Bullpen Report: June 11th, 2012

•Texas Rangers reliever Robbie Ross doesn’t pitch in too many high leverage innings and isn’t close to being in line for any save opportunities, but after pitching four innings yesterday for win he is now 6-0 in 34.2 innings pitched this season with a shiny 1.30 ERA.  Ross’ 3.34 xFIP and 5.71 k/9 aren’t quite as jaw dropping but they aren’t particularly terrible either.  Roster space can be a very valuable thing and I wouldn’t recommend using a spot on a reliever who isn’t close to saving games and doesn’t have strikeout potential but if your league gives points for innings pitched, Ross could be a compelling add. He’s pitched the second most innings in the majors out of the bullpen this year and figures to continue that trend as we approach the Texas heat with a Rangers rotation battling with some injuries at the moment.

•Sergio Santos has hit a road block in his rehab from shoulder inflammation after feeling elbow discomfort last week. Blue Jays manager John Farrell hinted that it “could be normal for a guy ramping back up” but shoulder injuries are pretty tricky and with no timetable scheduled for his return, look for Casey Janssen to hold on to the role for a while longer. Janssen’s numbers certainly won’t wow you but he has a firm grasp on the role while Santos is out and his 3.48 xFIP  and 7.94 k/9 are nothing to sneeze at for those in need of saves.

•With Rich Hill placed on the DL the Red Sox called up Mark Melancon from triple-A and he pitched a scoreless eighth inning tonight with the Red Sox down three runs. Melancon was demoted on April 18th, after his first 4 appearances led to 11 runs and two losses and since then he’s pitched excellent in Pawtucket, getting 11 saves with a 0.83 ERA in 21.2 innings, striking out 27 batters against only three walks.  Andrew Miller has pitched admirably this year, and Melancon will likely have to prove himself over more than one inning in the majors before he starts setting up Aceves consistently, but with Franklin Morales being stretched out to make a possible start in the future, Melancon could start working his way towards some higher leverage innings and holds.

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: Jonathan Papelbon (PHI) at MIN

Papelbon hasn’t pitched in three days and should be in line to get some work in tomorrow, whether or not a save situation presents itself. Also, with both offenses not really considered the scary type, there might be a chance for Papelbon to record a save or a win in a low scoring game.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	Injured
Arizona	J.J. Putz	David Hernandez	Bryan Shaw
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Jonny Venters	Eric O’Flaherty
Baltimore	Jim Johnson	Pedro Strop	Matt Lindstrom
Boston	Alfredo Aceves	Andrew Miller	Mark Melancon	Andrew Bailey
Chicago (NL)	James Russell	Shawn Camp	Casey Coleman
Chicago (AL)	Addison Reed	Hector Santiago	Matt Thornton
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	Sean Marshall	Jose Arredondo
Cleveland	Chris Perez	Vinnie Pestano	Tony Sipp
Colorado	Rafael Betancourt	Matt Belisle	Matt Reynolds
Detroit	Jose Valverde	Joaquin Benoit	Octavio Dotel
Houston	Brett Myers	Wilton Lopez	David Carpenter
KC	Jonathan Broxton	Greg Holland	Aaron Crow
LAA	Ernesto Frieri	Scott Downs	Jordan Walden
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Josh Lindblom	Shawn Tolleson
Miami	Heath Bell	Steve Cishek	Edward Mujica
Milwaukee	John Axford	Francisco Rodriguez	Jose Veras
Minnesota	Matt Capps	Glen Perkins	Alex Burnett
NY (NL)	Frank Francisco	Bobby Parnell	Jon Rauch
NY (AL)	Rafael Soriano	Boone Logan	Cory Wade	David Robertson
Oakland	Ryan Cook	Brian Fuentes	Grant Balfour
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Antonio Bastardo	Chad Qualls
Pittsburgh	Joel Hanrahan	Jason Grilli	Juan Cruz
St. Louis	Jason Motte	Mitchell Boggs	Eduardo Sanchez
SD	Huston Street	Dale Thayer	Luke Gregerson
SF	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Javier Lopez
Seattle	Tom Wilhelmsen	Brandon League	Charlie Furbush
Tampa Bay	Fernando Rodney	Joel Peralta	J.P. Howell	Kyle Farnsworth
Texas	Joe Nathan	Mike Adams	Koji Uehara
Toronto	Casey Janssen	Jason Frasor	Darren Oliver	Sergio Santos
Wash.	Tyler Clippard	Sean Burnett	Henry Rodriguez	Drew Storen

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