• Jake Arrieta was four outs away from throwing a no-no before Stephen Drew singled and at 120 pitches, Pedro Strop came in to get the final out of the eighth inning. Hector Rondon entered for the ninth and pitched around a lead off single to record his 10th save of the season. Rondon has had a few flare ups of late but he’s still the Cubs closer and should continue to get save chances as they come, especially if he pitches more like he did tonight. However if he struggles again soon or is put on the trading block, look for Neil Ramirez to fill in for saves.

• Dellin Betances finally showed he was human allowing two-walks and an unearned run in the eighth inning tonight against the Rays. With the “off” outing Betances still supports a 1.69 xFIP with a 14.25 K/9 and remains the likely best non-save option in fantasy baseball.  Robertson finished the eighth, allowing Betances’ inherited run to score and stayed on to throw a scoreless frame in ninth as well.

• Jake McGee entered tonight’s game with a one-run lead in the eighth and pitched around a couple of base hits for a scoreless inning, lowering his ERA to 1.24. Even though a couple of lefties were due up in the ninth, it was Joel Peralta who came on for the save that he quickly blew on a home run by an unlikely source in Brian Roberts. This is obvioulsy good news for McGee owners. He has received the last two save opportunities for the Rays and given Peralta’s performance tonight, I fully expect McGee to receive the next opportunity as well.

• There wasn’t a save situation in the Nationals game today but Drew Storen pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Tyler Clippard is likely next in line in the pecking order but Drew Storen is having a nice comeback season after a down year in 2013. His 1.03 ERA is likely to regress but Storen is keeping the ball in the park and avoiding the free pass. There are likely more exciting non-save options for strikeouts and even ratio help, but in Saves+Holds leagues, on a competitive Nationals team that should have a few leads to protect, Storen is certainly a sound option.

• Sean Doolittle has had an incredible season a forgettable June 30th. Doolittle started the ninth in a 4-1 game, but ended up allowing a grand slam walk-off homer to Rajai Davis for his third loss of the season. This was actually Doolittle’s second blown save in a row but even after tonight’s blowup, Doolittle still has an ERA under three with an insane 57/2 strikeout to walk ratio and remains a top tier closer in both real life and fantasy baseball.

Closer Grid:

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

• Sergio Romo is out as closer and Jeremy Affeldt and Santiago Casilla will be part of the closing committee for now. Romo is still expected to pitch in some sort of setup role but Casilla and Affeldt should be receiving the save opportunities in the meantime. Romo hasn’t been as bad as his 5.17 ERA would suggest but even a 3.93 xFIP and 3.27 SIERA is worse than we expected from him. Romo’s never been a big velocity guy but his fastball and slider have actually been a little better than last year. Also, although Romo’s K% have fallen the last few years  his 14.2% SwStr% shows he can still get some whiffs, even if it hasn’t presented itself with his pedestrian K-rates this year. Barring a hidden injury I’d expect Romo to regain his job this summer but it’s Casilla and Affeldt for now. As a lefty/righty combo, gameflow should determine who sees the save on a given night. Both Affeldt (1.33 ) and Casilla (1.17) are owners of some shiny ERA’s and I would reccomend any team in need of saves to snag them if they’re available on the wire. Jean Machi is also having a nice year and could figure into some saves but he’s given up runs in his last two outings and Bochy mentioned Casilla and Affeldt as Romo’s replacements.

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• Ronald Belisario blew his fifth save of the season tonight allowing a pinch hit three-run homer to Chris Davis. Belisario was on fire from late April to late May but has struggled of late allowing 11 earned runs in his last 11 innings pitched. His ERA is now 5.50 but a 3.17/3.34 FIP/xFIP show that the sky isn’t quite falling. Still, an ERA over 5 while converting just 7/11 save opportunities isn’t how you hold a job as closer. As of this writing I haven’t heard anything about Belisario’s status as closer so I assume his job is still relatively safe but keep an eye on Zach Putnam. Putnam also gave up a homer tonight and his peripherals aren’t any better than Belisario but a few more blown saves could force Ventura to make a change.

