Bullpen Report: June 21st, 2012

• Alfredo Aceves needed just seven pitches to lock down his 18th save tonight in a 6-5 Red Sox victory over the Marlins. Boston’s current ninth inning man got off to a bit of a rocky start in his new role, earning just two saves in his first four chances with a 1.0 K/BB. However, since April 23rd (and entering today) Aceves has “converted 15-of-16 save opportunities with a 1.59 ERA.”

That was the good news for those who own shares of Alfredo Aceves in their fantasy leagues. Now on to the bad: Andrew Bailey threw 25 pitches in a bullpen session on Wednesday and is expected to do the same again on Friday. Bailey, who was acquired from the Oakland Athletics prior to this season, was to assume the closer’s role vacated by Jonathan Papelbon who signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. Unfortunately, Bailey suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb that required surgery on April 4th which has delayed the closer’s regular season debut for Boston. Barring any setbacks, Bailey looks to return “around” the All-Star Break. Now may not be a bad time to trade Aceves and/or add Bailey if possible in your league.

• Jose Valverde has been diagnosed with a sprained right wrist and will be re-examined in the next three-to-four days. In his stead, Manager Jim Leyland suggested he will play the matchup game with Joaquin Benoit, Phil Coke or even Octavio Dotel. Tonight, Leyland used Dotel in the sixth, Coke in the seventh and Benoit — who eventually earned the win — in the tenth frame. If available, I would be adding Benoit who has a 1.99 ERA (1.92 FIP) and a 12.51 K/9.

• Rafael Betancourt dished a clean ninth to nail down his 11th save in 13 chances. Betancourt rebounded from two consecutive blown saves and faced the minimum — inducing a line out and fanning two — en route to the save. This was the first save for the Rockies since June 3rd.

• Jonathan Broxton earned his 18th save on Wednesday, good for sixth best amongst closers in the Majors. Broxton struts an excellent 1.57 ERA, but other ERA estimators such as FIP (3.23), xFIP (3.78) and SIERA (3.37) suggest that number could be due for some regression.

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: Tyler Clippard (WAS) vs. BAL

Jordan Zimmerman faces Jason Hammel in what could turn out to be one of the better pitching duels tomorrow. Tyler Clippard has locked down two consecutive saves in as many days, and would likely get the nod tomorrow if the Nationals are up heading into the ninth.

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)	Carlos Marmol	James Russell	Shawn Camp
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	David Robertsonn	Boone Logan
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.]