• Well, it wasn’t quite a save situation, but Bullpen Report favorite Hector Rondon looked good in Chicago today. The Cubs right-hander put the finishing touches on a 4-0 win, doing so in fine fashion by striking out the side. Rondon doesn’t quite have eye-popping numbers, but his mid-90’s fastball is enough to keep his swinging strike rate in the double digits and complement his slider (which gets whiffs one of every five times he throws it). His primary knock historically was health, he’s dealt with a fractured arm and has already undergone Tommy John surgery once. However, he managed to make it through 2013 relatively unscathed and continues to look fairly healthy in 2014. While Pedro Strop also tossed a scoreless inning today, Rondon’s outing (both usage and the subsequent punchouts) seems to make him the odds on favorite for the next save at Wrigley. The Cubs don’t project to be a save-heavy team, but Rondon is one of the few nice speculative adds among guys with sub-10% ownership percentages.

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• Ernesto Frieri may be pushing himself out of the ninth inning in Los Angeles. A homer, then single, walk, and a double and the Angels’ closer bought himself another blown save (in a game the team would eventually lose 5-4 on another walkoff homer). Frieri actually continues to own a decent 3.30 xFIP but an ugly 8.80 FIP. So it comes down to homers (xFIP assumes league average HR/FB, FIP does not). The righty has given up a longball to 5 of the 42 batters he’s faced this year. That’s an unsexy 38.5% HR/FB%. Wow. Read the rest of this entry »

• As Ben alluded to last night, the Mets seemed to be on the verge of making a change in the ninth inning. This morning, Terry Collins made it official. Kyle (Professor) Farnsworth is the newest closer in New York. Now that you are done racing to the wire to try and grab him, let’s chat. Farnsworth turned 38 last week, which aside from making me feel old, doesn’t portend good things for his career arc. His fastball velocity has fallen every year since 2009. It used to be a blistering 96 mph, now it barely broaches 91. Last season was the first his SwStr% had been below 10% since 2007, and it was only the second time in his career he didn’t make it into double digits.

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• Two games, two shutouts, two saves, two different closers for the Yankees today. Current closer Shawn Kelley polished off Masahiro Tanaka’s gem in game one of a doubleheader, while Adam Warren finished off the day’s eighteen straight scoreless innings against the Cubs in the nightcap. Kelley’s easy save solidifies his role in the ninth; he should be available to finish the game tomorrow. He impressively has yet to walk a batter this season. That the team went to Adam Warren when having the rest of the bullpen available in the second game speaks to his position as second-in-command on the depth chart. The concern about this bullpen appears it will be short-lived, however. David Robertson is going to try throwing off a mound tomorrow and hopes to return when eligible next week.

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• If you were hedging your Jonathan Papelbon closer bets with Jake Diekman, well, you can probably stop. With Papelbon having tossed three straight games, the Phils turned to Diekman to try and wrap up a one-run game Monday night. It blew up in the faces, with the lefty demonstrating a complete inability to hit the strike zone (he walked B.J. Upton, that’s how bad it was) before he served up a hanging spinner to Dan Uggla. Granny style. Diekman has always struggled with control (5.05 BB/9 in the minors, 4.88 in the majors) and righties own a career .335 wOBA against him. He has the potential to be a nice half of a lefty/righty platoon, but he doesn’t have the skill set to be profitable in an everyday ninth inning role. Look elsewhere if you need Papelbon insurance (if you’re so inclined, Mike Adams was activated after the game).

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Warning: Long (but juicy!) Bullpen Report ahead.

• If you are trying to read the tea leaves and decipher who will get the next chance in the Athletics bullpen, the situation is now clear. … as mud. Yesterday night saw Sean Doolittle pitch the eighth and open the ninth inning (which was slated to have lefty-lefty-lefty due up). The Mariners pinch hit with one out, which resulted in Bob Melvin countering and playing handedness, bringing in righty Luke Gregerson, who looked good (ignore the two hits, both were good pieces of hitting on pitches either at the bottom or out of the zone) in wrapping up the save.

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• Oh, Jim Johnson. Oakland’s “closer” continued his rough start to the season earlier, getting yanked in the middle of a save opportunity. Oakland eventually won the game in extras, but it is little consolation to the groundballer’s fantasy owners. He’s allowed a seemingly unlucky 9 hits on 16 balls in play so far this year, but owns an ugly 4/6 K/BB ratio. His velocity is right where it should be and he’s had a history of pretty good control, so it may just be a rough couple of outings. That said, it’s an awful time for him to have a rough couple outings, as he hasn’t had a chance to establish himself in the Oakland bullpen.

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• The J.J. Hoover experiment likely came to a crashing end this afternoon. Once anointed to be Cincy’s closer until Aroldis Chapman makes his return in mid-late May, a string of poor spring training outings left his grasp on the ninth inning weakened. Bryan Price turned to him Saturday, however, in an attempt to polish off a would-be victory against the New York Mets. A few baserunners later and Ike Davis made sure the BS was being hung on Hoover, walking off in dramatic fashion by swatting a grand slam off the righty. Hoover’s velocity has been fine this year (he’s almost exactly in line with his career marks) but his spring training control issues have not abated.

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Happy “Opening Night!” Well, domestically at least. An early version of the Bullpen Report tonight since your author is on his way to San Diego (unfortunately, I’ll be in the air during Dodgers/Padres and not in a seat).

• The big surprise this afternoon was the annoucement Casey Janssen will open the season on the disabled list with a back strain. The news is odd timing; Janssen had battled shoulder weakness during the spring, but had just made his spring debut last week (and pitched Thursday and Friday). If the team had any inkling he’d have to open the season on the DL, they likely wouldn’t have thrown him in major league games, because his stint is now backdated to March 29th, meaning he’s not eligible to return until around the 3rd week of the season (at the earliest).

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• Papa Grande is back and he’s back big! Two bits of news today sent Jose Valverde’s value skyrocketing in fantasy leagues. OK, “skyrocketing” is an exaggeration. But first, the Mets demoted popular sleeper Vic Black early on Wednesday. Black’s control issues reared their ugly head in Florida, as the 26-year-old walked 10 in 9.1 innings. He has the stuff to be elite (33+% K% the last couple years between minor league stops), but will work on his command in Triple-A. If you bought in dynasty leagues, hold on, but he’s droppable in redrafts. He’ll be sitting on the wire if you need him later in the season.

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