As Ben alluded to last evening, Bryan Price officially removed J.J. Hoover from the closer’s role in Cincinatti this afternoon in favor of a closer-by-committee. Names included in said committee include Tony Cingrani, Blake Wood and former closer J.J. Hoover. Both Cingrani and Wood struggled today at home against the Rockies, surrendering three earned runs on two hits and three walks in just an inning-and-a-third of work. With that said, J.J. Hoover has struggled a bit to start the season — he’s just 1-of-2 in save opportunities with an 11.13 FIP and a 0% K-BB% in 5.1 frames — but, there’s still a chance he earns another save opportunity soon given the others’ struggles and Price’s comments. I still believe it’s worth keeping an eye on Caleb Cotham. I’ll be leaving the chart as Ben set it last evening, so if you’re looking to pull some more of your hair out in an attempt to roster a Reds’ closer, I’d lean Cingrani, Hoover, Cotham then Wood.
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For the sake of this week’s middle reliever column, we’ll be digging through a series of arbitrary endpoints in search of hurlers that can lend you a hand in your holds or saves + holds leagues. Sure, the arms noted are more likely to be considered in formats that reward holds, but for the most part, I am one of those players that favor rostering middles to maintain the ratios while logging strikeouts on a regular basis. All depends on the context of your league, obviously.
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Mark Lowe notched his third hold of the young season for the Tigers despite allowing an earned run on three hits in just over an inning of work. Then trusty “old” Francisco Rodriguez came in during the final frame to seal Detroit’s victory for his second save of the season and 388th of his career. He needed just 22 pitches (17 strikes – zero swinging) to close out the Pirates. At just 34 years of age, KRod keeps climbing the all-time saves leaders list and appears to be on his way to a top four or five finish if health and father time is on his side.
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The Bullpen Report team worked a bit earlier than normal on Wednesday to compile notes and observations revolving around the earlier contests, so if by chance we publish before the Best Coast games go final, we’ll catch up with you on Thursday with the necessary details.

-After constant chatter on the comment section, it looks like the mob was right about Sam Dyson in Texas. Keone Kela came on in the seventh inning and struggled a bit allowing three baserunners and an earned run only getting two outs in the inning. Sam Dyson finished the seventh and also threw a scoreless eighth and he looks to be next in line for saves in Texas. Those save opportunities might be a bit closer too after Shawn Tolleson’s no good very bad day today. Tolleson entered the ninth with a 5-4 lead and proceeded to allow five hits and five runs without recording an out. Tolleson was never the most talented in the Rangers relief corps but he was the one getting saves. He hasn’t lost his job yet but I would run to the waivers to put a claim on Dyson.
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Here’s just a quick handful of bullpen notes for this whacky Thursday slate in baseball:

At the time of this writing 11 of the 12 games scheduled for today are in the books. And at the time of this writing each of the 11 games have finished with a save. The 12th game — Colorado at Arizona — is in the final frame and also in a save situation. Looks as if we could go 12-for-12 in games and saves on the day. Has to be some sort of record. Right?
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Congratulations is in order for the Kansas City Royals who officially punched their ticket to the 2015 MLB Playoffs with a 10-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners tonight. The good news is that the Royals clinched their first division title since 1985. The bad news is that they’ll have to navigate their way through the playoffs without their closer, Greg Holland.

Reports suggest that Holland first felt something wasn’t right in his elbow last season prior to the playoffs. But he pitched through it and eventually won the Mariano Rivera Award for the best closer in the American League. He charged through the Spring knowing the issues were still present. And despite the elbow discomfort and gradual dip in velocity as the season wore on, Holland refused to get an MRI until late August when ligament damage was detected. The Royals tried to honor Holland’s wishes by letting him pitch through the injury, but after a fifth blown save last weekend he was yanked from the closer’s role and shut down for the remainder of the year. The 29-year-old finished the ‘15 season with a 3-2 record, 32-of-37 in save chances, an 11.9% K-BB% and a 3.83 ERA (3.23 FIP).
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Just a handful of games on this Thursday slate, so here’s just a couple of bullpen notes to get you up to speed:

A three-run seventh put the White Sox up two on the Twinkies and in need of closer David Robertson’s services in the final frame. Robertson dished a clean frame, retiring the top of the Twins’ lineup in order on 14 pitches (10 strikes) — including a strikeout of Eduardo Escobar — to secure the victory and his 28th save on the year. On the season, the right-hander is now 28-of-34 in save chances with a 2.55 ERA (2.08 FIP) and a 12.23 K/9 in 53 innings on the hill. Nate Jones fanned three and notched his fourth hold of the season in the same contest.
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Cody Allen struggled a bit in the Bronx today, but escaped a ninth-inning jam to finish off the Yankees and notch his 24th save of the season. He yielded an earned run on a pair of singles and a walk, but managed to induce a fly ball out off the bat of Didi Gregorious for the final out of the game, stranding a duo of ducks on the pond. Just 14 of Allen’s 21 pitches fell for strikes tonight, four of which were looking and one by swing-and-miss. He also nailed the first pitch for a strike to three of the six batters he faced.
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Just a few quick notes for this short Thursday slate…

–Andrew Miller last tripped to the hill on Tuesday when he fanned two but surrendered a pair of earned runs on three hits to be charged with his first blown save of the season. And although his 24 consecutive save streak has been reset, the Yankees summonsed their southpaw closer to the mound with a three-run lead over the Indians in Cleveland. Miller entered tonight with a 1.85 ERA (2.49 FIP) and a 27.8% K-BB%, but by the time he left the mound the lefty owned a 2.08 ERA (2.40 FIP) along with a 28.2% K-BB%. Miller surrendered an earned run on two hits while striking out two en route to his 25th save of the season. He needed 18 pitches to get through the five batters and secure the victory of the Yankees.
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A go-ahead solo home run off the bat of Jacoby Ellsbury in the home half of the seventh-inning provided Andrew Miller an opportunity to convert his 24th save of the season in 24 chances. With the Yankees up 2-1 on their chief rivals, Miller secured the three outs necessary to remain a perfect 24-for-24 in save chances this season. The lefty surrendered a free pass along with a single, but escaped unscathed in a 17-pitch effort to seal the deal. In 37 frames this season, Miller is 0-2 with 24 saves, a 1.46 ERA (2.55 FIP) and a 28.4% K-BB%. Entering tonight, Miller’s owned career bests in swinging strike rate (17.4% SwStr%), nailing the first-pitch strike (66.4% F-Strike%), limiting contact on pitches both in (76.3% Z-Contact%) and out (35% O-Contact%) of the zone as well as inducing swings on pitches outside of the zone (33.2% O-Swing%).
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