Bullpen Report: August 18, 2014

• Jenrry Mejia’s woes continued in today’s game against the Cubs. Mejia entered in the ninth inning with the Mets down 2-1 and allowed two runs off of a Javier Baez homer. Mejia has dealt with a calf issue previously and will need surgery on a hernia in the offseason and it’s clearly affected his performance of late. As of this writing, Terry Collins hasn’t said anything about Mejia’s role moving forward but Jeurys Familia should be owned in all league’s, check your wire immediately.  It’s also worth noting that with knowledge of all these ailments, Terry Collins had Mejia pitch the fourth time in five games, probably not the smartest decision by his manager. A few weeks ago I felt safe assuming Mejia as the Mets closer on opening day 2015 but there is a real chance Familia takes the role this year, muddling Mejia’s chances next year along with Bobby Parnell who should be back from TJ surgery. Also of note, Vic Black recorded two outs in today’s game, lowering his ERA to 2.01. Although he profiles as a potential closer, he’s still behind Familia in the pecking order but that may be the best for his future health on the Mets.

• Neil Ramirez pitched a perfect eighth inning setting up Hector Rondon for his 18th save of the year. Ramirez was briefly on the DL with a  sore shoulder but he’s back to his familiar role setting up Rondon. Ramirez lets a lot of balls reach the air (only 29% GB%) and has been a tad lucky with those balls going over the fence (5.7% HR/FB) and balls in play generally (.254 BABIP) but he continues to miss bats (39 strikeouts in 30.2 innings)  and should remain a second tier level setup man so long as his shoulder holds up for Chicago. The Cubs likely won’t win too many games moving forward but Rondon will continue to see a few save chances with Ramirez and Pedro Strop accruing holds along the way.

• Ken Giles allowed a couple of hits but also struck out three batters for a scoreless eighth, holding the lead for Jonathan Papelbon to secure his 29th save.  So long as Johnathan Papelbon and his contract remain in Philly, Giles won’t see the ninth inning but he’s certainly ready for prime time. On the year Giles ERA/FIP/xFIP now stands at an impressive 1.27/1.33/1.80. Giles never displayed control in the minors with BB/9 rates often at 5.00 BB/9 or above but in the majors it’s been a pristine 1.91.Given that history, I wouldn’t expect Giles to consistently exhibit  above average control but with his ability to miss bats (16.4 SwStr%) and 97+ mph heat, he should remain a top set up option in fantasy and real life.

• With Huston Street having the night off, Mike Scioscia called on Kevin Jepsen to get the save against the Red Sox. Kevin Jepsen owners have enjoyed a surprisingly effective year (2.05 ERA, 30.2% K%) and were treated to a pleasant save in addition to his ratio, holds and K help tonight. Jepsen is still behind Street, Joe Smith and Jason Grilli but tonight’s outing is indicative of the strides Jepsen has made this year.

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 Atchison
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	Seth Maness	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	Tyler Clippard	Drew Storen

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