Bullpen Report: July 25, 2012

• Frank Francisco made his first rehab appearance tonight for the Double-A Binghamton Mets of the Eastern League. The outing wasn’t pretty for Francisco, who only lasted two-thirds of an inning while surrendering two earned runs on three hits and a walk. Mets’ GM Sandy Alderson said Francisco should pitch again for Binghamton on Thursday or Friday.

• Francisco Cordero blew his second save chance in as many nights since being named the closer in Houston. The Astros’ initially went with the veteran and his 329 career saves over the better pitcher in Wilton Lopez, however, with tonight’s implosion, we may get a look at Lopez sooner than later. This season, Wilton Lopez is 3-0 in 37 appearances (38.0 IP) with a 2.61 ERA (2.73 xFIP) and a 6.00 K/BB. There may not be many save chances going forward for the Astros’, but if it’s the saves you’re chasing, add Lopez immediately.

• Another day, another blown save for the Milwaukee Brewers’ bullpen, who lead the National League with 19 unsuccessful save conversions thus far in 2012. Francisco Rodriguez was to blame for today’s blown save — his sixth of the year, and second in consecutive days — yielding two earned runs on two hits and a walk, bringing his record to 2-6 on the season. Brewers’ beat writer, Tom Haudricourt, suggested we will see John Axford back in the closer’s role as early as tomorrow.

• Let’s take a step away from all this negative “Francisco” news to update the closer situation in Washington. Tyler Clippard dished a clean 1-2-3 ninth inning tonight to earn his third consecutive save and his 18th on the year. Since allowing seven earned in three straight outings last week, Clippard has appeared in three contests, hasn’t allowed a hit and has yielded just one free pass while striking out four. Drew Storen faced just one batter in the eighth inning tonight, which further indicates that Clippard’s grasp on the closer’s role seems to be safe once again.

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A Pitcher for Tomorrow: John Axford (MIL) vs. WAS

Francisco Rodriguez has blown two saves and given up seven earned runs in his last three outings for the Brew Crew, while previous closer John Axford has been regaining his confidence in lower pressure situations. In five outings (5.1 IP) since July 18th — the outing after his last implosion — Axford has allowed just two hits and one walk, while striking out five.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	Off 25-Man
Arizona	J.J. Putz	David Hernandez	Bryan Shaw
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Eric O’Flaherty	Jonny Venters
Baltimore	Jim Johnson	Pedro Strop	Darren O’Day
Boston	Alfredo Aceves	Andrew Miller	Mark Melancon	Andrew Bailey
Chicago (NL)	Carlos Marmol	James Russell	Shawn Camp
Chicago (AL)	Addison Reed	Brett Myers	Matt Thornton
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	Sean Marshall	Jose Arredondo
Cleveland	Chris Perez	Vinnie Pestano	Tony Sipp
Colorado	Rafael Betancourt	Matt Belisle	Rex Brothers
Detroit	Jose Valverde	Joaquin Benoit	Octavio Dotel
Houston	Francisco Cordero	Wilton Lopez	Wesley Wright
KC	Jonathan Broxton	Greg Holland	Aaron Crow
LAA	Ernesto Frieri	Scott Downs	Kevin Jepsen	Jordan Walden
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Javy Guerra	Ronald Bellisario
Miami	Steve Cishek	Heath Bell	Edward Mujica
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	John Axford	Jose Veras
Minnesota	Jared Burton	Glen Perkins	Alex Burnett	Matt Capps
NY (NL)	Bobby Parnell	Jon Rauch	Ramon Ramirez	Frank Francisco
NY (AL)	Rafael Soriano	David Robertson	Boone Logan
Oakland	Ryan Cook	Sean Doolittle	Grant Balfour
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Antonio Bastardo	Jake Diekman
Pittsburgh	Joel Hanrahan	Jason Grilli	Jared Hughes
St. Louis	Jason Motte	Mitchell Boggs	Marc Rzepczynski
SD	Huston Street	Luke Gregerson	Dale Thayer
SF	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Javier Lopez
Seattle	Tom Wilhelmsen	Brandon League	Charlie Furbush
Tampa Bay	Fernando Rodney	Kyle Farnsworth	Jake McGee
Texas	Joe Nathan	Mike Adams	Robbie Ross
Toronto	Casey Janssen	Brandon Lyon	Darren Oliver
Wash.	Tyler Clippard	Drew Storen	Sean Burnett

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