Bullpen Report: April 22, 2014

• The Yankees activated David Robertson from the DL today but he didn’t enter tonight’s game against the Red Sox. Shawn Kelley did an admirable job filling in but the ninth inning definitely belongs to David Robertson in the Bronx. If Robertson’s healthy, his above average control and elite strikeout ability could easily make him a top ten closer. Of course we all know that, it’s why we drafted him as such just a few months ago. Of more interest might be Dellin Betances, who’s 0.93/1.59/2.15 ERA/FIP/xFIP and 14.90 K/9 could make him a more major player in the back of the Yankees bullpen as the season goes on. Adam Warren received a save opportunity this season, but projecting these guys forward Betances will likely provide more value with his strikeouts, and once he develops a trust with Girardi he could see more consistent meaningful innings.

• Whether you call it a “setback” or an “annoyance”, Blue Jays reliever Casey Janssen’s recovery has been slowed down as he remains on the DL but hopes to start a minor-league rehab assignment next week. Sergio Santos is 5/6 on save opportunities in place of Janssen but he has struggled mightily with his control, walking eight guys in only 6.1 innings pitched along with three wild pitches. Santos likely had a chance to run away with the closers role with Janssen on the shelf but his struggles have left the door ajar. Janssen wouldn’t be thrown into the ninth inning immediately upon his return, but if he’s able to come back in the next month or so, and Santos continues to walk the field, Janssen could become a nice source for saves.

• Trevor Rosenthal pitched around a couple of walks for his sixth save of the season. Rosie’s job is a secure as anyone’s and he’s a perfect 6/6 on saves this year but his season has been slightly disappointing ratio wise. He’s striking out fewer guys and walking more but he also won’t maintain a 47% LOB% all season. However, Rosie owners should not worry, with a 96 mph heater and a 13.3 SwStr% I fully expect Rosenthal to be a top option at the position, just as we expected in the beginning of the season.

• Joba Chamberlain recorded the last out for the Tigers tonight for his first save of the year. At first glance 4.05 ERA might sound like the same story from Joba but he’s actually been quite impressive with 11 strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Joba is throwing fewer fastballs this season and it’s worked by generating more swings and misses (15.8 SwStr%). He also has a career high 76.9 first pitch strike percentage. Joba’s throwing more strikes and getting more swings and misses than ever and is certainly worth rostering for ratio help and holds. Joe Nathan is still very much the Tigers closer, he was even getting warm tonight just in case he was needed but he’s had a bit of a rough start to the season He’s converted 3/5 saves but has a 7.04/5.91/4.44 ERA/FIP/xFIP along with some declining velocity on his fastball (91 mph in 2014 compared to 92.2 mph in 2013). Nathan’s velo could warm up with the weather and his salary should earn him a very long leash but Joba’s fast start could vault him to next in line if anything were to happen with Nathan.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Addison Reed	J.J. Putz	Brad Ziegler
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Jordan Walden	David Carpenter
Baltimore	Tommy Hunter	Darren O’Day	Ryan Webb
Boston	Koji Uehara	Edward Mujica	Junichi Tazawa
CHI (NL)	Pedro Strop	Hector Rondon	Jose Veras	Kyuji Fujikawa
CHI (AL)	Matt Lindstrom	Daniel Webb	Ronald Belisario	Nate Jones
Cincy	Johnathan Broxton	Sam LeCure	J.J. Hoover	Aroldis Chapman
Cleveland	John Axford	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw
Colorado	LaTroy Hawkins	Adam Ottavino	Rex Brothers
Detroit	Joe Nathan	Al Alburquerque	Joba Chamberlain
Houston	Josh Fields	Matt Albers	Chad Qualls	Jesse Crain
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Aaron Crow
LAA	Ernesto Frieri	Joe Smith	Kevin Jepsen	Dane de la Rosa
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Chris Perez	Brian Wilson
Miami	Steve Cishek	A.J. Ramos	Mike Dunn
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Jim Henderson	Will Smith	Brandon Kintzler
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Jared Burton	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Kyle Farnsworth	Gonzalez Germen	Jose Valverde	Bobby Parnell
NY (AL)	David Robertson	Shawn Kelley	Dellin Betances
Oakland	Luke Gregerson	Sean Doolittle	Jim Johnson
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Antonio Bastardo	Mike Adams
Pittsburgh	Jason Grilli	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Carlos Martinez	Kevin Siegrist	Jason Motte
SD	Huston Street	Joaquin Benoit	Alex Torres
SF	Sergio Romo	Santiago Casilla	Jeremy Affeldt
Seattle	Fernando Rodney	Danny Farquhar	Tom Wilhelmsen
TB	Grant Balfour	Heath Bell	Joel Peralta
Texas	Joakim Soria	Alexi Ogando	Jason Frasor	Neftali Feliz
Toronto	Sergio Santos	Steve Delabar	Brett Cecil	Casey Janssen
Wash.	Rafael Soriano	Tyler Clippard	Drew Storen

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