Bullpen Report: September 2, 2014

• As we mentioned last night, Kevin Quackenbush is currently closing for the Padres at the moment and today we learned we can expect that to continue for at least the next 8-10 days according to Corey Brock. With Benoit on the shelf until then, Quackenbush should get another couple of save opportunities, and maybe even a few more as it’s unclear how the Padres will deal with Benoit as we approach the end of the season.

• Sean Doolitte played catch/had a catch today from 90 feet but there is still no date on his return. However, it doesn’t “seem” to be too far off, if you are in need of saves and someone dropped Sean Doolittle due to some roster crunch, I’d definitely take a look at him. The A’s are trying to win the division and Doolittle could be back in his familiar rule as soon as he’s comes off of the DL.

• There was no save in the Phillies game but BR favorite Ken Giles threw another perfect inning, striking out two in the process. His walk-rate is not at all in line with his minor league career which causes some mild “concern” but what Giles is doing is simply undeniable. A 1.23/1.27/1.84 ERA/FIP/xFIP with 54 strikeouts in 36.2 innings pitched is damn good and Giles should be one of the first non-closing relievers taken in drafts in March. Aaron Sanchez also wasn’t known for his control in the minors, but relieving for the Blue Jays this season he’s allowed only three walks in 22.2 innings pitched, amassing 21 strikeouts in the process, including one in a perfect inning this evening.

• Jenrry Mejia threw a perfect ninth for his 22nd save of the season. Mejia was a popular pick to possibly be shut down later this season but there has been no word from the Mets brass about it so I would assume Mejia’s job as closer is pretty safe from here on out. Of course, he’s still a bit of an injury risk, but assuming fair health, Mejia will be saving games for the Mets into October.

• With a six run lead in the ninth (although it was only four runs when he was warming up), the Red Sox called on Koji Uehera and he was a bit disappointing again, allowing a homer to Brian McCann. Terry Francona John Farrell said that Uehara will receive less of a workload in September with the Red Sox out of the race and given his consistent and recent struggles, I’d certainly expect Edward Mujica to get a few opportunities moving forward.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Addison Reed	Brad Ziegler	Oliver Perez
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Jordan Walden	David Carpenter	Shae Simmons
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Tommy Hunter	Andrew Miller
Boston	Koji Uehara	Edward Mujica	Junichi Tazawa
CHI (NL)	Hector Rondon	Neil Ramirez	Kyuji Fujikawa
CHI (AL)	Jacob Petricka	Zach Putnam	Matt Lindstom
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	Sam LeCure	Manny Parra	Sean Marshall
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw	Scott Atchison
Colorado	LaTroy Hawkins	Adam Ottavino	Rex Brothers
Detroit	Joe Nathan	Joba Chamberlain	Al Alburquerque	Joakim Soria
Houston	Chad Qualls	Tony Sipp	Josh Fields
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Jason Frasor
LAA	Huston Street	Joe Smith	Jason Grilli
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Brian Wilson	Brandon League
Miami	Steve Cishek	Bryan Morris	A.J. Ramos
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Jonathan Broxton	Brandon Kintzler	Jim Henderson
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Jared Burton	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Jenrry Mejia	Jeurys Familia	Vic Black	Bobby Parnell
NY (AL)	David Robertson	Dellin Betances	Adam Warren
Oakland	Eric O’Flaherty	Luke Gregerson	Dan Otero	Sean Doolittle
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Ken Giles	Jake Diekman	Mike Adams
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson	Jared Hughes
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Pat Neshek	Seth Maness	Jason Motte
SD	Kevin Quackenbush	Dale Thayer	Nick Vincent	Joaquin Benoit
SF	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Jeremy Affeldt
Seattle	Fernando Rodney	Danny Farquhar	Dominic Leone
TB	Jake McGee	Brad Boxberger	Grant Balfour
Texas	Neftali Feliz	Neal Cotts	Shawn Tolleson
Toronto	Casey Janssen	Aaron Loup	Brett Cecil
Wash.	Rafael Soriano	Tyler Clippard	Drew Storen

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