Just a handful of games on this Thursday slate, so here’s just a couple of bullpen notes to get you up to speed:

A three-run seventh put the White Sox up two on the Twinkies and in need of closer David Robertson’s services in the final frame. Robertson dished a clean frame, retiring the top of the Twins’ lineup in order on 14 pitches (10 strikes) — including a strikeout of Eduardo Escobar — to secure the victory and his 28th save on the year. On the season, the right-hander is now 28-of-34 in save chances with a 2.55 ERA (2.08 FIP) and a 12.23 K/9 in 53 innings on the hill. Nate Jones fanned three and notched his fourth hold of the season in the same contest.
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A quick rundown of the early games as we head into September.

• With Brad Ziegler in need of rest after a rough outing on Monday, the Diamondbacks went to Dan Hudson for the save against the Rockies. After two hits, two strikeouts and an earned run, Hudson netted his third save of the year. Ziegler’s worm killing ways (73% GB%) are still first in line but Hudson has cemented his role in the pecking order if anything were to happen to Ziegler.

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• After a throw back performance by Bartolo Colon (8 shutout innings, nine strikeouts, and five baserunners) Jeurys Familia was called on for the save. Familia wasn’t sharp, allowing three baserunners and an earned run but otherwise escaped with a 3-1 lead and his 36th save. Familia’s ERA has jumped since the first half but he’s actually pitching better of late with a higher K% and lower B% than he had earlier this season. On the year he has a 1.78/2.83/2.64 ERA/FIP/xFIP line and should continue to rack up effective saves over the last few weeks of the season.

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Junichi Tazawa was unable to find the strike zone on Friday night, and now Jean Machi has been tabbed as the closer for the Red Sox. Tazawa walked four Mets and only found the zone with 11 of his 28 offerings. If you’re looking for a source of cheap holds, Robbie Ross has four in his last four outings and of late is getting those opportunities. His velocity is picking up, and with the volatility in the closer role, who knows? It’s not out of the realm of possibilities to see him getting a few save chances down the stretch. His peripherals aren’t the strongest, and he’s only rocking a 12.3% K%-BB% to go with a 3.88 xFIP, but the options in the Boston pen aren’t the greatest. Of course, if Machi(and his 5.8% K%-BB%) runs with the role, then it’s a moot point. Machi grabbed his third save on Saturday with a perfect ninth, generating three groundouts.

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Vin Scully is coming back for his 67th season, and everything else is secondary.

A.J. Ramos (and his 6.58 FIP and 8.18 ERA over the past thirty days) shut down the Nationals in the ninth for his 23rd save of the year. Carter Capps was still experiencing discomfort throwing his fastball on Monday, so his return is still up in the air, though he hints that he expects to be airing it out soon. For the Nationals, Jonathan Papelbon warmed up, but didn’t get in the game. He pitched each of the previous two nights, so I wouldn’t be entirely shocked if Drew Storen saw a save opportunity in Miami this weekend.

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– Fernando Rodney is going to be shooting arrows a couple time zones over. With Jason Motte hitting the DL, the Cubbies procured themselves another deposed “proven closer(TM)” by acquiring Rodney for a player to be named later. For those thinking “hot lead on new closer candidate!” you can probably stop. The righty’s 5.68 ERA is only slightly uglier than his 4.63 xFIP and the 38-year-old’s plunging K% may be signifying the beginning of the end. The velocity is only off a touch, but Captain Crooked Hat’s Zone% is down and his Contact% is up. Not only are batters making more contact but Rodney is struggling to keep his stuff in the zone. If you are super desperate in holds leagues, you could try Rodney, I guess (although if the league was that deep, he probably wasn’t available to begin with), but I’m expecting small enough things he doesn’t crack the grid.

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– Even though his neck is supposedly fine, Glen Perkins was unavailable this evening due to lower back issues. Kevin Jepsen notched save number 8 in his absence, lowering his ERA to 2.48 in the process. While it sounds like Perkins thinks he’ll be A-OK going forward, Jepsen remains a necessary handcuff giving the former’s maladies. A word of caution, however; Jepsen is living on a .233 BABIP even though his HardHit% is 28%. Regression is in there somewhere, as evidenced by his nearly-4.00 SIERA. Hold onto him if you need saves, but if you think he’s going to help you in ERA and WHIP, I’d turn to a more elite middle reliever somewhere else.

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• Non-closing news: It looks like Edwin Jackson and Ross Detwiler are seeing some late inning action in Atlanta. Detwiler has been less successful than Jackson while on the Braves and has been pitching worse than he was last year as a full time reliever. Jackson has been decent in his first go around strictly in relief, pitching to a 3.13/3.44/4.10 ERA/FIP/xFIP line. As expected his velocity has ticked up a bit to 94 mph and although his swinging strike rate has shown some improvement, he’s yet to see an increase in his strikeout rate. There could be some future improvement in that category assuming he stays out of the rotation. I wouldn’t expect much moving forward this season from Jackson but he could see the ninth if/when Arodys Vizcaino needs a day off and it wouldn’t shock me to see Jackson be more effective next year, with more repetition out of the pen.

Vincent Velasquez saw some time earlier this season out of the rotation and although he wasn’t amazing, he showed solid potential. He’s likely to enter the rotation again next year but for the rest of 2015 he could be used primarily out of the pen. Velazquez threw two innings with three strikeouts (and one earned run) against the Yankees tonight and teams looking for ratio help and strikeout totals could look his way. He’s likely to see multiple innings each appearance and outings like tonight could be more common in September.

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• After Junichi Tazawa’s rough night, he was given a day off but is expected to stay as closer. Even with the words of encouragement from the interim manager, this situation is still red. I expect Tazawa to stay as closer and as Scott Lauber mentions, with Dave Dombrowski now on board the team might prefer for Tazawa to “to get the longest look” given his track record of success setting up Koji Uehara. Said another way, there’s just not many other options to choose from in Boston. Rebuilding the pen will be on Dombrowski’s agenda this offseason but for now it’s Tazawa. If he continues to falter, expect Jean Machi (who was called on tonight) to get the look.

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The Mariners have ended the Fernando Rodney Experience. An All Star closer who led the league in saves in 2014 with 48 has been designated for assignment. Tom Wilhelmsen will move in behind Carson Smith with Edgar Olmos slotting in because who else? Smith had setup duties on Sunday, and Wilhelmsen pitched the ninth for his third save. Lloyd McClendon wanted to give Smith a lower-leverage chance just as a break. He only needed ten pitches to retire four White Sox. Smith still has the closer seat, and I don’t take this as a sign that Wilhelmsen is moving in.

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