A’s at M’s: Sean Doolittle is back, looked sharp and earned his 21st save the season. Since his last save on August 23rd, there was one lonely save by Eric O’Flaherty. The A’s went 6 and 14 over that timeframe. It was a big win for the A’s who kept the Mariners one game back from their Wildcard lead thanks in part to Doolittle’s clean return (1 IP, 1K), but thanks more in part to a Fernando Rodney implosion (1 IP, 4 straight walks in the top of the 10th). To date, using 50 IP as the qualifier, Sean Doolittle owns the 3rd best K%-BB% rate in the history of baseball, 36.2%, thanks in part to the 20th best K% ever (38.6%) and the  26th best BB% ever (2.4%). Incredible. Enjoy his high fastball in a time where not many others have this lethal high fastball and hitters focus with their chins down.

Astros at Angels: Angels keep winning: their 10th straight behind two Trout homers. Lefty specialist and deep bullpen option Joe Thatcher was activated from the DL. Austin Powers has forever ruined his last name for me: Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day….Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day! Huston Street earned save 14 for the Angels (38 in total). He gave up 1 hit, struck out 1 and looks as though he’s fine after being sidelined with a hamstring injury. Noncloser note: Jered Weaver continues to deceive. I strolled across this while preparing a 2015 Mets Rotation post…Jered Weaver owns the 9th best zone-contact rate for starters this year, and despite diminishing velocity, hitters are relatively swinging at much less stuff in the zone against him (14th best SP rate) confirming his continued deception.

Rays at Blue Jays: Usually I’m pointing to just how dominating Brad Boxberger has been, but perhaps he needs a little break despite only pitching in 4 of the last 8 days. It’s 2 appearances in a row now he’s given up a homer. He earned his 2nd loss of the season yesterday. With less than a month left of the season, if you’re in a saves-only league mayyybe it’s worth dropping Boxberger since Jake McGee is still the (very effective) closer. Casey Janssen confirmed that he’s still the Blue Jays’ closer earning himself save #23.

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Notes from Friday:

Koji Uehara made his first appearance since being pulled from the closer’s role on September 4th. In a clean inning off work, Uehara dished 15 pitches — 11 fastballs and four splitters — while facing the minimum to notch the hold. Prior to last evening’s game, Uehara indicated to reporters that he didn’t feel like the life on his splitter “still wasn’t there,” but also noted he may be able to “get it back once he gets into a game and faces a hitter.” Of the four splitters used, Uehara averaged just over 81 mph and induced one swing-and-miss. The results are a step in the right direction for the Red Sox former closer.
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A brief set of notes from Thursday’s games:

Multiple reports indicate that Sean Doolittle will likely be activated from the disabled list in time for Friday’s game. The A’s closer threw a 40-pitch session on Wednesday and reported no soreness or setbacks from the intercostal injury that caused him to miss 17 games, but will take the extra day of rest (Thursday) to ensure he’s fully ready after the laborious workout. Prior to hitting the shelf, Doolittle performed like one of the best closers in the game. He converted 20-of-23 saves with a 2.28 ERA (1.44 FIP) and a 36.2% K-BB%. The chart will be updated upon his official activation tomorrow.
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• No save situation for the Tigers today but Joe Nathan, who has been struggling with elbow tenderness of late, threw a scoreless ninth inning.  Joakim Soria threw a simulated game today and when he returns, he might be used as the 7th-inning option. Joba Chamberlain pitched the eighth allowing an earned run in the process but looks secure as the main setup option behind Nathan, even when Soria is back.

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– With Greg Holland nursing a sore triceps, Wade Davis got his second save opportunity of the weekend and for the second time he converted. Davis has been one of the more elite setup men in baseball this season, and his 0.71 ERA and 0.82 WHIP have undoubtedly helped fantasy owners, even if he hasn’t been racking up the “SV” all season. Some of the righty’s success has been driven by a low BABIP and high strand rate, but a 38% K% and 14% SwStr% don’t just grow on trees. Even with his success, he’s still only owned in 40% of Yahoo! leagues, meaning he might still be available to help your roto push. It’s worth noting that Holland said earlier on Sunday that he was feeling ready to go, so don’t expect him to be on the sidelines for much longer. While somewhat risky, I’d probably activate him in head-to-head leagues this week. Unfortunately, that’ll push Davis back to a setup role.

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First, the ?’s.

Second, the historical K%’s.

