Bullpen Report: June 18th, 2014

Some quick bullpen notes in a pinch-hit effort this evening:

With Glen Perkins unavailable for the Twins in the bottom of the 10th due to a sore back, right-hander Casey Fien earned the nod with a 1-0 lead in the save situation. Manager Ron Gardenhire called upon Fien last week to complete a four-out save — his first of the season — but this evenings effort failed to turn out as nice. He induced a fly out to Dustin Pedroia to leadoff the inning, but surrendered back-to-back homeruns to David Ortiz and Mike Napoli to blow the save and take the loss, 2-1. Despite the blown save, usage indicates that Fien should indeed jump Jared Burton on our grid (change should be reflected below) and would seemingly get the next look if Perkins’ soreness develops into more than a one-day issue. Fien is now 1-of-2 in save chances this season with 11 holds, a 2.76 ERA (3.50 FIP) and a ~18% K%.

Old friend Dana Eveland earned the one out save on five pitches in a lefty-lefty situation for the Mets, his first since 2005 and second of his career. The Metropolitans’ skipper indicated this was a unique spot, thanks to Matt Adams hot streak as of late, and mentioned he would likely allow Mejia finish off games like this going forward. You can’t blame Collins for playing matchups with the Cardinals’ first baseman who, prior to this evening, had been seven for his last 20 with three homers six rib-eyes. And although Mejia fares well against lefties (.271 wOBA versus LHB in ‘14), it’s Adams success against righties (.426 wOBA versus RHP in ‘14) as opposed to southpaws (.159 wOBA versus LHP in ‘14) that probably aided his decision.

Sean Doolittle induced a flyout and fanned two en route to his ninth save of the season. He’s now 9-of-10 in save chances since assuming the closers’ role in Oakland and owns a 2.12 ERA (1.18 FIP), a ~38% K% and a 48:1 K:BB on the season. Doolittle earned the eighth spot on our consensus rankings update last Thursday ( I ranked him seventh), but if we ranked again today I may have him as high as sixth, with Sergio Romo sliding down to seventh. And his beard is easily top five.

Greg Holland (21), Rafael Soriano (15) and Zach Britton (9) each notched saves this evening.

Quick Hitters: Dellin Betances continues his super-reliever season with two more strikeouts this evening. He’s now up to 70 on the season — one more than Justin Verlander and one less than Jordan Zimmerman — and owns a 45.45% K% with a 1.51 ERA (0.91 WHIP). Betances deserves a roster spot in just about all formats with 10 or more teams, except NL-Only leagues obviously. Despite surrendering a manufactured earned run in the bottom of the ninth-inning, Ronald Belisario finished off the Giants to notch his seventh save of the year.

Closer Grid:

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