Bullpen Report: Sunday, September 27, 2015

The Astros bullpen continued their lackluster past month or so, as Luke Gregerson nearly blew it on Saturday against the Rangers. He gave up three runs on four hits and needed Will Harris to record the final out of the game. The Astros bullpen was rocking a 6.32 ERA in the past 30 days heading into Sunday’s play, second worst in the majors, better than only the Braves. Yes, it’s a small sample size, and it’s not like one guy is dragging down the group, they’re all to blame. Harris has been the best of the bunch, so if there are any changes, he may be next in line for a save or two. It doesn’t look like usage is to blame for the struggles of the group, as the Astros relievers have pitched the fourth fewest innings in the majors. Harris got the eighth on Sunday, with Gregerson bouncing back nicely to record his 29th save.

After finding a home on the grid with 11 scoreless innings and boasting a 22.5% K%-BB%, Ryan Dull hasn’t shone in his past two appearances, giving up six runs, two walks and a pair of homers. His velocity yesterday was down, and he’s thrown 39 pitches between Friday and Saturday spanning 2.3 innings of work. He didn’t see action on Sunday and time will tell how he’s used over the final week. Are the A’s going to be cautious with him after his career-high 74.3 innings and shut him down in the wake of the velocity drop, or are they going to see how he bounces back from a pair of rough outings? I’d err on the side of caution, and wouldn’t be surprised if the A’s decide that discretion is the better part of valour. Those are the only two ways I know to say that Drew Pomeranz is moving ahead of him on the grid.

The Angels bullpen has been shaken up by injuries, the latest of which is a groin injury suffered by Huston Street Saturday night. With Joe Smith down with an ankle issue, Trevor Gott would seem to slot in as the guy to grab. Smith is going to try to throw off a mound Sunday. So if Street is done for the week, and Smith isn’t able to get his ankle back to where he can be effective, don’t be shy about picking up Gott. Behind him would be Mike Morin and Fernando Salas. I’m leaving Smith in the third spot just in case he returns, but as Bill Shaikin points out in the above link, Mike Scioscia is going to try a committee approach. At least that’s what he’s saying now. On Sunday, Gott was unavailable after pitching in three of the previous four days, and the resurgent Morin was called on to nail it down for his first save. Since being recalled on September 1, he’s whiffed 17 of the 38 batters he’s seen. I’ve jumped him ahead of Salas on the grid, based on Sunday’s usage, and I’m keeping Smith just behind, keeping a close eye on his ankle.

Alex Colome may be worn out, as he’s given up eight earned runs over his past five innings, including surrendering the tying run in Toronto today. With Jake McGee back, he’s going to likely slide into that role and be next in line for saves. Colome has been a factor in the Rays bullpen since he was moved out of the rotation in early July. McGee threw a scoreless seventh in his first action since August 18th, after undergoing knee surgery. For the Blue Jays, Brett Cecil still hasn’t allowed an earned run since June, and he picked up the win with a perfect ninth, striking out one.

The Nationals had the Phillies by the throat on Sunday, but Jonathan Papelbon and the rest of the bullpen were unable to get the better of them. Papelbon came into a game that had just been tied and got the last out of the eighth. Then he came to blows with Bryce Harper. Then he gave up five runs in the ninth, only two were earned, but yeah. All signs point to Papelbon still being the closer this week, so don’t hesitate to keep him around.

Notes from Sunday: Zach Britton looked fine in his first appearance in a week after suffering from a lat issue. He touched 98 mph, which is where he was earlier in September. He’ll be fine for the last week. For the Red Sox, Robbie Ross Jr. picked up his sixth save. Trevor Rosenthal gave up a grand slam to Jason Rogers with the game tied in the ninth, only his third blown save on the year. Francisco Rodriguez took advantage and picked up his 37th save. Wade Davis(14), Santiago Casilla(37) and Brad Ziegler(29) all added one to their save totals.

Notes from Saturday: Roberto Osuna(19), Andrew Miller(36), Craig Kimbrel(38) all grabbed saves on Saturday.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Brad Ziegler	Daniel Hudson	David Hernandez
Atlanta	Arodys Vizcaino	Matt Marksberry	Edwin Jackson	Jason Grilli
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Darren O’Day	Brad Brach
Boston	Robbie Ross	Jean Machi	Noe Ramirez	Koji Uehara
CHI (NL)	Hector Rondon	Pedro Strop	Fernando Rodney
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	Jairo Diaz	Boone Logan
Detroit	Neftali Feliz	Alex Wilson	Al Albuerquerque	Joe Nathan
Houston	Luke Gregerson	Pat Neshek	Will Harris
KC	Wade Davis	Kelvin Herrera	Ryan Madson	Greg Holland
LAA	Trevor Gott	Mike Morin	Joe Smith	Huston Street
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Chris Hatcher	Yimi Garcia
Miami	A.J. Ramos	Mike Dunn	Bryan Morris	Carter Capps
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Jeremy Jeffress	Will Smith
Minnesota	Kevin Jepsen	Glen Perkins	Trevor May
NY (NL)	Jeurys Familia	Tyler Clippard	Addison Reed
NY (AL)	Andrew Miller	Dellin Betances	Justin Wilson
Oakland	Sean Doolittle	Drew Pomeranz	Ryan Dull
Philly	Ken Giles	Dalier Hinojosa	Jeanmar Gomez
Pittsburgh	Mark Melancon	Joakim Soria	Tony Watson
St. Louis	Trevor Rosenthal	Kevin Siegrist	Steve Cishek
SD	Craig Kimbrel	Joaquin Benoit	Kevin Quackenbush	Brendan Maurer
SF	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Hunter Strickland
Seattle	Tom Wilhelmsen	Carson Smith	Logan Kensing
TB	Brad Boxberger	Jake McGee	Alex Colome
Texas	Shawn Tolleson	Keone Kela	Jake Diekman	Tanner Scheppers
Toronto	Roberto Osuna	Aaron Sanchez	Brett Cecil
Wash.	Jonathan Papelbon	Casey Janssen	Matt Thornton	Drew Storen

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