And of course, the Grid…

1) The ?’s

Angels at Twins: Glen Perkins has a sore neck (received a MRI after tingling, but there was no structural damage). Ron Gardy said he should be back within a few a days so I wouldn’t jump to the waiver wire for anyone. We didn’t get a chance to see who would have had the opportunity to close out the games for the Twins tonight. While it was presumably Jared Burton, he received the loss, getting beat by a Albert Pujols double after a single (Cron) and walk (Trout) and then Anthony Swarzak let in the inherited runner.  Huston Street earned save #37. That’s 3 straight appearances for Street and he could potentially use the day off tomorrow. He only has 2 k’s in through his last 5 appearances, and his win yesterday came from a blown save. He induced only 1 whiff from 6 swings tonight.

Astros at Athletics: Sean Doolittle had a successful bullpen session today and should be activated next week. Until then, it’s still Eric O’Flaherty closing out games. David Wiers called O’Flaherty a wild-card for the closing role prior to the season and the ground ball rate (58+%) and weak contact (.213 BABIP) holds true. Tonight, Luke Gregerson pitched a scoreless 9th for the win. Heck, if you’re own a hold league, why not own the entire Oakland bullpen next year?

Chad Qualls remains under the weather with a case of the shaky qualls. He let both of Scott Feldman’s inherited runners score and then gave up the winning single to blow a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 9th. I would think and hope that Tony Sipp is next up  for the closing role. Other than a shellacking on 8/25 (4BB and 4 ER without recording an out), he’s been lights out since 8/12 (12 K’s, 0 BB’s and only 1 hit). Yesterday, he struck out 4 of 7 batters. I’d like to see him with the gig.

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Some quick news and notes from Friday’s games:

On Thursday I noted that the Red Sox were considering shutting down Koji Uehara, but I was hesitant to make the change in the grid because I was waiting to hear the same from additional sources. At this point, it’s clear that Uehara has been stripped of his ninth-inning role, leaving Edward Mujica to take over. Mujica is 3-of-4 in save chances this season with a 12% K-BB% and a 4.05 ERA, which isn’t exactly pretty. But, he’s been named the closer for the time being and is available in 81% of Yahoo! leagues.
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It’s been some time since I’ve been on the hook for a Bullpen Report due to the birth of my third child — and second daughter — so thanks for your patience with me as I ease myself back into this high leverage situation. Thankfully, it appears as if this evening’s edition will be like facing the bottom of the order due to just a few noteworthy items from today’s action. A huge thanks goes out to Colin, Dan and Ben for picking me up during this special time.

Anyway, here are just a few things that you may or may not be more interested in:

Huston Street took the hill for the Halos with a 5-4 lead over the Twinkies in Minnesota today. He surrendered two consecutive singles to Danny Santana and Brian Dozier, but induced a strikeout sandwiched between two fly outs to seal his 12th save as a member of the Angels and 36th total for the ‘14 season in 38 total chances. Street now owns a 1.04 ERA (2.55 FIP) with a ~26% K% in 52 frames on the bump between the Padres and the Angels. Tonight’s save, Street’s 270th career conversion, keeps him 30th on the list of career leaders in said category. He’s holds the fifth most saves among active closers, behind Joe Nathan, Francisco Rodriguez, Jonthan Papelbon — and if you count him as active — Jose Valverde.
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– Casey Janssen may be losing his grip on the ninth inning. For the third time in the last four opportunities, the Jays turned to someone else other than their ninth inning guy… in the ninth inning. Today, Aaron Sanchez notched his second save tossing a scoreless frame (one hit, one strikeout). Manager John Gibbons has said that Sanchez might see more save opportunities going forward, and the right-handed prospect has done nothing to imply he’s not ready for the show, as his 24 inning sample contains a solid whiff rate (27%) and above-average command (4%). Don’t cut Janssen lose just yet, but scoop up the fireballing righty where you can. He may help you in saves, but even if he doesn’t, he should help stabilize those rates as we head into the last few weeks of the fantasy season.

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• As we mentioned last night, Kevin Quackenbush is currently closing for the Padres at the moment and today we learned we can expect that to continue for at least the next 8-10 days according to Corey Brock. With Benoit on the shelf until then, Quackenbush should get another couple of save opportunities, and maybe even a few more as it’s unclear how the Padres will deal with Benoit as we approach the end of the season.

• Sean Doolitte played catch/had a catch today from 90 feet but there is still no date on his return. However, it doesn’t “seem” to be too far off, if you are in need of saves and someone dropped Sean Doolittle due to some roster crunch, I’d definitely take a look at him. The A’s are trying to win the division and Doolittle could be back in his familiar rule as soon as he’s comes off of the DL.

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