Bullpen Report: July 7,2015

• No save situation for the Cubs this afternoon, but they had to bring in their closer Jason Motte to get the last two outs of the game. Every day that goes by seems to cement Motte’s role in the ninth. The Cubs bullpen use could be Maddon-ing to Hector Rondon owners, but moving forward expecting Motte to receive the lion’s share of saves.

• Rough day for closers in the Royals-Rays game today. Greg Holland came on to secure the win in the ninth but blew his second save of the year after Kevin Kiermaier started the ninth with a triple and scored on a wild pitch. In the bottom half of the inning, the rays called on Brad Boxberger. After getting Kendrys Morales to ground out, Boxberger allowed the next three batters to reach base which lead to a walk-off grand slam by Paul Orlando. Jake McGee hasn’t been used much lately, I assume he’ll be used in the second game of the double header if a save situation arises but I’m keeping the closer grid as is below.

• It’s Mejia time again folks as the Mets activated Jenrry Mejia. Jeurys Familia is the closer and nothing is changing that but Mejia could pitch himself into a more prominent role in the pen. However, Mejia is ineligible for the playoffs after his PED based suspension so it’s unlikely the Mets (or any team) will want to commit to using him in too valuable spot without being able to rely on him in the postseason. The Mets aren’t a likely playoff contender right now but still have almost a 20% chance to reach the Wild Card game. I feel confident that Bobby Parnell and Familia will maintain their current roles but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mejia eclipse Carlos Torres if he pitches like he did at times last year.

• Earlier this year I was throwing some shade on Koji Uehara as a top closing option and after tonight’s save (20) he’s supporting a 2.61/2.31/3.35 ERA/FIP/xFIP line with a 34/6 K/BB in 31 innings. Uehara can’t replicate his 2012-2014 seasons anymore when he was a legitimate top tier closer, but he’s still one of the best, even at age 40. Junichi Tazawa threw one and a third scoreless to hold the lead and has an eerily similar line to Uehara with a 2.45/2.67/2.97 ERA/FIP/xFIP with a 39/7 K/BB in 36.2 innings. Those numbers are ownable in any league and although Uehara isn’t linked to any rumors at the moment, it’s not out of the question to see Tazawa closing games in Boston this year.

• Quick Hits: The Yankees activated Andrew Miller from the DL and it’s expected that he will replace Dellin Betances as closer. Betances is a top tier reliever and will remain so in spite of the role change. Also, a removal from the ninth might entail  longer outings for Betances. Betances.  Tyler Clippard pitched around a couple of walks for his 16th save of the year. If/when the A’s decide to pack it in, Clippard could be on the move. Bryan Shaw was called on for the save today and converted his second of the year. Cody Allen’s job isn’t in danger but on the occasional day off Shaw will seethe ninth. Roberto Osuna pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save on the year. Legitimate or not, the Blue Jays will be tied to rumors for relievers but each converted save by Osuna makes it seem less likely.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Brad Ziegler	Daniel Hudson	Enrique Burgos	Addison Reed
Atlanta	Jason Grilli	Jim Johnson	Arodys Vizcaino
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Darren O’Day	Tommy Hunter
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Alexi Ogando
CHI (NL)	Jason Motte	Hector Rondon	Pedro Strop	Rafael Soriano
CHI (AL)	David Robertson	Jacob Petricka	Zach Putnam
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	J.J. Hoover	Ryan Mattheus	Tony Cingrani
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw	Zach McAllister
Colorado	John Axford	Boone Logan	LaTroy Hawkins	John Axford
Detroit	Joakim Soria	Bruce Rondon	Al Albuerquerque	Joe Nathan
Houston	Luke Gregerson	Pat Neshek	Josh Fields	Chad Qualls
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Kelvin Herrera
LAA	Huston Street	Joe Smith	Fernando Salas
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Yimi Garcia	Pedro Baez
Miami	A.J. Ramos	Carter Capps	Steve Cishek
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Jeremy Jeffress	Will Smith
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Blaine Boyer	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Jeurys Familia	Bobby Parnell	Carlos Torres	Jenrry Mejia
NY (AL)	Andrew Miller	Dellin Betances	Justin Wilson
Oakland	Tyler Clippard	Evan Scribner	Drew Pomeranz	Sean Doolittle
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Ken Giles	Luis Garcia
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson	Jared Hughes
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Kevin Siegrist	Seth Maness	Jordan Walden
SD	Craig Kimbrel	Brandon Maurer	Joaquin Benoit
SF	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Hunter Strickland
Seattle	Carson Smith	Fernando Rodney	Mark Lowe
TB	Brad Boxberger	Jake McGee	Kevin Jepsen
Texas	Shawn Tolleson	Tanner Scheppers	Keone Kela	Neftali Feliz
Toronto	Roberto Osuna	Steve Delabar	Brett Cecil	Miguel Castro
Wash.	Drew Storen	Casey Janssen	Matt Thornton	Aaron Barrett

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