End of April and a business trip gives me some time on my hands, so … early season positional analysis: Relief Pitchers.
Houston
The bullpen has been called on way too early and way too often, throwing 105 innings over the first 27 games. Worse, it seems they often make matters worse for the starter … I wish I had stats on inherited runners scored, because it seems like most of them do. I’m not going to go into much detail here, since most readers already know the MLB stuff. I will point out, though, that three prospects, Paul Clemens, Jose Cisnero and Dallas Keuchel all looked pretty good (or maybe just less bad), though Keuchel got caught in the numbers game and was sent down to OKC briefly.
Oklahoma City
The bullpen at OKC has consisted of Jose Valdez (the closer, with 7 saves and only 8 hits and 3 walks in 12.2 IP), Kyle Hallock, Kevin Chapman, Josh Zeid, CJ Fick, Eric Berger and Lance Day. The last three have struggled, and Day has been sent back to EST in the recent shuffling. Zeid (2.61 ERA and 15K in 10.1 IP) and Chapman (2.19 ERA and 13K in 12.1 IP) had very nice Aprils.
Corpus Christi
The bullpen at AA has been excellent. Alex Sogard has yet to allow an earned run, and only Pat Urckfitz (2.79) has an ERA over 2. The workload has been spread fairly evenly among closer Jason Stoffel (1.23 ERA, 5 saves, and 7K’s in 7.1 IP without a walk), Urckfitz (6G, 9.2 IP), Sogard (7G, 8.1 IP), Jorge De Leon (1.17 ERA, 4G, 7.2 IP) and Andrew Robinson (1.93 ERA, 5G, 4.2 IP). I am especially pleased to see De Leon’s progress this year. His K-rate is down, but he has walked only 1 and generally seems to have turned a corner, though one month is not much of a sample size.
Lancaster
The bullpen in Lancaster has been in a bit of flux. Carlos Quevedo appeared in 2 games before being promoted to AA, and Kenny Long has appeared in 2 games since joining the team out of EST. Thommy Shirley has been used very sparingly (3.2 IP) and has not fared well (9.82 ERA and 1.909 WHIP with 3BB and only 1K). The four mainstays, Blair Walters (not counting 1 late-April start), Travis Ballew, Jonas Dufek and Theron Geith) have each pitched 7.2 innings. Ballew has been impressive as the closer, with 3 saves and 17 K (a rate of 20 per 9IP). Dufek has struggled, giving up 12 hits (3 HR). Walters moved into the rotation in late April, so perhaps one of the others woill start to get more chances.
Quad Cities
Three of the bullpen staff in Quad Cities (Gera Sanchez, Mitch Lambson & John Neely) have gotten the most work, with over 10 IP each. Cameron Lamb and Michael Dimock (a late arrival out of EST) have about 2/3 that many IP, while Kyle Hallock made one early-season appearance before being promoted to OKC. Dimock has been in the right place at the right time, posting a 3-0 record in 6 appearances, while Neely leads the team in saves with 3. I expect there is some talent here, but it is hard to get too excited about low-A relievers. Maybe someone with first-hand exposure can tell us who we should be watching here.
