Bullpen Report: June 8, 2015

Before we talk tonight’s news and notes, please check our updated consensus rankings for Relief Pitchers.

• I’m upgrading the Cubs situation to Def Con 3, also known as red, as Joe Maddon says he is not locked on one closer for the ninth. We might be entering semi-official committee status in Chicago. Hector Rondon will still be a major fixture in the back of the bullpen, he did pitch the eighth inning last night, but it doesn’t look as though he will consistently see the ninth as he had previously. Pedro Strop will also see save situations, and should be picked up in all leagues. Jason Motte is also an intriguing option for those in need of saves but I would expect Strop or Rondon to be called on next. Strop and Rondon have been similarly effective out of the bullpen this year, with Strop exhibiting more swing and miss stuff (17.4% SwStr%!) than Rondon, even though it’s Rondon who actually throws harder. Consider this situation fluid, but whoever can record a few clean innings in the upcoming games could end up providing save totals for your fantasy team.

• Jason Grilli was presented with a save chance this evening but blew the save, his second on the season. Grilli isn’t the best reliever (he only ranked 23rd in our consensus rankings) but he’s maintained a full mph of increased velocity (94.1 mph) since last year and generates enough whiffs (12.10 K/9) to be helpful to a fantasy team in spite of his saves. The biggest threat to Grilli’s job would be injury or a trade. The Braves have been better than terrible so far this year but they’re still expected to be sellers at the deadline, and Grilli would be a decent option for any team looking for a bullpen upgrade. There are no rumors yet including Grilli, but we will keep you up to date, now that the draft is over team’s should focus on trades and if they’re buying or selling.

• Greg Holland notched his 10th save of the season throwing a perfect ninth with one strikeouts against the Twins. Owners expecting a fantastic season out of Greg Holland have been treated to a B-Grade version instead. Holland missed some time earlier this year on the DL and although his ERA dropped to 1.88 after tonight’s outing, his strikeouts have fallen from  12.99 K/9 to a meager 7.43 K/9 and it hasn’t been offset with increased control either as Holland’s walks have ballooned to 5.40 BB/9.  It’s never a good sign to see decreased velocity and Holland’s is still down over 2 mph since last year. However, it’s possible Holland just has to work himself back to form and tonight was a step in the right direction with Holland hitting 95.4 mph on his fastball.

• Aroldis Chapman is another top tier closer that has had less than stellar results this year. Chapman gave up two walks and an earned run tonight en route to his 11th save. A disappointing year from Chapman is still better than most and we ranked him 5th but he will have to start throwing some shutdown innings to provide the value that owners had to pay for him on draft day. And since we were talking about under performing closers, we have to mention Kimbrel who threw a perfect ninth for his 14th save, lowering his ERA to 4.09. Kimbrel has had some poor batted ball luck this year but otherwise seems to be pitching quite fine. He should be a top five closer here on out.

Closer Grid:

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

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