• Apologies for last night where I failed to realize that Dale Thayer pitched in the eighth inning as Luke Gregerson got the save. It’s possible that Bud Black might have wanted to ease Thayer back in as he hadn’t pitched in a week before last night’s appearance but at this point Gregerson, with his incredible slider, is the guy to own in the Padres bullpen. Granted the Padres closing situation isn’t the most enticing in fantasy baseball but saves are saves and at the moment those belong to Gregerson.
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• Rafael Soriano blew his third save of the season tonight off of a three-run homer by Colby Rasmus in the top of the ninth inning. Although Soriano has been having, and should continue to have a solid year racking up saves for the Yankees, a 1.9% HR/FB% just wasn’t sustainable all season and regression reared its ugly head tonight. Even after tonight’s outing, Soriano’s ERA remains a pristine 2.05, but his 3.65 xFIP and 1.20 WHIP prevents him from being an elite fantasy closer. Still, without any concern about his job security, Soriano remains a great source of saves for the rest of the season

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• Last night Javier Lopez picked up the save for the Giants recording just the final out after Hanley Ramirez hit a home run off of Sergio Romo. Jeremy Affeldt has had some struggles recently but without any word from manager Bruce Bochy, Affeldt should still be ahead of Lopez in the pecking order, splitting closing duties with Romo.

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•  Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless inning in last night’s game against the Red Sox for his 31st save of the year. Soriano’s xFIP is a solid but unspectacular 3.63 due to his minuscule HR/FB ratio (2.0%),  but his 2.36 FIP illustrates that he’s still been having a solid season thus far and should continue to rack up saves pitching for the Yankees even though his ERA will creep up from its current 1.64.

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• Hiroki Kuroda threw a shutout tonight for the Yankees, so there was no save situation but that doesn’t mean the Yankees won’t find their way into every news item as Mariano Rivera continued his rehab, throwing his first long-toss session. The Yankees maintain that Mo won’t pitch in 2011, but for those in deep keeper leagues his progress is nice to see and expect the Sandman to be closing games for the Yankees in 2013.

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• Last night Nationals closer Tyler Clippard blew the save against the Astros, but Drew Storen also looked shaky issuing two walks while only getting one out in the inning. Nationals manager Davey Johnson indicated that Tyler Clippard will remain the closer, but said he will also use Storen as needed and is “real confident right now in either Clip or Storen closing.” Expect Tyler Clippard to still receive save opportunities but if Storen pitches well, Clippard won’t have the luxury of many more blown saves to keep his job.

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• The Royals decided to let lefty reliever Jose Mijares go as the Giants picked him up on a waiver claim today. Jose Mijares is a solid matchup against left-handed hitters (.273 wOBA against lefties compared to .358 wOBA against righties) but he doesn’t figure to enter the closer discussion on San Francisco. However, the Mijares addition allows the Giants to use him as a lefty specialist and let Jeremy Affeldt be part of a closer-by-committee approach at least while Santiago Casilla heals from a recurring blister according to manager Bruce Bochy. Casilla, Sergio Romo and Jeremy Affeldt should all receive opportunities in the upcoming weeks, and all should be owned at least until the situation starts to sort itself out more clearly.

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• Greg Holland owners, your patience has finally paid off! Jonathan Broxton was traded today to the Reds and while he may see an occasional save opportunity to spell Aroldis Chapman, his days of being the primary closer this year are over. Meanwhile, Greg Holland will be the Royals new closer and he certainly has the stuff to be a successful one. Although his 3.63 ERA and 1.56 WHIP don’t suggest  a top notch closer, he’s been unlucky with a .388 BABIP and his 2.92 xFIP and 12.71 K/9 illustrate the ability he has to be one of the premier closers in fantasy baseball.

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• The Rockies haven’t been able to give many save chances to their closer Rafael Betancourt who’s had a solid year pitching to a 3.62 xFIP with a 9.24 K/9 and they may not have many more opportunities as Betancourt trade rumors are heating up.  Troy Renck lists Oakland, Atlanta, Toronto, Texas and the Anaheim part of Los Angeles as possible suitors for Betancourt and if he’s traded, Matt Belisle or Rex Brothers could take over closing duties for Colorado. Rex Brothers may have more potential and the better swing and miss stuff (11.90 K/9; 14.1% SwStr%) but he’s a lefty and I’d expect Matt Belisle to get the first nod. Belisle has been one of the more underrated relievers over the last few years and has continued to excel this season with a 2.98 xFIP in 53 innings pitched.

• Over the weekend Colin noted Jim Johnson’s recent struggles and although he let two batters reach base tonight against the Yankees he was able to strike out two en route to his 31st, and major league leading, save of the season. With the expanded playoffs, Baltimore is still in the race so Johnson’s job is still relatively secure but he can’t afford any more six run blow ups like he had last week.

• Frank Francisco is currently on the DL but that might change soon as he’s now planning on returning to the Mets this weekend against the Padres. Although Francisco had converted 18 of the 21 save opportunities he received for the Mets, he didn’t pitch particularly well with a 4.97 ERA and 4.21 xFIP. Bobby Parnell blew a couple of saves in a row a few weeks ago, but besides that he’s been great for the Mets with a 3.06 xFIP on the year. My money is on Francisco regaining the job for the Mets, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see Parnell get another chance before the season’s end as Francisco has been both injured and inconsistent while Parnell has pitched better.

• Bad news for Luke Gregerson owners this week as Huston Street signed a two-year $14 million extension with the Padres. Street was obviously in trade rumors the past few weeks but his extension ensures that he will at least stay on the Padres for the remainder of 2012. Gregerson has been a reliable reliever to help your ratios (3.17 xFIP; 1.14 WHIP) but any value he had for potential saves is now gone.

• Pitching in the seventh inning tonight against the Brewers, Francisco Cordero gave four hits and two runs and his time as the Astros closer might be over. As of this writing, no change has been made but Wilton Lopez would make a nice pick up right about now. Cordero has appeared in five games for the Astros this year and so far he’s blown three saves while giving up eight runs.

For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here is a matchup you may be able to exploit.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Ernesto Frieri (LAA) at TEX

It’s never a bad decision to avoid pitchers in Texas but with Jered Weaver on the hill the Angels have a great shot at a win. Frieri is also well rested having last pitched on Friday, so look for him to have a chance for a save and strikeouts against the Rangers.

Closer Grid:

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

• Ken Rosenthal said that the Royals have made Johnathan Broxton, Jose Mijares and others available. While Broxton’s 2.34 ERA isn’t necessarily supported by his actual skill (1.71 K/BB; 4.04 xFIP), he’s still a useful reliever and there are several teams that could use an extra one of those including the Giants and Cardinals. If Broxton is traded, and he should be, look for Greg Holland to take over the closing duties for the Royals. Aaron Crow and Kelvin Herrera are other dark horses to get saves but I’m still not sure the Royals know what they want to do with Crow, and Holland has more experience than Herrera. Holland’s ERA (3.93) and WHIP (1.61) certainly don’t look too impressive, but he’s been unlucky with a .411 BABIP and his 2.80 xFIP and 13.25 K/9 illustrate the skill he has to close games for the Royals in the future.

Additionally, Rosenthal says that the Marlins will try hard to move Heath Bell. However, as noted yesterday, Bell’s contract will make any deal difficult. Still, with Cishek currently getting saves for the Marlins and Bell being aggressively shopped around the league, I wonder if Bell will receive another chance to close games to increase his value before the trading deadline.

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