Bullpen Report: September 1, 2015

A quick rundown of the early games as we head into September.

• With Brad Ziegler in need of rest after a rough outing on Monday, the Diamondbacks went to Dan Hudson for the save against the Rockies. After two hits, two strikeouts and an earned run, Hudson netted his third save of the year. Ziegler’s worm killing ways (73% GB%) are still first in line but Hudson has cemented his role in the pecking order if anything were to happen to Ziegler.

• The Yankees bullpen might be more top heavy than other pens in the league but their top two is unparalleled. Showing their strength tonight, Dellin Betances got four outs and two strikeouts for his 21st hold, handing the ball off to Miller who struck out the side for his 29th save. In 116 combined innings this season, Miller and Betances have 181 strikeouts and a 1.48 ERA. Pretty, pretty good. While gawking over these two isn’t news, it’s still fun nonetheless.

• Roberto Osuna has been terrific in the ninth all year but he blew his second save this season on a Yan Gomes solo shot in the ninth. On the year Osuna still supports an ERA under two (1.99) with 16 saves in 18 chances. Doing all that before you’re able to drink is a pretty solid start to a career. The Blue Jays really turned a previous weakness into a strength with their improved bullpen. It starts with Osuna in the ninth but the additions of LaTroy Hawkins (1.71 FIP on Toronto) and Mark Lowe along with Aaron Sanchez‘ move to the bullpen creates a solid group.

• Quick Hits: Bryan Shaw blew the save for the Indians tonight. He remains a solid setup option and Cody Allen is still the closer here but was given a night off after getting four outs last night. In other pecking order news, Pedro Strop threw a perfect eighth, and his role as the main setup man in Chicago is firm.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Brad Ziegler	Daniel Hudson	David Hernandez
Atlanta	Arodys Vizcaino	Edwin Jackson	Andrew McKirahan	Jason Grilli
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Darren O’Day	Brad Brach
Boston	Jean Machi	Junichi Tazawa	Alexi Ogando	Koji Uehara
CHI (NL)	Hector Rondon	Pedro Strop	Tommy Hunter	Rafael Soriano
CHI (AL)	David Robertson	Nate Jones	Jacob Petricka
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	J.J. Hoover	Ryan Mattheus
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw	Zach McAllister
Colorado	John Axford	Scott Oberg	Christian Friedrich
Detroit	Bruce Rondon	Alex Wilson	Al Albuerquerque	Joe Nathan
Houston	Luke Gregerson	Pat Neshek	Chad Qualls
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Kelvin Herrera
LAA	Huston Street	Joe Smith	Fernando Salas
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Jim Johnson	Pedro Baez
Miami	A.J. Ramos	Mike Dunn	Bryan Morris	Carter Capps
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Will Smith	Jeremy Jeffress
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Kevin Jepsen	Trevor May
NY (NL)	Jeurys Familia	Tyler Clippard	Addison Reed	Bobby Parnell
NY (AL)	Andrew Miller	Dellin Betances	Justin Wilson
Oakland	Drew Pomeranz	Fernando Rodriguez	Sean Doolittle
Philly	Ken Giles	Luis Garcia	Jeanmar Gomez
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Joakim Soria	Tony Watson
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Kevin Siegrist	Steve Cishek	Jordan Walden
SD	Craig Kimbrel	Joaquin Benoit	Shawn Kelley	Brendan Maurer
SF	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Hunter Strickland
Seattle	Tom Wilhelmsen	Carson Smith	Logan Kensing
TB	Brad Boxberger	Steve Geltz	Alex Colome	Jake McGee
Texas	Shawn Tolleson	Keone Kela	Jake Diekman	Tanner Scheppers
Toronto	Roberto Osuna	Aaron Sanchez	Brett Cecil
Wash.	Jonathan Papelbon	Drew Storen	Casey Janssen

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