• Fantasy owners have probably been a little miffed Aroldis Chapman hasn’t seen a ton of save opportunities as the season begins to wear down. After not pitching in eight days, Chapman finally got the call tonight and didn’t disappoint. The Reds lefty sat over 102 (touched 104.2) mph with the fastball, en route to absolutely blowing away the Cardinals. The Cuban’s walk rate has ticked back up over 10%, so his fielding independent predictors (xFIP, SIERA, etc.) aren’t quite as good as they were last year, but, let’s be honest, going from a 1.33 SIERA to 1.84 isn’t exactly falling off the face of the Earth. And perhaps the biggest positive? Chapman’s fastball velocity is not only up over 2012, but it seems to be holding relatively steady. Recall he fatigued down the stretch last year, only sitting around 95 mph with the heater in some late August/early September outings. Not so in 2013.

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We’ve hit September. Where has the year gone?

• Joaquin Benoit is hoping the rest of September doesn’t go like today went. The Detroit closer gave up three free passes and a killer home run in losing a 0-0 tie against the Indians at Comerica. This was surprisingly out-of-character for Benoit; the right-hander had only given up two earned runs since July. Of course, that was before Mike Aviles cracked a grand slam. The good news? Benoit holds a 2.74 SIERA and the seeming support of manager Jim Leyland. On a team that had so much closer “instability” earlier in the year, Benoit has really stabilized the back of the pen. Until he gives up a few more homers to big-calved shortstops, I’m not concerned.

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• Grant Balfour had a pretty big hiccup in Detroit today, blowing a three-run, ninth inning lead. The cherry on the not-so-cool sundae was a grooved offspeed pitch which Torii Hunter deposited into the left-field bullpen for a walkoff three-run shot. The outing is not something A’s fans have seen a lot from their closer this year; his ERA ballooned from 1.76 to 2.44. While he hasn’t been low-2.00’s ERA good this year, his 2.82 SIERA is the second-lowest of his career (behind 2008). The 35-year-old has turned back the clock a bit, seeing an uptick in fastball velocity and SwStr%, which means a jump in K%. Like last year, he seems to be getting stronger as the year wears along, so ride him through the last few weeks of the season.

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• Jason Grilli seems to be on the road to recovery. The Pirates closer threw a simulated inning on Wednesday afternoon as he works his way back from a forearm strain. Assuming he doesn’t wake up with a swollen elbow, Grilli seems destined to head out on a rehab assignment this weekend or early next week. Assuming he’ll get 2-3 outings in, we may see him back in Pittsburgh next weekend. The 36-year-old still needs to avoid setbacks, but those who stashed him on their DLs may be handsomely rewarded in the saves department for the last few months weeks of the season. Mark Melancon would be relegated to a setup role, but with 1.89 SIERA, you’re still using him to help clean up those ERA/WHIP rates anyway.

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• Judging by save totals, Rafael Soriano has had another solid year as he added to his total with save number 34 tonight. However, a little dive into the numbers shows a different story. Soriano’s strikeout rate has tumbled from 9.18 K/9 last year to a mediocre and career low (since his rookie year) 6.79 K/9 this season. Unsurprisingly it’s reflected in his 3.79/3.91/4.17 ERA/FIP/xFIP and 3.86 SIERA which are closer to the marks of an OK reliever, not a top notch closer. Still, saves are saves and Soriano should hold onto the ninth inning for the remainder of the year but the mantra of never paying for saves rings true both in real life and fantasy baseball.

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• Casey Janssen nailed down his 24th save tonight against the Yankees. Sergio Santos was only brought in for one out but he did the job, striking out Alex Rodriguez for his third hold of the year. Janssen’s job isn’t in danger but Santos is pitching pretty well since coming back from injury (3.10 SIERA) and should be first in line if anything were to happen to Janssen. In the meantime, holds or saves+ holds leagues should take note as Santos remains a solid option in that category, particularly in any AL-Only leagues.

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(I tried to come up with a good Sunday night *NSync joke but couldn’t…)

• Not a good day to be a Kevin Gregg owner. After the Cubs finally scratched out the first two runs of their game versus the Padres this afternoon in the top of the 13th, Chicago’s “still” closer promptly coughed the runs back up, meaning the 3,000 fans left at Petco had to stick around for another few innings if they wanted to see a resolution. Gregg has been bad — to put it mildly — over the last couple of months, posting a sub-1.00 K/BB (0.69) and a 5.62 xFIP (not including today) since the all-star break. He somehow has racked up nine saves over that span, but has allowed multiple baserunners in most of them. Talk about walking on the edge. There hasn’t been too much chatter as to how hot “the goggled one’s” seat is, but even if he was assured the ninth inning job, I don’t know if I could stomach the ERA/WHIP hit (and marginal K loss) as the roto season enters its final stretch.

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Rafael Betancourt entered tonight’s game in the bottom of the ninth frame with a 4-3 Rockies lead over the Phillies. The crafty veteran retired the first two batters he faced, but then allowed a two-out double to Jimmy Rollins followed by an RBI single off the bat of Michael Young. Immediately following Young’s at-bat, Betancourt signaled for the trainer and was pulled from the game with an apparent elbow injury. The trainer’s evaluation “suggested” a possible tear of the infamous ulnar collateral ligament, which could end his season if Tommy John surgery is indeed needed to repair the ligament. It appears as if Rex Brothers will land back in the closer’s role should in fact Betancourt’s season be over. Brothers is 11-of-12 in save opportunities this season with a 1.51 ERA (3.31 FIP), a 1.16 WHIP and a 25.9% K%. The southpaw is owned in just 44% of Yahoo! leagues as of this writing, but that number needs to increase exponentially by the time the sun rises tomorrow.
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• Well, OK. Baltimore’s closer situation officially might be becoming interesting. After bringing on Jim Johnson in a non-save situation last night, Buck Showalter screamed “matchups, ho!” from the dugout while nursing a two-run lead in the ninth today. Darren O’Day started the inning against the right-handed Wil Myers who promptly singled. Next up was Brian Matusz, tasked with facing the left-handed James Loney. Walk! Likely exasperated, Showalter finally turned to Read the rest of this entry »

• Rafael Betancourt recorded his 16th save of the year and his first since returning from the disabled list. Betancourt faced the minimum and it looks like he’s back to his the ninth inning job in Colorado. Rex Brothers pitched quite well while Betancourt was out, but barring any injury I’d expect Betancourt to hold onto the job for the remainder of the year.

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