Bullpen Report: June 5th, 2012

• Kenley Jansen converted the save tonight against the Phillies for his eighth save of the year. Since taking over the close role in early May, Jansen has been outstanding only giving up a single earned run in 11 innings while striking out 16 batters. Jansen has a firm grasp on the role, especially now that Javy Guerra is on the DL and should be considered one of the top closers given his ability to miss bats (13.99 k/9). If something were to happen to Jansen, Josh Lindblom, who pitched a perfect eighth inning tonight, would be next in line for saves. Lindblom isn’t the most exciting of relievers, but he should provide holds as the primary setup man for the Dodgers.

• A few months ago, if you were to ask me who I thought would be most likely to lose their closer job, Chris Perez would have been one of the first names I would mention. Heck, in late February he suffered an oblique strain and there was doubt that he would even begin the year as closer. Anyway, it’s June 5th and Chris Perez converted his 18th and league leading save tonight against the Tigers. Perez did make it interesting, giving up a run on two hits, but his job is still secure leaving Vinnie Pestano and his strikeout skills (career 12.28 k/9) as the setup man. Perez’ ERA (2.82)  isn’t as shiny as the underlying numbers might suggest (3.95 xFIP), but he’s still pitching significantly better than last year (5.01 xFIP) due to an increase in strikeout rate (5.88 k/9 in 2011; 8.06 k/9 in 2012) and issuing fewer free passes. Pestano is still a great guy to have in your bullpen, but the expectation that he will be getting a lot of saves in 2012 have to be lowered.

• After struggling mightily in his last start Daniel Bard was optioned to Triple-A today and is expected to get his mechanics back in line, something they didn’t think he could do at the major league level. The problems with Bard were pretty striking and it should be interesting to see if he can figure out how to do this whole starting pitching thing in Pawtucket, or if he’ll be moved back into the bullpen.

• Jim Johnson blew his first save of the year tonight against the Red Sox but his team bailed him by scoring two runs in extra inning off of Alfredo Aceves, allowing Johnson to stay in the game to pitch a clean 10th inning, securing the win for himself and the Orioles. Pedro Strop may be the future closer in Baltimore but unless Johnson is traded he and his worm killing ways (66.7% GB%) figure to get the vast majority of save chances for the Orioles this season. Meanwhile, Aceves’ roller coaster season continues but without many other attractive options (unless Bard moves back to the bullpen), Aceves will remain Boston’s closer at least until Andrew Bailey returns from injury.

• Huston Street is back from his lat injury. Dale Thayer and his excellent mustache can be dropped in saves leagues, even though Street is a little injury-prone.

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A Pitcher for Tomorrow:  Aroldis Chapman (CIN) vs PIT

Homer Bailey only lasted three innings tonight, forcing the Reds to get a lot of innings out of their bullpen so look for a well rested Aroldis Chapman to get a chance to pitch tomorrow. Also, Johnny Cueto is on the bump, and should give the Reds a chance for a lead against the Pirates and a save for Chapman.

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	Franklin Morales	Daniel Bard	Andrew Bailey
Chicago (NL)	James Russell	Shawn Camp	Carlos Marmol
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	Scott Downs	Ernesto Frieri	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	Brian Fuentes	Ryan Cook	Grant Balfour
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Antonio Bastardo	Chad Qualls
Pittsburgh	Joel Hanrahan	Juan Cruz	Jason Grilli
St. Louis	Jason Motte	Mitchell Boggs	Eduardo Sanchez
SD	Huston Street	Andrew Cashner	Dale Thayer
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.]