Closing Time: Glen Perkins down, Kevin Jepsen ready
Of the three teams with extreme records so far (7-0 or 0-7), it’s the winless Twins that surprise me the most. This club was expected to push into the high 70s in wins, per the offline books, and has intriguing young talent up and down the roster. I certainly expected Minnesota to be a competitive lot, and didn’t rule out another winning season. Somehow the Twins went 83-79 last year..
Maybe the comeback is just about to start, but it’s going to have to push off without closer Glen Perkins. The 33-year-old reliever is dealing with a shoulder strain, pushing him to the 15-day disabled list Wednesday. Every closing change brings immediate fantasy reaction into our worlds: with Perkins to the side, Kevin Jepsen and Trevor May become two pickups of interest.
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Jepsen was the Twins step-in closer last year, picking up 10 saves after joining the club at the trading deadline. A 2.33 ERA sounds nice up front, though Jepsen had a modest strikeout rate for a closer (7.6/9) and a mediocre 1.7 K/BB ratio. His main skill is inducing ground-ball contact and keeping the ball in the park.
The Twins are hoping May is another make-good story for a failed starter. He’s posted a miserable 5.61 ERA and 1.51 WHIP for his 25 career starts, but he’s been a 3.20/1.30 man in 37 relief appearances. The strikeout stuff certainly plays in the new role — 49 punchouts over 39.1 innings (he's already whiffed 10 this year). I could see May pushing for high-leverage work, but Jepsen's results from last year give him an edge.
It looks like a basic order for the chase: Jepsen for the short-term, and May the longer, development stock. Jepsen is currently owned in 15 percent of Yahoo leagues, while May trades at a mere three percent. Add as needed.
• There are teams that like a set lineup and teams that like to tinker, and we adjust to them for our fantasy purposes. You can put the Athletics in the tinkering group. Through nine games, the A’s have gone with a repeat lineup (not counting pitchers) just once.
The early lineups have been most frustrating for the Billy Burns and Marcus Semien owners. Burns has been essentially sharing his starting job with Coco Crisp — a development no one saw coming — while Semien has been buried in the No. 9 batting slot for all but one game.
Perhaps Tuesday’s results pushed towards a more logical, digestible day.
Burns was locked into the leadoff spot and did his job, reaching base there times, scoring twice, swiping a pair of bases. You never expect much pop from the switch-hitter, but a .333 average and .364 OBP will fit the suit. He’s around to make contact, make pitchers work, be a pest.
Semien clocked two home runs from the No. 9 slot, his second and third of the year. Although he’s only batting .259 thus far, he’s carrying a zesty .593 slugging percentage. You have to think he’s going to get a lineup promotion at some point soon. This is a stock on the rise.
If you didn’t notice the Oakland lineup Tuesday, it’s probably because of the distracting bullpen. The A’s have been matchup-driven in their leverage choices this year, but that strategy didn’t pan out when it came to holding a 4-1 lead against the Angels. Ryan Madson navigated the tough part of the Angels lineup and was dinged for two runs in the eighth — a two-out knock from Albert Pujols, following a Mike Trout strikeout. Sean Doolittle eventually lost the game in the ninth, serving up a two-run homer to Geovany Soto.
Doolittle’s throwing his fastball less often this year, though he’s still cranking it up to 93.7 mph. He’s already been touched for a couple of homers. Madson had four clean outings before last night's misstep. We also should note John Axford’s five scoreless innings, though he’s been dodging contact and not missing many bats (6 H, 0 BB, 2 K). This could be a jumbled bullpen all season.
• The Phillies bullpen has been a source of jest for most of the spring, but perhaps Jeanmar Gomez is here to settle things down. He notched his third save of the year in Tuesday’s shutout of San Diego, and that’s going to earn him some leash going forward, no matter how evasive Philly management chooses to be.
The Gomez stats, like those for many relievers, need to be cut up to be understood. Here’s another guy who was awful as a starter (4.94 ERA, 1.47 WHIP) but has settled in as a reliever (3.12 ERA, 1.32 WHIP over 193 innings). No, he doesn’t have knockout stats in either role — his K/BB rate in relief is barely over two, and he’s only struck out 5.9 batters per nine innings. But let’s at least make sure we’re not holding his starting resume against him. The jobs are dramatically different.
Gomez remains a coin-flip in fantasy — he’s unowned in half of Yahoo leagues. Who needs a handshake? Anyone believe in Jeanmar's Genie?
• If you don’t mind dipping into the minor leagues for a speculative add, perhaps Washington second baseman Trea Turner could be of interest. He’s a former first-round pick and a rated rookie, a hitting (.326 average) and on-base (.390) machine through his minor league days. Turner has already stolen three bags at Triple-A Syracuse this year (even Jim Boeheim can smile about that), after swiping eight in the spring. The Davey Lopes Effect is real. Turner also went 5-for-6 in Tuesday's doubleheader; he's knocking on the door.
More importantly, the Nats don’t seem enamored with incumbent Danny Espinosa, who’s off to a 3-for-18 start (and has a career .230/.301/.390 slash). Turner has been aggressively added in many Yahoo leagues over the past 24 hours, but he’s still a free grab in 88 percent of our world. Take a look.
