From a pure baseball standpoint, Tony La Russa is doing the right thing. From a fantasy standpoint, it's going to be a tricky go.
The Cardinals have four victories over their past six games and they've all been saved by different relievers. Mitchell Boggs got the handshake Sunday, Eduardo Sanchez closed up Wednesday, Fernando Salas was the man Thursday and lefty specialist Trever Miller ended Friday's victory at Atlanta. Noticeably absent from the save parade: former closer Ryan Franklin and former closer-in-waiting Jason Motte.
The Friday victory was a clinic in how to smartly run your bullpen. La Russa summoned Boggs for the bottom of the eighth with St. Louis losing 3-2; although this wasn't a save chance, it's a high-leverage position and you want a key reliever in at that time. Boggs got three batted-ball outs and was done for the night. You could also make a case that maybe the Cardinals wanted Boggs on the mound in a non-save situation on the heels of his blown save (four hits allowed) earlier in the week at Houston.
The Cardinals pushed a run across in the ninth, setting up another high-leverage opportunity for the bottom of the inning. Here's where a lot of road managers regularly screw up; often they'll have a mediocre man for these spots, holding back the best remaining reliever for the save chance that may or may not happen later. La Russa instead summoned the electric Sanchez and he was terrific, working two scoreless innings and striking out three. A leadoff walk wasn't a problem in the ninth, and he retired three prominent left-handed bats (Heyward, Chipper, McCann) in his final inning.
Motte got the ball for the bottom of the 11th, with a two-run lead now in place. He quickly got in trouble with a leadoff walk but home plate umpire Tim McClelland bailed him out ? a 3-2 offering to Freddie Freeman that appeared off the plate was called strike three. Motte then blew away Alex Gonzalez with high-90s heat before giving way to Miller, the lefty specialist, to handle Nate McLouth (liner to left, handshakes all around).
So what the heck do we do with this bullpen going forward?
Let's play it by process of elimination. Franklin looks to be absolute toast. He hasn't worked a percent inning yet this year, he's already allowed four homers over eight innings (can't blame those on anyone else), and he's not capable of missing bats. Franklin allowed two hits to two batters in the Houston series and he hasn't been seen since. In any shape of a mixed league, you punt this guy.
Miller is the only lefty in the bullpen and might sneak the occasional save, but it's hard to see much here. He hadn't retired anyone over his last five appearances prior to Friday's handshake, and he was lucky McLouth's liner was hit directly at Matt Holliday. The NL-only save chasers would be fine to roster Miller and hope for 4-5 lucky spot saves, but there's no upside here.
Salas would be my next elimination, unless things totally fall apart. He's got a decent strikeout rate but you'd like your closer to throw higher than 90 on average, and Salas also had a problem with control last year (15 walks in 30.2 innings). His midweek save was one of those hidden multi-inning jobs where the lead swells to four runs or more in the ninth, counterfeiting an opportunity for someone else.
Although Motte was in position, temporarily, to get the save Friday, I'm not very interested in him. He's been getting a lot middle-inning work this year, and his fastball still lacks any movement. It's telling that the Cardinals didn't let him close up Friday once McLouth got to the dish; Motte isn't on a long leash. And his case also underscores how closer-in-waiting relievers are generally terrible investments in redraft leagues.
That leaves Boggs and Sanchez, two legitimate options, the best men to invest in here. Boggs would be my guess to at least head up the committee if I were drafting from scratch. He had eight scoreless appearances before his one meltdown, the 5:1 K/BB rate sings to you, he can dial it up to the mid-90s, and he's got a good slider. It remains to be seen if he can consistently get left-handed batters out, but that's going to be a question ? if not a problem ? for all of the righties in this bullpen.
Sanchez is the ticklish play here, just a baby at 22. At 5-11 and 170 he isn't terribly imposing on the mound, but he's capable of missing bats with his explosive fastball and knee-buckling curve. Again, we need to see how he's going to solve lefties going forward ? the bender won't help him there ? but he passed the eye test Friday, retiring Atlanta's three studs in a row. Sanchez has 17 strikeouts on the year against just two walks. I don't blame anyone who prefers Sanchez over Boggs going forward; it's awfully close to a coin flip.
Place your save-chasing bets, Arcade Nation. We've spent more than enough time in the Archway Bullpen ?�onto some other Friday Night Videos.
Alas, nothing comes easy with Broxton these days. Orlando Hudson and Chase Headley came through with ground-ball singles; neither ball was scalded, but they weren't exactly seeing-eye hits either. Nick Hundley followed with a frozen rope to left ? easily the sharpest result from the inning ? but Tony Gwynn was ready to play hero, making an outstanding grab to end the game. Just be glad Jerry Sands wasn't out there, Hollywood.
Broxton was around the plate (14 of 20 pitches were strikes) but his straight fastball was in the 91-94 range, not the heater we were used to seeing in his salad days, and he's not getting ideal movement on his slider. Be ready with a Plan B, gamer (and the same goes for you, Don Mattingly). Vicente Padilla makes sense as a short-term add, with Hong-Chih Kuo and Kenley Jansen the long-term targets.
?�Brett Wallace clearly can't be stopped with conventional weapons right now. He collected two more hits Friday (he's on a 20-35 tear), stole a base and even reached once on catcher's interference (nice try, Brewers). But later in the game Wallace inured his hip, courtesy of a collision with Prince Fielder, and he's now listed as day-to-day. Don't do this to us, baseball gods.
Wallace was the only Astros hitter that figured out Shaun Marcum (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K), who put on a clinic of how to win with mid-80s stuff. Milwaukee clubbed three homers off Brett Myers (Braun, Prince, Yuni), while the sneaky-valuable Carlos Gomez stole two bases (give him eight) and scored a couple of times. Gomez, for all his flaws, should be owned more than his current tag (eight percent); batting second in this lineup is a pretty good slot.
?�Jason Marquis, anyone? He's rolled together five straight quality starts, with the gem of the bunch coming over the Giants on Friday (9 IP, 5, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K). He's got 24 strikeouts against five walks for the year, and he's getting plenty of ground balls (14 Friday, around 55 percent for the season). You wish Marquis weren't headed to Philly for his next start, but he's become a pitcher of interest in mixed leagues.
?�While Frank Francisco is generally considered the most skilled reliever in the Toronto bullpen, Jon Rauch isn't handing his closing spot away without a fight. Rauch worked hard for the handshake in the Bronx, getting four outs (two air, two fly) in support of Ricky Romero. Rauch has a 2.45 ERA and 1.00 WHIP on the season, though his other numbers are ordinary (4 BB, 7 K, 2 HR allowed).
Rajai Davis returned from the DL and the ankle looks fine; he swiped three bases on Russell Martin and company. The underrated rabbit is still free in about 60 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
?�Geovany Soto's bat perked up in Arizona, as he clouted his first homer in three weeks. Alfonso Soriano added two in the desert, pushing him up to nine. The Snakes got a first-inning homer from Justin Upton but otherwise that was it; Carlos Zambrano and three relievers shut the door from there.
Well-inked Rattler Ryan Roberts was on the bench for the second straight day, while Melvin Mora reached base three times (two hits, one HBP). Just a hunch, you might see Roberts get a spot start Saturday in place of the slumping Kelly Johnson (another collar, down to .182).
-------
Images courtesy Associated Press
Cameron Diaz Sofía Vergara Nicole Richie Norah Jones Nicky Hilton
No comments:
Post a Comment