Bullpen Report: September 26, 2012

• Mets reliever Frank Francisco will likely miss the remainder of the 2012 season after experiencing a setback from elbow tendinitis this past weekend. Manager Terry Collins indicated that since Francisco hasn’t pitched in nine days, he’d need to get some side work in before getting back into live action, but with just eight games remaining, “he’s not sure when that would take place.” The Mets closer saved 23-of-26 games with a 5.53 ERA (4.10 xFIP) and a 2.24 K/BB – his lowest since 2007 when he sported a 1.77 K/BB.

• For those in holds leagues, one percent owned Joba Chamberlain has a 0.00 ERA with a 5.0 K/BB and three holds in the last two weeks. Joba appeared in seven contests over that time, spending five-and-two-thirds on the hill, yielding six hits and just one unearned run. Another potential last minute addition for holds, Jim Henderson of the Brewers has collected two holds while posting a 0.00 ERA and a 4.0 K/BB over the last 14 days. Henderson is owned in just four percent of Yahoo! leagues.

• Jose Valverde finished off the Kansas City Royals for his 32nd save in 37 opportunities this season. The Tigers’ closer needed just12 pitches to induce two fly outs and a ground out to seal the deal. Valverde has now dished two consecutive clean outings in an attempt to save what looks to be his worst month of the year. He’s 0-2 with four saves, a 6.97 ERA and a 2.0 K/BB in September.

• Wilton Lopez picked up the five-out save tonight – his eighth of the year – to help Bud Norris get his sixth victory of the twenty-twelve campaign. Lopez is a perfect 5-for-5 in save opportunities this September, with an impressive 0.90 ERA in 11 outings (10.0 IP) and a 5.0 K/BB. The late-season surge from Lopez should make him the frontrunner for the Astros closing job in 2013 barring any free agent acquisitions.

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: Craig Kimbrel (ATL) vs. MIA

Yea, I usually tramp through the recent schedules and bullpen usage to try and find you the ultimate value for your daily leagues, that are more than likely to get a save opportunity. But, this is a case of me taking the easy way out – with arguably the best closer in baseball that is. Kimbrel is a machine. He’s 3-0 on the year with 39 saves in 42 chances, a 1.04 ERA (0.66 WHIP) and 111 strikeouts to just 14 walks. Yes, that’s one hundred and eleven strikeouts.

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	Kevin Jepsen
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Brandon League	Ronald Belisario
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)	Jon Rauch	Bobby Parnell	Frank Francisco
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	Huston Street	Luke Gregerson	Dale Thayer
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.	Drew Storen	Tyler Clippard	Sean Burnett

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