Bullpen Report: July 31, 2014

As the sun sets on one of the busiest non-waiver trade deadlines in recent memory, it’s somewhat surprising that not many of the deals involved relief arms. This is partly due to the fact that Joakim Soria, Jason Frasor, Huston Street and Joe Thatcher switched uniforms already, but players like Joaquin Benoit, Chad Qualls and Addison Reed that have recently been rumored to be on the move, actually stayed put.

In one deadline deal that involved one of the more coveted relief arms, the Boston Red Sox sent Andrew Miller to the Baltimore Orioles for left-handed pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez. Miller will join fellow lefties Zach Britton, Brian Matusz and T.J. McFarland in the Orioles bullpen for the time being, but with the O’s needing to make a corresponding move to make room for the 29-year-old Miller, McFarland could be the “odd man out.” Miller will be a free agent come season’s end, but Baltimore felt his useful splits — he’s holding LHB to a .194 wOBA and RHB to a .243 wOBA — justified dealing their third-best prospect for. For now, I’m going to slot the newly acquired Miller and his ~33% K-BB% in the second chair, but that is subject to change.

Thirty-year-old right-hander Huston Street, in the midst of an All-Star season, landed in Anaheim as part of a six-player trade just over a week ago that bolstered an Angels’ bullpen poised for a playoff push. Tonight, Street dished a clean bottom-half of the 13th in Baltimore to pick up his fourth save of his short Angels tenure. The impressive season for the veteran continues, as Street is now 28-of-29 in save opportunities, boasts a 0.95 ERA (2.65 FIP) with a ~23% K-BB% in 38 appearances between San Diego and Anaheim.

Some felt Addison Reed could be a candidate to switch uniforms at today’s trade deadline, but like many rumors, nothing of the sort materialized. So Reed trotted to the bump in the ninth-inning to protect a three-run Dbacks cushion over the Pirates — business as usual — and he did just that. The former Aztec induced a leadoff groundout, then sandwich a double off the bat of Josh Harrison between two strikeouts to seal the deal for his 27th save. He’s 26-of-31 in save chances this season with a 3.86 ERA (4.60 FIP) and a ~28% K%.

Quick Hitters: Fernando Rodney (30), Greg Holland (29) and Aroldis Chapman (24) each notched saves this evening. Hector Rondon surrendered back-to-back singles in the top of the ninth-inning, but retired three consecutive Rockies to escape with his 14th save of the season. Casey Janssen notched his 18th save of the ‘14 season on 13 pitches, despite yielding a two-out free pass. Jake Petricka allowed a one-out single to Miguel Cabrera, but induced a couple of ground outs to secure his sixth save of the year on just ten pitches.

Closer Grid:

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