Bullpen Report: May 6, 2014

• Ernesto Frieri received the save opportunity last night but before we anoint him the closer again, it’s important to note that he  Joe Smith was throwing up in the bullpen but more importantly, felt tightness in his right side. The Angels plan is likely for Frieri to regain the role again but Joe Smith has also been effective in the role thus far. If anyone let Frieri go in your league I would be sure to use your waiver wire on him if need be. I don’t think Scioscia intended to throw Frieri in the ninth inning right away but this injury might have forced his hand. The situation is obviously in flux and both guys are worth owning but I’d put my money on Frieri finishing with more saves from here on out.

• Aroldis Chapman is currently pitching on a rehab assignment. The good: There hasn’t been a setback. The bad: He only threw two-thirds of an inning allowing four hits, five runs, a walk and a HBP.  Chapman likely will have some rust as he works himself into form but I’d focus more on the health without a setback than the results. Johnathan Broxton will still receive the save opps with Aroldis on the shelf, but it shouldn’t be too long before Chapman is back in his familiar role.

• Cody Allen and John Axford have pitched in the last few days and it was Bryan Shaw that received the save opportunity for the Indians tonight. Shaw allowed a hit and an unearned run for his first save of the season. As of now, John Axford is still the closer in Cleveland but a change could be imminent as Axford hasn’t left Francona with much wiggle room. Bryan Shaw has been sneaky effective over the last couple of years and has a 1.65/1.89/3.32 ERA/FIP/xFIP line on the season. Cody Allen is still the best reliever in the pen if the Indians were to make a move, but he’s likely already owned in your league, taking a flier on Bryan Shaw couldn’t hurt for a team in need of saves as the Indians could rationalize keeping Allen in his setup spot.

• Marcus Stroman is expected to see the Blue Jays rotation at some point this season but for now he’s in Toronto to fortify the bullpen. In his first outing Stroman threw two-thirds allowing a run on a triple but he looked better tonight, throwing 1.1 innings allowing a single while striking out a batter for his first win of the year. Aaron Loup came on to get the last two outs for his second save of the year.  Loup is a lefty and I would imagine he’s still behind Cecil in the pecking order but this all might be for naught when Casey Janssen returns. If you’re desperate for saves, feel free to chase Loup if you have the roster spot and Cecil isn’t available but I wouldn’t expect a big save return on the investment rest of season.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Addison Reed	J.J. Putz	Brad Ziegler
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Jordan Walden	David Carpenter
Baltimore	Tommy Hunter	Darren O’Day	Brian Matusz
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Edward Mujica
CHI (NL)	Hector Rondon	Pedro Strop	Justin Grimm	Kyuji Fujikawa
CHI (AL)	Matt Lindstrom	Ronald Belisario	Daniel Webb	Nate Jones
Cincy	Jonathan Broxton	Sam LeCure	J.J. Hoover	Aroldis Chapman
Cleveland	John Axford	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw
Colorado	LaTroy Hawkins	Adam Ottavino	Rex Brothers
Detroit	Joe Nathan	Joba Chamberlain	Al Alburquerque	Joel Hanrahan
Houston	Chad Qualls	Josh Fields	Anthony Bass	Jesse Crain
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Aaron Crow
LAA	Joe Smith	Ernesto Frieri	Michael Kohn	Dane de la Rosa
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Chris Perez	Brian Wilson
Miami	Steve Cishek	A.J. Ramos	Mike Dunn
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Will Smith	Brandon Kintzler	Jim Henderson
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Jared Burton	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Kyle Farnsworth	Daisuke Matsuzaka	Jose Valverde	Bobby Parnell
NY (AL)	David Robertson	Shawn Kelley	Adam Warren
Oakland	Luke Gregerson	Jim Johnson	Sean Doolittle
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Antonio Bastardo	Mike Adams
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson	Justin Wilson	Jason Grilli
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Carlos Martinez	Kevin Siegrist	Jason Motte
SD	Huston Street	Joaquin Benoit	Alex Torres
SF	Sergio Romo	Santiago Casilla	Jeremy Affeldt
Seattle	Fernando Rodney	Danny Farquhar	Tom Wilhelmsen
TB	Grant Balfour	Joel Peralta	Jake McGee
Texas	Joakim Soria	Alexi Ogando	Jason Frasor	Neftali Feliz
Toronto	Brett Cecil	Steve Delabar	Aaron Loup	Casey Janssen
Wash.	Rafael Soriano	Tyler Clippard	Drew Storen

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