Some bullpens to watch this week...
Houston – The first and maybe most important step in fortifying this bullpen was made this weekend when closer Jose Valverde returned to the mound and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings. On Sunday against the Diamondbacks he got his first ninth inning assignment (non-save opportunity) and struck out the side on 15 pitches. Valverde’s return will slide LaTroy Hawkins into the set-up role; Chris Sampson becomes number three in the late game pecking order; and lefty specialist Tim Byrdak and right Alberto Arias round out the seventh-to-ninth inning rotation. Brandon Backe is the bullpen innings eater (last week threw 124 pitches) which keeps the pitch counts of the top five arms at a comfortable number. This group figures to only get better as the season rolls on.
Tampa Bay – The recent surge of lefty J.P. Howell has taken this unit from suspect to suddenly dependable. He’s stepped in and capably taken over the closer role, which coming in was a huge void. He has now gone 11 straight appearances (11.1 innings) without allowing an earned run and his WHIP during this span is 0.71. Not to be outdone, lefty Randy Choate has given up one hit in his 10 appearances since being called up in late May. The top six in the bullpen which includes Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour, Joe Nelson and Lance Cormier, neatly cleaned up throwing only 300 pitches last week and 173 the week before. There’s no fatigue here and they’re throwing well.
LA Dodgers – This is the absolute cream of the National League crop and I don’t foresee any letdown this week. As a group, their pitch count was a relaxing 252 with Ramon Troncoso leading the way at 53. The trio of Ronald Belisario, Troncoso, and Jonathan Broxton has 14 holds, 11 saves and just one blown save since May 4th. The light hitting A’s are on the docket to begin the week which should allow the bullpen to keep their pitch counts low for their rivals from Anaheim over the weekend.
Colorado – What a difference the reinsertion of one piece makes. Since returning from the DL, right Matt Daley has picked up right where he left off and made a huge positive impact on this bullpen’s performance. Daley has had four near spotless outings (one base runner allowed) which span 3.1 innings. His return has had a domino effect on the relief corps as last week they recorded 10 holds (MLB-high for the week), four saves and a win. A day off for closer Huston Street last Sunday was much needed and with the six relievers behind him throwing between 16-59 pitches, another solid week awaits.
Texas – They’re a real mess right now and the show may be ready to drop this week. With closer Frank Francisco placed on the 15-day DL for the second time, the pen has been shuffled once again and unfortunately they lack any competent set-up man. After throwing only 147 pitches through the first four days of last week, they were forced to throw 230 over the weekend against the Dodgers. The final two games of the series saw Texas relievers throw eight innings and allow nine hits, four walks and five earned runs. Houston and San Francisco are this week’s opponents but right now, any lineup is a threat to this pen.
LA Angels – What an unbelievable turn of events this season for the Angels’ relief corps and right now things could go from bad to extremely worse. With Scott Shields now gone for the season and Jose Arredondo in Triple-A trying to figure things out, Los Angeles is without two-thirds of what they counted on as being a dominant late innings trio. In steps, middle relievers Jason Bulger, Rich Thompson and Justin Speier, along with veteran lefty Darren Oliver, will try and fill the late innings roles. This is not a good situation and it could lead to even less confidence from manager Mike Scioscia. That of course could lead to more and more innings from the starters.
