Bullpen Report: May 30th, 2012

• Dale Thayer entered in the bottom of the ninth this afternoon with the hopes of preserving a 6-6 tie to send the Padres and Cubs to extras. Thayer surrendered a lead-off single to Bryan LaHair before serving up a walk-off two-run long ball to Darwin Barney.

Huston Street took to the bullpen at Wrigley Field this afternoon for a high-intensity session, and if he feels well tomorrow, the Padres’ closer could head to Class A Lake Elsinore on Friday to begin his rehab assignment. Prior to hitting the disabled list earlier this month with a right shoulder strain, Street converted each of his four save opportunities while strutting a 6.50 K/BB and a 2.10 xFIP in just under ten innings. Street, the Padres’ highest paid player at $7.5 million, figures to regain the closer’s role once given a clean bill of health.

• Heath Bell earned his third save in as many days, giving him ten on the season. In his last three trips to the hill, Bell has surrendered just two hits, two walks and has whiffed six batters. Those with shares of Bell have good reason to believe their closer has overcome his early season misfortune and turned the corner. However, I won’t feel safe sending Steve Cishek to the wire until Bell proves he can sustain this success over a few more outings.

• Brian Fuentes surrendered a game-winning three-run homer to Josh Willingham on Tuesday evening in Minnesota, blowing his first save since stepping into the closer’s role earlier this month. When discussing the blown save with reporters, Athletics’ manager Bob Melvin noted that “he has confidence in the veteran and (you) shouldn’t overreact to one blown save.” Acknowledging that fans may be looking to see a new face in the ninth, Melvin continued to say he likes having Ryan Cook pitch the eighth inning, and unless Fuentes fails to convert future chances, that’s where he’ll probably remain. Cook’s K/BB (1.50) isn’t the prettiest, but the youngster did pitch an impressive 21 scoreless outings prior to Monday.

• Craig Kimbrel notched his 15th save of 2012 this evening, fanning two of the three Cardinals he faced. Kimbrel is 15-of-16 in save chances this season, has racked up a 14.00 K/9 and a 2.56 xFIP in 21 innings pitched prior to tonight. Although the Braves’ flamethrower needs to reduce the free passes (5.0 BB/9), many will argue Kimbrel is baseball’s top current closer.

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A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Vicente Padilla vs. DET

The Boston Red Sox have called upon Alfredo Aceves in each of the last four days. Look for Vicente Padilla to get a shot at the save tomorrow should Boston be in position. Padilla is 1-for-2 this season in save chances with a modest 3.50 K/BB.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	Injured
Arizona	J.J. Putz	David Hernandez	Bryan Shaw
Atlanta	Craig Kimbrel	Jonny Venters	Eric O’Flaherty
Baltimore	Jim Johnson	Pedro Strop	Matt Lindstrom
Boston	Alfredo Aceves	Franklin Morales	Daniel Bard	Andrew Bailey
Chicago (NL)	James Russell	Shawn Camp	Carlos Marmol
Chicago (AL)	Addison Reed	Hector Santiago	Matt Thornton
Cincy	Aroldis Chapman	Sean Marshall	Jose Arredondo
Cleveland	Chris Perez	Vinnie Pestano	Tony Sipp
Colorado	Rafael Betancourt	Matt Belisle	Matt Reynolds
Detroit	Jose Valverde	Joaquin Benoit	Octavio Dotel
Houston	Brett Myers	Wilton Lopez	David Carpenter
KC	Jonathan Broxton	Greg Holland	Aaron Crow
LAA	Scott Downs	Ernesto Frieri	Jordan Walden
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Josh Lindblom	Javy Guerra
Miami	Heath Bell	Steve Cishek	Edward Mujica
Milwaukee	John Axford	Francisco Rodriguez	Jose Veras
Minnesota	Matt Capps	Glen Perkins	Alex Burnett
New York (NL)	Frank Francisco	Jon Rauch	Bobby Parnell
New York (AL)	Rafael Soriano	David Robertson	Boone Logan
Oakland	Brian Fuentes	Ryan Cook	Grant Balfour
Philly	Jonathan Papelbon	Antonio Bastardo	Chad Qualls
Pittsburgh	Joel Hanrahan	Juan Cruz	Jason Grilli
St. Louis	Jason Motte	Mitchell Boggs	Fernando Salas
San Diego	Dale Thayer	Andrew Cashner	Luke Gregerson	Huston Street
San Francisco	Santiago Casilla	Sergio Romo	Javier Lopez
Seattle	Tom Wilhelmsen	Brandon League	Charlie Furbush
Tampa Bay	Fernando Rodney	Joel Peralta	J.P. Howell	Kyle Farnsworth
Texas	Joe Nathan	Mike Adams	Koji Uehara
Toronto	Casey Janssen	Jason Frasor	Darren Oliver	Sergio Santos
Wash.	Tyler Clippard	Sean Burnett	Henry Rodriguez	Drew Storen

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