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.

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Mark Melancon picked up his 51st save, and his fourth in the last six days. The Pirates will want him closing games while they still have a shot at the division, and bear in mind that they’re still trying to wrap up home field in the wild card game. If they find themselves clinching one or the other, maybe he gets a rest to be fresh for October. The next guys in line, Tony Watson and Joakim Soria have been used heavily as well. I would not be the least bit surprised to see Joe Blanton pick up a garbage save late in the week if things are decided. Otherwise, Clint Hurdle is going to ride those three hard right to the last day.

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Congratulations is in order for the Kansas City Royals who officially punched their ticket to the 2015 MLB Playoffs with a 10-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners tonight. The good news is that the Royals clinched their first division title since 1985. The bad news is that they’ll have to navigate their way through the playoffs without their closer, Greg Holland.

Reports suggest that Holland first felt something wasn’t right in his elbow last season prior to the playoffs. But he pitched through it and eventually won the Mariano Rivera Award for the best closer in the American League. He charged through the Spring knowing the issues were still present. And despite the elbow discomfort and gradual dip in velocity as the season wore on, Holland refused to get an MRI until late August when ligament damage was detected. The Royals tried to honor Holland’s wishes by letting him pitch through the injury, but after a fifth blown save last weekend he was yanked from the closer’s role and shut down for the remainder of the year. The 29-year-old finished the ‘15 season with a 3-2 record, 32-of-37 in save chances, an 11.9% K-BB% and a 3.83 ERA (3.23 FIP).
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Tonight’s bullpen report is going to be a wrap up of the last two nights of action.

Freddy Galvis bombed one off of Jonathon Papelbon on Monday night, and for all the vitriol spewed at Papelbon, it was only his first blown save of the year. It put him in line for the win, which he got when the Nats pushed one across in the 11th inning. Doug Fister, yes, Doug Fister, picked up the first save of his career. It was his first outing in 13 days. He’s not cracking the grid at this point.

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Mike Scioscia called on Huston Street for a third consecutive game, and he was not able to hold a three-run lead against the Astros, as the roof caved in and he surrendered five runs, all earned including a pair of homers. Joe Smith and Trevor Gott were strong, earning their 32nd and tenth holds respectively. Street sat 89.9 with the sinker, and generated four whiffs from the 13 of them that he threw. The pitch that Jed Lowrie hit out appeared to be a change that Street left up and in. Just an awful spot for a changeup. The ball just landed beyond Kole Calhoun’s outstretched glove, as he appeared to get hung up on the wall on his jump. You know Street will be back out there the next time the Angels need a save, unless it’s in Seattle tomorrow as he’s pitched three days in a row. Joe Smith has also pitched three days in a row, so Fernando Salas would be next in line if an opportunity arises tomorrow.

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Guess who leads the league in holds? Tony Watson! He held his 36th tonight. Guess who leads the league in saves? Mark Melancon! He saved his 45th tonight. The back end of the Pirates bullpen has paid dividends for you if you held on to Melancon through his early season struggles, OR if you picked up Watson in hopes he’d get the closer gig. The Pirates pen has the third best ERA in the majors for 2015, trailing only the Royals and Cardinals. Yes, there are other measures, but the Pirates pen has definitely been stout. Joakim Soria has only brought a 13.4% K%-BB% to the table since he came aboard at the trade deadline, but he has seven holds after tonight.

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Spent a little longer than usually updating the grid this evening, so hopefully most of the small issues that have crept up with it over the last week or two are mostly resolved. Also, while we here at the Bullpen Report are usually concerned with SP-eligible relievers who can help boost rates, check out David Wiers’ piece on potential RP-eligible starters down the stretch if you need to fill innings quotas for the rest of the season.

– Greg Holland pitched for a second consecutive day today. It was a non-save situation, and the righty retired the side on 7 pitches. The bad news? His velocity has not looked good, sitting at the lowest mark it has all year (it’s been an already down year). His strikeout and walk rates have been reasonably stable over the last few months (relative to early in the year) but his HardHit% has jumped to 39% since the all-star break (compared to just 19% before and 20% last year). It doesn’t seem that illogical to point out that his HR/FB% has been on the rise and IFFB% (a measure of weak contact) has been trending downward. Ned Yost has apparently conceded that Holland’s velocity “may not return,” an ominous side for the once dominant righty going forward. It is unclear whether the team is teetering on the edge of a change, and with Wade Davis gone in almost all leagues, there’s not a lot of speculating to be done here. We’re just kind of in wait and see mode, but I’m certainly not buying shares of Holland for less more than pennies on the dollar for the remainder of the year.

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• Rough night for the Nationals pen against the Mets. With a six run lead in the seventh, Blake Treinen, Felipe Rivero and Drew Storen walked six batters, allowing six earned runs to blow the lead. In the next inning Jonathan Papelbon gave up the go-ahead homer to Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Jeurys Familia wasn’t perfect allowing a few baserunners but held on for his 38th save of the season. The Mets have done a nice job with their in-season additions this year and it’s no different with the bullpen where Addison Reed (two strikeouts in a scoreless seventh) and Tyler Clippard (two strikeouts in a perfect eighth) have helped strengthen the bridge to Jeurys.

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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.

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According to Chelsea Janes, Drew Storen is rocking a strong 6.11 ERA in the eighth inning of games this year. He gave up a run to the Braves in the eighth inning on Friday, allowing them to tie the game at two. Storen has a 6.32 ERA since the acquisition of Jonathan Papelbon pushed him from the closer role to set-up duties. His 25.4% K%-BB% is still strong, better than his 24.3% that preceded the trade. The 85.1% LOB% differs quite a bit from his 37.0% since he was bumped. His velo isn’t off from earlier in the season. His 3.40 FIP since the transaction is well off from the 1.99 he sported as the closer. He’s obviously not going to be the closer down the stretch for the Nats, barring an injury to Papelbon of course, but I still think he’s someone who could help you with holds and strikeouts in the final month of the season. The Braves lost their 17th of 18 and is their closer really relevant at this point? After Fredi Gonzalez exploded on Thursday afternoon and said that any of his pitchers who were feeling fatigue should “just suck it up”, Arodys Vizcaino had his first outing of the year of more than an inning. He threw 28 pitches, recorded five outs, but also surrendered three hits, a walk and the tying run. Papelbon got the win after twirling two scoreless innings(after being brought in in the ninth down a run!) and Michael Taylor hit a three-run shot off of Brandon Cunniff in the bottom of ten. Vizcaino is still the Braves closer, and if they ever lead a game again, he’d get to protect it.

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