(Belated) Bullpen Report: September 13, 2016

• Some strange things going on in San Francisco. Santiago Casilla lost his role as closer earlier and Hunter Strickland who recorded a save on the 11th proceeded to give up four runs last night. Steven Okert, a lefty in the Giants pen, relieved Strickland in the ninth but promptly blew the save after allowing a homer to Ryan Schimpf. Bruce Bochy confirmed that Strickland is still his closer but Derek Law is due back today making Strickland’s leash considerably tighter. Sergio Romo and Will Smith might just be considered righty and lefty specialists at this point but they could possibly see some more chances and I wouldn’t fully rule out Casilla either, depending on how he finishes the year.

• Seung Hwan Oh is dealing with some groin soreness and although he’s just day-to-day he was unavailable last night. In his place Kevin Siegrist nailed down the save for the Cardinals, confirming his spot in the pecking order. Mike Matheny is hopeful that Oh will return today but expect Siegrist to continue to see the ninth if Oh is not right yet.

• Rough luck for Jeurys Familia last night as the Mets blew the save in the ninth only to regain the lead in the top of the 10th. Three infield singles and an error by Jose Reyes turned the Mets 3-1 lead into a tie game. As far as blown saves go, this one by Familia was as innocent as it gets. Addison Reed threw a perfect eighth as his fantastic season setting up continues. Fernando Salas started the 10th inning for the save but handed the ball over to Jerry Blevins to finish the game against ex-Met and lefty Daniel Murphy.

• Quick Hits: Dellin Betances recorded a four out save (11) while striking out two. It never gets old to check his pitching line – an inflated 2.36 ERA but a 1.48/1.61 FIP/xFIP along with a 43.8% strikeouts rate and a 52% groundball percentage. He’s good. Tony Watson had a few blips over the last couple of weeks but he threw a perfect frame last night for his 12th save on the year. Jeanmar Gomez blew the lead for the Phillies giving Watson a save chance. I don’t see the Phillies doing anything drastic here in the final weeks but with Hector Neris being the better pitcher and already throwing in the eighth, I’ve changed their situation to yellow.  Zach Britton (42), Ryan Madson (30) and AJ Ramos (35) recorded saves as well. Tanner Scheppers recorded a save and could see the grid although Sam Dyson is still in the closer’s chair for now and Kevin Quackenbush got the save (2) filling in for Brandon Maurer who had the night off. There was no save situation for the Reds but Tony Cingrani gave up two runs in the ninth. Raisel Iglesias might continue to see a few save opportunities for the Reds along with Cingrani in the last month.

Closer Grid:

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