• Buck Showalter tells you it’s a committee in Baltimore, but it sure looks a lot like Zach Britton is the guy he is leaning towards at the moment. The Baltimore lefty nailed down the second save of his career with a 1-2-3 inning on Sunday. Britton’s 3.03 xFIP is not quite as sparkly as his ERA (0.70) but his SIERA splits the difference (2.03). Why the discrepancy? SIERA takes into account his batted ball profile and the southpaw is inducing grounders at a ridiculous 80% rate. Is that sustainable? Probably not, but if he can keep the ball on the ground, he’ll help make up for the fact that he has a below-average (for a late-inning reliever, at least) strikeout rate.

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-March and April were kind to 41-year-old LaTroy Hawkins. The Rockies’ closer converted all nine of his save chances while holding opposing batters to a .237/.267/.349 slash line and a .273 wOBA in 11.1 innings. However, May tells a different story for the veteran right-hander. He is 2-0 with one save (in two chances) this month, but he’s allowed five earned runs in his last seven appearances. And hitters are slashing .444/.464/.741 with a .513 wOBA against Hawkins across six frames this month. When looking at velocity splits between the months, nothing strikes me as red flag worthy. Hitters seem to be finding the holes a bit more in May (.440 BABIP) versus March/April’s .243 average on balls in play. He’s stranding fewer this month (69% LOB%) as well, so maybe it’s just numbers catching up with the old fella?
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• Well, we didn’t think Matt Lindstrom was going to keep the White Sox closer role for long. Of course, we didn’t expect his reign to end with a torn ankle sheath, either. Lindstrom will undergo surgery on Friday to repair what I can only assume is a “Curt Schilling injury” and will subsequently be sidelined for three months. In other words, he’s not irrelevant for fantasy purposes in 2014.

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• Matt Lindstrom was placed on the 15-day Disabled List with an ankle injury. We will know more soon about his recovery timeline but in the meantime, Javy Guerra was called up from AAA. The White Sox haven’t anointed a closer as replacement so this is going to be by committee until Lindstrom returns or someone else runs away with it. In the committee should be Daniel Webb, Ronald Belisario, Scott Downs and maybe even Zach Putnam and Jacob Petricka. In tonight’s game, Petricka pitched a clean seventh, and Downs and Frank Francisco had a forgettable eighth inning that Putnam came in to clean up. Eno Sarris pointed us in Belisario’s direction earlier in the day and I happen to agree with his assessment. I would look to add Belisario first if he’s still available in your league and grab Webb as a consolation prize. Unless you are in the deepest league or in dire straits for saves I might stop there as the third or fourth option for saves in Chicago might not be worth the roster spot. Even after throwing two innings last night Belisario is warming up for the save this evening. Published before game ended.

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Sure, this goggled sinker-lover isn’t the most attractive reliever on your waiver wire, at least when weighed in terms of physical looks or strikeout rate. And he fails most of the few tests that we have for future closers. But there’s something to love here. Especially with current closer Matt Lindstrom hobbled by an ankle injury (and on the DL).

We have very few tools at our disposal when it comes to closer prognostication. 1) Does the candidate have velocity and strikeouts? New closers had more velocity and strikeouts than the ones they replaced. 2) Does the throw with his right hand? Managers prefer righties about twice as much as they should, given the population. 3) What inning is he pitching in now? There’s no link for this one, but your candidate has to be coming from 7th or 8th inning usage or it would have to be considered a coup.

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• Aroldis Chapman blew his first save of the year tonight against the Nationals. It’s tough to glean anything from Aroldis over just five innings pitched but he’s averaging 100 mph on his fastball and has nine strikeouts against three walks. Also, for what it’s worth Chapman didn’t blow tonight’s save in spectacular fashion, he gave a lead-off double that ended up scoring on a sacrifice fly. I wouldn’t be concerned about tonight’s blip, Chapman looks like himself after his unfortunate comebacker in spring training and should be a top three closer from here on out this season.

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• Trevor Rosenthal had a no good, very bad day. After notching saves the last three days, the Cardinals closer wasn’t able to make it four, giving up a pair of hits and a pair of walks (one intentional) before Carlos Martinez relieved him as threw a wild pitch to let the Braves snag the lead. Rosenthal had a few hiccups earlier in the week but had appeared to be back on the wagon heading into Sunday’s tilt. Unfortunately, all the pitches caught up to him and he undid some of the nice rates he had picked up over the past few outings.

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-This morning, Terry Collins indicated that the Mets would call on Jenrry Mejia in the ninth-inning tonight in the Bronx against the Yankees should they be in a save situation. Mejia did indeed take the ball in the Yankees’ half of the final frame, but in a non-save situation as the Metropolitans faced a 1-0 deficit. The right-hander yielded a couple of singles, but fanned Brian McCann and induced a double play to escape the top of the ninth unscathed. Despite not earning a save, Collins’ comments shed some light into the mess that is the Mets’ bullpen at the moment. It appears as if the Mets would like Mejia to emerge from the committee to be the full-time closer when he’s ready. There’s no magical date in mind, but once Mejia is fully transitioned back to the bullpen and is able to pitch in two or three consecutive evenings, he may be close.
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-Just when we thought we figured this whole Angels bullpen thing out, Mike Scioscia sent Ernesto Frieri to the hill in the eighth-inning with a three run lead, then provided Joe Smith with the opportunity to close out the Phillies and earn the save. Scioscia’s comments following today’s game indicate that he’ll continue to mix-and-match Frieri and Joe Smith in the ninth frame depending on the particulars of the save situation. Two factors — the score, and part of the order due up (among other foreign forms of managerial reasoning) — will be considered when the skipper calls for his choice closer. Although Scioscia’s comments suggest he would eventually like to name one closer for the remainder of the season, this continues to feel like a closer-by-committee situation. If you’re chasing saves, you’re looking to grab shares of both players until one of these guys — presumably Frieri — proves worthy to work closing situations regardless of situation.
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A few quick updates from Monday:

• Addison Reed blew his second save on the year and now holds a 1-3 record and is 11/13 on save chances. Kirk Gibson squashed any closer controversy rumors but the fact remains that Reed has not pitched well this year. The Diamondbacks gave up some value in a trade for Reed so he should have a long leash but a 5.03 ERA and 5.49 FIP certainly isn’t pretty. Reed is actually striking out more guys (26.7%)  and walking fewer batters  (4.7%) than last year but the long ball has killed him. A 21.4% HR/FB ratio isn’t sustainable but Reed allows many balls fly through the air with a mere 32% career ground ball rate. I’ll take Gibson at his word and not sound the alarm on Reed but Brad Ziegler is someone to take a look at.

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