Saves and Steals: Turmoil in the Capitol
Turmoil in the nation’s capitol! Jonathan Papelbon has hit the disabled list for the first time in his career. Who will fill his shoes? Shawn Kelley is the obvious handcuff. The club has already said they’ll handle Kelley carefully since he’s a double-Tommy John survivor. Blake Treinen, Felipe Rivero, and Sammy Solis are also candidates for a look. We’ll dig deeper in a moment.
A zero save week has bumped closers Jeanmar Gomez and Mark Melancon from the top of the leaderboard. Now Jeurys Familia paces the league with 21 saves. Zach Britton and A.J. Ramos have 20 saves apiece. Three others are tied at 19 – Alex Colome, Gomez, and Melancon.
On the steals side, Rajai Davis scampered his way to four swipes in the last week. Four others tallied three stolen bases. Jonathan Villar still leads the league with 23 steals. Starling Marte, Jose Altuve, Davis, and Billy Hamilton round out the top five.
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Tier 1: Elite (5)
Aroldis Chapman, New York Yankees
Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers
Zach Britton, Baltimore Orioles
Craig Kimbrel, Boston Red Sox
Wade Davis, Kansas City Royals
Chapman and Kimbrel only pitched once over the last seven days. Chapman earned a save in his outing while Kimbrel tossed a flawless frame in a Red Sox loss.
Jansen bracketed clean saves around a blown save loss. After Adrian Gonzalez gave Los Angeles a 4-3 lead in the 10th inning, Jansen promptly coughed up two runs. Buster Posey hit a walkoff single. Fear not, Jansen still has a 1.78 ERA (1.90 FIP, 3.53 xFIP). That second figure in parenthesis regresses home run per fly ball rate to league average. In other words, Jansen has been lucky to allow so few home runs. Still, don’t worry. His strikeout rate is only 9.95 K/9 despite everything looking normal. He’ll get back to his typical 13.00 K/9.
Britton saved an interesting game last night and may not be available tonight. He recorded five outs after coming in early to bail out Mychal Givens. He did allow an inherited run to score. Overall, Britton saved two games.
Davis pitched four times and earned two saves. He did allow a run to the White Sox while protecting a four run lead. Davis continues to post weird numbers this season including a low (for him) 9.25 K/9 and 3.70 BB/9. Like Jansen, his 1.11 ERA is good, but his 3.90 xFIP suggests potential downside. He’s yet to allow a home run.
Tier 2: Nearly Elite (7)
Roberto Osuna, Toronto Blue Jays
Jeurys Familia, New York Mets
Hector Rondon, Chicago Cubs
Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh Pirates
David Robertson, Chicago White Sox
Trevor Rosenthal, St. Louis Cardinals
Alex Colome, Tampa Bay Rays
Last Thursday, Osuna gave up one run while attempting to protect a 5-5 tie in the ninth. He was saddled with the loss. He pitched well the next day in a non-save situation.
Familia is three innings into a no-hitter. He was called upon three times for three saves with five strikeouts and three walks (all in one outing). Familia has the stuff to post a higher strikeout total (8.60 K/9), but he often pitches to contact.
Rondon hooked the vulture win last night after allowing an inherited runner to score. That’s the best way to vulture win. As has happened all too frequently this season, Rondon did not receive a save opportunity.
Robertson flopped last Wednesday – three runs in one-third of an inning. He’s since responded with three scoreless frames and two saves. He allowed five baserunners in those innings, so they were far from perfect. Robertson owners may want to keep a close eye on Nate Jones, just in case.
The Pirates bullpen melted in the 12th inning on Friday. Before the game reached extra innings, Rosenthal blew a 3-2 lead and narrowly escaped a one-out, bases loaded jam. His other two appearances resulted in perfect saves.
Three more saves and four strikeouts for Alex Colome. Somehow, he allowed three hits and four walks without giving up a run. He’s carrying a 0.93 ERA with 11.79 K/9 and 3.10 BB/9.
Tier 3: Good Veterans (3)
Cody Allen, Cleveland Indians
A.J. Ramos, Miami Marlins
Francisco Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers
Ramos had a terrible outing in an already lopsided Marlins loss. Luckily for fantasy owners, his three hits and a walk in just one-third of an inning only led to one run. He’s since saved two games. A below average fastball ensures he’ll always be a meltdown risk.
Rodriguez picked up two saves over the weekend. On Monday, pitching for the third time in three days, he allowed two runs on two walks and three hits. The blown save led to an extra innings loss.
