Bullpen Report: Tuesday, June 23, 2015

• There is no word on who the next closer in Toronto will be as a save situation did not present itself tonight but we do know that Brett Cecil is officially out. Steve Delabar entered the game in the ninth inning down by a run. He proceeded to allow a homer to Asdrubal Cabrera and a walk to Brandon Guyer but then retired the next three batters. Tonight’s outing likely won’t play a role in Delabar’s role in the pen and although there might be a current committee in Toronto without a closer announced, I’m still buying more stock in Roberto Osuna.

• Carter Capps threw a perfect inning tonight, lowering his ERA to 1.04. Capps also struck out two batters and now has 32 in 17.1 innings pitched for 16.62 K/9, a mark that would lead the league (if he was qualified). Capps throws hard (97.8 MPH) but his velocity is actually perceived even higher at over 101 mph thanks to his release point, another mark that leads the league. Capps’ stuff and delivery  have made him one of the best relievers in the league while he’s been up, making him a valuable asset on any fantasy team in spite of his lack of saves.

• Tyler Clippard is assumed to be on the move but who would replace him is more unknown. Evan Scribner is/was the prohibitive favorite but he entered tonight’s game in the 6th inning. Now, the A’s can work in mysterious ways and Tyler Clippard is still on the A’s so we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, but it’s worth mentioning for sure. Brilliant commenter Mike W. brought up a solid point about Edward Mujica being an option too, given the A’s proclivity to save a dime on Scribner’s arbitration cost. He’s been added to the closer grid.

• Hector Rondon entered in the eighth tonight and retired the only batter he faced to end the inning. He was then followed by Pedro Strop in the ninth and Jason Motte in the tenth who both put up zeros in a scoreless game. We are no closer at getting a firm grasp on the Cubs bullpen. Joe Maddon used Rondon in the toughest situation, showing he might value him as his best reliever but as we know, that doesn’t guarantee him sole possession of the ninth inning. This is still a bit of a two-headed monster with Rondon and Motte at the moment.

• Francisco Rodriguez nailed his 14th save for the Brewers. K-Rod’s job is very secure for the Brewers but he might not be pitching there for much longer. It’s likely that whatever team obtains his services will use him as the ninth inning option, so his value would likely only increase if he’s moved. In the meantime I will direct you to his MLB Trade Rumors page. Over the next month, I’d advise you to keep hitting refresh on that page to see who’s job he will usurp this summer. In his place will be Jeffress or Smith, with Smith also being an intriguing trade candidate. As of now, the last rumor is that the Blue Jays are interested, but nothing is close to imminent there.

• Quick Hits: Brad Boxberger got the call for the Rays tonight and converted his 19th save of the year, but only after serving up a solo shot to Edwin Encarnacion. Zach Britton also gave up a run en route to a save, his 20th on the year. Trevor Rosenthal looks back to normal after some sorness a little while back, throwing a scoreless ninth for his 22nd save. Mark Melancon has done a terrific job of putting out the flames he caused earlier in the year and he struck out the side for his 24th save. Melancon’s ERA (1.82) is higher than the estimators would suggest based on how he’s been pitching but he will continue to tally saves for a Pirates team in the race.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Brad Ziegler	Daniel Hudson	Enrique Burgos	Addison Reed
Atlanta	Jason Grilli	Jim Johnson	David Aardsma
Baltimore	Zach Britton	Darren O’Day	Tommy Hunter
Boston	Koji Uehara	Junichi Tazawa	Alexi Ogando
CHI (NL)	Hector Rondon	Jason Motte	Pedro Strop	Rafael Soriano
CHI (AL)	David Robertson	Jacob Petricka	Zach Duke
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	J.J. Hoover	Ryan Mattheus	Tony Cingrani
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Bryan Shaw	Zach McAllister
Colorado	John Axford	Boone Logan	LaTroy Hawkins	Adam Ottavino
Detroit	Joakim Soria	Joba Chamberlain	Al Albuerquerque	Joe Nathan
Houston	Luke Gregerson	Chad Qualls	Pat Neshek
KC	Greg Holland	Wade Davis	Kelvin Herrera
LAA	Huston Street	Joe Smith	Fernando Salas
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Yimi Garcia	Adam Liberatore	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	Edward Mujica	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	Brett Cecil	Steve Delabar	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.]