Bullpen Report: July 2, 2014

• Quick Recap from last night: Grant Balfour picked up the save last night with Jake McGee pitching the eighth. This is still a committee and McGee is the best reliever so he’d still be my favored option in the Rays pen for fantasy. Joe Smith picked up two saves, his eighth and ninth of the season and it doesn’t seem like Grilli is taking over the ninth in the near future. Koji Uehara got the loss entering the ninth in a tie game and although he said he’s “fatigued” he was also available to pitch tonight so no injury worries, yet. If Uehera can’t close it’s unclear who is next in line. Junichi Tazawa and Andrew Miller have been better than Mujica, but Mujica received an opportunity this year.  Of course Mujica pitched poorly in an inning tonight and I’d wager the Sox would go to a committee type if Uehara’s fatigue caused him to miss any time. Addison Reed did what the Diamondbacks have done all year, blown. Hector Rondon also recorded a save, his 11th of the season and after a few hiccups last week that situation is going from Red –> Yellow.

• After Balfour notched the save yesterday, Brad Boxberger converted the save today, the second of his career and his first this season. Jake McGee and Grant Balfour had pitched in the previous games so they were likely unavailable. So, although Boxberger is a solid bullpen option for the Rays, I don’t see him being a main fixture for saves. Joel Peralta who blew the lead earlier this week threw a scoreless eighth for his 10th hold of the season. Given Balfour and McGee’s recent performances, Peralta might just continue to set up.

• Cody Allen nailed his eighth save of the season getting four outs against the Dodgers. Allen’s been solid all year and I’m confidently changing him to green on the grid below. Brian Wilson struggled for the Dodgers, getting the loss after allowing three runs while only recording one out. The Dodgers pen behind Kenley Jansen is a bit of a mess, Chris Perez, Brian Wilson, J.P. Howell and even Brandon League are the main setup options and I would be surprised if the Dodgers don’t come away with some bullpen help before the trading deadline.

• Quick hits: Craig Kimbrel had the night off and Jordan Walden filled in for his third save of the year. Shae Simmons has been impressive but Walden is still behind Kimbrel in the pecking order. Fernando Rodney launched his 24th arrow today for the Mariners who are now winners of four straight. Casey Janssen picked up the W today on a scoreless inning, lowering his ERA to a sparkling 0.95. Rafael Soriano closed his 20th door with Tyler Clippard getting his 20th hold of the season.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Addison Reed	Brad Ziegler	Oliver Perez
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Jordan Walden	Shae Simmons
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Tommy Hunter	Darren O’Day
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Andrew Miller
CHI (NL)	Hector Rondon	Neil Ramirez	Pedro Strop
CHI (AL)	Zach Putnam	Jacob Petricka	Javy Guerra	Matt Lindstrom
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	Jonathan Broxton	Sam LeCure	Sean Marshall
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw	John Axford
Colorado	LaTroy Hawkins	Rex Brothers	Adam Ottavino
Detroit	Joe Nathan	Joba Chamberlain	Al Alburquerque	Joel Hanrahan
Houston	Chad Qualls	Tony Sipp	Josh Fields
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Aaron Crow
LAA	Joe Smith	Jason Grilli	Kevin Jepsen
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Chris Perez	Brian Wilson
Miami	Steve Cishek	A.J. Ramos	Mike Dunn
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	Antonio Bastardo	Ken Giles	Mike Adams
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson	Ernesto Frieri
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Pat Neshek	Jason Motte
SD	Huston Street	Joaquin Benoit	Alex Torres
SF	Santiago Casilla	Jeremy Affeldt	Sergio Romo
Seattle	Fernando Rodney	Danny Farquhar	Dominic Leone
TB	Jake McGee	Grant Balfour	Joel Peralta
Texas	Joakim Soria	Jason Frasor	Neal Cotts	Neftali Feliz
Toronto	Casey Janssen	Sergio Santos	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.]