Bullpen Report: May 14, 2015

Luke Gregerson recently spent close to a week away from his teammates in order to deal with a personal matter, but returned to the hill yesterday in a scoreless inning of work. However, the 31-year-old right-hander once again left the team tonight to deal with an undisclosed personal matter, leaving Chad Qualls to fend off the Blue Jays in the ninth-inning in a save situation. And that he did, on just 12 pitches. Qualls retired Toronto’s 5-6-7 hitters consecutively — two by ground out, one via strikeout — to notch his fourth save in five opportunities this season. Gregerson is expected back with the team tomorrow (Friday, 5/15) and should assume the closer’s role, unless the Astros’ brass decides to provide the righty with an opportunity to get some work in during a lower leverage situation.


It feels like I haven’t been able to write up Aroldis Chapman this season as much I have in recent years, so I’m happy the southpaw converted his seventh save today. The 27-year-old is 2-2 on the season, a perfect 7-for-7 in save chances, sports a 1.17 ERA (1.45 FIP) and owned a 27.3% strikeout-minus-walk rate entering today.

Though we’re just in May, Chapman’s K%-BB% is down quite a bit from last season’s 40.6% K%-BB% which was best in the bigs among qualified relievers. He’s actually inducing swinging strikes at a 21.5% clip, a career-high for the flamethrowing Cuban, but not as many batters are striking out. Maybe it could be that the average velocity on his slider (87.3 mph) is down a tick from last season’s readings (88.5 mph), although it’s not too far off from his career 87.8 mph. Or it could be that he’s pounding the zone more than he ever has in the past (51.7% Zone%) and batters are just connecting and putting the ball in play. At any rate, Chapman is still the top closer to own in my book, but there are a few that are closing the gap.

Following today’s game, the Rays activated reliever Jake McGee from the 15-day disabled list. According to the Rays’ skipper, Brad Boxberger, Jake McGee and Kevin Jepsen could all be used in save situations based on leverage and matchups. This really doesn’t do us any favors in the fantasy community, but I’m guessing it’s going to be hard not to put Boxberger on the mound in a save situation as long as the matchups are reasonably in his favor, especially since McGee has some reverse platoon splits over the course of his career. Boxberger is a perfect 10-for-10 on the season in save chances with a 1.26 ERA (1.57 FIP) and a 25.9% K%-BB%. If you’re chasing saves, you should be adding McGee, but don’t get too excited as I think the youngster still gets the bulk of the save chances going forward as long as he keeps it together. Jepsen is a guy worth owning in leagues that reward holds and solds (saves+holds), but that’s it. Leaving this situation “green” for the time being.

Quick Hitters: Hector Rondon surrendered a leadoff single to Daniel Murphy, then retired three Metropolitans in-a-row to secure his eighth save of the season in a 6-5 win for the Cubs. Rondon is now 8-of-9 in save opportunities on the year with a 2.81 ERA (3.02 FIP). Jonathan Papelbon took to the hill with one out in the ninth to rescue Ken Giles and the Phillies after the Pirates plated a run. It wasn’t pretty, but Papelbon notched his eighth save of the season in just two-thirds of work. Trevor Rosenthal (12) and Greg Holland (7) also picked up saves today. But Rosenthal’s was of the four out variety in which the right-hander fanned three.

Closer Grid:

Closer First Second DL/Minors
Arizona Addison Reed Brad Ziegler Daniel Hudson Evan Marshall
Atlanta Jason Grilli Jim Johnson Cody Martin
Baltimore Zach Britton Darren O’Day Tommy Hunter
Boston Koji Uehara Alexi Ogando Junichi Tazawa
CHI (NL) Hector Rondon Pedro Strop Jason Motte
CHI (AL) David Robertson Jacob Petricka Zach Duke
Cincy Aroldis Chapman Jumbo Diaz Tony Cingrani Sean Marshall
Cleveland Cody Allen Bryan Shaw Scott Atchison
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 Vinnie Pestano
LAD Yimi Garcia Chris Hatcher Pedro Baez Kenley Jansen
Miami A.J. Ramos Bryan Morris Mike Dunn Steve Cishek
Milwaukee Francisco Rodriguez Jonathan Broxton Will Smith
Minnesota Glen Perkins Brian Duensing Blaine Boyer Casey Fien
NY (NL) Jeurys Familia Carlos Torres Sean Gilmartin Jenrry Mejia
NY (AL) Andrew Miller Dellin Betances Esmil Rogers 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 Fernando Rodney Danny Farquhar Carson Smith
TB Brad Boxberger Jake McGee Kevin Jepsen
Texas Neftali Feliz Shawn Tolleson Keone Kela Tanner Scheppers
Toronto Brett Cecil Roberto Osuna Steve Delabar Miguel Castro
Wash. Drew Storen Aaron Barrett Tanner Roark Casey Janssen

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





In addition to contributing to the RotoGraphs blog, you can find Alan at his own site, TheFantasyFix.com and follow his nonsense on Twitter @TheFantasyFix.

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francis
8 years ago

I’m wondering what a Cueto/Chapman package could land Cincy at the deadline.

FeslenR
8 years ago
Reply to  francis

plenty good, if you’re not dumb like the current Tampa GM…

Mike W.
8 years ago
Reply to  FeslenR

Not fantasy related, but why do you think the current Tampa GM, Matt Silverman is dumb? The Wil Myers trade is looking somewhat questionable I will admit, but Souza has been solid enough and he has started to rebuild a farm system that had been stripped pretty bare towards the end of Friedman’s tenure.

Just curious about your opinion is all.