Justin Duchscherer becomes the primary closer while Street is sidewalked … er… sidelined. Duchscherer is dealing with a hip injury but he seems to be pitching through it. He has been the A’s plan B for a couple of seasons now even though he does not really carry super-clean closer credentials.
Justin strikes out between 8 or 9 a game (8.2 in 06 and 7.1 this year) and he kept the walks down (1.4/9 last year, 2.3 career) prior to this year when he’s walked 4.4/9. His HR rate (1.04 career) is fine, and over the last couple years his WHIP has hovered around 1.
Those rates are credible for an interim closer and Justin will be a useful claim in leagues where he is available. Kiko Calero will be the next option if Justin’s hip becomes a bigger problem. Jay Witasick and possibly (gulp) Alan Embree will serve as backup to the backup to the backup.
A couple of other teams got their primary closer back this week. The Nationals’ Chad Cordero returned from the bereavement list on Monday and manager Manny Acta says that he will use Chad in a couple of non-critical outings before returning to the closer’s role.
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Bobby Cox doesn’t usually play games with his bullpen and Wickman should be safe in front of these two strong options as long as he doesn’t pitch himself out of the role.
Wickman worked a 1-2-3 8th in the Braves loss last night without a K. But the Braves placed Mike Gonzalez on the 15-day DL with a left elbow strain. Gonzalez says he’s pain free but this is an ongoing issue that may reveal itself to be a bigger problem very soon. Stay tuned.
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With Owens down the Marlins will form a bullpen committee seemingly chaired by Taylor Tankersley. Matt Lidstrom and Lee Gardner will be used situationally as well. But Kevin Greg has also emerged in this picture as well.
Here’s what I wrote about Lidstrom in Week #4 … ” Coming up behind the two of them is Matt Lindstrom who pitched a scoreless inning last night for the Marlins. Matt struck out 70 in 58.2 IP in 2006 over two minor league levels for the Mets. In AA Lindstrom pitched 40 innings striking out 54. The rub is that he walked 14 and allowed 42 hits for a 1.38 WHIP. His BHIP% in the minors was unusually high but the walks are still an issue. Matt doesn’t warrant much attention unless Owens and/or Tankersley fail but I’m just bringing up the name now to get him on your radar. In leagues that score holds, Matt could be a source for that column over the next couple of scoring periods. “
Tankersley would seem to be in line for some save opps unless he proves he can’t handle the role. What might be his undoing is his walk rate, which sits at 5.5/9 for his career and 4.9 this season. He also has not been particularly dominant this year, striking out just 5.7/9 and allowing a .244 OBA. That doesn’t seem particularly bad but it’s combined with an abnormally low .226 BHIP%. That rate is going to start moving back towards the MLB average of .288 and combined with his walk rate and slumping K-rate one can smell trouble brewing.
Manager Fredi Gonzalez knows that too and that’s why he turned to Kevin Gregg to nail down last night’s 4-3 win over the Pirates . The 5-year veteran shows some solid indicators. He fanned 8.1/9 last year with the Angels and his rate is 8.2 this year. He walked 2.4/9 last year and 3.5 this year, both improvements over his 4.5/9 career rate. Not great but certainly better than Tankersley and Lindstrom.
Kevin has a career 1.50 WHIP but that has improved over 2006 (1.39) and this year (1.13) as well. Same goes for his .208 OBA this year, down from his .285 OBA in 2006 and .262 career. He’s posted a better than MLB average .267 BHIP% which is well below his career .326 so expect some correction there.
Gregg is not the ideal closer candidate either but the Marlins do not have an ideal closer candidate on the roster. What Gregg represents to Gonzalez at this point is a bit more predictability and a modicum of peace of mind.
Matt Thornton pitched 1.1 scoreless IP in game #1 of yesterday’s doubleheader with the Yankees to secure the save. Bobby Jenks was available but this was a situational save as he faced three lefties in Yankee Stadium in the first game of two. This does not signal a change of roles in the White Sox pen.
Finally … and I’m not kidding … Troy Percival is back throwing pain free. He reportedly his 97 with his fastball and he is considering a comeback …
