Bullpen Report: September 3, 2015

Just a handful of games on this Thursday slate, so here’s just a couple of bullpen notes to get you up to speed:

A three-run seventh put the White Sox up two on the Twinkies and in need of closer David Robertson’s services in the final frame. Robertson dished a clean frame, retiring the top of the Twins’ lineup in order on 14 pitches (10 strikes) — including a strikeout of Eduardo Escobar — to secure the victory and his 28th save on the year. On the season, the right-hander is now 28-of-34 in save chances with a 2.55 ERA (2.08 FIP) and a 12.23 K/9 in 53 innings on the hill. Nate Jones fanned three and notched his fourth hold of the season in the same contest.

Francisco Rodriguez picked up his 33rd save of the season today in a clean inning of work for the Brewers. Rodriguez needed just eight pitches, seven of which were strikes, to induce a trio of groundouts and finish off the Pirates, 5-3. KRod is 33-of-34 in save opportunities this season with a 2.45 ERA (2.90 FIP) and a 10.01 K/9. He’s now earned 381 saves over the course of his career, which places him seventh all-time among closers and just nine behind Dennis Eckersley’s 390 career saves. Will Smith (16), Tyler Thornburg (1) and Jeremy Jeffress (19) each notched holds in Brew Crew’s victory.

The Padres bats took advantage of a struggling Dodgers bullpen tonight in Petco Park, tagging them four six runs, four of which came in the bottom of the eighth giving the Friars a 10-7 lead. Both Joaquin Benoit and Craig Kimbrel were the hill for 30+ pitches last evening, but both were willing to take the ball in the ninth during the save opportunity. Skipper Pat Murphy gave Benoit the nod since Kimbrel pitched on the previous two days with a total of 52 pitches. The veteran righty dished a clean frame, needing just 13 pitches to induce a strikeout, a line out and a groundout to seal the 10-7 victory for the Padres and his second save of the year. Kimbrel will be available for Friday should the Friars need him to close.

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.]