Bullpen Report: March 25, 2014

Spring training is nearing its end (thankfully) and as managers finalize the end of their roster, the last bullpen spots are being decided. Here are a few items from today:

• We learned yesterday that Joakim Soria would be closing games in Texas and now we found out that Neftali Feliz was optioned to Triple-A. From GM Jon Daniels:  “He’s healthy and his work ethic has been solid, but he needs some work and the best place to get him that is in Round Rock right now. I expect he’ll be back as soon as he’s ready to help us.” When that will be I’m not entirely sure, and I don’t know if the Rangers are either. If Feliz is healthy as Daniels says and only throwing 91-93 MPH then he likely won’t be the force that he was the first time he was a closer in Texas. Feliz certainly doesn’t have to touch 100 MPH on his fastball to be effective, but this current version of Feliz isn’t the same pitcher we’re used to seeing. I don’t doubt that Feliz will be back in Texas but I also think that he’ll remain a set up option at best, with Soria holding closing duties for the duration of the season.

• Matt Williams hasn’t decided on the Nationals’ fifth starter yet, but reliever Aaron Barrett has made the team. Barrett was the closer in AA last year and saved 26 games but more importantly pitched to a 2.15 ERA and 1.87 FIP in 50.1 innings, striking out 69 batters against just 15 walks. Spring training stats shouldn’t carry much weight but Barrett was great this spring, pitching 9.2 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts without a walk. Barrett has a few big names ahead of him before he’s receiving higher leveraged innings or consistent holds, but he’s definitely a name to keep in mind on the waiver wire.

• Michael Pineda won the Yankees 5th starter job over David Phelps and Phelps is now looking at a swing man/long relief role in the Bronx. With the attrition rate of starting pitchers Phelps is very likely to see the rotation at some point this season. For those in very deep leagues/strict roster slots a SP/RP can hold some value and Phelps can help teams there. He’s essentially a league average pitcher (career 98 FIP-) but that could improve with a role in the bullpen.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Addison Reed	J.J. Putz	Brad Ziegler
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Jordan Walden	David Carpenter
Baltimore	Tommy Hunter	Darren O’Day	Ryan Webb
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Edward Mujica
CHI (NL)	Jose Veras	Pedro Strop	Hector Rondon	Kyuji Fujikawa
CHI (AL)	Nate Jones	Matt Lindstrom	Ronald Belisario
Cincy	J.J. Hoover	Sam LeCure	Logan Ondrusak	Aroldis Chapman
Cleveland	John Axford	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw
Colorado	LaTroy Hawkins	Rex Brothers	Matt Belisle
Detroit	Joe Nathan	Joba Chamberlain	Al Alburquerque
Houston	Chad Qualls	Josh Fields	Matt Albers	Jesse Crain
KC	Greg Holland	Kelvin Herrera	Aaron Crow
LAA	Ernesto Frieri	Dane de la Rosa	Joe Smith
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Brian Wilson	Paco Rodriguez
Miami	Steve Cishek	A.J. Ramos	Mike Dunn
Milwaukee	Jim Henderson	Francisco Rodriguez	Brandon Kintzler
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Jared Burton	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Bobby Parnell	Jose Valverde	Jeurys Familia	Vic Black
NY (AL)	David Robertson	Shawn Kelley	Matt Thornton
Oakland	Jim Johnson	Luke Gregerson	Sean Doolittle	Ryan Cook
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Antonio Bastardo	Jake Diekman
Pittsburgh	Jason Grilli	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Carlos Martinez	Kevin Siegrist
SD	Huston Street	Joaquin Benoit	Alex Torres
SF	Sergio Romo	Santiago Casilla	Jeremy Affeldt
Seattle	Fernando Rodney	Danny Farquhar	Tom Wilhelmsen
TB	Grant Balfour	Heath Bell	Joel Peralta
Texas	Joakim Soria	Alexi Ogando	Jason Frasor	Neftali Feliz
Toronto	Casey Janssen	Sergio Santos	Steve Delabar
Wash.	Rafael Soriano	Tyler Clippard	Drew Storen

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]