• If you were hedging your Jonathan Papelbon closer bets with Jake Diekman, well, you can probably stop. With Papelbon having tossed three straight games, the Phils turned to Diekman to try and wrap up a one-run game Monday night. It blew up in the faces, with the lefty demonstrating a complete inability to hit the strike zone (he walked B.J. Upton, that’s how bad it was) before he served up a hanging spinner to Dan Uggla. Granny style. Diekman has always struggled with control (5.05 BB/9 in the minors, 4.88 in the majors) and righties own a career .335 wOBA against him. He has the potential to be a nice half of a lefty/righty platoon, but he doesn’t have the skill set to be profitable in an everyday ninth inning role. Look elsewhere if you need Papelbon insurance (if you’re so inclined, Mike Adams was activated after the game).

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Warning: Long (but juicy!) Bullpen Report ahead.

• If you are trying to read the tea leaves and decipher who will get the next chance in the Athletics bullpen, the situation is now clear. … as mud. Yesterday night saw Sean Doolittle pitch the eighth and open the ninth inning (which was slated to have lefty-lefty-lefty due up). The Mariners pinch hit with one out, which resulted in Bob Melvin countering and playing handedness, bringing in righty Luke Gregerson, who looked good (ignore the two hits, both were good pieces of hitting on pitches either at the bottom or out of the zone) in wrapping up the save.

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-The Boston Red Sox have shut down their 39-year-old closer, Koji Uehara, for the time being after experiencing tightness in his shoulder after completing a session of long-toss. The right-hander will attempt to throw again tomorrow (Sunday) before Boston’s brass determines if a trip to the disabled list will be necessary for their ninth-inning man. For the Red Sox and fantasy owners, the concern here lies in the comparison Uehara made between the stiffness he felt in the shoulder this Friday and the injury he suffered as a member of the Rangers two years ago. Then, the should stiffness continued to resurface, resulting in a two-and-a-half month stint on the shelf.
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-All of the hypothetical discussion regarding the Oakland Athletics’ closing situation in last night’s Bullpen Report came to fruition this morning. Manager Bob Melvin did indeed pull the plug on Jim Johnson’s ninth-inning role for the time being, leaving Sean Doolittle, Luke Gregerson, Ryan Cook and Dan Otero in a committee for saves. Colin thoroughly discussed each of the aforementioned candidates here, so there’s no need to beat that drum again. If you’re looking to get in on this action, I’d be adding Gregerson, Doolittle, Cook and Otero — in that order.

There obviously isn’t enough room for five names on our grid below, so I’ll simply be bumping both Gregerson and Doolittle ahead of Johnson, while moving the Athletics to red status. Cook will make his way on there by tomorrow, once I figure out the logistics of this chart you all love so much.
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• Oh, Jim Johnson. Oakland’s “closer” continued his rough start to the season earlier, getting yanked in the middle of a save opportunity. Oakland eventually won the game in extras, but it is little consolation to the groundballer’s fantasy owners. He’s allowed a seemingly unlucky 9 hits on 16 balls in play so far this year, but owns an ugly 4/6 K/BB ratio. His velocity is right where it should be and he’s had a history of pretty good control, so it may just be a rough couple of outings. That said, it’s an awful time for him to have a rough couple outings, as he hasn’t had a chance to establish himself in the Oakland bullpen.

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• With David Robertson heading to the DL, Shawn Kelley will be taking over closing duties in New York.  Kelley is effective and can generate lots of swings and misses but also gets many outs via the fly ball (only a 30.5% GB% in his career), which can obviously lead to occasional rough outings, fast. I’m not trying to scare owners away from Kelley but it’s important to not just check his K-Rates and quickly label him a great option. With that said, I would still run to pick up Kelley while Robertson remains on the shelf. I’ve been touting him in the early part of the season but Dellin Betances should be moving up the bullpen chain as well although I think the Yankees might go to Matt Thornton before him at this point. Still, Betances has looked impressive thus far, striking out five batters in three innings pitched with his high 90’s gas.

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• The J.J. Hoover experiment likely came to a crashing end this afternoon. Once anointed to be Cincy’s closer until Aroldis Chapman makes his return in mid-late May, a string of poor spring training outings left his grasp on the ninth inning weakened. Bryan Price turned to him Saturday, however, in an attempt to polish off a would-be victory against the New York Mets. A few baserunners later and Ike Davis made sure the BS was being hung on Hoover, walking off in dramatic fashion by swatting a grand slam off the righty. Hoover’s velocity has been fine this year (he’s almost exactly in line with his career marks) but his spring training control issues have not abated.

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With the exception of all the Jim Johnson concerns, a lot of positive discussion took place in the comments last evening after the Bullpen Report hit the interwebs. Thank you, I/we appreciate the feedback.

