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Another fun week of baseball is behind us, and we hope it was fun for your fantasy teams as well! We're approaching the point of the season where most MLB teams are proving themselves as contenders or admitting to themselves that it might be another year of selling at the deadline. Not so much in fantasy leagues though, especially if you've been following along with Rotoballer all season and staying near the top of your league!
This week, we saw some interesting bullpen usage from a few teams. We saw a team on pace to shatter a bullpen record, a team with a potentially new closer who throws absolute fireballs, a closer who threw 50 pitches (and it was a good thing!), and a big name closer who didn't feel well and needed time off.
Be sure to also keep an eye on our RotoBaller Fantasy Baseball Closers and Saves Bullpen Depth Charts. They're updated daily, or sometimes even more often in this wild 2022 baseball season.
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St. Louis Cardinals - Bullpen and Closers News
The Cardinals bullpen seemed more or less set at the beginning of the season, but as they often do: things changed. Giovanny Gallegos has been pretty good (3.86 ERA/2.72 FIP, 8 saves in 11 chances) but Ryan Helsley has been even better (0.48 ERA, 0.95 FIP – he gave up his first run this week!) With a two run lead and the bullpen well rested, it was Gallegos who came in for a 6th inning appearance this week and Helsley who was saved for the save. He's converted three saves so far and seems like he's at the top of the St. Louis hierarchy. With one caveat: the Cardinals don't want Helsley pitching two days in a row. So while Helsley may serve as the "primary" closer, Gallegos should still get plenty of chances to earn saves along the way.
Risers: Ryan Helsley
Fallers: Giovanny Gallegos (slight fall, and only in standard leagues, value remains steady in holds leagues)
Los Angeles Dodgers - Bullpen and Closers News
The Dodgers bullpen was looking like it would be a committee heading into the season, but then they swapped A.J. Pollock for Craig Kimbrel, and the veteran closer slid right into the ninth inning all on his own. It's gone...fine. Kimbrel has 10 saves and has only blown one, and he's still missing plenty of bats (30.9 K%), but his ERA sits at 4.80 and his WHIP at 1.40. Those aren't the types of numbers you want to see from your supposedly elite closer. This week, Daniel Hudson ended up earning a save on a day where Kimbrel reportedly "wasn't feeling well" but then later in the week Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Kimbrel was unavailable for a few days, "while attempting to clean up some of his mechanics." Kimbrel will obviously have a lot of leeway, and the bottom line is he's still getting his saves even if he's allowing hits and runs along the way to make it interesting. He had an encouraging 1-2-3 inning on Thursday night for his 11th save of the year.
Risers: Daniel Hudson (solidifying that he'd be "the guy" if Kimbrel missed time)
Fallers: none
Miami Marlins - Bullpen and Closers News
The Marlins bullpen has been a mess all season, but it just seems to get messier and messier each week. One week, the pitchers will pitch well but manager Don Mattingly will make questionable moves to cost the team the game. The next week, Mattingly will make the right moves, and the pitchers just won't execute. It's been a maddening season, and we're barely 50 games in. With Anthony Bender on the injured list, the Marlins haven't had a set closer for a bit now. Cole Sulser seemed like he was ascending into the spot and was used as such a couple of times this week, with both times going terribly. In one, he allowed four runs without getting an out. In the other, he allowed a two-run walkoff home run to the first batter he faced in an extra inning game. Meanwhile, Dylan Floro has looked somewhat decent after a few rough outings in his return from the IL, but he has just one strikeout in 8 1/3 innings. The only pitcher who has been consistently effective in the Marlins bullpen has been Anthony Bass (2.18 ERA, 2.87 FIP), so he would seem to be the "closer" just based on that. On Thursday night though, it was Tanner Scott who was called on to pitch the 9th, and he ended up saving the game. Scott gets tons of swings and misses but also issues tons of walks. He could be an elite closing option if he can throw more strikes. But again, it's Don Mattingly, so who knows? Maybe he'll just take the ball himself and head to the mound next time.
Risers: Anthony Bass, Tanner Scott
Fallers: Cole Sulser, Marlins fans
Short Relief - Other Bullpen News
-J.P. Feyereisen may only have one save this season, but that's one more save than runs he has allowed. Feyereisen still has a 0.00 ERA on the season, even after 24 innings pitched. He's been impressive.
-Also impressive relating to the Rays bullpen: they have seven pitchers with at least one save already, in just 50 games. The MLB record (held by the Rays, of course) is 14.
-David Bednar threw 50 pitches in an exciting outing that was followed by an even more exciting post-game interview. He was of course unavailable the day after that, with Wil Crowe earning a save and Chris Stratton staying put in the 8th inning.
-Dany Jimenez was outstanding for a while, converting 1o of his first 10 save opportunities. He's been quite the opposite of outstanding lately, but it seems like the A's are giving him a chance to work through things. A.J. Puk could be next in line if Jimenez keeps slumping, although Oakland may want to get veteran Lou Trivino back into the 9th as well.
-Corey Knebel has been struggling while Seranthony Dominguez and Brad Hand haven't. We could see a change at the end of the Phillies bullpen before long.
-Matt Barnes landed on the injured list this week, joining Hansel Robles and further complicating things in the already Elmo-fire-gif Red Sox bullpen. John Schreiber, maybe? Sure, why not.
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