Hot Seat spotlight:
This week, the spotlight shines on Steve Cishek, who has struggled with both command and velocity in the early going. To the naked eye, Cishek hasn’t been quite as bad as his 9.82 ERA suggests. Take away his two worst outings, and he’s only allowed one run and three baserunners in six appearances. The problem is that those two bad outings were really, really bad. His first outing of the year was a meaningless appearance in a blowout, but he allowed four earned runs and only recorded one out. He then allowed a three-run home run to Daniel Murphy on Monday, on a pitch when he badly missed his target on the outside corner. Cishek probably has another blown save or two before the Marlins give someone else a chance, but given the year that A.J. Ramos is having (12.2 IP, 18 Ks, 4 BBs, 1.42 ERA), the Marlins clearly has an alternative. Cishek’s next outings bear watching.
Quick takes on the committees:
Tampa Bay Rays – Nothing much has changed since last week in terms of how Kevin Cash is deploying his relievers and Brad Boxberger should still see the majority — but not all — of the save chances. What may complicate things going forward is the return of Jake McGee, who could be back as early as May 5.
Los Angeles Dodgers – It took a month, but the best reliever in the Los Angeles bullpen finally got a save last week. Yimi Garcia, who has racked up 19 Ks in 11.2 innings thus far, has become the best Dodgers reliever to own until Kenley Jansen’s return.
Other Hot Seat notes: Craig Kimbrel gave up three runs on Wednesday, the third outing in his last four where he’s been scored upon. His ERA sits at 5.19. He’s got such a remarkable track record that he’d have to go another few outings before his job was in jeopardy, though… Mark Melancon, who headlined last week’s Hot Seat column, has since put up 4 straight scoreless outings, nabbing three saves in the process. He’s earned himself a longer leash… Addison Reed has given up a run in 3 of his 7 outings this year, and he just took his first loss of the year on Saturday. His seat is warming… Tyler Clippard continues to make us a little nervous. His ratios improved last week — 6 Ks and 1 BB over three outings — but he also blew his first save.
