Bullpen Report, Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Tonight’s bullpen report is going to be a wrap up of the last two nights of action.

Freddy Galvis bombed one off of Jonathon Papelbon on Monday night, and for all the vitriol spewed at Papelbon, it was only his first blown save of the year. It put him in line for the win, which he got when the Nats pushed one across in the 11th inning. Doug Fister, yes, Doug Fister, picked up the first save of his career. It was his first outing in 13 days. He’s not cracking the grid at this point.

Greg Holland has some issues. Kelvin Herrera gave up three earned runs on three hits and a walk on Monday night. He’s given up six earned in his past two outings. And his velocity is down too a bit. It’s looking like things could be better in the Royals pen right about now. They have a big lead in the AL Central, do they rest up Holland and Herrera, who have thrown 116.3 and 147.7 innings respectively since Opening Day 2014, including last October? That’s something you want to keep an eye on if you have these guys in your playoffs. Holland sat 91.3 mph on Tuesday, hitting 94. He gave up a hit and a walk, but no runs, earning save 31. He even generated three whiffs on his seven sliders. By him pitching Tuesday, it doesn’t look like he’ll get a long breather, but if his results aren’t there, that can hurt you in a H2H playoff. Frankly, I’d stay away depending on what other options are out there.

Erasmo Ramirez twirled a wonderful gem against the Yankees Monday, not giving up his first hit until the eighth inning. With a little help from newly-minted late-inning stud Alex Colome, the ball was handed to Brad Boxberger with a one-run lead in the ninth. It happens from time to time, but this was one of the nights when the Box stunk. He gave up a three-run shot to Slade Heathcott, allowing many to breathlessly whisper, “Slade Heathcott” for the first time since May. Boxberger’s velocity has been on the decline, and he has 10 losses to go along with his 34 saves. Colome looks to be a seventh-eighth inning guy, so I don’t see Boxberger relinquishing the role at this point, barring an injury. Boxberger was given a blow on Tuesday night after pitching three of the previous four games, opening the door for Brandon Gomes to earn his first save.

Chris Hatcher and Jim Johnson are flipping spots on the grid in light of Hatcher getting the save opportunity on Monday night. He nailed it down for his third of the year.

Glen Perkins could be back as early as Friday. There is no guarantee that he’ll slide back into the closer role, as manager Paul Molitor hasn’t said which way he’ll lean. Maybe he has, but I haven’t seen it. If you see it, please post in the comments. I’d hold on to Kevin Jepsen for now.

Of Note: Tyler Clippard had the night off on Monday, as Addison Reed continued his strong work since joining the Mets at the end of August, picking up hold number 11. He hasn’t given up a run as a Met, and is rocking a solid 25.7% K%-BB%. Jeurys Familia picked up save 41. David Robertson couldn’t hold a four-run lead on Monday against the A’s, as he gave up four(two earned), allowing the game to continue for a total of 14 innings. Zach Britton(33), Andrew Miller(33), Shawn Tolleson(32) and Santiago Casilla(33) earned saves on Monday night. Aaron Sanchez was shaky in Atlanta, surrendering four hits to the Braves in 1.3 innings and taking the loss. Brett Cecil continued his dominance, as he hasn’t given up an earned run since the end of June. I don’t think he’d get a save opportunity over Sanchez, but you never know. I’d have him on my team to help with ratios anyway over Sanchez. For the Braves, Arodys Vizcaino got back on track with a perfect ninth to earn the win, and the Braves bullpen had their first game in 2015 where they didn’t give up a run. That’s a lie, it just feels like the truth. They didn’t give up a run though, that part was true. Bruce Rondon filled up his line with one of everything except a home run. He put up an ERA of 9.00 for the night and got a save, his fifth of the year. Mark Melancon(46) and Trevor Rosenthal(44) earned saves on Tuesday night.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Brad Ziegler	Daniel Hudson	David Hernandez
Atlanta	Arodys Vizcaino	Edwin Jackson	Andrew McKirahan	Jason Grilli
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Darren O’Day	Brad Brach
Boston	Robbie Ross	Junichi Tazawa	Jean Machi	Koji Uehara
CHI (NL)	Hector Rondon	Pedro Strop	Justin Grimm
CHI (AL)	David Robertson	Nate Jones	Jacob Petricka
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	J.J. Hoover	Ryan Mattheus
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw	Zach McAllister
Colorado	John Axford	Jairo Diaz	Christian Friedrich
Detroit	Bruce Rondon	Alex Wilson	Al Albuerquerque	Joe Nathan
Houston	Luke Gregerson	Pat Neshek	Chad Qualls
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Kelvin Herrera
LAA	Huston Street	Joe Smith	Fernando Salas
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Chris Hatcher	Jim Johnson
Miami	A.J. Ramos	Mike Dunn	Kyle Barraclough	Carter Capps
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Will Smith	Jeremy Jeffress
Minnesota	Kevin Jepsen	Trevor May	Glen Perkins
NY (NL)	Jeurys Familia	Tyler Clippard	Addison Reed
NY (AL)	Andrew Miller	Dellin Betances	Justin Wilson
Oakland	Sean Doolittle	Drew Pomeranz	Fernando Rodriguez
Philly	Ken Giles	Luis Garcia	Jeanmar Gomez
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Joakim Soria	Tony Watson
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Kevin Siegrist	Steve Cishek
SD	Craig Kimbrel	Joaquin Benoit	Shawn Kelley	Brendan Maurer
SF	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Hunter Strickland
Seattle	Tom Wilhelmsen	Carson Smith	Logan Kensing
TB	Brad Boxberger	Alex Colome	Steve Geltz	Jake McGee
Texas	Shawn Tolleson	Keone Kela	Jake Diekman	Tanner Scheppers
Toronto	Roberto Osuna	Aaron Sanchez	Brett Cecil
Wash.	Jonathan Papelbon	Casey Janssen	Matt Thornton	Drew Storen

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