• Colin did  a great analysis of the Rays bullpen situation after Grant Balfour’s meltdown last night and the Rays are now looking at a bullpen by committee approach for the near future. Madden wants Balfour to regain the job but his problems might run deeper than anything a few days removed from the ninth inning can solve. For now I’d expect Joel Peralta, Jake McGee and Juan Oviedo to see the first chances with Brad Boxberger (12.63 K/9, 2.47 SIERA xFIP) as a potential sleeper. Balfour isn’t injured or on the DL but I’ll place him there on the grid for the time being as he lingers in the background.

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A fairly quiet day in the world of bullpens, so this rapidly turned into the “Rays Closer Report.” Make of it what you will.

• So, yeah. Grant Balfour doesn’t think the baseball gods are smiling upon him. Tampa Bay’s closer had a horrendous ninth inning today, allowing five runs after being tasked with keeping a scoreless game, well, scoreless. His BB% now sits at a beyond ugly 18.5%. That figure might be even a little palatable if he was racking up strikeouts at a Marmol-esque clip, but he only has one more K than BB on the season. His fastball velocity is down 2 mph and he is only inducing swinging strikes at two-thirds the rate he did last year. His SIERA has jumped from 3.06 last year to 5.14 this year and is still climbing.

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Thankful to be able to contribute to another Bullpen Report after spending a few days away in the mountains with the in-laws. Truth be told, I’m actually still out here but have been out of the mix, so if I miss something crucial, pick me up in the comments…

Here are a few notes I was able to put together:
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• Vic Black figured to be a fixture in the late innings for the Mets this year and although he gave up a solo shot tonight he’s starting to work his way there. On the season Black has thrown 7.2 innings with 12 strikeouts against five walks with a 1.17/3.58/2.23 ERA/FIP/xFIP. Obviously it’s a small sample size but if he can keep his walks in check while getting whiffs he could start seeing higher leverage innings in Queens. Meanwhile Jenrry Mejia had a forgettable evening, allowing three base runners and two earned runs, entering the eighth inning down a run to the Cubs. Mejia has been pretty effective during his brief Mets tenure and this one outing shouldn’t have him looking over his shoulder but I’m not yet ready to make him green on the chart below.

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• As I write this, another rough outing for Trevor Rosenthal. He’ll technically take a BS in the box score, but he wasn’t given a clean ninth inning to worth with as Mike Matheny tried to stretch Adam Wainwright’s potential shutout all the way through. Rosenthal gave up a hit and a walk, which, combined with a fielder’s choice, allowed both inherited runners to cross the plate. This makes back-to-back hiccup-type outings for the righty, but I remain relatively unconcerned given his velocity (96 mph, 0.5 mph off last year), swinging strike rate (14%, near career norms), and 51% Zone% (which implies his 12.7% BB% in 2014 is probably due to drop a bit).

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• Cody Allen converted his fifth save of the year tonight and his second save in a row, getting four outs on only 12 pitches. It’s the fourth save opportunity in a row that Allen has nailed down and he’s definitely the guy in Cleveland. Bryan Shaw, Scott Atchison  and John Axford are still lingering in the Indians bullpen and are effective relievers but it’s Allen’s job to lose and considering he’s the best reliever in the pen, the chances are he’ll hold on tight. Of more interest tonight might be Nick Hagadone who also recorded four outs in relief, three via the strikeout. Hagadone is a relic from the Victor Martinez to Boston trade and has been largely unsuccessful in the majors but he can get whiffs from the left side and could see some higher leverage innings against left handed batters if he keeps pitching like he did tonight.

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June already…

• So… David Robertson probably killed this week’s ERA/WHIP categories for a few head-to-head teams today. The New York righty blew his second save of 2014 in impressive fashion, giving up five runs. Five runs to the Twins, the fourth-most inept offense in the American League. After giving up a leadoff homer, Robertson struck out a pair but they were mixed in among three walks (one intentional) and a double. After his yanking Matt Daley and Matt Thornton promptly allowed all his inherited runners to trot around the bases, sending the Yankees to a loss against former farmhand Phil Hughes.

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-Over the past week here at the Bullpen Report, we’ve suggested that Jason Grilli would regain the closer role in Pittsburgh sometime in the near future. Well, that sometime in the near future turned into today, when Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle officially named Grilli the team’s ninth-inning man prior to their contest at Chavez Ravine against the Dodgers. Grilli needed just two appearances to be eased back into his former role. In two innings since returning from the disabled list, Grilli faced eight batters, surrendered one hit, one walk and struck out four. Mark Melancon will fall back into the set-up role for the Bucs, and although it appears he won’t be saving many games going forward, I’d hold onto him until we see Grilli back in the swing of things. If by chance you have room to keep Melancon rostered, do it. He’ll potentially contribute to four of the five traditional categories and is one of the better insurance policies in the business. Late edit: Grilli did in fact get the save chance tonight in Los Angeles. He surrendered a hit, but came away with his sixth save of the year on 15 pitches.
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• Ronald Belisario took the BS tonight. It wasn’t a complete meltdown, as the two hits in the inning were not tremendously well-struck and the walk that shows up in the box score was intentional. But results are results and he did not convert the save. Over the last few weeks, Belisario still has the best peripherals in this pen (2.70 xFIP) but  now owns the worst ERA (5.40). Manager Robin Ventura has previously said he’ll stick with Belisario, but this string of outings where he’s being BABIPed may cost him a shot at locking down the ninth inning gig.

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Just a few quick notes from tonight…

-After picking up a save in his first appearance back from the disabled list, Jason Grilli got the call in the bottom of the eighth-inning tonight with the Bucs down two runs to the Mets. Grilli surrendered a leadoff single to start the inning, then fanned the next three consecutive batters to keep the Pirates within striking distance heading into the final frame. Despite the fact that the Pirates were unable to stage the late-inning comeback, reports indicate that Grilli’s outing could be one of the final hurdles the right-hander needed to clear before reclaiming the closer tag. Stadium guns clocked the veteran’s fastball in the 92-94 range, which seems to be right in line with career norms. For his career, Grilli is 43-for-54 in save situations, 33 of which came in 2013.
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