Bullpen Report: April 3, 2014

With the exception of all the Jim Johnson concerns, a lot of positive discussion took place in the comments last evening after the Bullpen Report hit the interwebs. Thank you, I/we appreciate the feedback.

-Just when the murky waters in Chicago appeared to clear, Matt Lindstrom surrendered two earned runs on two hits and a walk in a save situation this evening against the Twins. The blown save is the first on the season for Lindstrom, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Nate Jones is ready to take on ninth-inning duties. Jones appeared in the seventh-inning tonight, surrendered free passes to the first two batters he faced, then was immediately relieved of his duties. Maikel Cleto took over for Jones with two on and no out, but couldn’t keep Jones’ two runners from scoring. After the game, both Robin Ventura and Nate Jones himself acknowledged that the reliever experienced some discomfort during the game. Don’t drop Lindstrom just yet.

–Pedro Strop surrendered a leadoff single to Neil Walker, but induced a pop out on a bunt attempt, followed by a double-play to earn his first save of the season in a 3-2 Cubs victory over the Pirates. Strop likely earned the look in tonight’s contest due to Jose Veras’ 38-pitch effort last evening, so I don’t think there is any sort of competition to worry about just yet in Wrigleyville. Strop should be owned in all holds and solds leagues, but could make for an interesting handcuff in deeper mixers if you have the bench spots. The right-handers is available in 93% of Y! leagues.

–David Robertson notched the first save of the post-Mariano Rivera era in a 4-2 Yankees victory over the Astros tonight. The righty induced a deep flyout off the bat of Matt Dominguez, fanned Alex Presley and got Jonathan Villar to ground out to seal the deal. It may take 82 games or so for Yankees’ fans and fantasy owners alike to accept the fact that Rivera will no longer be called from the bullpen in closing situations, but more outings like tonight’s will likely ease their heartache. Tonight’s save was the ninth of Robertson’s career.

Quick Hits: Koji Uehara needed just seven pitches to strike out one and induce to foul outs en route to his first save of the season. Seven pitches. Glen Perkins, the beneficiary of the White Sox bullpen miscues, allowed a hit but collected his first save of twenty-fourteen. Steve Cishek earned his second save of the young season as the Marlins clipped the Rockies, 8-5. Trevor Rosenthal picked up the four out save — his second of the year — without allowing a hit or a walk, while striking out one.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Addison Reed	J.J. Putz	Brad Ziegler
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	David Carpenter	Jordan Walden
Baltimore	Tommy Hunter	Darren O’Day	Ryan Webb
Boston	Koji Uehara	Edward Mujica	Junichi Tazawa
CHI (NL)	Jose Veras	Pedro Strop	Hector Rondon	Kyuji Fujikawa
CHI (AL)	Matt Lindstrom	Nate Jones	Daniel Webb
Cincy	J.J. Hoover	Sam LeCure	Logan Ondrusak	Aroldis Chapman
Cleveland	John Axford	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw
Colorado	LaTroy Hawkins	Rex Brothers	Matt Belisle
Detroit	Joe Nathan	Joba Chamberlain	Al Alburquerque
Houston	Josh Fields	Matt Albers	Chad Qualls	Jesse Crain
KC	Greg Holland	Kelvin Herrera	Aaron Crow
LAA	Ernesto Frieri	Joe Smith	Kevin Jepsen	Dane de la Rosa
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Chris Perez	Paco Rodriguez	Brian Wilson
Miami	Steve Cishek	A.J. Ramos	Mike Dunn
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Jim Henderson	Brandon Kintzler
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Jared Burton	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Jose Valverde	Jeurys Familia	Gonzalez Germen	Bobby Parnell
NY (AL)	David Robertson	Shawn Kelley	Matt Thornton
Oakland	Jim Johnson	Luke Gregerson	Sean Doolittle	Ryan Cook
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Antonio Bastardo	Jake Diekman
Pittsburgh	Jason Grilli	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Carlos Martinez	Kevin Siegrist
SD	Huston Street	Joaquin Benoit	Alex Torres
SF	Sergio Romo	Santiago Casilla	Javier Lopez	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.]