Who should the Rockies look at to help their bullpen?

In the month of June, the Rockies bullpen has faltered and has shown that at least one reliever needs to be acquired to provide some help.

Kevin Henry and I have discussed the Rockies’ starting pitching options and pieces that they could acquire before the trade deadline. Today, I’ll investigate the bullpen options. In the past two weeks, the Rockies’ bullpen ERA has gone from 4.16 to 4.41. Adam Ottavino, in particular, has not performed well in June as his ERA has ballooned from 2.45 to 5.02. In June, he allowed 10 earned runs in 7 2/3 innings pitched, or an ERA of 11.74. The Rockies’ will be shopping for relievers before the deadline but who will be on the market and do they need to acquire multiple relievers?

David Robertson

The Chicago White Sox have a 35-45 record and they are in last place. Of the players that the White Sox will trade, David Robertson will be one of them. He has a 3.18 ERA in 26 games and has 12 saves. He nearly has a five to one strikeout to walk ratio, his FIP is 3.07, a WHIPof 0.953, ERA+ of 135, and he strikes out more than 13 per nine innings. Robertson also

has never had an ERA in a full season higher than 3.82 (in 2010) and in the past three seasons (2014-16), his average ERA is 3.32 and he’s averaged 37 saves a season. He is also under team control through next season.

Pat Neshek

The Philadelphia Phillies have the worst record in all of baseball at 26-53. They don’t have much to sell but one piece is Pat Neshek. Before yesterday (when he gave up three runs and was saddled with the loss against the New York Mets), Neshek hadn’t allowed a run since May 14 (when he allowed two runs). Those were the only two runs he had allowed all year. His ERA, after yesterday’s outing went from 0.57 to 1.39. He nearly has an 8:1 strikeout to walk ratio (31:4). But considering that he’s a sinker-ball pitcher and Coors Field is not a good stadium for sinker-ball pitchers (Neshek’s Coors Field performance shows this as his ERA is 9.82 in 3 2/3 innings pitched) and that Neshek is a free agent after this season, the Rockies will probably not go after him.

Addison Reed

The New York Mets are 38-42, in third place and 8.5 games back in the Wild Card and Divisional race so they will be shopping some pieces and Addison Reed will be one of those shopped. Reed has an ERA of 2.59, 14 saves, and nearly an 8.5:1 strikeout to walk ratio in 2017. In 2016, he had an ERA of 1.97 in 80 games in a set-up role. At Coors Field, his ERA is 4.76 in 5 2/3 innings.

Ryan Madson

The Oakland A’s are in last place in the AL West with a 35-46 record. One person who they will trade is Ryan Madson. He has a 2.53 ERA in 33 games in 2017. He also has not had an ERA above 3.62 since 2007 (but he did not pitch from 2012-2014). Madson also has a WHIP of 0.938 and more than a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio. When he has pitched at Coors Field, he has an ERA of 1.47 in 10 games and 18 1/3 innings. He’s also under team control through next season

Other Possibilites

Some of the other relievers in baseball that will be on the market are Justin Wilson of the Detroit Tigers, Brad Hand of the San Diego Padres, Sean Doolittle of the Oakland A’s, A.J. Ramos of the Miami Marlins, Tony Watson and Juan Nicasio (both of the Pittsburgh Pirates), Brad Brach of the Balitmore Orioles, and Jerry Blevins of the New York Mets.

Next: Charlie Blackmon's historical start put in perspective

Analysis

The Rockies will definitely be shopping for relievers, particularly set-up men and middle-relievers. The two that the Rockies should look at acquiring the most are Ryan Madson and David Robertson. They need to acquire at least one, but probably two relievers to help the bullpen. If that happens, the Rockies would have a bullpen that will help them towards their postseason push, in playoffs, and for the future.

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