Closer Monkey

Tag: Jason Grilli

  • Kyle Barraclough, flaky and delicious

    April 29, 2016 Miami Marlins — Hard-throwing righty Kyle Barraclough, acquired by the Marlins in the Steve Cishek trade, is off to a torrid start this season (6.2 innings, 0 ER, 11 Ks), and yesterday picked up his third consecutive hold, pitching the seventh inning ahead of David Phelps and A.J. Ramos. He’s only 25 years…

  • Blake Wood becoming key in the Reds’ brutal bullpen

    April 23, 2016 Cincinnati Reds — J.J. Hoover is having a very rough April. Even a relatively low-pressure outing, down three in the ninth, turned into a four-run, five-hit implosion. It’s unclear whether Hoover will still be on the team through the weekend, but we have to believe he’s not sniffing any save chances for a…

  • Closer Hot Seat update: April 19, 2016

    Welcome to our weekly Hot Seat column! Each week — usually on Mondays — we’ll update this space to give you an easy-to-reference guide on who might be closest to losing their jobs. Note that this isn’t necessarily a ranking of the best closers; rather, it’s a guide to job security. —– Latest update: April…

  • Ryan Madson moves to the front of Oakland’s closer committee

    April 18, 2016 Oakland A’s – Bob Melvin explained Sean Doolittle’s usage after the game on Saturday, and for the first time acknowledged that “it depends” who gets the 9th inning — on that day, it was because Doolittle had been overworked so he wanted to use him for only one batter. On Sunday, meanwhile,…

  • Jason Grilli and Ryan Madson record saves

    April 17, 2016 Oakland A’s — Ryan Madson picked up his third save of the season on Saturday, compared to just one for closer Sean Doolittle.  Doolittle came on for the last out of the 8th, getting lefty Alex Gordon to fly out.  Doolittle has struggled with homers so far this season but feels like he is still pitching well.…