Bullpen Report: Friday, July 31, 2015

The non-waiver trade deadline came and went and left the closer grid looking a little bit different. Rumored trades involving Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel, and Carter Capps, among others, didn’t come to fruition. As always, if you notice any mistakes on the updated grid, please comment so they can be corrected.

Tommy Hunter was traded to the Cubs for Junior Lake, and his spot on the grid will be taken by Brad Brach. Tommy Hunter isn’t going to crack the red mess that is the Cubs back end. Jason Motte was relegated to the seventh inning, Pedro Strop got the eighth, and Hector Rondon got the ninth. It looks like Rondon can claim the closer crown. For now.

In Colorado, John Axford has been removed from the closer role. Tommy Kahnle had made his first appearance on the grid after LaTroy Hawkins went to Toronto. He’ll be joined by Rafael Betancourt and Justin Miller as the trio most likely to get the save opportunities. They’re in St. Louis this weekend, so it may be a while before we see how Walt Weiss decides to lean. Simply because he’s closed before, I’m gambling that Weiss is going to try Betancourt first. As much as we’d like managers to choose the guy with the whiff rate and K%-BB%, they tend to feel more comfortable with guys who have closed before. For now, I’m leaving Axford right off the grid, because all three of these guys are more likely to get a save in the near future. Axford could find his way back, and we’ll be sure to update accordingly. They lost 7-0, but Axford and Miller both pitched scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts. Axford surrendered a hit and a walk while Miller was perfect. Nine pitches, nine strikes for Miller.

The acquisition of Jim Johnson puts him into the first chair on the Dodgers grid, right behind Kenley Jansen. His 60.8% GB% is besting his career mark thus far, and his soft contact and velo are also up from last year.

The Jays picked up Mark Lowe on Friday, and I don’t have him cracking the grid just yet. Roberto Osuna and Aaron Sanchez are solidifying their spots as the eighth and ninth inning stoppers, and each put up eight-pitch perfect innings in The Big Smoke Friday night. Brett Cecil continued his recent strong run with another perfect inning. Since he lost the closer gig in late June and he was found to be tipping his pitches, he’s strung together a 23.3% K-BB% in 11 small-sample innings. They won a bullpen battle with the Royals. Granted, it was Ryan Madson giving up three runs without recording an out, but still. Lowe is a strong addition, but he’s not going to sniff any saves. He could get you some holds and help your ratios in a deep league though. On the other side of that deal, Fernando Rodney moves to next in line behind Carson Smith. Tom Wilhelmsen moves onto the grid.

The Cardinals picked up Johnathan Broxton, but he’s not on the grid. He wasn’t on the Brewers grid. He has a pile of birds to climb over to get any save opportunities, but wow are the Cards adding depth to that pen. Jordan Walden is coming back soon if his rehab goes well.

Kevin Jepsen went from the Rays to the Twins. For the Rays, Steve Geltz or Brandon Gomes will slide into his spot, and there is a chance they’ll get save opportunities as Kevin Cash hasn’t been shy about matching up with Jake McGee and Brad Boxberger in the seventh and eighth. My guess would be Geltz for that spot. For the Twins, Jepsen moves in behind Glen Perkins, and Blaine Boyer is off the grid entirely, with Casey Fien staying where he is.

Of Note: Craig Kimbrel blew a save in Miami, and A.J. Ramos came on for the tenth. He struck out two and got a tapper to second. Then he came out for the eleventh and the wheels fell off. He walked three and was charged with four earned. Carter Capps is probably owned everywhere, and the runs Ramos gave up were in his second inning of work, so don’t expect changes here. Edward Mujica struck out the side, but blew the save. The Oakland grid is redder than me after an hour in the sun. Anything can happen there. Zach Britton(27), Mark Melancon(35), Koji Uehara(23), Brad Ziegler(18), Cody Allen(21), and Kenley Jansen(18) all garnered saves on Blue Moon Friday. I won’t lie, I was excited at the prospect of a glowing blue orb. Then I did some research and learned that it’s called a blue moon due to the rarity of it. A blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. Happens every two or three years. Also, I’m watching Frasier for the first time in like four blue moons. Also, my research could be incorrect. Feel free to correct me.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Brad Ziegler	Daniel Hudson	David Hernandez	Addison Reed
Atlanta	Arodys Vizcaino	David Aardsma	Jason Frasor	Jason Grilli
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Darren O’Day	Brad Brach
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Alexi Ogando
CHI (NL)	Hector Rondon	Jason Motte	Rafael Soriano
CHI (AL)	David Robertson	Jacob Petricka	Zach Putnam
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	J.J. Hoover	Ryan Mattheus
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw	Zach McAllister
Colorado	Rafael Betancourt	Tommy Kahnle	Justin Miller
Detroit	Alex Wilson	Bruce Rondon	Al Albuerquerque	Joe Nathan
Houston	Luke Gregerson	Pat Neshek	Chad Qualls
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Kelvin Herrera
LAA	Huston Street	Joe Smith	Fernando Salas
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Jim Johnson	Pedro Baez
Miami	A.J. Ramos	Carter Capps	Mike Dunn
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Jeremy Jeffress	Will Smith
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Kevin Jepsen	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Jeurys Familia	Tyler Clippard	Bobby Parnell
NY (AL)	Andrew Miller	Dellin Betances	Justin Wilson
Oakland	Edward Mujica	Fernando Rodriguez	Drew Pomeranz	Sean Doolittle
Philly	Ken Giles	Luis Garcia	Jeanmar Gomez
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Joakim Soria	Tony Watson
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Kevin Siegrist	Steve Cishek	Jordan Walden
SD	Craig Kimbrel	Joaquin Benoit	Brendan Maurer
SF	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Hunter Strickland
Seattle	Carson Smith	Fernando Rodney	Tom Wilhelmsen
TB	Brad Boxberger	Jake McGee	Steve Geltz
Texas	Shawn Tolleson	Keone Kela	Tanner Scheppers
Toronto	Roberto Osuna	Aaron Sanchez	Brett Cecil
Wash.	Jonathan Papelbon	Drew Storen	Casey Janssen

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