Three weeks ago, 32 players earned a save for a major league team during the calendar week, and two weeks ago, the number was the same. However, last week — a week when then insanity of trying to figure out from where saves my emanate — 33 players earned conversions.
I do wish that I had been looking at the weekly saves over the years. Since there are 30 teams, these numbers mean at least three teams included two arms who each garnered one conversion. Obviously, this is nothing new as Craig Kimbrel cannot close every game despite our most fervent desires, but last week Kansas City, San Francisco, Chicago (Cubs), Toronto, and Washington all experienced movement within their pens, while a Tampa starter now looks like a Tampa closer.
So let’s get to it as we try to sort through some of those counting stats.
Sergio Romo has five starts, but earned three conversions last week and has the last four Tampa has logged. Clearly, Romo has held the closing spot before and his Tampa team — who swept the Yankees over the weekend — have proven to be more than nettlesome. As for Romo, he has a 2.45 ERA to go with an 0.955 WHIP over 7.3 frames with nine punchouts while culling those saves the past 10 days, making Romo a pretty good gamble all around.
Then there was the Royals, who sent closer Kelvin Herrera to Washington (in exchange for Kelvin Gutierez for what must be the first ever swap involving a pair of Kelvins), adding two-pronged confusion to the equation. That leaves the save fingers pointing to both Brandon Maurer and Tim Hill. Hill got the first shot, but his overall numbers — 1-2, 4.56, 1.32 — don’t instill confidence, but neither do Maurer’s up-and-down totals that include three blown saves and an 11.05 ERA over 7.3 frames (compare to Romo). The truth is, I cannot in good conscience recommend either of these guys.
With Hunter Strickland down, the Giants too are scuffling, which is odd since the team signed Mark Melancon to a $62 million deal running through 2020 for Melancon to close and thus far the Giants have recouped just 12 conversions. Sam Dyson might be the flavor of the week, but SF is paying the big bucks to Melancon for a reason and will want to get some return for almost two years worth of nothing investment.
Brandon Morrow of the Cubs also fell prey to the DL this past week with a lower back injury, and that suggests Steve Cishek, who has been a closer for a few teams in the past, might get the nod, but I would look towards Pedro Strop as the player to get the ball. The truth is Carl Edwards Jr., who is assembling his third straight solid season and has 40 punch-outs over 25 frames, should get a look and might be as much the guy as Strickland was and in San Francisco. As in both teams might take a hint from Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, looking no further than “they’re own back yard” for saves.
Finally, Arodys Vizcaino has shoulder inflammation and he too was shut down, making the upstart Braves scramble for a stopper. I would go A.J. Minter who does have a couple of saves and 35 strikeouts over 30 innings but similarly can be wild and carries a 1.433 WHIP, so Rule 5 pick Dan Winkler (2-0, 2.73, 0.978), with 41 whiffs over 29.3 frames, might be a better stop-gap.
Looking elsewhere around the diamond, John Gant was brought forth by the Cardinals seeking stability help in their rotation (just like the rest of us!). Gant, a 21st round selection of the Mets in 2011, went to the Braves in 2015 (as part of the Juan Uribe swap), and then to the Cards in a 2016 Hot Stove deal that involved Jaime Garcia. Gant is 5-1, 1.65 with Memphis this year and has a solid 44-28, 3.28 mark as a minor leaguer, although he has struggled at the Show (2-7, 4.69 over 94 innings). In a year when David Hess and Sam Gaviglio get a shot, well, watch Gant. You never know.
Clint Frazier came to the Yankees as part of the Andrew Miller deal at the 2016 trade deadline. A first-round draft pick in 2013, Frazier has a lot of players ahead of him on the Yankees roster, though Brett Gardner, who has struggled the last month (.229-1-3) and is nursing sore knees, might not prove to be that much of an obstacle. Frazier is hot out of the blocks hitting .368 over his first seven games with the Pinstripes and could be a solid bench player for the Yanks and an interesting fifth outfielder in your AL only format.
The Mets have had as many DL problems as anyone this year, and they brought forth Kevin Kaczmarski, a ninth-rounder in 2015, and though the outfielder does not have a lot of pop (11 minor league homers over 336 games) he has hit .299 with 52 swipes and a solid .380 OBP (148 walks to 213 whiffs). Kaczmarsk was hitting .363 at Las Vegas over 24 games when summoned, with 14 runs scored and a couple of swipes and is similarly worth tracking.
Finally, the Giants, desperate for some stable (there is that word again) outfield help demoted Mac Williamson and promoted Austin Slater, the team’s eighth-round selection in 2014 out of Stanford. Slater boasts a .313-33-198 line in the minors with 32 steals and solid defense to his name. He’s got 127 walks to 238 strikeouts (.377 OBP) and might be worth a flier in an NL only format, but probably is a fourth outfielder at best at this juncture.
