It’s Not As Bad As All That… Yet

The Relief Pitching Nosedive

Jun 14, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher David Carpenter (48) throws the ball to first for an out against the Los Angeles Angels in the ninth inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Realistically, we’re talking about only a couple of guys here.  After all, Craig Kimbrel‘s still sporting a 2.57 ERA in June with 5 saves and Shae Simmons has a 1.13 ERA with 1 save.

David Carpenter has been scuffling lately.  5.79 ERA in June after a 4.97 in May.  Honestly, the forearm tightness (which he says is unrelated to his poor performance) that has put him onto the Disabled List might be a very good thing for him.  He’ll have some time off along with a rehab outing or two.  This should help.

David Hale.  Well, if you were to erase a pair of 13th innings, then that would help.  However, he gave up no runs at all between April 27th and June 7th – none.  Since then, he’s had outings that gave up 2, 1, 0, 5, 2, and 1 earned run… not to mention an extra 3 unearned runs against the Phillies on Monday.  His pitching velocity spiked up a bit just as this ‘bad streak’ started, but last night his velocity was down significantly.  I would watch him carefully for a while.  As a minimum, he likely needs 2-3 days off… which he might not be able to get.

VERDICT:  the bullpen has struggled, but it’s mostly been those two guys… and Denver.  I do have some concerns about Hale, but Carpenter should be back to normal after this two-week shutdown.  Then we’ll see.