Saves and Steals: Final Stone Buddha Boss
Last week’s lede was “Trouble in STL!” That proved to be spot on – Trevor Rosenthal lost his job after allowing three more runs on Friday. He didn’t retire anybody. He now has a 5.40 ERA for the season. Woof. St. Louis wasn’t the only closer mess this week. Rays fireman Alex Colome hit the disabled list yesterday with right biceps tendonitis. The move is backdated enough that he could return next Monday.
Jeurys Familia is up to 26 saves on the season. He’s the current league leader. A.J. Ramos holds second place with 24 saves while Kenley Jansen and Zach Britton are tied with 23 saves. Familia and Santiago Casilla led the charge in the last calendar week with three saves apiece.
As for base runners, Travis Janikowski blitzed his way to four swipes this week. More on him in the Steals Department. Six others stole three bases – all guys you would expect to find on a list of top runners. Jonathan Villar still leads the league with 26 swipes. Only Rajai Davis (21), Jose Altuve (20), and Starling Marte (20) have also reached the 20 steal threshold.
Editor’s Note: Don’t whiff on this special FanDuel offer: win your first contest or get your money back (up to $10) to keep playing. Try FanDuel now.
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 had a solid week no thanks to Kirby Yates. He pitched four times, the last of which was a weird rain delay scenario. Chapman walked the first batter and only he faced on Monday. Three and a half hours later, the game resumed with Yates on the mound. He blew the save, allowing Chapman’s walk to score in the process. Chapman’s other three outings led to a win, two saves, and six strikeouts.
Jansen saved two while recording four strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Britton pitched three times and also saved two with four strikeouts. Neither pitcher allowed a run.
Kimbrel picked up a big two inning win last Thursday. He pitched again on Monday in a blow out. He allowed a run on three hits and struck out the side. Kimbrel began the season with some ugly numbers. Now he has a 2.61 ERA (2.16 FIP, 2.99 xFIP) to go with a typically big strikeout rate.
Tier 2: Nearly Elite (5)
Roberto Osuna, Toronto Blue Jays
Jeurys Familia, New York Mets
Hector Rondon, Chicago Cubs
Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh Pirates
David Robertson, Chicago White Sox
Osuna saved a couple games in three appearances. He did allow a solo home run on Saturday, but it didn’t affect the outcome. As noted in the intro, Familia saved three games. He pitched a total of 3.1 innings and struck out two batters.
The good news for Rondon is that the Cubs won all three games he pitched. Still, it was an odd week. The first appearance was a normal four out save. He protected a three run lead on Monday, but it didn’t count as a save because he was only called upon for the final out. There are some strange quirks for what qualifies as a save. Last night, Rondon blew the save. The Cubbies salvaged the win in extra innings.
Melancon and Robertson both collected two saves apiece. Melancon added a couple strikeouts in two frames while Robertson tossed three innings with three strikeouts.
Tier 3: Good Veterans (4)
A.J. Ramos, Miami Marlins
Sam Dyson, Texas Rangers
Cody Allen, Cleveland Indians
Francisco Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers
Ramos got through another week without walking anybody. His season rate of 5.23 BB/9 is still high, but I’m not concerned at this time. It’s a function of his below average fastball. He added a couple saves this week. Notably, he’s yet to allow a home run.
The poor man’s Britton notched two more saves. The low strikeout rate does hurt his ceiling somewhat. He’s skated around a couple base runners in three of his last four outings.
Allen wasn’t on his best behavior. He allowed three runs in two innings, although only one was earned. He picked up a save. The other outing was in a blow out. K-Rod had the cleaner version of Allen’s week with one save in two scoreless innings.
