Bullpen Report: August 27, 2013

• Judging by save totals, Rafael Soriano has had another solid year as he added to his total with save number 34 tonight. However, a little dive into the numbers shows a different story. Soriano’s strikeout rate has tumbled from 9.18 K/9 last year to a mediocre and career low (since his rookie year) 6.79 K/9 this season. Unsurprisingly it’s reflected in his 3.79/3.91/4.17 ERA/FIP/xFIP and 3.86 SIERA which are closer to the marks of an OK reliever, not a top notch closer. Still, saves are saves and Soriano should hold onto the ninth inning for the remainder of the year but the mantra of never paying for saves rings true both in real life and fantasy baseball.

• Fernando Rodney had put up zeroes in his last seven appearances before tonight, blowing his 8th save of the year against the Angels. Rodney wasn’t helped by his defense as Desmond Jennings made an error in the field but however you want to slice it, he wasn’t effective this evening. Rodney’s obviously a far cry from his magical 0.60 ERA season last year but his 3.20 SIERA and 11.50 K/9 as keeper of the ninth for the Rays, still makes him a productive closer in fantasy baseball.

• Jim Henderson threw a scoreless ninth today for his 22nd save of the season. Henderson briefly lost the closer’s gig to Francisco Rodriguez earlier this year but he’s been pretty solid all season long. Henderson likely won’t be able to maintain his 6.1% HR/FB but without any concerns of John Axford taking over this season and likely next, Henderson’s 3.00 SIERA will remain a useful source for saves here on out.

• Quick Hits: Craig Kimbrel padded his league leading save total, nailing down save number 42 tonight. Dane de la Rosa pitched the ninth inning after the Angels took the lead in the top half of the ninth inning, getting his second save of the season. Ernesto Frieri pitched a scoreless eighth and should still be considered first in line for saves in Anaheim, although the situation is obviously very fluid.

Closer Grid:

 

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Brad Ziegler	Heath Bell	Eury de la Rosa	J.J. Putz
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Jordan Walden	Scott Downs
Baltimore	Jim Johnson	Tommy Hunter	Francisco Rodriguez
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Craig Breslow	Andrew Bailey
CHI (NL)	Kevin Gregg	Pedro Strop	Blake Parker
CHI (AL)	Addison Reed	Nate Jones	Matt Lindstrom
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	J.J. Hoover	Jonathan Broxton	Sean Marshall
Cleveland	Chris Perez	Joe Smith	Cody Allen	Vinnie Pestano
Colorado	Rex Brothers	Matt Belisle	Wilton Lopez	Rafael Betancourt
Detroit	Joaquin Benoit	Jose Veras	Drew Smyly
Houston	Chia-Jen Lo	Josh Fields	Josh Zeid	Jose Cisnero
KC	Greg Holland	Aaron Crow	Kelvin Herrera
LAA	Ernesto Frieri	Dane de la Rosa	Kevin Jepsen	Robert Coello
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Paco Rodriguez	Brian Wilson
Miami	Steve Cishek	Mike Dunn	Chad Qualls
Milwaukee	Jim Henderson	John Axford	Michael Gonzalez
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Jared Burton	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	LaTroy Hawkins	David Aardsma	Scott Rice	Bobby Parnell
NY (AL)	Mariano Rivera	David Robertson	Joba Chamberlain
Oakland	Grant Balfour	Ryan Cook	Sean Doolittle
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Justin De Fratus	Jake Diekman	Mike Adams
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Justin Wilson	Tony Watson	Jason Grilli
St. Louis	Edward Mujica	Trevor Rosenthal	Randy Choate	Jason Motte
SD	Huston Street	Luke Gregerson	Dale Thayer
SF	Sergio Romo	Jeremy Affeldt	Santiago Casilla
Seattle	Danny Farquhar	Yoervis Medina	Oliver Perez	Tom Wilhelmsen
TB	Fernando Rodney	Joel Peralta	Jake McGee	Jesse Crain
Texas	Joe Nathan	Tanner Scheppers	Jason Frasor
Toronto	Casey Janssen	Sergio Santos	Brett Cecil	Steve Delabar
Wash.	Rafael Soriano	Tyler Clippard	Drew Storen

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