Bullpen Report: August 14, 2014

–Jenrry Mejia dished a clean ninth frame with a strikeout on just nine pitches in a non-save situation against the Nationals. This outing is an interesting one considering Mejia is apparently pitching with a sports hernia. He’ll have these issues taken care of in the offseason, but for the time being, the Mets’ medical staff has cleared him to to take the hill. In 43 appearances this season, the 24-year-old is 5-5 with 17 saves in 20 chances. He currently owns a 3.84 ERA (3.58 FIP) and owned a 1.55 WHIP with a 12.8% K-BB% entering tonight’s contest. If-and-when Mejia does goes under the knife for the sports hernia, he could “gradually return to baseball activities between three-and-six weeks after therapy.”

-Both Greg Holland and Trevor Rosenthal notched their 36th save of the season this evening, pulling them into a three-way tie with Francisco Rodriguez for the league’s lead. For Holland, the save was a unique one. He came on in relief of Jason Frasor with two runners on base and the tying run in the on-deck circle. Holland surrendered a free pass, but escaped with the save thanks to a bases loaded, two-out flyout to left off the bat of Brandon Moss. Rosenthal struggled a bit tonight, giving up an earned run on three hits and two walks before finally retiring the Padres in the top of the ninth. The Cardinals’ closer is now 36-of-40 in save chances with a 3.21 ERA (2.61 FIP) in 56 trips to the bump this season.

–Jake McGee needed 18 ninth-inning pitches to notch his 13th save of the season as the Rays clipped the Rangers, 6-3. The 28-year-old southpaw is now 13-of-14 in save chances this season with a 1.31 ERA (1.22 FIP) and a ~35% K%. And, McGee has blown just one save and allowed only three earned runs in 26 appearances since June 16th.

-The Pirates assigned Ernesto Frieri outright to Indianapolis of the International League and claimed right-hander John Axford off waivers from the Cleveland Indians. In order to make room for Axford on the 40-man, the Pirates designated Matt Hague for assignment, but no corresponding move on the 25-man is required until he reports to the team. The Bucs will owe Axford $1.22m for the remainder of the year. All fingers point to the former closer being added for relief depth in low-leverage situations, so now change to the chart will be necessary for the time being . In 49 appearances for the Tribe, the moustached one went 2-3 with 10 saves in 13 chances with a 3.92 ERA (4.71 FIP).

-Quick Hits: Kenley Jansen (34) and Rafael Soriano (28) successfully converted save chances this evening. The Braves recalled lefty Luis Avilan from Triple-A Gwinnett this morning prior to their game against the Dodgers. Naturally, with his team down one entering the ninth-frame, Avilan yields a bunt single, a HBP and a double to provide the Dodgers with an additional insurance run before the home team’s last chance. The struggles for Avilan continue as he now owns a 5.04 ERA (4.48 FIP) and a 2.2% K-BB% (entering tonight).

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Addison Reed	Brad Ziegler	Oliver Perez
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Jordan Walden	David Carpenter	Shae Simmons
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Tommy Hunter	Andrew Miller
Boston	Koji Uehara	Edward Mujica	Junichi Tazawa
CHI (NL)	Hector Rondon	Neil Ramirez	Kyuji Fujikawa
CHI (AL)	Jacob Petricka	Zach Putnam	Matt Lindstom
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	Jonathan Broxton	Sam LeCure	Sean Marshall
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw	Scott Atchinson
Colorado	LaTroy Hawkins	Adam Ottavino	Rex Brothers
Detroit	Joe Nathan	Joba Chamberlain	Al Alburquerque	Joakim Soria
Houston	Chad Qualls	Tony Sipp	Josh Fields
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Jason Frasor
LAA	Huston Street	Joe Smith	Jason Grilli
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Brian Wilson	Brandon League
Miami	Steve Cishek	Bryan Morris	A.J. Ramos
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Will Smith	Brandon Kintzler	Jim Henderson
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Jared Burton	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Jenrry Mejia	Jeurys Familia	Vic Black	Bobby Parnell
NY (AL)	David Robertson	Dellin Betances	Adam Warren
Oakland	Sean Doolittle	Luke Gregerson	Dan Otero
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Ken Giles	Jake Diekman	Mike Adams
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson	Jared Hughes
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Pat Neshek	Kevin Siegrist	Jason Motte
SD	Joaquin Benoit	Kevin Quackenbush	Dale Thayer
SF	Santiago Casilla	Jeremy Affeldt	Sergio Romo
Seattle	Fernando Rodney	Danny Farquhar	Dominic Leone
TB	Jake McGee	Brad Boxberger	Grant Balfour
Texas	Neftali Feliz	Neal Cotts	Shawn Tolleson
Toronto	Casey Janssen	Aaron Loup	Brett Cecil
Wash.	Rafael Soriano	Drew Storen	Tyler Clippard

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