Bullpen Report: Sunday, August 2, 2015

Shawn Tolleson is remaining in the closer role, but his cohorts on the grid are changing. Keone Kela has been sent to AA, and Tanner Scheppers hits the DL with a knee issue. Newly acquired Sam Dyson and Jake Diekman end up next in line for saves with the Rangers. With Tolleson being unavailable on Sunday after pitching four days in a row, the Rangers turned to the Dyson-Diekman duo to lock down a two-run lead in the ninth. Diekman walked Nori Aoki on four pitches and was replaced with Dyson. He generated three ground balls, the first two ending up in the outfield, and the last one starting a game-ending double play. It was Dyson’s first save as a Ranger.

The Jays grid turns green. The roles there are solidifying, with Roberto Osuna having a strong hold on the closer role. After Aaron Sanchez and his electric fastball were ejected in the eighth inning, Osuna was summoned to get the final four outs. He gave up a home run to Ben Zobrist to pull the Royals within one, but that was as close as they got. It was Osuna’s seventh save.

Mark Melancon earned his first hold of the year on Sunday afternoon. He was ejected from the game and Joakim Soria came on to grab his 24th save of the year. Tony Watson is having a strong year, but we’re kidding ourselves if we think he’s going to be getting the bulk of the save chances if something happens to Melancon. Hence, Soria’s spot as next in line on the grid.

Carter Capps is getting an MRI on his elbow Monday after coming out of the game Sunday with elbow stiffness. The Marlins have him as day-to-day, but any time you hear “elbow” and “MRI”, there is cause for concern, even though Capps himself isn’t too worried. A.J. Ramos struggled on Friday, giving up four earned, and blew the save Sunday, giving up a home run to Alexi Amarista. Bryan Morris saw the seventh inning, and with the struggles of Ramos and the elbow issue for Capps, it’s not totally outrageous to look at who would be next in line for saves. It would be between Morris and Mike Dunn, and I’d lean towards Dunn. I’ve made the Marlins grid yellow for now, but it could be back to green by mid-week.

Of Note: Brad Boxberger struck out the side on 12 pitches in a perfect ninth, earning save number 26 for the Rays. Hector Rondon grabbed his 16th save Sunday. He gave up a couple of runs, only one of them earned. Pedro Strop pitched a perfect eighth with a pair of strikeouts and could be in the mix for saves, along with seemingly everyone else in the pen. Joe Maddon’s familiarity with and trust in Soriano has him in the second spot behind Motte and Rondon. I don’t think he’s the third best reliever, but I do think he’s third most likely to get some saves. Carson Smith struck out one Twin in his third of an inning. Fernando Rodney pitched a scoreless tenth and was credited with the win, while Tom Wilhemsen grabbed his second save, shutting down Minnesota in the eleventh after the Mariners got to Kevin Jepsen in the top of the inning. Luke Gregerson saved his 22nd of the year.

Notes from Saturday: Mark Lowe gave up three runs in his Blue Jays debut, allowing Wade Davis to get his 16th hold and Greg Holland to pick up save number 23. Tommy Hunter got his first save as a Cub, as he came on after Jason Motte gave up a leadoff double and Jorge Soler pulled a Khris Davis blast back from over the fence. Hunter hit 99 MPH with his fastball and only needed three pitches to get the final two outs. The Cubs grid remains redder than ever. Hector Rondon had pitched three games in a row, so he wasn’t available Saturday. Fernando Rodney struck out the side in a perfect eighth for the Mariners, but Carson Smith wasn’t able to close the deal in the ninth. Despite his recent struggles, Lloyd McClendon says he’s going to stick with him. It wasn’t a save situation, but Tommy Kahnle finished off the Cardinals with a four-run lead. Rafael Betancourt put out a fire in the seventh, so this may be an indication of which way Walt Weiss is leaning for his closer right now, after he removed John Axford from the role. Kenley Jansen(19), Aroldis Chapman(22), Craig Kimbrel(31), Jeurys Familia(28) and Santiago Casilla(27) all filled up the saves category on Saturday.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Brad Ziegler	Daniel Hudson	David Hernandez	Addison Reed
Atlanta	Arodys Vizcaino	David Aardsma	Jason Frasor	Jason Grilli
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Darren O’Day	Brad Brach
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Alexi Ogando
CHI (NL)	Hector Rondon	Jason Motte	Rafael Soriano
CHI (AL)	David Robertson	Jacob Petricka	Zach Putnam
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	J.J. Hoover	Ryan Mattheus
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw	Zach McAllister
Colorado	Tommy Kahnle	Rafael Betancourt	Justin Miller
Detroit	Alex Wilson	Bruce Rondon	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	Carter Capps	Mike Dunn
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Jeremy Jeffress	Will Smith
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Kevin Jepsen	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Jeurys Familia	Tyler Clippard	Bobby Parnell
NY (AL)	Andrew Miller	Dellin Betances	Justin Wilson
Oakland	Edward Mujica	Fernando Rodriguez	Drew Pomeranz	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	Brendan Maurer
SF	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Hunter Strickland
Seattle	Carson Smith	Fernando Rodney	Tom Wilhelmsen
TB	Brad Boxberger	Jake McGee	Steve Geltz
Texas	Shawn Tolleson	Jake Diekman	Sam Dyson	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.]