The Relief Brief: Monday, August 22nd

by Collin Campbell (collinman005@gmail.com) Last Updated 2016-08-23 02:17:44

Somewhere around 35% of at bats come against a team’s bullpen. Most DFSers, however, pay attention only to the matchup an offense has with starting pitchers.

In order to give RotoGrinders readers an edge on the field, we have developed a Bullpen Pitching article that focuses on bullpen usage and skill, as well as the elements that may come into play on that day in terms of the bullpen pitchers an offense is likeliest to see. Although we developed this article as part of our Premium Content Package, we decided to make this article free to all readers for the remainder of the 2016 MLB season!

Check the bottom of the written portion of this article for details on a fun contest!

Monday night features an eight game slate. While I won’t break down every bullpen situation, we will begin with the bullpen highlights. Let’s get to it!

1. Bullpen Highlights

Blake Snell has twelve starts on the season and has had mixed results. Snell has reached the six-inning mark only three times this season, and has struggled with control (5.11 BB/9). The Rays bullpen has been middle of the road this season, but they have been allowing a HR/9 rate of 1.62/9 in the last 30 days.

Jameson Taillon has 11 starts under his belt, and has reached the six –inning mark in nine of those 11. Taillon has allowed four total earned runs and zero dongs over his last three starts (20 innings pitched). Things might be a little bit tougher against the hot-hitting Astros tonight, though the ballpark may help with limiting some of the offensive output. The Pirates bullpen has struggled overall this season, but has actually been much better over the last 30 days. Even so, there is some appeal here for Astros bats.

Note: Stephen Strasburg has been scratched. AJ Cole will start in his place tonight.

A.J. Cole will replace Stephen Strasburg tonight. Cole has spent the entire season in AAA. In his last four starts in the minors, Cole has gone for no fewer than seven innings, though he has given up seven home runs over that stretch as well. His 4.26 ERA is uninspiring as well. The Orioles may well get to him. The Nationals bullpen remains one of the best in baseball over the course of the season, but they rank just 24th in bullpen SIERA over the last month.

Jimmy Nelson has six straight starts of throwing five innings or less. Tonight, Nelson will face the Rockies in hitter friendly Miller Park (particularly for left handers). With Nelson struggling to pitch deep into games and with the Brewers bullpen in rough shape, this may be a strong spot to look at.

Mike Foltynewicz is another example of a starting pitcher who has struggled to work deep into games of late and who is pitching in an offensive friendly environment. Folty has reached six innings just four times in his last 13 starts. We can expect to see a fair amount of the Braves bullpen against the Diamondbacks tonight. The Braves bullpen has the fifth worst SIERA in the last 30 days and an identical ranking for season long SIERA.

Andrew Triggs is another starting pitcher who made his big league debut this season. Triggs has started three games in the major leagues this season and has not pitched more than 5.2 innings in any of the three. Triggs wasn’t stretched out in AAA this season either, so he is extremely unlikely to escape the sixth inning in any outing. Tonight, Triggs will face the Indians in his spacious home ballpark. The A’s bullpen has been right around league average, but they have been forced to work a lot recently as their starting pitchers on Saturday and Sunday were unable get through five innings

Edwin Jackson has been up and down in his six starts in 2016. Jackson allowed eight earned runs over four innings against the Rays in his last start, but went seven innings and eight innings in his two starts prior to the Rays. The Chicago Cubs have the highest BB% against righties in baseball and have the sixth highest team wOBA against righties, so I don’t expect a long outing from Jackson tonight. The Padres bullpen has the third worst SIERA over the last 30 days and the eighth worst SIERA over the course of the season, so this is certainly an appealing spot.

Cody Martin will make his second start of the season tonight against the Yankees. Martin went 4.1 innings against the Angels last week. In AAA, Martin regularly pitched five, six and seven inning outings, so he is capable of a longer outing if he stays away from trouble. He may be an appealing target, but we have to remember that the Mariners bullpen is excellent, though they have stumbled over the last week and a half.

My Top 3 Bullpen Situations To Attack

1. San Diego Padres
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Milwaukee Brewers

2. Bullpen Personnel Movement

The Angels recalled A.J. Achter from AAA. Achter is likely to be used in middle relief.

The Marlins activated A.J. Ramos from the 15-day DL. His finger may still need some healing, but he’ll be closing out games before long.

The Mariners activated Steve Cishek from the 15-day DL. Cishek will take on the set-up role and should be a good boost to the recently struggling Seattle bullpen.

Adam Liberatore was activated from the 15-day DL. Liberatore had been dominant this season, and will be a nice boost to the LAD ‘pen.

3. Other Notes And Insights

Miller Park has home run factors of 1.16 for right handed batters (to left field) and 1.55 to left handed hitters (to right field). Coors Field has HR factor of 1.23 to right-handed batters and 1.20 to left-handed batters.

I’m starting a reader fantasy football league (three spots taken so far)! Assign a name to the person in my RG avatar and the three funniest responses will get a spot in the 12-team league! Have fun!

Feel free to follow me and ask me questions on Twitter – @collinman005

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