Bullpen Report: September 10, 2012

• With Jonathan Papelbon unavailable tonight, the Phillies used Antonio Bastardo for the save tonight against the Marlins. Bastardo isn’t likely to receive many (if any) save opportunities for the rest of the season (or next), but it’s worth noting he’s pitched better than his 4.57 ERA would indicate. Bastardo has elite strikeout ability and with a 3.29 xFIP Bastardo is still one of the highly touted set-up men as we expected early in the season and he could even help out some of your ratios.

• After proving himself as being human in his last outing, Aroldis Chapman looked fallible again tonight, walking three in two-thirds of an inning. Chapman isn’t in danger of losing his job but those in deep leagues in need for saves (or Chapman owners wanting a hand-cuff) could stand to take a flier on Jonathan Broxton or Sean Marshall. Broxton probably has a greater chance to receive save opportunities if Aroldis were to have a prolonged bad streak but Marshall is the better pitcher with more striktout potential (10.83 K/9).

• Francisco Cordero was released by the Astros today with a 7.55 ERA on the season. Cordero struggled all season long but was particularly bad after he was traded to the  Astros, giving up 11 runs in only six appearances for them before landing on the DL in early August.  Wilton Lopez has done a solid closing for the Astros since Cordero hit the DL and although there is nothing flashy about closing for the worst team in baseball, Lopez has great control (0.95 BB/9) and with a 2.72 xFIP, he can possibly help out you ratios as every little bit can help you win your league.

For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here is a matchup you may be able to exploit.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Wade Davis (TB) @ BAL

Wade Davis has been terrific for the Rays in relief this season (3.41 xFIP; 10.48 K/9) and has only given up one earned run in his last 20.1 innings pitched. The Rays and Orioles are both fighting for a playoff spot and potential division title and the Rays will want to use all the tools at their disposal, including Davis.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	Off 25-Man
Arizona	J.J. Putz	David Hernandez	Takashi Saito
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Eric O’Flaherty	Jonny Venters
Baltimore	Jim Johnson	Pedro Strop	Darren O’Day
Boston	Andrew Bailey	Vicente Padilla	Junichi Tazawa
Chicago (NL)	Carlos Marmol	James Russell	Shawn Camp
Chicago (AL)	Addison Reed	Brett Myers	Matt Thornton
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	Jonathan Broxton	Sean Marshall
Cleveland	Chris Perez	Vinnie Pestano	Tony Sipp
Colorado	Rafael Betancourt	Matt Belisle	Rex Brothers
Detroit	Jose Valverde	Joaquin Benoit	Octavio Dotel
Houston	Wilton Lopez	Wesley Wright	Fernando Rodriguez
KC	Greg Holland	Kelvin Herrera	Aaron Crow
LAA	Ernesto Frieri	Scott Downs	Jordan Walden
LAD	Brandon League	Ronald Belisario	Jamey Wright	Kenley Jansen
Miami	Steve Cishek	Heath Bell	Mike Dunn
Milwaukee	John Axford	Kameron Loe	Francisco Rodriguez
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Jared Burton	Alex Burnett	Matt Capps
NY (NL)	Frank Francisco	Bobby Parnell	Jon Rauch
NY (AL)	Rafael Soriano	David Robertson	Boone Logan
Oakland	Grant Balfour	Ryan Cook	Sean Doolittle
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Antonio Bastardo	Josh Lindblom
Pittsburgh	Joel Hanrahan	Jason Grilli	Chris Resop
St. Louis	Jason Motte	Mitchell Boggs	Edward Mujica
SD	Luke Gregerson	Dale Thayer	Brad Brach	Huston Street
SF	Sergio Romo	Javier Lopez	Santiago Casilla
Seattle	Tom Wilhelmsen	Stephen Pryor	Charlie Furbush
Tampa Bay	Fernando Rodney	Joel Peralta	Kyle Farnsworth
Texas	Joe Nathan	Mike Adams	Alexei Ogando
Toronto	Casey Janssen	Brandon Lyon	Darren Oliver
Wash.	Tyler Clippard	Drew Storen	Sean Burnett

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