-Just when the murky waters in Chicago appeared to clear, Matt Lindstrom surrendered two earned runs on two hits and a walk in a save situation this evening against the Twins. The blown save is the first on the season for Lindstrom, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Nate Jones is ready to take on ninth-inning duties. Jones appeared in the seventh-inning tonight, surrendered free passes to the first two batters he faced, then was immediately relieved of his duties. Maikel Cleto took over for Jones with two on and no out, but couldn’t keep Jones’ two runners from scoring. After the game, both Robin Ventura and Nate Jones himself acknowledged that the reliever experienced some discomfort during the game. Don’t drop Lindstrom just yet.
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-Reds’ Manager Bryan Price indicated that Jonathan Broxton could be activated from the 15-day disabled list sometime next week, potentially during the St. Louis series. Broxton has been on the disabled list since last August when the veteran needed surgery on his right forearm to repair a torn flexor mass. Broxton, in the second year of a three-year, $21 million contract, could hold down ninth-inning duties until Aroldis Chapman is cleared to return to the bump. The veteran right-hander is the owner of 111 saves in 153 career chances with a 3.16 ERA (2.88 FIP) and a 28.5% K%. Chapman suffered fractures above his eye, nose and sustained a concussion after being struck in the head by a line drive off the bat of Salvador Perez. Initial report suggested that Chapman would be sidelined up to six-to-eight weeks, but reports today suggest he may be able to start throwing next week. In the meantime, those speculating for saves should snag Jonathan Broxton (9% owned in Yahoo!) off the waiver wire until Chapman’s return.
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• While I was speculating that Bobby Parnell’s neck was the cause of his issues and decreased velocity, it was actually his arm (shocker) as he has a partially torn ligament in his right elbow. Parnell is avoiding surgery for now, resting for a few weeks before being reevaluated but this doesn’t look good. I would still stash Parnell on the DL if you have him, but I wouldn’t bet on Parnell making a full recovery, closing game for the Mets this season anytime soon. As he did in Detoit last year, Papa Grande is back and closing games for the Mets. Don’t let Jose Valverde confuse you, he’s not a good pitcher but he’s healthy and in line for saves, go grab him now if you haven’t already. Behind Valverde should be Jeurys Familia, who wasn’t effective last night, Gonzalez Germen and even Kyle Farnsworth. For now it’s Valverde without an obvious choice as second in line. However, if Papa Grande fails and this goes to a committee type approach, it might not even be worth the trouble.

• Speaking of closer-by-committees (and horrible segues) that’s what the Astros are working with, narrowing their choices down to three – Chad Qualls, Matt Albers and Josh Fields. In tonight’s game against the Yankees, Bo Porter went with Qualls in the eighth with a six run lead. Qualls ended up giving up an inherited run as well as one of his own and Matt Albers finished the game in the ninth in a non save situation. It’s hard to glean anything of value from this one game besides the fact that all three should factor into saves in Houston. As of now, I’m keeping Qualls first as he’s probably the best of the bunch but this isn’t a particularly satisfying situation for baseball viewers or fantasy owners alike.

• Brian Wilson will be placed on the DL with elbow problems and nerve irritation according to Ken Gurnick. In his place, I suspect Chris Perez will be the primary set up man but Paco Rodriguez and J.P. Howell, who pitched the eighth inning tonight, will also be in the mix. Chris Perez had a rough go in Cleveland last year but if you squint hard enough there was a 3.83 xFIP and 3.40 SIERA last year. Perez isn’t flashy enough to own for ratios or strikeouts, but anyone who is one pitch away from closing deserves to be on watch.

• Holds Alert: He didn’t receive a hold today as the Yankees were behind all game, but Dellin Betances looked mighty impressive for the Yankees in his inning of work, striking out two batters in a perfect inning. Betances’ velocity was in the high 90s, reaching a peak of 99.3 mph. He might be lower on the totem poll now in New York but with only Shawn Kelley and Matt Thornton ahead of him, it won’t take much for Betances to be a main setup option, receiving higher leverage holds on the reg.  David Carpenter got a hold in the eighth inning tonight for the Braves, although he gave up a run. I suspect Jordan Walden is still next in line for the Braves, but it’s worth noting as each situation plays itself out early on this season.

• Quick Hits: Steve Cishek pitched a perfect inning for his first save of the year. Kenley Jansen was far from perfect allowing three guys to reach base, but he didn’t allow a run en route to his first save. Craig Kimbrel pulled a Kimbrel, striking out the side for the save. Sergio Santos tried his best to blow the game but barely held on for his first save of the year as Casey Janssen remains on the DL. Santos is undoubtedly the closer with Janssen out (although Brett Cecil was warming up tonight) but if he continues to struggle look for Steve Delabar to get a look. And for those disgruntled Janssen owners, Santos’ struggles means Janssen would be more likely to reclaim the job upon his return.

Closer Grid:

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]