Bullpen Report: July 11, 2013

-For the second consecutive evening Kevin Gregg found himself in a bit of trouble on the hill, but unlike last night, the right-hander overcame a few mistakes — including, but not limited to a throwing error and a walk — en route to his 16th save of the twenty-thirteen campaign. Sure, Gregg didn’t take the conventional route to seal the victory for the Cubbies tonight, but he did in fact provide keep the Cardinals off the board. The save aside, are we starting to see Gregg turn back into a pumpkin? I’m not exactly sure, but the 35-year-old reliever is 0-1 and 5-of-7 in save opportunities in his last eight trips to the hill. He’s allowed four earned runs and two homers in those same eight appearances after allowing just two earned and homer in his first 24 outings. Gregg’s recent struggles parlayed with the potential of him wearing a different uniform and serving a different role come the trade deadline, I’d be asking your leaguemates what they’d be willing to give up to acquire his services.

–Craig Kimbrel locked down his 25th save of the season — and 15th consecutive save since May 9th — with a 13-pitch outing tonight in a 6-5 Braves victory over the Reds. The 25-year-old right-hander yielded a leadoff single, but fanned two and induced a line out to left to convert the save. On the year, Kimbrel is 2-2, 25-of-28 in save chances with a 1.57 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP and strikeout rate just north of 37%. Many in the fantasy community live by the “don’t pay for saves” policy — and I do at times as well — because this year, like many in the past, there has been some nice late value at the closer position. With that said, you can’t blame owners for investing in a guy like Craig Kimbrel.

–Jim Johnson earned his league-leading 31st save of the ‘13 season tonight, needing just 14 pitches to close out the Rangers, 3-1. Johnson surrendered two hits in tonight’s outing, but he got the job done by doing what he does best — inducing groundouts, three of them to be exact. The groundballer is now 31-of-37 in save opportunities with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Johnson also has just three fewer saves (31) than strikeouts (34) on the year. He will continue to get the ball in the ninth for the Orioles, but for fantasy baseballers, this one-trick pony may not be the easiest reliever to own.

-Quick Hitters: Tom Wilhelmsen took his third loss on the season tonight in a non-save situation. The lanky right-hander needed 38 pitches to get through an inning-and-a-third — a hit and two free passes lead to the lone earned run — in the closer’s losing effort. The bartender has served up 74 pitches over the last two days, so for those streaming relievers, Oliver Perez could be a nice option on Friday should Wilhelmsen be unavailable. Arizona’s doesn’t have a closer, apparently. Tonight, with J.J. Putz unavailable, Brad Ziegler earned his second save of the season. And the Diamondbacks are apparently in the market for some bullpen help, although, help from within the organization is more likely than the club making a deal for a reliever. Jake McGee picked up his first save of the year with Fernando Rodney unavailable to go tonight.

Closer Grid:

 

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Heath Bell	J.J. Putz	David Hernandez
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Jordan Walden	Luis Avilan
Baltimore	Jim Johnson	Tommy Hunter	Darren O’Day
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Andrew Bailey
CHI (NL)	Kevin Gregg	Blake Parker	James Russell
CHI (AL)	Addison Reed	Matt Thornton	Nate Jones	Jesse Crain
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	J.J. Hoover	Sam LeCure	Sean Marshall
Cleveland	Chris Perez	Joe Smith	Vinnie Pestano
Colorado	Rafael Betancourt	Rex Brothers	Wilton Lopez
Detroit	Joaquin Benoit	Drew Smyly	Al Alburquerque
Houston	Jose Veras	Wesley Wright	Jose Cisnero
KC	Greg Holland	Aaron Crow	Tim Collins	Kelvin Herrera
LAA	Ernesto Frieri	Scott Downs	Robert Coello	Ryan Madson
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Ronald Belisario	Brandon League
Miami	Steve Cishek	Mike Dunn	Chad Qualls
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Jim Henderson	John Axford
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Jared Burton	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Bobby Parnell	LaTroy Hawkins	David Aardsma	Frank Francisco
NY (AL)	Mariano Rivera	David Robertson	Joba Chamberlain
Oakland	Grant Balfour	Ryan Cook	Sean Doolittle
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Antonio Bastardo	Justin De Fratus	Mike Adams
Pittsburgh	Jason Grilli	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson
St. Louis	Edward Mujica	Trevor Rosenthal	Fernando Salas	Jason Motte
SD	Huston Street	Luke Gregerson	Dale Thayer
SF	Sergio Romo	Jeremy Affeldt	Sandy Rosario	Santiago Casilla
Seattle	Tom Wilhelmsen	Yoervis Medina	Oliver Perez
TB	Fernando Rodney	Joel Peralta	Jake McGee
Texas	Joe Nathan	Tanner Scheppers	Jason Frasor
Toronto	Casey Janssen	Steve Delabar	Brett Cecil	Sergio Santos
Wash.	Rafael Soriano	Drew Storen	Tyler Clippard

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