Bullpen Report: July 7, 2017

The Braves’ solid late-innings trio has taken a couple of hits lately. Jim Johnson blew his seventh save of the season Friday night, and it was his fifth blown save since May 23. Over that stretch, Johnson has a 5.59 ERA with a 4.7 BB/9 ratio, after posting a 2.84 ERA and 1.4 BB/9 ratio prior to this stretch. His BABIP has also risen from .245 to .323, though some of that increase could be a function of pitching in less favorable counts.

In a post-game interview, Brian Snitker said he has “no problem” with Johnson, so we can expect him to get the Braves’ next save opportunity. In general, when blown saves pile up, an ouster is almost inevitable. Remember when it seemed that Francisco Rodriguez and Matt Bush were on seemingly infinite leashes? Their respective managers stood by them far longer than many fans and fantasy owners would have preferred, but in both cases, patience and support had their limits. I suspect if Johnson’s next blown save occurs within a week after the All-Star break, Snitker’s patience will reach its end as well.

Arodys Vizcaino has been the clear closer-in-waiting in Atlanta, but he was placed on the 10-day DL with a right index finger strain on Wednesday. That would put Jose Ramirez next in line, but by the time Johnson’s job could be in danger, Vizcaino could be back from the DL. Even if he has a longer stint than expected, I would expect that Ramirez would merely keep the seat warm for Vizcaino until he was ready to return. Vizcaino is the best speculation target in this situation.

So the Braves’ closer situation is deteriorating, the Mets and the Marlins could be sellers and the Nationals may not have a closer right now (more on this below). It’s strange to think the Phillies may have the most stable closer situation in the NL East, but it’s only by default and by virtue of them having tried every other conceivable option. Then again, just as it seemed Hector Neris might have found his groove, he failed to keep the Phillies tied with the Padres in Friday’s series opener, allowing the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth.

His third loss of the season notwithstanding, Neris should keep the closer’s role for now, but there could be an intriguing option on the horizon. The Phillies are considering putting Vince Velasquez (elbow) in the bullpen once he is ready to come off the DL sometime after the All-Star break. It’s far from a certainty, and being converted to relief is one thing, and being in consideration for closing is another thing entirely. Still, given the Phillies’ challenges in finding a consistent closer, it’s not too hard to see a path that would eventually lead Velasquez to the ninth inning.

It has been more than a month since Koda Glover got his final save before being put on the DL, and since then, the Nationals have accrued exactly one save. That save belongs to Enny Romero, but if the Nationals have a closer right now, it would appear to be Matt Albers.

After the Nationals tied the Braves in the bottom of the ninth in Friday night’s contest, Dusty Baker brought in Matt Grace to face lefties Ender Inciarte and Freddie Freeman (and Brandon Phillips in between them), but Albers came in to get the final two outs by way of a Matt Kemp double play grounder. The last time the Nationals had a save opportunity entering the ninth inning was on Monday, when Baker sent Sammy Solis out to face the first three Mets batters due up, with two of them (Jay Bruce and Lucas Duda) being left-handed. Then Albers was summoned with Travis d’Arnaud due up, but Terry Collins countered with lefty Curtis Granderson. Albers coughed up a two-run homer, resulting in his third blown save.

The last opportunity before that one was on June 29, and it was granted to Blake Treinen, who blew it with a three-run inning. If not for the fact that Albers had pitched on each of the three previous nights — all in the ninth inning and all in non-save situations — maybe he would have received that save chance, too.

So as best as we can tell, Baker seems to have a closer platoon with Albers getting to face most of the righties. On the basis of this pattern, I have moved Albers back into the closer’s column in the grid below. Unless you are absolutely desperate for saves, it’s best to avoid this situation for now. Within a couple of weeks, the Nationals’ closer could be David Robertson, Raisel Iglesias or Kelvin Herrera (should the Royals recede in the standings). You’d be better off speculating on Tommy Kahnle, Michael Lorenzen, Drew Storen, Mike Minor or Peter Moylan than on Albers or anyone else who would likely be a mere placeholder for the next couple of weeks in D.C.

With Seung Hwan Oh getting the save in the Cardinals’ series finale against the Marlins on Thursday, it appears that the closer committee may have been abandoned. Trevor Rosenthal pitching in a non-save situation against the Mets on Friday is another clue that Oh is back in business as the Cardinals’ full-time closer.

While Friday’s slate did not lack for closer drama, one of the more notable performances belonged to Josh Hader, who tossed three innings of middle relief for the Brewers after starter Junior Guerra was lifted after a rain delay and having sustained a shin contusion. Hader struck out seven Yankees on his way to his first career win, raising his K/9 ratio to 9.5. In getting 13 whiffs on 53 pitches, he also increased his swinging strike rate to 16.2 percent.

Hader walked two batters and gave up a solo homer to Aaron Judge (no shame in that), so he paid for his shaky control and strong flyball tendencies. However, if the 23-year-old can make even modest progress in those areas, he could be a useful pickup in leagues where closers are unavailable. Just maybe Hader could parlay this middle relief stint into a starting role at some point this season.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
ARI	Fernando Rodney	Archie Bradley	Jorge De La Rosa	JJ Hoover
ATL	Jim Johnson	Jose Ramirez	Sam Freeman	Arodys Vizcaino
BAL	Brad Brach	Zach Britton	Mychal Givens
BOS	Craig Kimbrel	Matt Barnes	Joe Kelly	Carson Smith
CHC	Wade Davis	Koji Uehara	Carl Edwards Jr.
CWS	David Robertson	Tommy Kahnle	Anthony Swarzak	Nate Jones
CIN	Raisel Iglesias	Michael Lorenzen	Drew Storen
CLE	Andrew Miller	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw
COL	Greg Holland	Adam Ottavino	Jake McGee
DET	Justin Wilson	Alex Wilson	Shane Greene
HOU	Ken Giles	Will Harris	Michael Feliz
KC	Kelvin Herrera	Joakim Soria	Mike Minor
LAA	Bud Norris	Cam Bedrosian	Keynan Middleton	Huston Street
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Pedro Baez	Luis Avilan	Josh Fields
MIA	A.J. Ramos	David Phelps	Kyle Barraclough
MIL	Corey Knebel	Jacob Barnes	Carlos Torres
MIN	Brandon Kintzler	Taylor Rogers	Matt Belisle	Glen Perkins
NYM	Addison Reed	Paul Sewald	Jerry Blevins	Jeurys Familia
NYY	Aroldis Chapman	Dellin Betances	Tyler Clippard
OAK	Santiago Casilla	Sean Doolittle	Ryan Madson
PHI	Hector Neris	Pat Neshek	Luis Garcia
PIT	Felipe Rivero	Juan Nicasio	Daniel Hudson
STL	Seung Hwan Oh	Trevor Rosenthal	Matt Bowman
SD	Brandon Maurer	Brad Hand	Ryan Buchter	Carter Capps
SF	Sam Dyson	Hunter Strickland	George Kontos	Mark Melancon
SEA	Edwin Diaz	Nick Vincent	James Pazos
TB	Alex Colome	Tommy Hunter	Chase Whitley	Brad Boxberger
TEX	Matt Bush	Jose Leclerc	Alex Claudio	Keone Kela
TOR	Roberto Osuna	Ryan Tepera	Danny Barnes	Joe Smith
WSH	Matt Albers	Enny Romero	Blake Treinen	Koda Glover

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