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• Koji Uehara had a day off after throwing on three consecutive days and Edward Mujica came on for his second save of the year. Mujica has had a largely forgettable year and after tonight’s perfect inning his ERA dropped all the way to 6.04. Although I’d still say Junichi Tazawa or Andrew Miller could see saves if Uehara were to suddenly get hurt, it’s worth noting that Mujica could be in the mix. Also worth noting, even on his off day, is Uehara’s outstanding season with a 33% K-BB% and only two earned runs in 31.2 innings pitched. Uehara has somehow managed to maybe be even better than his phenomenal 2013. Unreal.

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• J.J. Putz is off of the DL and back on the Diamondbacks bullpen. He threw a scoreless inning last night but he’s still behind Brad Ziegler as the Addison Reed handcuff. Reed had been diagnosed with a “tired arm” previously but he returned to the ninth inning in this afternoon’s game and struck out two Astros en route to his 16th save of the season. Reed’s fly ball tendencies and previous struggles this season should keep Ziegler on your roster a bit longer for speculative saves but the job is firmly in Reed’s hands.

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• Colin did  a great analysis of the Rays bullpen situation after Grant Balfour’s meltdown last night and the Rays are now looking at a bullpen by committee approach for the near future. Madden wants Balfour to regain the job but his problems might run deeper than anything a few days removed from the ninth inning can solve. For now I’d expect Joel Peralta, Jake McGee and Juan Oviedo to see the first chances with Brad Boxberger (12.63 K/9, 2.47 SIERA xFIP) as a potential sleeper. Balfour isn’t injured or on the DL but I’ll place him there on the grid for the time being as he lingers in the background.

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• Vic Black figured to be a fixture in the late innings for the Mets this year and although he gave up a solo shot tonight he’s starting to work his way there. On the season Black has thrown 7.2 innings with 12 strikeouts against five walks with a 1.17/3.58/2.23 ERA/FIP/xFIP. Obviously it’s a small sample size but if he can keep his walks in check while getting whiffs he could start seeing higher leverage innings in Queens. Meanwhile Jenrry Mejia had a forgettable evening, allowing three base runners and two earned runs, entering the eighth inning down a run to the Cubs. Mejia has been pretty effective during his brief Mets tenure and this one outing shouldn’t have him looking over his shoulder but I’m not yet ready to make him green on the chart below.

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• Cody Allen converted his fifth save of the year tonight and his second save in a row, getting four outs on only 12 pitches. It’s the fourth save opportunity in a row that Allen has nailed down and he’s definitely the guy in Cleveland. Bryan Shaw, Scott Atchison  and John Axford are still lingering in the Indians bullpen and are effective relievers but it’s Allen’s job to lose and considering he’s the best reliever in the pen, the chances are he’ll hold on tight. Of more interest tonight might be Nick Hagadone who also recorded four outs in relief, three via the strikeout. Hagadone is a relic from the Victor Martinez to Boston trade and has been largely unsuccessful in the majors but he can get whiffs from the left side and could see some higher leverage innings against left handed batters if he keeps pitching like he did tonight.

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• Matt Lindstrom was placed on the 15-day Disabled List with an ankle injury. We will know more soon about his recovery timeline but in the meantime, Javy Guerra was called up from AAA. The White Sox haven’t anointed a closer as replacement so this is going to be by committee until Lindstrom returns or someone else runs away with it. In the committee should be Daniel Webb, Ronald Belisario, Scott Downs and maybe even Zach Putnam and Jacob Petricka. In tonight’s game, Petricka pitched a clean seventh, and Downs and Frank Francisco had a forgettable eighth inning that Putnam came in to clean up. Eno Sarris pointed us in Belisario’s direction earlier in the day and I happen to agree with his assessment. I would look to add Belisario first if he’s still available in your league and grab Webb as a consolation prize. Unless you are in the deepest league or in dire straits for saves I might stop there as the third or fourth option for saves in Chicago might not be worth the roster spot. Even after throwing two innings last night Belisario is warming up for the save this evening. Published before game ended.

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• Aroldis Chapman blew his first save of the year tonight against the Nationals. It’s tough to glean anything from Aroldis over just five innings pitched but he’s averaging 100 mph on his fastball and has nine strikeouts against three walks. Also, for what it’s worth Chapman didn’t blow tonight’s save in spectacular fashion, he gave a lead-off double that ended up scoring on a sacrifice fly. I wouldn’t be concerned about tonight’s blip, Chapman looks like himself after his unfortunate comebacker in spring training and should be a top three closer from here on out this season.

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