Seattle Mariners RHP Kendall Graveman pitched on both Saturday and Sunday, so the organization deemed him unavailable to pitch on Monday. It freed up the save opportunity for someone else, and journeyman Drew Steckenrider handled the ninth inning of a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins sans incident. Fantasy baseball managers need to know who gets the next save. Well, Graveman has technically been "save-less in Seattle" (I just had to do it) since May 16, but he missed a few weeks while on the COVID-19 list. So, is he the closer again?
Some would ask if Graveman was ever really the "closer," as he shared save chances with right-hander Rafael Montero, who currently boasts a 5.40 ERA and a league-leading six blown saves. Montero is the one rostered in more ESPN standard leagues -- more than 54% -- for he has more saves, but we know which 30-year-old is having the better season. Graveman permitted his first runs of the campaign over the weekend, spiking his ERA to 0.96. He is the one with the rejuvenated career.
Seattle manager Scott Servais remains noncommittal when discussing bullpen hierarchy, noting how he prefers to deploy certain relief pitchers in certain high-leverage situations, with Graveman serving as his top weapon. This is a wise plan and it should continue in practice. It should also continue to frustrate fantasy managers. On Saturday, after lefty Yusei Kikuchi tossed seven scoreless innings, Servais told reporters that the plan was for Graveman to handle the eighth inning (and top of the Cleveland lineup) ahead of Montero. After Graveman allowed a Cesar Hernandez homer to sully his previously perfect ERA, Montero permitted three runs. The Mariners lost in 10 innings.
Answering the Servais call
It always felt as if Servais wanted another right-hander to team with Graveman for the final innings, and it may be that Steckenrider, also 30 years of age -- it's a theme! -- and with random saves from his Miami Marlins days to his credit, has graduated to being that fellow. It seemed that Keynan Middleton was doing that with Graveman out, but then he had a few rough outings and, quite abruptly, earned a surprise demotion to Triple-A Tacoma. Still, he may return to relevance with the Mariners soon.
Meanwhile, Steckenrider has allowed just two runs since April (on a Taylor Ward home run) and little else over his last 12 appearances. Although, it must be noted that striking out nary a batter in his past three outings, covering 10 hitters, is mildly concerning. Steckenrider is far from a dominant hurler and there is some BABIP luck going on, but he is deceptive and inducing ground balls like never before, so give him credit. There may be more saves in his future. I would not count out Montero for more saves but, then again, after what happened to Middleton, he could be off the team any day now.
Roster Graveman first for fantasy purposes. Formerly a starting pitcher with the Oakland Athletics, Graveman has reinvented himself in a relief role, averaging better than 96 mph with his fastball, which he still throws 64% of the time, while also adding an effective slider that he can now throw for strikes. Graveman has permitted only four Barrels since the start of the 2020 season. He may not pile on the saves, because his manager is smart enough to realize some games are lost by shaky bullpens in earlier innings, but Tampa Bay Rays RHP Nick Anderson was not among the save leaders last season, and we loved him anyway.
Stock rising
Lucas Sims, Cincinnati Reds: His situation is somewhat like that of Graveman, because on any given day we may see Sims pitch in any inning -- and unlike Graveman, for multiple innings. Do not expect Sims to earn every save, but perhaps he will get upwards of 15 of them, and with usable peripheral numbers.
Lou Trivino, Oakland Athletics This right-hander has the team's past five saves, so yeah, I would move on from left-hander Jake Diekman (if all you want are saves) and focus instead on Trivino. Trevor Rosenthal remains rostered in a surprisingly lofty 28% of leagues but, even if he returns in August, expecting saves from him is optimistic.
Zack Britton, New York Yankees: He made his 2021 debut in Philadelphia over the weekend with a clean inning. Since the current Yankees closer has not delivered clean innings of late, stashing Britton in deep leagues may be wise. After all, Britton's ERA as a Yankee is 2.12. He has extensive save experience. I'm not saying he will get saves, but he is likely next in line over right-hander Chad Green if something were to befall Aroldis Chapman.
Stock falling
Raisel Iglesias, Los Angeles Angels: We may delve further delve into his statistics in a future blog entry, because home runs for pitchers are bad and Iglesias is well-known for serving them up. He avoided them in 2020, but had allowed 12 blasts in both 2018 and 2019. Iglesias has already permitted seven home runs this season, including a pair to the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks this past weekend. Perhaps manager Joe Maddon just does not care. Everything else in the numbers is fine. Keep close tabs here.
Hector Neris, Philadelphia Phillies: Speaking of home runs, Neris blew saves in both of his past two appearances on notable blasts by Freddie Freeman and DJ LeMahieu. Similarly, manager Joe Girardi seems unfazed and is perhaps without a better option for the ninth inning, since left-hander Jose Alvarado remains unable to throw consistent strikes. Neris always seems on the verge of losing the closer role, so this season should be no different.
Ian Kennedy, Texas Rangers: The most-dropped relief pitcher in ESPN leagues should return from a mild hamstring strain by the weekend, and then he will save a few games and end up on the most-added list by later next week. Ah, those fickle fantasy baseball managers can be so predictable!