On the opening day of the MLB 2020 season on Friday, Liam Hendriks threw a save in the ninth inning. The All-Star had been arguably the best reliever in the majors in 2019, but with a one-run cushion against the Los Angeles Angels and a tight strike zone that squeezed him, he left a fastball in the middle of the zone and hit for a home run
That was a troubling sign at the time. After all, the A’s bullpen led the Major Leagues with 30 saves flown in 2019, despite strong numbers, and that kind of inconsistency with the latest inning advances could spell trouble in a short season where every game. It is worth almost three times what we are used to. to.
Fortunately, that Hendriks diner has proven to be just an isolated problem so far. As in, it is the only earned race allowed by the entire pen during the first four games of the season, in heavy use.
Oak feather: 0.44 ERA, 20⅓, ip, 1 ER, 17 Ks, 6 BB, 1 HR, 11 strokes, 2 of 3 saves
Conversely, rotation:
Oak starters: 4.86 ERA, 16⅔ ip, 13 Ks, 4 BB, 2 HR, 20 strokes
With the starters around the league still warming up and stretching toward their normal workloads and skill levels after an unusually short preseason, additional responsibility has been shifted to relievers to pick up the slack. The A’s unity has overcome the challenge.
- Hendriks He returned on Sunday and redeemed himself, needing only 16 pitches to record four outs for a save.
- Yusmeiro Petit He pitched three times and retired seven of the eight hitters he faced. On Sunday, he primarily rescued Mike Fiers from a traffic jam, entered with runners in the corners and no one came out and escaped with only a Mike Trout fly and a legacy runner inside. On Monday, he left another runner in the seventh. He joined Hendriks as the A’s bullpen heavyweights last summer, quietly posting a spectacular season, and is picking up right where he left off.
- Joakim Soria He had a few high-profile crashes to blow up tracks last year, but overall his numbers were solid, including a 3.62 FIP nearly a career below the league average. This year he got off to a much cleaner start: He missed an unearned run on Friday, but it wasn’t his 100% fault (Matt Chapman, surprisingly), and on Monday he came in to save Hendriks while he rested.
- Jake Diekman He was shaky last year after his midseason takeover by Oakland, but it took him three games to walk with someone this summer. In those three games, the left-hander faced 11 batters and retired eight of them.
- TJ McFarland, picked up during the offseason, is a ground specialist who is here to feed the Golden Gloves’ elite field defense. In fact, of nine hitters the left-hander has faced, six have already rolled, with a par. more outs in the air and a single.
- Lou Trivino and JB Wendelken They only managed to make it one game apiece, but they combined to remove the four batters they faced. Right-handers line up in the depth table as middle relievers for now, but they both have what it takes to be men of blocking setup if they reach their maximum limits. Wendelken’s only appearance was already a difficult test, as he entered with a runner in second place to face Mike Trout and successfully removed him.
- Burch Smith It is another new face, and it already looked better than expected. The right-hander received the call in a high-leverage spot on opening day, in the tenth inning with an automated runner at second base, and barely escaped without allowing a run to win the victory. He got a lot of help from his defense, but he still threw great shots and showed off his strength. He popped up again on Monday, and this time it only took him 21 pitches to go through two half innings, pulling Trout and the other big Halos stars along the way while showing better fastball mastery. It’s only two games, but if he were successful as an MLB reliever, this is what it would look like.
- Jordan Weems He hasn’t pitched yet, but we saw him during the preseason.
- Jesus Luzardo He also released relief, but will soon be joining the rotation, so there’s no reason to include him here. But dang, he was good.
There’s some heat in this group, too, as all of the Hendriks, Smith, Diekman, Wendelken, and Trivino are averaging between 94-95 mph with their various fastballs at first, with Hendriks, Smith, and Trivino beating 96 already. .
Statcast also like them. His .299 xwOBA ranks 10th among the major league bullpens, and that still doesn’t count his strong Monday.
Of course, they’ll eventually drop out of some careers, and some of these guys will be mediocre or bad years. Not everyone will remain amazing forever. After all, it’s only been four games, and they’ve only faced one team.
But then, that’s the point. The Bullpens can outperform on small samples, and this full 60-game season is a relatively small sample compared to what we’re used to, with just nine different opponents on record. Staying warm for a full six months plus the playoffs against an entire league, or staying consistent for 2-3 seasons, is hard to do. But playing for a month or three? That is eminently feasible, and each year some randos have large numbers in late May or June.
The question is, how long will this streak last for the A’s bullpen? Is it a one week thing? A thing of a month? Until October? Are some of the backend guys really sleeping and starting to have permanent breakouts right now? Everyone has what it takes to be good, between a few established veterans and some promising talented lottery tickets, it’s just a matter of doing it regularly and reliably, remember, last year we saw Hendriks go from frustrating mediocrity to All-Star Game in less than half of a normal campaign.
Only time will tell, but we have already spent 7% of the season after these four games and for now we know they have been amazing so far. Every day they continue to post zeros will be a big boost to Oakland’s hopes for a quick start in this short summer.
