Bullpen Report: April 13, 2015

Jumbo Diaz garnered a blown save in Cincinnati, giving up a bomb to Jhonny Peralta in the eighth. Don’t be shocked if J.J. Hoover gets the nod over him in the near future. Aroldis Chapman didn’t strike out a single Cardinal in his inning of work, so sound some kind of alarm.

Drew Storen gave up two hits, a walk and a run while getting the save against the Phillies. He threw equal amounts of strikes and balls with his 20 pitches. If you aren’t familiar with Aaron Barrett yet, you should be. He struck out two more on Sunday in another perfect inning. If you’re in a deep league, he’ll help with holds and will bolster your ratios.

The Blue Jays showed how they’re going to close games out for the time being. Brett Cecil was preceded by Roberto Osuna, and followed by Miguel Castro. Castro did throw eight of his 19 pitches outside of the zone, so keep an eye on his control this week, as he’s by no means locked in as the closer.

In Arlington, Chad Qualls combined with Pat Neshek and Joe Thatcher to cough up a two-run lead in the eighth inning. Qualls drilled two Rangers and walked Rougned Odor with the bases loaded. This obviously changes nothing in the Astros bullpen and there is no cause for concern.

Tyler Clippard gave up a two-out home run to Nelson Cruz in the tenth inning in Oakland, but that wasn’t the story of the day. Fernando Rodney allowed six men to reach base with four of them coming home to count. Rodney owners did get a ray of sunshine when the Cruz homer put Rodney in line for the win. So there’s that. Yoervis Medina grabbed the save, striking out one in a clean tenth.

If you can get Adam Ottavino and haven’t already been swayed by Eno Sarris, you should jump on him soon. Ottavino, not Eno. The Troy Hawkins blew his second save of the week when he gave up a bomb to ex-Rockie Dexter Fowler. Hawkins didn’t get a single Cub to swing and miss and there is really zero reason for him to still be closing games for the Rockies. Get yourself some Ottavino now.

The Dodgers needed someone to fill the Kenley Jansen void, and they tabbed Chris Hatcher with that responsibility. Unfortunately, it hasn’t gone according to plan. Unless the plan was for Hatcher to start the season with an ERA of 33.75. Which it probably wasn’t. He went double, walk, strikeout, single, double, and Joel Peralta had to come in and lock down the game on what was looking like a sure day off. He got his second save, and it’s safe to say that he’s going to be the go-to guy for the Dodgers. Grab him tonight if you’re looking for some April saves.

Brandon Maurer was recalled by the Padres, and some of us were very excited by that. He struck out two on Saturday, and showed that the San Diego bullpen is not to be messed with. He isn’t getting any high-leverage opportunities yet, but I have zero doubts that he would thrive if given the chance. Craig Kimbrel ho-hummed his second save of the season, and proved that Sunday afternoon shadows in San Diego are just not fair with him on the mound. Joaquin Benoit got a hold to go with his two wins this week, so if you’re an owner who was sad when they acquired Kimbrel, at least you got some bennies this week.

Notes: Ernesto Frieri notched a save for the Rays, coming into the game with two outs in the eighth to protect a three-run lead. Joakim Soria saved another one for the Tigers. Jeurys Familia recorded his first save for the Mets, going two thirds of an inning in Atlanta.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Addison Reed	Evan Marshall	Brad Ziegler
Atlanta	Jason Grilli	Jim Johnson	Luis Avilan
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Darren O’Day	Tommy Hunter
Boston	Edward Mujica	Junichi Tazawa	Alexi Ogando	Koji Uehara
CHI (NL)	Hector Rondon	Pedro Strop	Neil Ramirez
CHI (AL)	David Robertson	Zach Putnam	Zach Duke	Jacob Petricka
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	Jumbo Diaz	Tony Cingrani	Sean Marshall
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw	Scott Atchison
Colorado	LaTroy Hawkins	Adam Ottavino	John Axford
Detroit	Joakim Soria	Al Alburquerque	Joba Chamberlain	Joe Nathan
Houston	Luke Gregerson	Chad Qualls	Pat Neshek
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Kelvin Herrera
LAA	Huston Street	Joe Smith	Vinnie Pestano
LAD	Chris Hatcher	Joel Peralta	Pedro Baez	Kenley Jansen
Miami	Steve Cishek	A.J. Ramos	Mike Dunn
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Jonathan Broxton	Will Smith
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Brian Duensing	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Jeurys Familia	Carlos Torres	Rafael Montero	Jenrry Mejia
NY (AL)	Andrew Miller	Dellin Betances	David Carpenter
Oakland	Tyler Clippard	Eric O’Flaherty	Dan Otero	Sean Doolittle
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Ken Giles	Jake Diekman
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson	Jared Hughes
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Jordan Walden	Seth Maness
SD	Craig Kimbrel	Joaquin Benoit	Dale Thayer	Kevin Quackenbush
SF	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Jeremy Affeldt
Seattle	Fernando Rodney	Danny Farquhar	Yoervis Medina	Dominic Leone
TB	Brad Boxberger	Kevin Jepsen	Grant Balfour	Jake McGee
Texas	Neftali Feliz	Shawn Tolleson	Keone Kela	Tanner Scheppers
Toronto	Miguel Castro	Brett Cecil	Aaron Loup	Steve Delabar
Wash.	Drew Storen	Aaron Barrett	Blake Treinen	Casey Janssen

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