Bullpen Report: April 6, 2015

There isn’t any particularly breaking news today, but a few important updates on some previous bullet points discussed yesterday.

• Jenrry Mejia had a MRI today and although there was no structural damage, Mejia was placed on the DL with elbow inflammation. Jeurys Familia is the new closer and although a healthy Mejia is the better pitcher, there isn’t a particularly big difference so if Mejia is out for an extended period of time, Familia can hold onto the job. If he falters Carlos Torres and Rafael Montero are right behind him. Mejia can’t throw for at least the next 10 days after which he might feel no pain and be back in the ninth inning before we know it, but it’s still an unknown.

• We mentioned Kenley Jansen and his walking boot last night. He was still wearing the boot on Opening Day but he’s still expected back in mid-May, so Jansen owners can ease some concerns.  Expect Joel Peralta and Chris Hatcher to continue to fill in while Jansen is out.

• Grant Balfour entered the game last night in the eighth inning down by four and he entered tonight’s game in the 6th inning down by three. With Jake McGee out as he recovers from TJ surgery, Balfour figured to play a prominent role in the Rays’ pen but after his early usage I’m going to put Jepsen ahead of him in the pecking order, behind Brad Boxberger. Jepsen saw his first action this season, throwing a scoreless eighth with Boxberger replacing him for a perfect ninth of his own. Unfortunately, no save situation was in place with the Rays down one.

• Quick Hits: Steve Cishek entered tonight’s game in a non-save situation just to receive some work and he was lit up, allowing four earned runs while only recording one out. That unfortunately hurts your fantasy team but not Cishek’s job security. Zach Britton continued his brilliant 2014 season by striking out the side for his first save of the year and the ageless wonder Bartolo Colon LaTroy Hawkins notched his first save as well.

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	Boone Logan
Detroit	Joe Nathan	Joakim Soria	Al Alburquerque
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)	Jenrry Mejia	Jeurys Familia	Carlos Torres	Bobby Parnell
NY (AL)	Dellin Betances	Andrew Miller	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	Brett Cecil	Aaron Loup	Miguel Castro	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.]