So much has been made about how the six players vying for the starting rotation are faring that we lose sight that most of the bullpen is doing well, too. One of the starting pitchers will be in the pen and bring his good numbers along, too. Here’s how the expected relievers, with two notable exceptions, are doing so far in Grapefruit League play:
Robert Gsellman – 6 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 Ks
Brad Brach – 4 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 Ks
Jeurys Familia – 4 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks
Justin Wilson – 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 Ks
Seth Lugo – 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
That’s 17 IP, 2 ER, 3 BB, 18 Ks.
Only Dellin Betances and Edwin Diaz are having rough Springs from our ideal Opening Day relievers. Betances may not get enough work in Grapefruit League games to be ready for Opening Day. If that’s the case, there’s no shortage of guys with previous MLB experience pitching well in camp to choose as a replacement. Corey Oswalt (8 IP, 1 ER), Erasmo Ramirez (8 IP, 1 ER), Paul Sewald (5.1 IP, 1 ER), Daniel Zamora (5 IP, 1 ER) and Walker Lockett (4.2 IP, 0 ER) give the club options.
After having just two reliable relievers for most of last year, this is a nice thing to see.
I wouldn’t have an issue keeping Betances back to start the season and going with Seward in the pen while Betances tries to regain some velocity in St Lucie.
Diaz has only pitched 2 innings so far, so it’s a very small sample. Hopefully, he has figured out how to throw his formerly effective slider again.
Any recent news on how he’s doing?
ESPN writers and readers are obnoxious and stupid. The writers rate Cole above JdG in the annual Top 100, and the dummy-readers rate Yelich, Betts and Cole as better choices for #2 behind Trout
Well, maybe they’re not totally stupid because Betts and Yelich are, at least, arguable (that old “apples vs. oranges” argument), but Cole? The pro Evil Empire hype machine is in full force…
Well said- Cole is not the second best player in baseball
Amen.
Society has collectively lost its mind. Not only has the NBA season been suspended, but ESPN has just announced that MLB opening day has been delayed by at least two weeks.
March Madness indeed!
Read that Matt Harvey got a tryout with the BlueJays and looked okay. I think he’s still hesitant to move to a bullpen role. Might be his only hope for a comeback.
I’ve also seen a number of unsubstantiated rumors in the comments sections about Harvey’s late night activities. I hope it’s not true and I’d love to know where fans gets this information.