Going into ST, I think most of us thought the pen would be:
Barnes
2 of Wacha, Hill, Whitlock or Houck
Brasier
Sawamura
Taylor
DHern
Strahm
Diekman
Clearly, it was a left heavy pen in a division without a lot of lefties. Due to the Sale injury, Wacha and Hill both made the rotation for now. Taylor is also injured and he was replaced by Davis another lefty. DHern again showed his limitations and was optioned to AAA. He was replaced by Valdez, who I had pegged as a DFA candidate. Tyler Danish is on the team for now, but will probably be dropped when the rosters shrink back to 26. Kutter Crawford was throwing straight fire and forced his way into the picture.
The current pen:
Barnes (closer)
Whitlock (high leverage/piggyback with Hill)
Crawford (multi inning)
Brasier
Diekman
Sawamura
Strahm
Davis
Valdez
Danish
Who is the set up man? Sawamura?
What do we expect out of Diekman/Strahm?
If Barnes falters, do we go to Whitlock or try someone new like Crawford?
This bullpen still has the mediocre 2021 feel to it. Can it be better than last year?