Just because your roto team is scuffling along to a ninth place finish (or you are so far out in front of your opponents it’s not fun anymore), your fantasy season doesn’t have to end!

The good news for those daily league fiends (or those who have lineups to ponder over in head-to-head matchups), it looks like a dry day across all of baseball. And by dry, I mean really dry (there’s a chance of an ever-so-light shower in Colorado. Maybe). So get all hands on deck.

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• Huston Street is going to be away from the Padres for the next couple of days to attend his grandmother’s funeral. Padres beat reporter Corey Brock seems to think that Luke Gregerson has the inside track on a couple of scab saves while San Diego’s incumbent closer is unavailable. While a trendy pick among handcuff setup men, Gregerson only has three saves to his name on the year, owing to Street’s general health. As usual, the right-handed setup man has posted a shiny ERA and an above-average xFIP. With a career .273 BABIP, you could make an argument that he may have some batted ball suppression skills (thereby implying his xFIP should be lower than it is), but he gives up an awful lot of line drives for that to be true. All that aside, Gregerson makes for an excellent target if you want to stream for saves the next couple of days. Pick him up now if those are what you seek.

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• A few weeks ago, it certainly looked like the closer role was Jason Grilli’s upon his return. Well, things apparently have changed. Mark Melancon (he of 2.08 xFIP) tossed a scoreless ninth Saturday for save number 15 in 2013. Grilli has struggled since returning from a forearm strain, allowing earned runs in three of his four post-DL appearances. His 5/2 K/BB in three innings isn’t atrocious, but nonetheless, the hits have been falling. Grilli’s velocity has been down 1-2 mph Read the rest of this entry »

(Pretty) good day for closers today, so the news is pretty light. Also good since I’m flying cross-country.

• I say pretty good, because Mariano Rivera blew his seventh save of the season, allowing a solo shot to Will Middlebrooks in the top of the ninth. OK, caveats. Mo was asked to pitch two innings with a decimated Yankee bullpen and the Bronx Bombers on the verge of a four-game sweep at home. The home run was an opposite field flare that only the short porch at Yankee Stadium loves. Rivera looked sharp, whiffing three in his two innings. Oh, and fantasy owners lost a save but gained a win when Ichiro Suzuki raced home following Brandon Workman’s wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth.

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• We’ve said it in this space before but there are just some teams that are a waste of time when it comes to chasing saves. Apparently, the 2013 Astros are one of those teams. Bo Porter left Erik Bedard (who actually racked up the first save in baseball this season) in to try and finish off a win. No Chia-Jen Lo, no Josh Fields. Just Canadian pride. Unfortunately, Bedard gave up a leadoff tater to Ryan Doumit (12) so “BS” train, here we come. Of course, he still scabbed a win when Trevor Crowe singled in Jonathan Villar in the bottom of the ninth, so all was not lost for the 0.326% (*not a real number) of fantasy owners who started Bedard (or have left him accidentally in their lineup for months). Either way, the ‘Stros are probably looking at a handful (one handful) of saves the rest of the way and it’s highly unlikely they’ll come from the same source. I’m just not that into Russian roulette.

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We’re headed to crunch time here in the baseball season. That means crunch time in your roto leagues, but not necessarily crunch time on DraftStreet. Stream those pitchers, fill those categories, watch those September callups and whether you can squeak some extra juice out of them (or make sure they aren’t taking playing time away from your starter).

A beautiful day seems on tap for baseball — the only game forecasted to have more than a 20% chance of rain in the Twins in Houston. Thankfully (for Houston fans) they have the magic of a retractable roof (well, that and air conditioning), so we should be good to go on the rain front today. Dry baseball!

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• Fantasy owners have probably been a little miffed Aroldis Chapman hasn’t seen a ton of save opportunities as the season begins to wear down. After not pitching in eight days, Chapman finally got the call tonight and didn’t disappoint. The Reds lefty sat over 102 (touched 104.2) mph with the fastball, en route to absolutely blowing away the Cardinals. The Cuban’s walk rate has ticked back up over 10%, so his fielding independent predictors (xFIP, SIERA, etc.) aren’t quite as good as they were last year, but, let’s be honest, going from a 1.33 SIERA to 1.84 isn’t exactly falling off the face of the Earth. And perhaps the biggest positive? Chapman’s fastball velocity is not only up over 2012, but it seems to be holding relatively steady. Recall he fatigued down the stretch last year, only sitting around 95 mph with the heater in some late August/early September outings. Not so in 2013.

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We’ve hit September. Where has the year gone?

• Joaquin Benoit is hoping the rest of September doesn’t go like today went. The Detroit closer gave up three free passes and a killer home run in losing a 0-0 tie against the Indians at Comerica. This was surprisingly out-of-character for Benoit; the right-hander had only given up two earned runs since July. Of course, that was before Mike Aviles cracked a grand slam. The good news? Benoit holds a 2.74 SIERA and the seeming support of manager Jim Leyland. On a team that had so much closer “instability” earlier in the year, Benoit has really stabilized the back of the pen. Until he gives up a few more homers to big-calved shortstops, I’m not concerned.

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• Grant Balfour had a pretty big hiccup in Detroit today, blowing a three-run, ninth inning lead. The cherry on the not-so-cool sundae was a grooved offspeed pitch which Torii Hunter deposited into the left-field bullpen for a walkoff three-run shot. The outing is not something A’s fans have seen a lot from their closer this year; his ERA ballooned from 1.76 to 2.44. While he hasn’t been low-2.00’s ERA good this year, his 2.82 SIERA is the second-lowest of his career (behind 2008). The 35-year-old has turned back the clock a bit, seeing an uptick in fastball velocity and SwStr%, which means a jump in K%. Like last year, he seems to be getting stronger as the year wears along, so ride him through the last few weeks of the season.

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• Jason Grilli seems to be on the road to recovery. The Pirates closer threw a simulated inning on Wednesday afternoon as he works his way back from a forearm strain. Assuming he doesn’t wake up with a swollen elbow, Grilli seems destined to head out on a rehab assignment this weekend or early next week. Assuming he’ll get 2-3 outings in, we may see him back in Pittsburgh next weekend. The 36-year-old still needs to avoid setbacks, but those who stashed him on their DLs may be handsomely rewarded in the saves department for the last few months weeks of the season. Mark Melancon would be relegated to a setup role, but with 1.89 SIERA, you’re still using him to help clean up those ERA/WHIP rates anyway.

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