Bullpen Report: May 2, 2017

• Even a 12.60 ERA and taking the day to become a U.S. citizen can’t keep Fernando Rodney from the ninth inning. J.J. Hoover pitched the seventh and Jorge de la Rosa pitched the eighth, with each allowing a hit and a walk but getting a scoreless inning nonetheless, setting the table for Rodney with a three-run lead.

Rodney, with citizenship in hand pitched a perfect inning for his seventh save. Archie Bradley’s previous usage was of the one inning variety so I thought he might be next in line in the desert, but it looks like Hoover and de la Rosa are setting up. This situation is still red as Rodney’s ERA/FIP/xFIP line still stands at 11.45/5.00/4.30 and if a change were to be made Bradley could still be in play but I’ve put de la Rosa back on the grid in his place. A small congrats to Rodney’s 268th career save and a bigger congrats on what probably was a very, very special day for him.

I'm officially a US citizen ?? God bless America & Thank you for the opportunity.
Hijo de Republica Dominicana ?? ? #Flecha pic.twitter.com/ZyF3xtpDH9

— Fernando Rodney (@F_Rodney56) May 2, 2017

• Zach Britton was recalled from the DL and threw a scoreless ninth inning in a non-save situation down by three runs to the Red Sox. Britton was a bit rusty, allowing a hit and a walk but he threw 13 pitches and was throwing 95+ mph  so the important thing is he seems healthy. Britton immediately moves back to his familiar role in the with Brad Brach and Darren O’Day moving down a slot.

• Craig Kimbrel got the call for an easy three-run cushioned save and he pitched a perfect frame with one strikeout against the Orioles for his ninth closed door this season. Kimbrel’s ERA and walk rate ballooned last year to career highs but he’s looking like his younger bad self so far in 2017. It’s only been 12.1 innings pitched but his fastball is at 98 mph, his 20% swinging strike rate is a career high and it’s led to a K% of 47%, near his career high as well. Maybe most importantly Kimbrel’s control has been pristine with a 4.8% BB% also representing a career best. Kimbrel will probably have a bad outing at some point, even the best do, but he’s looking second to none in the early going, which isn’t something I expected after 2016.

• With Seung Hwan Oh likely unavailable after getting into some trouble in 25 pitches last night across two innings, the Cardinals went to Trevor Rosenthal for the save. He converted his third opportunity, striking out two in the process. In 8.1 innings Rosie has 17 strikeouts against two walks and although he’s the best pitcher in the Cardinals pen, Oh’s job is still fairly secure. However, with Rosie dominating hitters in the eighth, Oh can’t afford to go through the type of rough patch he had to start the season.

• Speaking of set up men that are better than the team’s closers, Justin Wilson struck out two in a scoreless eighth for his sixth hold. Francisco Rodriguez came on and got his seventh save, pitching around a hit and a walk with one strikeout.

• Quick Hits: Alex Colome is most likely a reader of the Bullpen Report because after pleading for him to strike out more batters he went out and K’d three for his seventh save. Jim Johnson recorded one-out for his fifth save after Matt Wisler messed up what started as a six run lead for the Braves against the Mets. Jason Grilli gave up a homer to Aaron Judge which on it’s own is excusable but he’s been struggling a lot of late and has left the grid with Joe Smith replacing him in the Blue Jays pen.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Fernando Rodney	JJ Hoover	Jorge de la Rosa
Atlanta	Jim Johnson	Arodys Vizcaino	Jose Ramirez	Mauricio Cabrera
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Brad Brach	Darren O’Day
Boston	Craig Kimbrel	Matt Barnes	Heath Hembree	Carson Smith
CHI (NL)	Wade Davis	Hector Rondon	Koji Uehara
CHI (AL)	David Robertson	Nate Jones	Tommy Kahnle
Cincy	Raisel Iglesias	Michael Lorenzen	Drew Storen
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Andrew Miller	Bryan Shaw
Colorado	Greg Holland	Adam Ottavino	Jake McGee	Mike Dunn
Detroit	Francisco Rodriguez	Justin Wilson	Shane Greene
Houston	Ken Giles	Luke Gregerson	Will Harris
KC	Kelvin Herrera	Joakim Soria	Peter Moylan
LAA	Bud Norris	Blake Parker	David Hernandez	Cam Bedrosian
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Pedro Baez	Luis Avilan
Miami	A.J. Ramos	Brad Ziegler	Kyle Barraclough
Milwaukee	Neftali Feliz	Corey Knebel	Jacob Barnes
Minnesota	Brandon Kintzler	Ryan Pressly	Matt Belisle	Glen Perkins
NY (NL)	Jeurys Familia	Addison Reed	Jerry Blevins
NY (AL)	Aroldis Chapman	Dellin Betances	Tyler Clippard
Oakland	Santiago Casilla	Sean Doolittle	Ryan Madson
Philly	Hector Neris	Joaquin Benoit	Jeanmar Gomez
Pittsburgh	Tony Watson	Felipe Rivero	Daniel Hudson
St. Louis	Seung Hwan Oh	Trevor Rosenthal	Kevin Siegrist
SD	Brandon Maurer	Ryan Buchter	Brad Hand	Carter Capps
SF	Mark Melancon	Hunter Strickland	Derek Law
Seattle	Edwin Diaz	Nick Vincent	Evan Scribner	Steve Cishek
TB	Alex Colome	Danny Farquhar	Austin Pruitt	Brad Boxberger
Texas	Matt Bush	Jeremy Jeffress	Jose Leclerc
Toronto	Roberto Osuna	Joe Biagini	Joe Smith
Wash.	Shawn Kelley	Blake Treinen	Joe Blanton	Koda Glover

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