Early spring bullpen thoughts

[interloper]

So far in spring, and it's crazy early still, the starting pitchers have looked a lot better than the bullpen. Which isn't something I necessarily expected, but it's also hard to see the bullpen maintaining from last year. I don't think anyone has 100% pitched themselves off the team yet, but there have been a handful of subpar outings. 

Austin Voth blamed his bad outing yesterday on mechanics and fastball command. He could really use a nice clean couple of innings his next time out. To me, his job is to fend off other RHRPs like Watkins and Bazardo (both of whom I think could low key challenge for a spot). So far, he's not doing that but it's early. One thing is at least pretty clear, is that he almost certainly won't be in the rotation barring something catastrophic. Still plenty of time for him to shake off a rough start, though. 

Bryan Baker has just looked like he's searching for the feel to me. He looks kind of wild and just giving up a lot of hits. I'm not overly worried yet, but it's a guy you really hope cements that tricky mid-to-late inning relief role. He ended the year on fire, touching 100mph at times and making it easier to not feel Lopez's absence. But he's not a lock, and he could use a few of those electric-looking innings soon. 

Mychal Givens looked pretty good yesterday, I thought, despite the HBP and 2 balks. The umps are cracking down with balks and he's going to have to adjust, which I think he will. But the veteran didn't lose his cool and struck out two batters and got out of the inning. Love to see that. His fastball and slider both looked crisp, stuff-wise. 

A handful of bubble guys have looked pretty good: Watkins, Bazardo, Baumann, Gillaspie, etc.

Andrew Politi I figured would be an afterthought by now, but he's quietly stringing 0s together. Hanging around and looking competent is exactly what Tyler Wells did as a Rule 5 guy a couple years ago. Something to keep an eye on. 

Special shoutout to Zimmermann who really bounced back with a great scoreless 3 IP outing in which he faced the minimum. I was writing him off, but he could challenge for a LRP role if a few things break his way. Seemed to me that he lost his changeup when things went south last year, so maybe he's finding the feel again. 

And I'll round this out with hoping for a couple sharp outings from Cionel Perez who only has 2 scoreless innings, but they were full of baserunners. This bullpen really starts to show cracks if a late inning guy like Perez isn't pitching well. But nothing to worry about yet at all. 

[Frobby]

O’Hearn, Diaz and Cordero are all performing well in the early going.  

[interloper]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

O’Hearn, Diaz and Cordero are all performing well in the early going.  

They are, although this thread was about the bullpen.  

But yeah, the backup lefty 1B competition has been surprisingly stiff. And in the end, it's possible none of them make the team haha. 

[Just Regular]

For Boston about all I know is Cionel will pitch to Devers and Yoshida, and danged if for roto wouldn't I love to know the Felix contingency plans.    After Game 162 I would have said Baker, and that still would be my guess but these guys are buzzkilling Brandon Hyde's spring of dreams.

Is DL Hall still Rookie of the Year eligible?    I believe he is - Elias wouldn't try to manipulate voters by funneling him Saves, would he?

[interloper]

8 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

For Boston about all I know is Cionel will pitch to Devers and Yoshida, and danged if for roto wouldn't I love to know the Felix contingency plans.    After Game 162 I would have said Baker, and that still would be my guess but these guys are buzzkilling Brandon Hyde's spring of dreams.

Is DL Hall still Rookie of the Year eligible?    I believe he is - Elias wouldn't try to manipulate voters by funneling him Saves, would he?

Yeah I didn't even mention Felix and that in itself is slight concern. They still sound very positive on him being ready, but on the broadcast yesterday Elias sounded perhaps slightly less sure of it. They're rightly being careful, but I hope he gets in there soon. 

Depending on what happens this spring, we might actually need Hall in the bullpen even if it's not really the preferred thing for his development. Tough to call at this point. 

[sportsfan8703]

ST is for vets to work on things. A guy like Politi might have is already low ceiling craft honed in. Meanwhile, the other guys are trying to figure out how to have long term success this season. 
 

For example, Voth has to work on 4-5 pitches and lots of other factors. Meanwhile, a guy like Politi might already have his two pitches down and is just ahead of some of the hitters. 

[Frobby]

24 minutes ago, interloper said:

They are, although this thread was about the bullpen.  

But yeah, the backup lefty 1B competition has been surprisingly stiff. And in the end, it's possible none of them make the team haha. 

Oops, meant to put this in another thread.  Um…carry on!

[waroriole]

The bullpen was always due for regression this year. With Tate out for who knows how long, it could be a rough year for the pen. 

[interloper]

3 minutes ago, waroriole said:

The bullpen was always due for regression this year. With Tate out for who knows how long, it could be a rough year for the pen. 

It could although I'm not quite ready to say that just yet. All we need to feel better is a few nice outings from a couple guys. And I like that at least so far, depth guys like Gillaspie and others are looking solid. 

That said, do I think the O's might want to take a flyer on a reliever still left on the market? Yes I do. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by interloper

[NCRaven]

Britton is the last lefty standing.

[Aristotelian]

Some other notables so far:

Logan Gillaspie, 4 IP, 0.00 ERA. Could be a vulnerable DFA candidate. Good news for him. 

Mike Baumann, 5 IP, 3.60 ERA, 8 K's. Could be AAA starter or shuttle type reliever.

Spenser Watkins, 5 IP, 1.80 ERA. Could challenge for longman spot if Voth melts down. 

Krehbiel, 1.2 IP, 43.20 ERA. One guy who could really use a strong spring.

Cano, 1.2 IP, 21.60 ERA. Has some MLB experience. Could figure to be a shuttle guy but so far his minors resume hasn't translated. 

[Just Regular]

I wonder if Elias would trade Kevin Guerrero, Antonio Velez and a Competitive Round B pick for Scott Barlow if he could, or if the Royals would want more than the Sulser/Scott deal.

The '23 Royals remind me some of the '22 Orioles where a week before Opening Day, the GM might go like, "Sure, we'll sell some current Wins".     Aroldis is a weird fit there.

[Aristotelian]

34 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

I wonder if Elias would trade Kevin Guerrero, Antonio Velez and a Competitive Round B pick for Scott Barlow if he could, or if the Royals would want more than the Sulser/Scott deal.

The '23 Royals remind me some of the '22 Orioles where a week before Opening Day, the GM might go like, "Sure, we'll sell some current Wins".     Aroldis is a weird fit there.

Greinke is another weird one. Not sure what they are up to over there.

[interloper]

2 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

Some other notables so far:

Logan Gillaspie, 4 IP, 0.00 ERA. Could be a vulnerable DFA candidate. Good news for him. 

Mike Baumann, 5 IP, 3.60 ERA, 8 K's. Could be AAA starter or shuttle type reliever.

Spenser Watkins, 5 IP, 1.80 ERA. Could challenge for longman spot if Voth melts down. 

Krehbiel, 1.2 IP, 43.20 ERA. One guy who could really use a strong spring.

Cano, 1.2 IP, 21.60 ERA. Has some MLB experience. Could figure to be a shuttle guy but so far his minors resume hasn't translated. 

Baumann's velocity has been pretty good, hitting 97 a few times. I would love for him to start rounding into a nice bullpen piece this year. 

[interloper]

Perez's recent WHIP issues this spring finally caught up to him in his 3rd outing. Allows a single, RBI double, and then a walk so far this inning. 

Has allowed a lot of baserunners this spring and, worryingly, not many Ks. 

Edited March 8, 2023 by interloper