Oberg, Shaw anchoring bullpen
Manager Bud Black is never going to come right out and say it, of course, but the most pleasant early-season surprise for the Rockies has been the performance of their bullpen.
Adam Ottavino, last season’s set-up man extraordinaire, is now pitching for the Yankees. Lefthanders Jake McGee and Chris Rusin, despite poor 2018 seasons, were both expected to be important cogs in the machine, but they remain on the injured list. And yet the Rockies entered Friday night’s game against Arizona with a 3.06 bullpen ERA since April 8, which ranks fourth in the National League over that span. Relievers had allowed two runs or fewer in 19 of 21 games during that span.
“Overall, it’s been pretty good,” Black said. “Statistically it’s been pretty good. There haven’t been many games where I thought we should win, but we haven’t.”
Two performances, in particular, stand out. Right-hander Scott Oberg, who replaced Ottavino in the eighth-inning role, has been terrific, posting a 1.23 ERA and a .167 average against over 12 appearance. Oberg’s leap forward was anticipated, but the rebound performance of righty Bryan Shaw was not.
Shaw, signed for three years and $27 million prior to last season, was a disaster in his first year in Colorado, posting a 5.93 ERA in 61 appearances. He was even left off the postseason roster. More troubling, long-term, was the fact that the 94.5 mph cut fastball that made him an indispensable part of Cleveland’s bullpen in 2016-17, was down to the low 90s during this year’s spring training. And it’s stayed down, averaging just 92.1 during the regular season.
That should be worrisome, but Shaw has significantly tweaked his approach, throwing more offspeed pitches and commanding his cutter with more precision.
“This offseason we worked on some stuff and we added the changeup and the curveball to get some different elements in there, and so far the results have been pretty good,” Shaw said.
Shaw entered Friday with a 0.95 ERA in 16 appearance and a .172 batting average against. But the fact that he has more walks (eight) than strikeouts (seven) should be a red flag. In fact, Shaw’s 3.23 strikeouts per nine innings is one of the worst in baseball.
Shaw, however, doesn’t view his lack of strikeouts as a bad thing.
“I want to pitch to contact,” he said. “My goal this year is 75 innings (pitched) and less than 20 punchouts. Why not? I’m out to get early groundballs and early flyballs.”
Time will tell if Shaw’s approach will work out, and if he can regain Black trusts to put him in high-leverage situations in the future.
Footnotes.
Veteran first baseman Daniel Murphy, suffering from lower-back tightness, was held out for the starting lineup for the second consecutive game Friday. Black said it’s likely that Murphy will return to the lineup on Saturday. Murphy has reached base in all seven games he’s played since returning from the injured list (broken finger) on April 24. … Veteran catcher Chris Iannetta (right lat strain) came off the IL and started Friday’s game. To clear roster space, Colorado designated catcher Drew Butera for assignment. Iannetta, 36, has batted .207 (6-for-29) with two runs, two doubles, one home run, two RBIs, three walks and 14 strikeouts in 10 games.