Bullpen Report: March 27, 2014

A few brief notes out of the bullpens on Thursday:

-The St. Louis Cardinals’ inked veteran right-hander David Aardsma on Wednesday to compete for a spot out of the bullpen. The Cards are looking to carry five right-handers in the ‘pen to open the regular season, and with three of the five claimed by Carlos Martinez, Pat Neshek and Trevor Rosenthal, Aardsma appears to be battling three others for the last two spots. The fantasy-relevant (to some of us) odd-man out here could potentially be Seth Maness, who finished tied with Randy Choate for the second-most holds among Cardinal arms in twenty-thirteen. Maness’ 5-2 record, 2.32 ERA and 15 holds last season may not be enough to overshadow the righty’s struggles in Cactus League play. Southpaws Randy Choate and Kevin Siegrist along with flame throwing righty, Carlos Martinez, figure to be logging the majority of the holds in St. Louis this year.

-The Chicago White Sox were awarded 28-year-old Javy Guerra off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers today. Considering the veteran right-hander is out of options, he’ll likely make the White Sox Opening Day roster and be the final player on their 40-man. While Nate Jones and Matt Lindstrom appear to be battling it out for the ninth-inning nod, Guerra is a fair option with closing experience should one or both of them struggle. Guerra owns a career 2.90 ERA (3.30 FIP) with 29 saves and a 19.5% K% (10.5 BB%) in 102.1 IP.

–Koji Uehara notched his first save in one of the Red Sox final tune-ups this Spring. He fanned two of the three batters he faced en route to a Boston 4-1 victory over Minnesota to keep his ERA a perfect 0.00 in Grapefruit League play. Twins’ relievers Jared Burton and Glen Perkins surrendered three earned runs on five hits and a walk over two frames in the losing effort.

Closer Grid:

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