Bullpen Report: July 1, 2015

• Not a great day to be Santiago Casilla fan. Or a Giants’ fan. Or a Santiago Casilla owner. Or a Santiago Casilla owner who is also a Giants fan. Or… Well, regardless, Casilla had a game to forget today, giving up a pair of singles before Justin Bour walked the Marlins off with a three-run job. After seeing a pretty sizable gain in the DIPS department last year, Casilla has regressed somewhat in 2015, seeing his SIERA tend closer to where it was in 2010-2013 rather than 2014. This hasn’t been all bad for his owners, as the mark remains passable for the righty to notch some saves. Unfortunately, while Casilla’s K% is up, his BB% is teetering perilously close to the “uh oh” 10% mark, so it’d be nice to see him get the free passes under control. It’s worth noting that Sergio Romo appears to be back to the 2011-2012 version, as the slider specialist now owns a 2.00 SIERA. Unfortunately, the righty also owns a .367 BABIP so his 4.32 ERA does a pretty poor job of screaming “give me the ninth!” I still like rostering Romo as rates hold and a speculative saves add, but even with a couple rocky outings, my guess is Casilla remains safe for the time being.

• Weird times in Houston. Luke Gregerson came on to polish off a 6-5 win, which he did. “So why isn’t there a tick mark in the SV category?” owners staring at their Yahoo! rosters might ask. Well, Josh Fields technically blew a save (in the 7th), but with the Astros scoring again immediately, he was in line for the W. However, the official scorer invoked that pesky part of Rule 10.17 about “effectiveness” and deemed Fields ineligible for the win (even though, 99% of the time, they give him the win). Said scorer then ruled that Gregerson should get the win, not Joe Thatcher or Pat Neshek (who shared the 8th inning). By getting the win, Gregerson became ineligible for the save and here we are. I guess getting the “W” is some consolation, but you aren’t banking on your closer winning games, so probably a few fantasy owners who are mildly annoyed at the outcome. What are you gonna do?

• Justin Grimm gets the save for the Cubs today. Don’t read anything into that — originally the save opp was supposed to go to James Russell before he got himself into trouble. Of course, the only reason Russell got the chance was the fact that Hector Rondon, Jason Motte, and Pedro Strop were all previously used by Joe Maddon in the extra inning affair. I’m still leaning Motte in this pen, but if there is one thing Maddon isn’t known for, it’s having a stable bullpen pecking order.

• Quick hits: Scoreless inning for Aroldis Chapman. The fact that the walk rate has crept up each of the last four years concerns me in dynasty leagues, but he’ll be a top 3 option rest of season in redrafts. Dellin Betances tossed an inning and a third for his seventh save of the season but Andrew Miller threw off a mound today and seems to be getting closer to a return. Obviously, both guys need rostering, but you probably didn’t need me to tell you that. Tyler Clippard, Zach Britton, and Jason Grilli all notched rather uneventful saves. I know there is some “sell Grilli!” sentiment, but with a 2.88 SIERA and the fact that he’s not going to bring a ton back in a trade? I don’t know, I’d hold unless I got a real good offer to help somewhere else.

• Quicker hits: On a rehab assignment, Aaron Barrett threw a scoreless first inning for the Potomac Nationals in a game that almost turned into a combined no-hitter. If healthy, Barrett is a sneaky buy in holds leagues, as his ERA is 5.06, but SIERA is a much sexier 2.28. Speaking of holds leagues, June’s #2 reliever by xFIP is likely gone (one Carter Capps, and I hope you bought in last time I mentioned him), but right behind him? The less heralded Zach Putnam who put up a 1.24 xFIP last month. He actually was pretty good last year, but a huge spike in K% is driving some big gains in 2015. They might not be sustainable, but even splitting the difference between 2014 and 2015 should give you a profit if you need rates.

Closer Grid:

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