Bullpen Report: July 5, 2012
• Minnesota Twins’ closer, Matt Capps, is scheduled to toss his first bullpen session this weekend since hitting the disabled list on June 24th with inflammation in his right shoulder. If Capps feels well after the bullpen session, he will head to Class-A Fort Myers to pitch an inning of rehab with the hopes of returning to the Twins at the conclusion of the All-Star Break.
• Addison Reed sat down the Rangers in order today, fanning two and inducing one fly ball to earn his 12th save of the season. Reed has been stellar in his last three outings — facing just one over the minimum — going 1-0 with two saves, yielding just one hit and zero walks while fanning three. I think the best has yet to come for Reed and you should still be able to get him for a reasonable price on the trade market if you’re in need.
• Although he has just two blown saves on the season, both of those blown saves have come in the last three save chances for Phillies’ closer, Jonathan Papelbon. Pap has struck out seven batters in his last five outings, but he’s also allowed six earned runs on nine hits and three walks. When looking further, Papelbon seems to be getting a bit unlucky on average on balls in play (.284 BABIP vs. .276 career) and is giving up 12.5 HR/FB, which is pretty awful. Lastly, it looks as if Papelbon has lost a tick in velocity on each of his three pitches since last season. I’m not an advocate of selling a pitcher on a slide, but if you’re getting inpatient, maybe an owner in need will look past the last five appearances and give you full value for the 18 saves and the name.
• Sergio Romo owners raised an eyebrow again this evening as they watched Santiago Casilla implode for the third time in his last four save opportunities. Casilla dished just two-thirds of an inning, surrendering two earned runs on two hits and a walk to earn both his fourth loss and blown save of the year. A bit more fuel to the Casilla fire: In his last seven trips to the hill, the Giants’ closer has pitched just 4.1 innings and allowed seven earned runs on 11 hits. For those of you chasing saves, you may want to consider adding Sergio Romo where available considering the excellent season he is having.
For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here is a matchup you may be able to exploit.
A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Jason Grilli (PIT) vs. SFG
Joel Hanrahan has pitched in each of the last three days and could get some rest on Friday against the Giants. Jason Grilli could be a good bet to see a save chance should the Pirates be in position and you could at least look to get a few strikeouts from the righty who is currently sporting a 14.05 K/9 (3.4 K/BB).
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
In addition to contributing to the RotoGraphs blog, you can find Alan at his own site, TheFantasyFix.com and follow his nonsense on Twitter @TheFantasyFix.
I have Santiago Casilla but Casey Janssen is available on the wire in my 16-team league. Would you make the move and drop Casilla for Janssen? We have to have our bids in by Saturday morning. I’m concerned someone else will pick up Janssen and that Casilla will be removed from the closer role and there’s a bit of a time crunch that I’m dealing with. Otherwise, I’d wait and see but I don’t have that luxury here.
Yes, Janssen should be owned in a league with that depth. Not sure it comes at the cost of Casilla quite yet though. I’m interested to see what Bochy says/does over the next few days.