Bullpen Report: July 5, 2013

–Edward Mujica blew his first save opportunity of the twenty-thirteen campaign on Independence Day, yielding two earned runs on four hits — one of which left the park — in a 6-5 loss to the Angels. The longball turned out to be the third of its kind Mujica allowed in his previous six trips to the bump — leading to five earned runs — spiking his ERA from 1.57 to 2.62. The fifth of July, however, seemed to be a bit friendlier to the veteran right-hander. Mujica faced the minimum in a clean ninth-inning of work on Friday, fanning two Marlins and inducing one worm burner en route to a 4-1 Cardinals’ victory and Mujica’s 22nd save of the season.

Despite the struggles Mujica may have been facing over the course of the last month, the velocity on the righty’s primary offerings appear to be steady. The slider may have lost a tick since last season, but he’s not showing it off as much this year. The trouble appears to be opposing batters’ ability to square up the fourseamer from Mujica. Since the start of 2013, opponents are batting .310, slugging .690 and have hit three homers off the fourseamer while they’re hitting just .167, slugging .250 and have hit two homers against his preferred pitch — the splitter. And since June 1st, opponents are hitting .556, slugging 1.333 and have blasted two homers when Mujica serves up the fourseamer. I’m no pitching coach or Yadier Molina — and my sincerest apologies for getting off track for a minute — but it seems like someone could improve calling or throwing the fourseam fastball going forward. All-in-all, Edward Mujica will continue to get save opportunities on one of the best teams in baseball and he should be considered a top-fifteen closing option from here-on-out.

–Oliver Perez struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth-inning to earn his second save of the season for the Mariners in a 4-2 victory of the Reds tonight. And although Perez impressed in this evening’s outing — and surprisingly, most of this season, to be honest — Tom Wilhelmsen could be found warming in the M’s pen had Perez failed to retire Jay Bruce. Mariners’ skipper noted that “with the left-handers and the way it lined up late, he felt good going to Oliver Perez.” Since matchups were likely at the root of tonight’s decision to go with Perez to start the ninth frame, Wilhelmsen still appears to be the closer to own in Seattle. Since Tom Wilhelmsen’s last blown save, the lanky right-hander is 1-for-1 in save opportunities in five trips to the hill with a 4:1 K:BB while allowing just one hit.

-Like the aforementioned Edward Mujica, Grant Balfour notched his 22nd save of the season as the Athletics clipped the Royals 6-3 in Kansas City. Balfour came on in in relief of Tommy Milone — who tossed a two-hit shutout through eight frames — after the A’s starter surrendered four consecutive hits and two runs after retiring the Royals’ lead off batter. Balfour immediately yielded an RBI single to Salvador Perez, but eventually induced a couple of grounders to kill the Kansas City rally. On the season, Balfour is a perfect 22-for-22 in save situations with a 1.82 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.

–Quickies: Rafael Soriano untucked for the 23rd time on Friday. He retired the Friars in order to seal an 8-5 victory for the Nationals. Jonathan Papelbon fanned one Brave in the ninth en route to his 18th save in 22 chances. Trevor Rosenthal fanned three Marlins in the eighth-inning to earn his 18th hold of the season. Jim Johnson blew the only save of the day — his second failed opportunity in his last four outings — and is now 29-of-35 in save situations in ‘13. Johnson has now allowed 18 earned runs in 43 appearances. Last season, Johnson yielded just 19 earned runs in 71 trips to the bump. Ouch.

Closer Grid:

 

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Heath Bell	J.J. Putz	David Hernandez
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Jordan Walden	Cory Gearrin
Baltimore	Jim Johnson	Darren O’Day	Tommy Hunter
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Andrew Bailey
CHI (NL)	Kevin Gregg	James Russell	Blake Parker
CHI (AL)	Addison Reed	Jesse Crain	Matt Thornton
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	J.J. Hoover	Sam LeCure	Sean Marshall
Cleveland	Chris Perez	Vinnie Pestano	Joe Smith
Colorado	Rafael Betancourt	Rex Brothers	Wilton Lopez
Detroit	Joaquin Benoit	Drew Smyly	Al Alburquerque
Houston	Jose Veras	Hector Ambriz	Wesley Wright
KC	Greg Holland	Aaron Crow	Tim Collins	Kelvin Herrera
LAA	Ernesto Frieri	Scott Downs	Robert Coello	Ryan Madson
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Brandon League	Ronald Belisario
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	Brandon Lyon	LaTroy Hawkins	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	Jean Machi	Santiago Casilla
Seattle	Tom Wilhelmsen	Oliver Perez	Yoervis Medina
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.]