Bullpen Report: Sunday, July 5, 2015

Andrew Miller threw a bullpen on Saturday, and is slated to make a rehab appearance at AAA Scranton on Monday. If the rehab goes well, he could be activated after just the one appearance. This means good things for Andrew Miller owners, and not good things for Dellin Betances owners. Or does it? Joe Girardi didn’t make any proclamations regarding who his closer was early in the season, and Betances has done nothing to lose the job he’s held since Miller hit the DL. Girardi hasn’t come out and said that Miller will be thrust back into the role, so don’t be so quick to assume that’s where he’ll be when he is activated. Betances did blow the save on Saturday, giving up a two-run homer to Steven Souza Jr., but that’s not enough for an elite reliever to lose the closer gig. Pay close attention to the Yankees early in the week, and don’t hesitate to put both Betances and Miller in your lineups if they lock tonight.

Colin broke this down in depth on Wednesday, and Paul and Eno dove into it deeply on Thursday around the 28:55 mark. We’ll see how Bruce Bochy deploys his trio of Santiago Casilla, Sergio Romo and Hunter Strickland Sunday night and beyond. Strickland saw action Friday night with the Giants trailing by a run, and Saturday was a runaway, so this is a rather untenable situation right now. I think this is the type of situation that is Romo’s to lose right now, even though he hasn’t seen a save situation since Bochy decided to give Casilla a few days of rest after his debacle Wednesday night. Keep your eye on this situation, but don’t be shy on Romo if you’re looking for saves. Casilla still holds the closer role on the grid until Bochy plops Romo in there, but the grid has taken on a yellowish hue.

The Tigers DFA’d both Joba Chamberlain and Tom Gorzelanny. What does this mean for the Tigers pen? Well Bruce Rondon seems to have the inside track on the setup role, and then a combination of Blaine Hardy and Al Alburquerque will fit in behind him, but it appears that beyond Soria, there are no set roles in the Tigers pen. With Neftali Feliz out there, do the Tigers take a run at him? Maybe they go after Jonathan Papelbon or another reliever, but surely they don’t hit August with this pen. Jeff Ferrell may be a guy who slots in there, after running up a strong 29.5% K%-BB% in AA and saving 12 games. Giving up three runs in two innings of relief over the weekend isn’t a harbinger of greatness, however. He garnered two swings and misses on his 38 pitches, and lost a tick on his velocity from Saturday to Sunday. Drew VerHagen was the Tiger returned to Toledo though, and Ferrell will continue on.

Evan Scribner gave up two homers in a non-save situation on Friday. He’s getting pushed on the grid by Edward Mujica(who is just off the grid) and Drew Pomeranz, who replaces Eric O’Flaherty. I still like Scribner over Mujica, but I’m not the manager of the A’s. Scribner’s 24.8% K%-BB% dwarfs Mujica’s 15.2%, but Mujica has the edge in SwSt%, 14.3% to 13.3%. Scribner’s biggest issue is the home run ball. He’s given up nine in his 42 innings. His HR/FB% is just a hair above Mujica’s, 20.9% to 20.0%. I don’t think Mujica is a huge upgrade over Scribner. So what am I saying? Good question. If I had a hundred shares in the A’s closer situation, I’d give 45 to Scribner, 25 to Mujica, 20 to Pomeranz(Mujica gets a touch more due to his being right-handed) and then 10 to a wild card, maybe someone they get in return for Clippard that they want to try out, or someone in the system, like Ryan Dull, clipping along at AA with a 22.7% K%-BB%. Did I say Drew Pomeranz? Yes. He got the nod on Saturday to pitch the eighth and responded with his seventh hold. Tyler Clippard pitched a scoreless ninth for his 15th save.

The Braves DFA’d Nick Masset and Dana Eveland after their 4-0 loss to the Phillies on Sunday. They’ve called up David Carpenter and Arodys Vizcaino. If the Braves slip into oblivion, and with them being in the midst of ten games against the Phillies, Brewers and Rockies there is no reason to think they can’t stay in the race, but if they falter and become sellers, I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see Vizcaino slot into that ninth inning role for the Braves. That’s if they find suitors for Jason Grilli and Jim Johnson. Don’t buy Vizcaino just yet, but be ready to pull the trigger if the Braves deal Grilli. I’d grab Johnson first, obviously, but he could be on the way out too. Vizcaino is just coming back from his 80-day suspension, so he’s fresh, right? We saw what Ervin Santana did in his return, so it’s realistic to expect similar dominance from Vizcaino probably.

