Steve Cishek has fallen fast, all the way to Miami’s Double-A squad
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It’s been a long season for former Miami Marlins closer Steve Cishek. He began the year entrenched in the Marlins closer role, coming off two excellent seasons in which he saved 39 and 34 games. He was never a top-tier guy, but he was always considered a worthwhile draft choice and a lock for around 35 saves and a lot of strikeouts. Last season, he set a career high with an impressive 11.57 K/9 rate. This season, however, has seen Cishek take a stunning fall which culminated with his demotion to Double-A Jacksonville on Monday. For the season, the former closer has a 1-5 record, a 6.98 ERA, a 1.86 WHIP, and only 3 saves. Fantasy owners likely accepted their loss and dropped him weeks ago when he was removed from the closer’s role, but anyone still holding out hope can safely let go now. With his replacement, A.J. Ramos, pitching extremely well, it’s very unlikely that Cishek will be able to reclaim his role even if he does “figure things out” while pitching for the Double-A Jacksonville Suns.
Closer News Around the League
Pittsburgh Pirates
There was concern at the beginning of the season about Pirates closer Mark Melancon, with some clamoring for lefty Tony Watson or righty Arquimedes Caminero to get a chance to end games in Pittsburgh. Melancon has experienced some diminished velocity, but has found ways to work around it since a rough start to the year. He allowed six runs in his first 6.1 innings of work, but has allowed only one run since then. He is currently 16 of 17 in save opportunities and sports a 2.45 ERA along with a 1.09 WHIP. His strikeouts are down, with only 13 over 25.2 innings, but he continues to get the job done and has shown no signs of slowing down since his slow start.
Oakland Athletics
Owners of Tyler Clippard probably got a bit nervous upon Sean Doolittle’s return from the disabled list, but they can exhale and breathe normally now. Owners who were hanging on to Doolittle can do just the opposite. The bearded lefty closer came off the DL, pitched one inning, notched two strikeouts, and then went right back on the shelf with a shoulder injury. Doolittle’s velocity was noticeably down during his one appearance despite the good results. There is no timetable on his return for now, so Clippard should continue to save games for Oakland. He is only owned in 58% of leagues, so have a look at the waiver wire just in case he’s available.
Miami Marlins
The Marlins season could be a lot different right now if Ramos had started the year as the team’s closer. Or if Cishek had pitched like he used to pitch. But that’s not how baseball works and the Fish have had to deal with being second in baseball with nine blown saves. Since Ramos took over, however, he is five for five in save opportunities and is still putting up elite strikeout numbers. Somehow, Ramos is only owned in 46% of fantasy leagues. With Cishek’s demotion and the struggles of the rest of the Marlins’ bullpen, it would be a surprise for Ramos not to end the season as the Marlins’ closer. He has 34 strikeouts and only 8 walks in 26.1 innings. His ERA is creeping back to one (currently 1.03) and his WHIP is a tidy 0.84. He has always had elite strikeout rates, but he is now controlling his pitches better and walking far fewer than he ever has. He led the league last season with a hideous 6.05 BB/9 but has better than halved that this year, currently walking only 2.73 per nine. Ramos can’t be thrown in with the elite names yet, as he only has five save opportunities to speak of, but don’t be surprised if this is the start of an elite closer’s career.
Injury Updates
The only injury to report this week is Doolittle’s. As mentioned above, Doolittle spent the first eight weeks of the season on the Disabled List due to a partially torn rotator cuff. He rehabbed, came back, pitched one inning, and now is back on the DL with the same injury. His velocity was down in his one inning and he reportedly looked “clearly uncomfortable” warming up the next day. An MRI on his injured shoulder showed no structural damage, so Doolittle will rest again and try to come back when the inflammation subsides. For now, Clippard will continue to work the ninth inning for the A’s. He is absolutely worth an add in all formats.
Interesting Tidbits
Houston Astros reliever Pat Neshek is now second all time in games pitched to start a season without a walk. He has gone 20.2 innings over 24 games without allowing a free pass. The record to start a season is 30 games, set by Mark Eichhorn. Neshek will have his eyes on the record over the next week and a half.
Yankees reliever Dellin Betances still hasn’t allowed a run in 26 games this season and sports a neat 0.00 ERA heading into June. His streak is the third longest all time, behind Mike Myers in 2000 (33 games) and Brad Ziegler in 2008 (29 games). Betances’ numbers are unreal: 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, .102 BAA with 15.03 K/9 and an even 1.00 FIP. He is one of those rare non-closer relievers who is worth rostering in mixed leagues due to his elite strikeout potential.
Top Performers 5/27/15-6/3/15
- Mark Melancon – 4 IP, 4 SV, 2 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.55 WHIP
- Trevor Rosenthal – 4 IP, 4 SV, 1 K, 0.00 ERA, 1.36 WHIP
- Luke Gregerson – 3 IP, 2 SV, 7 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP
- John Axford – 4 IP, 2 SV, 4 K, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP
Like last week, this week’s top performers all share a scoreless week. While the 0.00 ERA looks nice, some of these pitchers had better weeks than others.
Melancon continues to do his job despite not striking guys out. He racked up four saves and did not allow an opponent to touch the plate despite only striking out two all week. Melancon seems to have figured out how to lock down games without being overpowering, and he’s a safe closer to have rostered, although with limited upside.
Rosenthal also made it through the week without allowing a run, and actually did so with even fewer strikeouts than Melancon. In four innings, Rosenthal only struck out one batter, despite a season average of a strikeout per inning (9.00 K/9) and a career average even better than that (11.39 K/9). Regardless, his job is to save games, and he did that four times last week without allowing a run, making him a top performer.
Gregerson took a different route than the previous two closers, striking out seven in only three innings and collecting two saves while maintaining an impressive WHIP of 0.67. Gregerson has been a bit inconsistent this season, but he’s been great lately.
Axford may not have had a ton of strikeouts or a ton of saves this week, but he is worth mentioning because he is currently owned in only 56% of fantasy leagues. He is performing well despite the nightmare that is pitching in Denver, with 10 saves to go along with a sparkling 0.56 ERA. He obviously won’t keep his ERA that low, Denver or otherwise, but he should be solid enough to hold down the closer’s role all season, and he’ll have plenty of mixed league value because of it.
Spec Picks for the Upcoming Schedule
A.J. Ramos vs. Colorado Rockies (6/5/15-6/7/15) – Ramos again. The Marlins have been playing slightly better baseball and get to play a series in Colorado against the last place Rockies. With Giancarlo Stanton’s bat in the thin Denver air, the Fish are bound to win a game or two in this series. Ramos will have had Thursday off along with the rest of his teammates and should be able to pitch in all three games if necessary. His strikeout numbers are legit, and if the Fish play a close series, they should provide Ramos with a few save opportunities.
Kenley Jansen and Trevor Rosenthal: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals (6/4/15-6/7/15) – Jansen and the Dodgers take on Rosenthal and the St. Louis Cardinals in a battle of first-place teams that figures to be very close. It wouldn’t be a surprise if there were three saves recorded in this series. Both teams are very good, as are both closers, so you cannot go wrong with either one. Jansen was held out of a potential save situation on Wednesday night because he wasn’t feeling well, but reports say he should be available on Thursday if needed. Keep an eye on him just in case, and perhaps lean toward Rosenthal if you can only pick one of the two.
We welcome any comments and suggestions you have to make the report as useful as possible for your fantasy team’s needs.
David A Marcillo is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from David, check out his archive and follow him @DavidMarcillo77.
