Bullpen Report: Sunday, July 19, 2015

Joe Blanton got his first career save on Sunday. He touched 93 and generated three whiffs with his twelve pitches. Even with this dominant outing, there will be no changes to the Royals grid. This was simply a chance for Ned Yost to rest his entire pen as the Royals are facing a tough slate coming out of the break. They started the weekend with a doubleheader, and the off day that was scheduled for this Thursday has been replaced with a trip to St. Louis between home dates with the Pirates and Astros. They don’t get a reprieve until August 3.

Cody Allen didn’t have a wonderful weekend, and for any of you who have him as your Scoresheet closer, lunchtime tomorrow is probably going to be not awesome. He gave up a run in a third on Saturday, and gave up another on Sunday on three hits. He did strike out three Reds in his 1.7 weekend innings. In that game Aroldis Chapman did a number of cool things. He struck out five, including his 500th career strikeout. He became the fastest to that number, reaching 500 in 292 career innings. He threw the most pitches that he’s thrown in a single outing, with 44. The Reds host the Cubs for four games, including a Wednesday doubleheader, so if J.J. Hoover is available and you’re desperate for a save this week, pick him up tonight and hope he gets a chance tomorrow. He threw 23 pitches on Friday and 12 on Sunday, so he should be very much available Monday night if needed.

Ken Giles had an afternoon to forget Sunday, but it doesn’t affect his spot on the grid. He gave up four hits and a couple of runs, only one of them earned, and was charged with the blown save. For the Marlins, Carter Capps mowed through the Phillies in the eighth, striking out a pair. A.J. Ramos didn’t record an out in the bottom of the ninth and surrendered a walk-off shot to Jeff Francoeur. It was the first earned run he’s surrendered in over a month, and his spot as closer remains secure.

Shawn Tolleson endured his second consecutive rough outing, as he gave up a two-run home run to Hank Conger, but still got the save as he was given a lead of three to work with. His velocity is fine, he’s just hit a couple of bumps. Keone Kela looks to have to stuff to close and he’d be the choice of many, but based on usage, I’d say Tanner Scheppers would be next in line for saves if Tolleson doesn’t right the ship quickly. Keep an eye on this situation this week.

Sunday Notes: Fernando Rodney couldn’t keep the game tied in the Bronx in the eighth, giving up a solo shot to Mark Teixiera. That allowed Dellin Betances to earn his sixth win, and Andrew Miller sewed it up for his 20th save of the year, striking out a pair. Roberto Osuna struck out three Rays as he finished the game in a non-save situation. Jeurys Familia gave up an extra-inning home run to Kolton Wong, blowing his third save of the year. He did strike out the side. Trevor Rosenthal was the only reliever that didn’t come out of the pen on Sunday. He threw 33 pitches Friday night and has had some issues throughout the season with a sore right arm. Definitely keep a close eye on this as the week goes on. If Jordan Walden’s return is a few weeks away, he may not be a terrible pickup in a deep league if you have a DL spot to spare. Santiago Casilla has 24 saves now after he shut out the Diamondbacks in the ninth. Enrique Burgos was sent to AAA and David Hernandez takes his spot on the grid. Rafael Soriano was recalled by the Cubs, and there’s no reason to think that he won’t work his way onto the closer grid. He did close for Joe Maddon when he was a member of the Rays, saving 45 games in 2010, so there is familiarity there.

Notes From Saturday: Carson Smith grabbed his seventh save as he protected a two-run lead. He did make the game a little more interesting by giving up a run. Fernando Rodney got a one-out hold in the eighth. Brad Boxberger pitched the eighth and Jake McGee got the ninth and the save in Toronto. Facing the top of the Jays order in Reyes, Donaldson, Bautista and Encarnacion, Kevin Cash elected to go with Boxberger. It wasn’t the smoothest inning of work, but getting Donaldson to hit into a key double play allowed him to escape unscathed. There’s no reason that McGee couldn’t have handled the Jays buzzsaw, as he’s held righties to a .163 wOBA on the year, but Cash played the percentages, and you can’t really blame him. Nationals righty Casey Janssen solidified his precarious hold as next in line on the grid with a perfect eighth inning of the game suspended from Friday, striking out two and snagging a win. Drew Storen saved it, his 28th. Sergio Romo went an inning and a third and grabbed his first save. This isn’t a case of him getting the closer gig, so there’s no need to change the Giants grid. Greg Holland blew his third save of the year, allowing the White Sox to plate two and tie it in the bottom of the ninth. Wade Davis had another perfect inning with two more strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 0.44 in the process. Kenley Jansen gave up a two-run rocket to Bryce Harper. If you love power vs. power, then you loved that at bat. Bruce Rondon gave up two runs and four hits and I just can’t keep him on the grid. He did bounce back with two strikeouts in a scoreless inning Sunday. Behind Joakim Soria there are no defined roles, but if I had to guess, and I do, Neftali Feliz is going to get the first save opportunity that Soria doesn’t. This can still change depending on what additions the Tigers make before the trade deadline. Both closers in Oakland blew saves, as Glen Perkins and Tyler Clippard took turns giving up ninth inning runs. It was the first blown save for Perkins and the third for Clippard. Drew Pomeranz pitched the tenth and got the win, but he’s not going to be replacing Evan Scribner as next in line for saves, not with righties reaching him to the tune of a .333 wOBA. Edward Mujica is my bet to be next in line. Jonathan Papelbon(15), Zach Britton(24), Francisco Rodriguez(21), Craig Kimbrel(25) all earned Saturday saves.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Brad Ziegler	Daniel Hudson	David Hernandez	Addison Reed
Atlanta	Jim Johnson	Arodys Vizcaino	David Aardsma	Jason Grilli
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Darren O’Day	Tommy Hunter
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Alexi Ogando
CHI (NL)	Jason Motte	Hector Rondon	Pedro Strop
CHI (AL)	David Robertson	Jacob Petricka	Zach Putnam
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	J.J. Hoover	Ryan Mattheus	Tony Cingrani
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw	Zach McAllister
Colorado	John Axford	LaTroy Hawkins	Boone Logan
Detroit	Joakim Soria	Neftali Feliz	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	Pedro Baez	Juan Nicasio	Yimi Garcia
Miami	A.J. Ramos	Carter Capps	Steve Cishek
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Jeremy Jeffress	Will Smith
Minnesota	Glen Perkins	Blaine Boyer	Casey Fien
NY (NL)	Jeurys Familia	Bobby Parnell	Carlos Torres
NY (AL)	Andrew Miller	Dellin Betances	Justin Wilson
Oakland	Tyler Clippard	Edward Mujica	Drew Pomeranz	Sean Doolittle
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Ken Giles	Luis Garcia
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson	Jared Hughes
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Kevin Siegrist	Seth Maness	Jordan Walden
SD	Craig Kimbrel	Joaquin Benoit	Brendan Maurer
SF	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Hunter Strickland
Seattle	Carson Smith	Fernando Rodney	Mark Lowe
TB	Brad Boxberger	Jake McGee	Kevin Jepsen
Texas	Shawn Tolleson	Tanner Scheppers	Keone Kela
Toronto	Roberto Osuna	Steve Delabar	Brett Cecil	Miguel Castro
Wash.	Drew Storen	Casey Janssen	Aaron Barrett

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