the 10th and allowed a lead off double that scored the ghost runner but got out of the inning. He would pick up the win. Latz is the closer and Junis is the best option for holds though they do appear to like using Silseth late as well.

KCR: Jose Cuas pitched the 6th with a 2-0 lead. He walked two batters with two outs but got out of the inning. John Schreiber started the 7th with a 3-0 lead and walked the lead off batter. He would get a couple outs before allowing a run scoring double and getting pulled for Steven Cruz. Cruz allowed a single that scored a Schreiber run and got out of the inning. He would return and allow a lead off double in the 8th but nothing else. All three guys picked up holds. Nate Pearson pitched the 9th with a 5-2 lead and allowed a couple to reach base but none scored. He would pick up a save. Cruz did come in and face the 3 and 4 hitters so you could say he got the big outs against the best hitters. I still like Cruz the most for saves but it seems to jump from a 50/50 split with him and Pearson to a 80/20 for either guy at times. Hard to believe either guy will win the role at this point in the season.

ARI: Dennis Santana managed to get four outs in the 6th and 7th allowing and only hit a batter. Justin Martinez pitched the 8th and looked pretty good again hitting 100 multiple times and walking a batter. Taylor Clarke pitched a perfect 9th. We know Martinez is going to need a couple innings before getting into the 9th and he has gotten two in. I still think he might be one outing away from being the closer. Remember though he wont pitch back to backs for now so Garcia and Ginkel should still find themselves in the mix.

SDP: With a 6-2 lead in the 8th they went with Bradgley Rodriguez who was perfect. In the 9th they did use Mason Miller and he struck out the side. Miller is the closer and Morejon is the best option for holds.

CHC: Daniel Palencia returned and pitched a perfect 7th with the team down 5-3. Colin Rea had the 8th and allowed a walk. After they tied it Jacob Webb pitched the 9th and allowed two out single. Ryan Zeferjahn pitched the 10th and allowed the ghost runner to score and he was charged with a loss. The Palencia inning is what is important here. He looked pretty good but the fastball didn't hit 100. He is going to get a couple more innings in before they give him the 8th or possibly the 9th. Webb remains the closer and I do think he will hold the job for the rest of the year with Palencia pitching in the 8th.

SEA: Gabe Speier got an out in the 6th with a runner on and a 5-3 lead. He would return for the 7th and allow a lead off single but a double play ended the inning. Eduard Bazardo allowed a lead off dong in the 8th and then loaded the bases before striking out the final batter and ending the inning. Both guys picked up holds. Andrés Muñoz had the 9th with a 5-4 lead and got an out before allowing the game tying homer. He was charged with a blown save. Seranthony Domínguez pitched the 10th and somehow managed to keep the ghost runner from scoring and would pick up the win. Muñoz's hot streak has ended as that is now his second blown save in the last two weeks. The rest of the bullpen has been awful so his job is safe. Speier and Bazardo are the guys to roster for holds. They activated Carlos Vargas who could provide some middle innings help.

PIT: They spent the bullpen innings down or tied. Yohan Ramirez pitched the 5th with the team down 4-2. Kirby Yates had the 6th, Lake Bachar had the 7th, and Luke Weaver pitched the 8th. Bachar had the most trouble loading the bases but none of the guys allowed a run. Mason Montgomery pitched a perfect 9th against the top of the order and the game went to extras. Gregory Soto pitched the 10th and got two outs before allowing the ghost runner to score. He was charged with the loss. Monty is the closer here and Weaver is the guy to roster for holds while Soto is losing some of his luster but will still get some holds.

LAD: With a 4-2 lead and two on in the 7th Brock Stewart got the final two outs and picked up a hold. They went with Kyle Hurt in the 8th and he allowed a game tying two run dong while getting an outs. Edgardo Henriquez got out of the 8th and pitched the 9th with the game now tied. Evan Phillips would allow a single to start the 10th but didn't allow a run after getting an out and a double play. He would pick up the win. We know Scott is the closer right now and they have a bunch of RHP who could see holds and Vesia. I would roster Vesia personally if you are looking for holds.

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