Bullpen Report: August 15, 2015

– As intimated a few days ago, it appears Bruce Rondon has leapfrogged Alex Wilson in the Detroit pecking order. Brad Ausmus hasn’t gone so far as to say that Rondon is the only closer, but he is the preferred choice when save situations will arise for the immediate future. There’s really no need to cover this situation significantly more than I did the other night; Rondon has the better peripherals, gets swing-and-misses, and rides a high-90’s fastball. Additionally, Alex Wilson has shown that he can be a highly effective multi-inning guy, so it’s possible reserving him for high-leverage situations in the middle innings may be a better use of his talents. Regardless, Rondon should be owned in all leagues going forward — I’d hold Wilson (unless I need the roster spot) because this pen seems tenuous enough that a few bad outings by the burly righty could put Wilson back in line for a few ninth innings.

– Drama in the Oakland pen. Currently deposed closer Edward Mujica pitched the 7th and 8th innings with Oakland down, strongly implying he wasn’t in line to get a save last night. Fernando Rodríguez then tossed a couple scoreless innings. With the A’s still tied, Drew Pomeranz came on in a multiple inning situation, but eventually was lifted in the 13th with what he deemed “forearm pain.” Uh oh. Finally, Aaron Brooks (not THAT Aaron Brooks or THAT Aaron Brooks) sent everyone home by giving up a walkoff line smash to Manny Machado.

So what does this mean for the pecking order? Well, Pomeranz might have had a shot to move up, but even though he says he feels fine, he might have the throttle let off for a few days. Mujica has been the supposed head of this committee, but, given the usage last evening, that Rodriguez has perhaps passed him up on the depth chart. But lurking is forgotten man Sean Doolittle, who apparently is touching 93 mph on his rehab assignment. While 93 is still a far cry from the 97-98 mph Doolittle topped out at before this season, it would represent a huge improvement over earlier this season, where the lefty couldn’t crack 90 mph. Bob Melvin says Doolittle needs an extra outing or two, but he could be back in the closer role before the middle of next week, so I’d jump on him in this shaky bullpen if someone gave up on him earlier in the season.

– Quick hits: Greg Holland bounced back from his massive meltdown with save number 18. His rates are well off of last year, and he has an elite arm in Wade Davis behind him, but he hasn’t been terrible enough to be in imminent danger. I’ll yellow light him until he rips off another couple of successful conversions, but it’s really more of a yellow-green, I guess. Andrew Miller evaded danger by whiffing Troy Tulowitzki with the winning run on second base. Miller hasn’t been great over his last handful of outings, but the velocity is fine, so he seems like a safe bet to continue rolling out there. Arodys Vizcaino is now 3-for-3 since becoming Atlanta’s top dog. His 0.57 ERA is wholly unsustainable (3.37 SIERA), but even if he regresses a bit, he should still be solid enough to hold down the gig.

Closer Grid:

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