Of Note: Roberto Osuna grabbed his third save for the Jays, pitching a strong 1.3 innings against the Tigers. Mark Melancon struck out one in a perfect ninth for his 27th save. Wade Davis lowered his ERA to 0.25 after another scoreless inning on Sunday. Greg Holland got the win after holding the Twins scoreless in the ninth, and the Royals were able to push one across in their half. With Trevor Rosenthal pitching three days in a row, four of five, and five of seven coming in to play on Sunday, he was given the day off. Kevin Siegrist filled in capably, securing his fourth save. Jason Motte racked up his fourth save on the year, as the Cubs took two of three from the visiting Marlins. As Carrie Muskat pointed out(and if you aren’t following Carrie for Cubs news, especially bullpen knowledge, you really should be), Motte has surrendered one earned run in his past 20 appearances. In the past week, Motte earned two saves and a win, Pedro Strop nabbed two holds, and Hector Rondon grabbed a hold. I don’t think we’re quite green yet, but Joe Maddon has turned the Cubs grid from red to yellow. Ketchup to mustard. Is it too late for hot dogs, or am I just hungry? Koji Uehara struck out a pair of Astros in his perfect ninth on Sunday as he collected his 19th save.

Notes from Saturday: After pitching in four of the previous six days coming into action on Saturday, Kenley Jansen got the night off, allowing J.P. Howell to get a one-out save, his first of the year. The Reds are discussing stretching out Tony Cingrani in the minors, but if they need him before that, he’ll be a reliever in Cincy. David Robertson(18), Trevor Rosenthal(24), Mark Melancon(26) and Glen Perkins(27) all saved games on Saturday.

Notes from Friday: Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side, but in between strikeouts, he gave up a triple and a single, allowing the Padres to take the lead. Craig Kimbrel nailed it down for his 21st save. Kenley Jansen gave up a run to the Mets in the top of the ninth, allowing them to take the lead, and giving Jeurys Familia the opportunity to shut the door. He took full advantage for his 22nd save. Steve Geltz and Kevin Jepsen had nights to forget against the Yankees, as they were on the hook for all seven of the runs the Yankees scored in the 12 inning affair. Two of the runs charged to Geltz were unearned. Neftali Feliz pitched two scoreless innings for the Rangers and was promptly DFA’d. David Robertson struck out the side in a perfect ninth for his 17th save. A.J. Ramos(13), Drew Storen(24), Cody Allen(16), Joakim Soria(18) and Jim Johnson(5) all grabbed saves on Friday.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Brad Ziegler	Daniel Hudson	Enrique Burgos	Addison Reed
Atlanta	Jason Grilli	Jim Johnson	Arodys Vizcaino
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Darren O’Day	Tommy Hunter
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Alexi Ogando
CHI (NL)	Jason Motte	Hector Rondon	Pedro Strop	Rafael Soriano
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	Boone Logan	LaTroy Hawkins	John Axford
Detroit	Joakim Soria	Bruce Rondon	Al Albuerquerque	Joe Nathan
Houston	Luke Gregerson	Pat Neshek	Josh Fields	Chad Qualls
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Kelvin Herrera
LAA	Huston Street	Joe Smith	Fernando Salas
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Yimi Garcia	Pedro Baez
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	Jenrry Mejia
NY (AL)	Dellin Betances	Justin Wilson	Chasen Shreve	Andrew Miller
Oakland	Tyler Clippard	Evan Scribner	Drew Pomeranz	Sean Doolittle
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Ken Giles	Luis Garcia
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Tony Watson	Arquimedes Caminero
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Kevin Siegrist	Seth Maness	Jordan Walden
SD	Craig Kimbrel	Brandon Maurer	Joaquin Benoit
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	Neftali Feliz
Toronto	Roberto Osuna	Steve Delabar	Brett Cecil	Miguel Castro
Wash.	Drew Storen	Casey Janssen	Matt Thornton	Aaron Barrett

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