Closer Encounters: Committee Time in Philly

This article is part of our Closer Encounters series.

The Cleveland Guardians and Philadelphia Phillies are surging in June, while the Oakland Athletics are trending in the opposite direction with the worst record in baseball and only two wins this month. How have the Guardians' late-inning relievers performed this season? Who is the new closer—or closers—in Philadelphia? Who should be the closer in Oakland?

Let's take a closer look and answer those questions below.

Emmanuel Clase, Guardians - After a relatively quiet first two months of the season with only seven saves, Clase has already matched that save total this month across nine scoreless innings. The 24-year-old recently saved four games in five days for the Guardians, including three straight in a sweep of the Rockies at Coors Field. Thanks to his recent save surge, Clase now ranks sixth in the league with 14 total saves.

With only four walks allowed through 27.1 innings, he's reduced his walk rate from an already low 5.7 percent last season to a mere 3.8 percent in 2022. Clase is still throwing hard with the fastest cutter (99.7 mph) and slider (91.7 mph) in the league. 108 of his 352 pitches this season have been thrown 100 miles per hour or faster, a 30.7 percent clip that ranks second only to Jhoan Duran (35.8 percent). This percentage is actually down from last season when Clase threw nearly half his pitches—44.6 percent—at that speed. That may seem like somewhat of a knock on the young reliever, but his 2022 figure still quite impressive. Simply put, Clase is living up to his early-round draft cost, as evidenced by the sea of red that engulfs his Statcast page:

If there's one area where we'd like to see improvement from Clase, it's his strikeout rate. He's fanning 9.6 batters per nine innings this season, which is right in line with last year and slightly higher than his career average. This rate is solid but unspectacular, as he ranks 75th in this category among qualified relievers. If Clase elected to throw more sliders, he may start to see his strikeout rate creep up. He's throwing this secondary offering only 27 percent of the time, but it's his most effective pitch with a 44.1 percent whiff rate and .143 batting average against. Clase threw his slider nearly 30 percent of the time last season, so it's possible he starts throwing it more, which could lead to more strikeouts.

Eli Morgan, Guardians - I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Clase's teammate Eli Morgan. After making 18 starts in 18 appearances last season, Morgan has successfully transitioned into a relief role this season, with all but one of his 19 outings coming out of the pen. The 26-year-old has been so good in relief, he's currently Terry Francona's preferred setup man and often appears in a multi-inning capacity when Cleveland is leading by a few runs, or tied. He even leads Guardians relievers with a 2.00 gmLI this month. The Guardians' bullpen depth beyond Clase was a big question mark heading into 2022, but Morgan's versatility has been clutch for a team who is 12-3 in June and just one game back of the first-place Twins in the American League Central division.

Through mid-June, Morgan's statistical rankings among qualified relievers are quite impressive:

Morgan has not allowed an earned run since May 8, covering 13 straight appearances and 18.1 innings. During this span, he has a 24:3 K:BB and a 0.44 WHIP. A big reason Morgan has been so dominant in 2022 is due to the success of his changeup that he throws nearly 28 percent of the time:

Morgan averages 75.4 miles per hour on the pitch and opposing hitters have a mere .077 batting average and .128 slugging percentage against it. In the tweet above, Gage also mentions the "added intensity" of Morgan's fastball, which averages 92 miles per hour and has maxed out this season at 94.5 miles per hour. Last season, his fastball averaged 90.4 miles per hour, so he's throwing it a mile-and-a-half faster this year. The difference between Morgan's average fastball and changeup is 16.5 miles per hour, which is why the pitches play so well off each other.

Those seeking ratio help in their league may benefit from Morgan's three to four innings per week. He and Clase are a big reason while Cleveland's bullpen ranks third in the league with a 2.84 ERA.

Seranthony Dominguez, Brad Hand, Phillies - I suggested Corey Knebel was on the closer hot seat a few weeks ago and another blown save June 14 finally forced Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson's hand. Thomson announced the next morning that he was removing Knebel from the closer role in favor of a committee. He didn't announce the committee by name, but it was pretty easy to pinpoint Seranthony Dominguez and Brad Hand as the new favorites for save opportunities based on past experience closing games. Both have earned saves for the Phillies since Knebel's demotion from the closer role, though Hand has technically gotten the first two opportunities, converting one while blowing the other the very next day.

Dominguez benefitted from Hand's blown save Saturday with his first tally of the season, retiring Washington's 7-8-9 hitters in order in the bottom of the 10th inning. The 27-year-old has been Philadelphia's best reliever this season, leading this unit in several categories, including a 1.73 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, four wins and 11 holds. While the momentum appears to be shifting in Dominguez's favor, don't count on an abundance of save chances just yet. He's still worth a waiver pickup, but temper your bids as he's likely to continue matching up against the opposing team's best hitters, which may not always be during the ninth inning. I think Hand and possibly Connor Brogdon will remain in the mix for saves as Thomson takes a more matchups-based approach to late-inning reliever usage.

Dany Jimenez, Athletics - I recently dropped Jimenez in the NFBC Main Event after a horrific stretch of games during which he allowed 11 earned runs and six walks over 3.2 innings in the span of five appearances. Jimenez hadn't recorded a save since May 25 and I assumed a closer change was necessary, even for the lowly A's. As it turns out, Oakland wasn't done with him as their closer. Jimenez has since bounced back with a save in Boston on Friday.

Oakland relievers rank 28th in MLB in June with a 6.75 ERA. Had Lou Trivino or Domingo Acevedo been effective in recent weeks - both have ERA's north of 9.00 this month - we may have seen that save chance go to one of them. A's manager Mark Kotsay still seems unwilling to give A.J. Puk a shot in the role despite his 1.93 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 4.6 percent walk rate and nearly 50 percent ground ball rate. He's been on a downturn recently, though, allowing an earned run in five of his last 10 appearances.

All things considered, it still appears that Jimenez is the closer in Oakland. However, the A's are 2-13 this month after Saturday's loss to Kansas City, so save chances may be few and far between moving forward.