After watching Sugar Ray Marimon give up a game-winning home run to Josh Donaldson Saturday, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez hinted that he’d lean towards using Jason Grilli in tie games on the road, instead of waiting to protect a lead that may never materialize. We didn’t get a chance to see that in action today, but Grilli did notch his sixth save. Cody Martin got the nod over a suddenly struggling Jim Johnson to set up Grilli. It would have been Johnson’s third appearance in three days, so maybe there’s nothing to read into here, but giving up two earned on both Friday and Saturday doesn’t garner much confidence. Interestingly, he had identical lines both nights, Friday he earned a hold, Saturday a blown save. Maybe monitor this early in the week, and see what Gonzalez does with his pen if you’re holding Johnson.

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Just a couple of newsworthy bullpen tidbits from tonight’s short six-game slate in Major League Baseball…

Up five runs in the final frame, the Twins called on Brian Duensing to close out the Royals in a non-save situation. But after inducing a leadoff flyout off the bat of Alcides Escobar, Duensing surrendered a couple of consecutive doubles and a single that yielded two earned runs before being pulled in favor of closer Glen Perkins. Perkins started his outing with a wild pitch that advanced Eric Hosmer to second base, but induced two infield groundouts to secure his second save of the season and the Twins 8-5 victory over the Royals.
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• Couple interesting developments after Ben clicked “publish” last night. Adam Ottavino (aka, one of my sleeper “not a closer but maybe a closer” candidates heading into 2015) picked up save number one. It wasn’t dull, either, with “number zero” whiffing all three Giants hitters he faced. Maybe I can get #KOttavino trending. The righty now holds a ridiculous 0.23 SIERA in an admittedly small sample size, and looks even more polished than last season. After the game, Walt Weiss saved fantasy owners the headache, too, naming Ottavino his ninth inning man. I’m going to yellow light him until he notches a few more, but he absolutely needs to be owned across the board. If you want more gratuitous information overload about the Northeastern University grad, check out Eno’s in-depth piece here.

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• As some of you brilliant readers noticed last night, Mark Melancon was missing several mph off of his fastball. While I don’t believe his job is in danger due to performance, his decreased velocity could signal struggles to come, in which case Tony Watson and co. could replace him in the ninth inning. After averaging 92 mph on his fastball last year, Melancon sat at 89 mph last night. That’s obviously not a good sign but doesn’t signal a changing of the guard quite yet. Melancon will have ample opportunity to remain closer but closer monitoring of his velocity, coupled with any struggles could signal a future change.

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Darren rounded up last night’s closer news this morning, I’ll just hit up on what we have seen so far today.

• LaTroy Hawkins‘ recent implosions has led to his removal from the ninth inning in Colorado. According to Walt Weiss, Hawkins is getting a “break” but the feeling here is that it will be an extended one. It’s rare that struggling 42 year old relievers on bad teams lose their job to more talented relievers and get it back. If you’re in a deep, deep league I guess you can hold onto Hawkins, but I think it’s safe to give him the axe.

Adam Ottavino was long expected to fill in for Hawkins at some point this year but it looks as though Rafael Betancourt could have the closing duties for now. Betancourt received the save opportunity today and nailed it, throwing a perfect inning with two strikeouts in 16 pitches. Adam Ottavino was unavailable to pitch, and is the best reliever in the pen, but after Betancourt’s outing, he should get another chance. This one might be a coin toss with a slight lean towards Betancourt getting the next few opportunities, but both are must owns in all leagues.

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Jumbo Diaz garnered a blown save in Cincinnati, giving up a bomb to Jhonny Peralta in the eighth. Don’t be shocked if J.J. Hoover gets the nod over him in the near future. Aroldis Chapman didn’t strike out a single Cardinal in his inning of work, so sound some kind of alarm.

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Two runs in the top of the ninth kept the Astros from getting a hold, hold, save out of off-season acquisitions Pat Neshek, Chad Qualls and Luke Gregerson. The pair the Astros scored in the top of the ninth erased the save opportunity for Gregerson.

Jonathan Papelbon threw nine of his ten pitches for strikes while recording his second save of the young season. After his Edward James Olmos ugly, three walk Wednesday night outing, Ken Giles bounced back results-wise tonight, recording two strikeouts as he garnered a hold in a solid inning. His fastball is down about 2.5 mph from his 2014 average of 98. With his slider losing about 0.5 mph so far, the velo gap between that and the heater is narrowing. 96 is still plenty of velocity, but keep an eye on this, as maybe he’s just building up arm strength and will be back to 98+ in short order.

On Chicago’s south side, many fantasy owners benefitted from Brian Duensing’s first save of the season that he procured during the Twins 6-0 victory over the White Sox. Or they didn’t. He came in to pitch the eighth, and when the Twins put up three in their half of the ninth, Paul Molitor left him out there to close out the game. Sox setup man Zach Putnam surrendered a couple of earned runs in his make-work inning.

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The Toronto Blue Jays set their bullpen to shuffle mode just three games into the ‘15 season. Brett Cecil’s dip in velocity started this mess for fantasy owners, but there’s a good chance that Cecil is just building up arm strength since he missed a few weeks in the Spring with shoulder soreness. The left-hander’s fourseamer sat in the 87 mph range on Wednesday night — down from a 94 mph average in ‘14 — but jumped back up to over 91 mph in Thursday’s outing in the Bronx against the Yankees. Cecil faced one over the minimum in Thursday’s appearance, surrendered a free pass and induced a pair of strikeouts on 14 pitches (nine strikes) to earn a hold.
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• Man your FAAB stations! Well, if you have rolling waivers and Joakim Soria was available before today. Detroit closer Joe Nathan was sent to the DL with a right flexor strain. That the 40-year-old Tommy John veteran is experiencing issues related to elbow ligaments seems to be a big problem. Even if it is purely a mild strain with no UCL involvement, it seems unlikely Nathan will require the minimum 15-day absence. In walks Joakim Soria, the Tigers’ new closer. Read the rest of this entry »

There isn’t any particularly breaking news today, but a few important updates on some previous bullet points discussed yesterday.

• Jenrry Mejia had a MRI today and although there was no structural damage, Mejia was placed on the DL with elbow inflammation. Jeurys Familia is the new closer and although a healthy Mejia is the better pitcher, there isn’t a particularly big difference so if Mejia is out for an extended period of time, Familia can hold onto the job. If he falters Carlos Torres and Rafael Montero are right behind him. Mejia can’t throw for at least the next 10 days after which he might feel no pain and be back in the ninth inning before we know it, but it’s still an unknown.

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