Two closer
situations were thrown wide open yesterday. Joe Borowski was placed on the DL for the Indians and Peter Moylan also hit the DL for the
Braves. This brings up the question of both short-term fill-ins and long term
options for both teams.
Borowski was
already off to an awful start and has always walked a tightrope as a closer.
This DL-stint along with his 80 mph fastball could be the last straw. Where do
the Indians turn? Take a look at the Indians’ bullpen and their 2008 stats:
Rafael Betancourt: 5.14 ERA; 1.71 WHIP
Rafael Perez:
6.35 ERA; 1.76 WHIP
Jensen Lewis:
4.82 ERA; 1.61 WHIP
Jorge Julio:
5.14 ERA; 1.43 WHIP
Masa Kobayashi:
2.08 ERA; 1.62 ERA
Betancourt will
most likely get the job and he’ll possibly keep it for the year. His ERA and
WHIP aren’t great compared to last year’s, but he still has has a 7.00 K/BB rate
(8.89 K/BB rate in 2007) and a 9.00 K/9 rate (9.13 K/9 rate for career). The
wild cards are Julio and Kobayashi — the only two with closer experience. If
you’re forced to choose, go for Betancourt.
Moylan was
replacing Rafael Soriano, who is
scheduled to come off the DL on April 23rd — whether or not he actually does is
uncertain as no specific timetable has been given. In the meantime, it looks
like a closer-by-committee approach could develop. Manny Acosta,
Blaine Boyer, and Will Ohman
could all get saves chances, with Acosta being the favorite.
Elsewhere..
* Randy
Wolf continued his
hot start last night (W, 7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 4 BB, 9 K) and lowered his ERA to
1.42, and his WHIP to 0.89. He now has 18 K’s in just 19 IP. This a a skill
he’s shown in the past — only once in his career has a had a K/9 rate below
6.86. Pros: he pitches in a great ballpark and he strikes guys out. Cons: he’s
coming off shoulder surgery and hasn’t pitched more than 140 innings since
2003. He’s worth the risk.
* Another guy off to a hot start is Braden Looper — now 3-0 on the season.
He went five innings and allowed just one run on three hits to get the win. His
ERA (2.70) and WHIP (1.20) both look solid but he’s walked seven (including
five last night) and has only struck out 11. Over his nine year career he’s
only had a K/BB rate over 2 (the minimum you’d like to see for a pitcher)
twice, so his current rate is about normal for him. Don’t take a chance on him
unless he can string together some more decent starts and go a little deeper
into games.
* Conor
Jackson went
2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. He’s crushing the ball in the early going
(.333/.457/.611) and has seen a nice rise in his slugging the last two seasons —
.441 SLG in 2006, .467 SLG in 2007. He went late in a lot of drafts and if he’s
somehow available in your league — grab
him now.
* A possible under-the-radar breakout
candidate could be Scott Olsen. He bucked
the negative trend he had going against the Braves and tossed a gem yesterday
(W, 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 K), and did it with just 83 pitches — 61 for
strikes. He lowered his ERA to 3.05 and WHIP to 1.06 for the year. He’s had his
share of troubles both on (5.81 ERA last year) and off (DUI) the field, but he’s
a talented lefty with a nasty slider. Keep an eye on his next few starts. If Jonathan Sanchez is owned in your
league, there’s no reason why Olsen shouldn’t be owned as well. He’s worth
owing in plenty of formats.
* Micah
Owings improved to
3-0 with another strong outing (W, 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K). He has an ERA
of 2.29 and an impressive 19:5 K/BB rate.
* Erik
Bedard was placed
on the DL with continued inflammation in his left hip. At this point it’s not
certain how much time he’ll miss. He says that it’s getting better, but the
Mariners don’t want to take any chances on their prized off-season acquisition,
so they’ll wait until he’s 100%.
* Things just keep getting uglier and uglier for Jose Valverde. He blew his second save of the year by allowing four runs (three of the earned). He has now allowed runs in four of his six appearance and has an ERA of 11.37.
* Yovani
Gallardo is
expected to make his first start of the year soon, most likely on Sunday. He
made his last rehab start on Monday and allowed four runs in 6.1 IP, but manager
Ned Yost liked how he looked. Dave Bush
will most likely be the odd man out of the rotation.
* Jose
Reyes came back
from his hamstring injury and went 4-for-5 with a run. It’s safe to get him
back in your lineup.
QuickTIPS
Spot-start
candidates:
Carlos Villanueva at St. Louis. In 30 IP Villanueva has a 2.70 ERA
agains the Cards.
Adam Wainwright vs. Milwaukee. Wainwright has a lifetime 2.14 ERA
against the Brewers and an almost 3:1 K/BB rate.
Avoid:
Livan Hernandez vs Tampa Bay. Hernandez has a 5.77 career ERA against
the Rays.
QuickTIP Results
I said start...
Scott Baker:
ND, 7 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K
I said avoid...
Scott Olsen:
W, 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 K
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