Bullpen Report: Sunday, September 6, 2015

Sean Doolittle hit 95 mph on Sunday afternoon! His velo has been steadily increasing since he came back. They were trailing, but Drew Pomeranz was tasked with the eighth, and Doolittle had the ninth. It looks like he’s inching closer and closer to reclaiming the closer gig for the A’s. This could be the week that he gets some save opportunities. Ryan Dull kept up his strong debut with a perfect seventh, notching two more strikeouts. He’s someone who can help you with ratios and maybe grab you the odd hold. He doesn’t have any yet, but he’s looking good. Tom Wilhelmson needed 24 pitches to get five outs and his tenth save for the Mariners.

The Mets let one slip away on Sunday, allowing the Nationals to creep ever closer to them in the NL East. Addison Reed pitched a strong seventh, but Tyler Clippard was unable to keep the Marlins off the board, surrendering single runs in the eighth and ninth. He was left in to heave 41 pitches. A little odd considering that Jeurys Familia hasn’t seen action since last Monday. That number was up thanks to Martin Prado fouling off six full count pitches before hitting the game-winning sac fly. The Mets will need all hands on deck as they travel to Washington for three with the Nats. They do have four free spaces on the bingo card after this series, as they head to Atlanta for four. A.J. Ramos loaded the bases before getting Travis d’Arnaud to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Trevor May had one of his few shaky outings since being moved to the pen in early July. His 22.9% K%-BB% since then has been strong, but he gave up three runs without recording an out after coming on with two outs and the Twins nursing a 2-0 lead. He gave up a walk, a single, a grand slam and another single before being removed. Chad Qualls couldn’t get it done in the ninth with a five-run lead, and Luke Gregerson was called on to get the final out, recording his 26th save.

Notes From Sunday: David Robertson pitched a perfect ninth for his 29th save, completing a weekend sweep of the Royals. Zach Duke struck out the side in the eighth for his 23rd hold. Justin Wilson nailed down his 25th save Sunday against the Rays. Dellin Betances gave up a run in his 1.3 innings, but also got a hold, his 22nd. Andrew Miller came on for the ninth, striking out a pair and working around a duo of hits to get save 31. J.J. Hoover gave up a run for the third consecutive game, but still picked up his 16th hold. His velo is dropping a bit and he may be getting a little tired. He’s not way up in innings or anything, just hitting a rough patch. Aroldis Chapman struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 28th save. Santiago Casilla got his 32nd save, striking out a pair of Rockies in the ninth. Hunter Strickland(15), Javier Lopez(15), and Sergio Romo(29) all got holds. The Cardinals announced that Jordan Walden isn’t going to return in 2015.

Notes From Saturday: Since being moved to the bullpen in early July, Alex Colome has a 23.2% K%-BB%, and sports a 1.75 FIP. He’s been handy in picking up the slack from the loss of Jake McGee. Colome hasn’t given up a run since the first day of August, and he picked up his sixth hold Saturday. 11 of his 19 appearances have seen him retire four batters or more. Rad Brad Boxberger picked up his 34th save with a perfect ninth.

Since a four-run outing against the Orioles where he found out he was tipping pitches, he’s rocking a solid 23.1% K%-BB% and hasn’t given up a single run in his 21 innings of work. He’s kind of the forgotten man in the Blue Jays bullpen behind Roberto Osuna and Aaron Sanchez, but Brett Cecil has been as good as anyone. He only has four holds in that time, but he’s not hurting your ratios if you need help there in a deeeeeeeep league. He pitched a perfect ninth Saturday, striking out one and preserving a four-run lead.

Luke Gregerson came into a tie game in the ninth and surrendered a pair of runs. He was saddled with the loss, and Kevin Jepsen picked up his eleventh save. He’s handy to have with the question marks surrounding the health of Glen Perkins.

Chris Hatcher picked up his ninth hold and he’s slid onto the grid. His 24.4% K%-BB% has been strong since he was activated from the DL in mid-August, helping him arrive at a 1.74 ERA in that time. Jim Johnson just can’t be on the grid right now. He’s rocking a 13.91 ERA with the Dodgers, obviously inflated with an eight-run outing against the Pirates. 71.4% GB% would seem to portend good things, but a 12.1% K%-BB% coupled with a .471 BABIP are not a recipe for success. Add in the three homers he’s surrendered in his 11 innings as a Dodger, and he’s not helping. The problem is that there aren’t a ton of guys who scream closer behind him. I’m putting Pedro Baez in the third spot for now, but it could be anyone.

Francisco Rodriguez(34), Hector Rondon(26), Kenley Jansen(29) and Shawn Tolleson(29) saved games Saturday.

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	Justin Grimm
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	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	Chris Hatcher	Pedro Baez
Miami	A.J. Ramos	Mike Dunn	Kyle Barraclough	Carter Capps
Milwaukee	Francisco Rodriguez	Will Smith	Jeremy Jeffress
Minnesota	Kevin Jepsen	Trevor May	Blaine Boyer	Glen Perkins
NY (NL)	Jeurys Familia	Tyler Clippard	Addison Reed
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
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.]