Apologies for the slightly abbreviated Bullpen Report tonight. Have to be on my way to the airport in [checks watch] less hours than Mark Melancon has walks (4) (but I still get more sleep than Edward Mujica’s two free passes!).

• Casey Janssen had such a rough outing tonight, Steve Delabar had to come in and clean up the mess. Now, in Janssen’s defense, he did come on with a three-run lead, retired the first two batters, gave up a couple singles that dropped in front of outfielders, walked a guy, then suffered thanks to an error by his first baseman that prolonged the game. At that point, Janssen had thrown 26 pitches so Delabar was tabbed and induced a Michael Brantley fly ball for the final out. Twitter is abuzz with “oh, did Janssen just lose his job!?” Unlikely. The man still sports a 3.36 xFIP and one of the lowest walk rates among all big league closers (although he’s no Mujica). He had a rough outing a few days ago in a non-save situation, however, other than that, he hadn’t been scored upon for almost a month coming into tonight. Do not panic. Or take advantage of someone else’s panic. Feel free to handcuff Delabar in deep leagues, though. You never know when injury might strike.

• Joaquin Benoit tallied save number eight tonight. He did walk a pair, but didn’t allow either runner to score. He has worked the ninth inning in his last five outings and certainly has the look of the de facto closer for the Tigers. Make sure he’s owned in all leagues.

Good news for guys who like to own Detroit players in leagues that count holds! Jim Leyland sounded like he was playing a fun fortune cookie game when he went on record as saying “I’m not stretching him out. He can stretch out during the winter – on his bed,” when asked whether bullpen revelation Drew Smyly might be an option in the starting rotation (except he confused in and on). Smyly is outpitching his xFIP by a bunch thanks to a minuscule 2% HR/FB%, but the strikeouts are up and the walks are down, so hanging out behind the fence instead of on the bench certainly is doing something for him. His velocity is not stereotypically way up in relief and his SwStr% only ticked up a little so I’m not expecting him to keep the sparkling 2.00 ERA going forward, but he should keep racking up the holds and helping you out in WHIP.

• Frank Francisco is still not throwing. It’s not surprising he’s suffering with an elbow ailment, but what is interesting is Mets doctors are befuddled as to where the pain is coming from. He hasn’t thrown a pitch since May. If you’ve been stashing him on the DL in a deep, deep league hoping against hope he could come back and garner some high leverage opportunities it’s probably time to cut bait.

Closer Grid:

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

• It’s not the highest endorsement one could receive from their manager but if/when Kevin Gregg is traded, the Cubs could turn to Blake Parker as a replacement. Blake Parker is a rookie but he’s on the older side at 27 years old and with a 2.25/2.82/4.03 ERA/FIP/xFIP line, Parker’s deserving for the ninth inning even if he’s only thrown 16 innings thus far. Parker doesn’t have a fastball in the upper nineties but he’s still been able to generate a lot of whiffs with a 12.7% SwStr% leading to a solid 9 K/9 while exhibiting enough control (2.81 BB/9). Parker has shown an ability to miss bats throughout his minor league career but his control has held him back. If he’s able to maintain his walk rate like he has this season he should have continued success, if not, the Cubs might have to look elsewhere.

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• Joe Nathan is on quite a tear at the moment after pitching a perfect ninth picking up two Ks along the way tonight for his 30th save of the year, sharing the league lead with the one and only Jim Johnson. Nathan lowered his ERA to 1.40 and hasn’t given up a run in his last eleven appearances, striking out 14 batters in those 11.1 innings. Nathan’s strikeouts have dipped a little this year (9.53 K/9) compared to last (10.91) K/9 but since posting a particularly low rate in April (7.30 K/9), he’s upped it in each subsequent month. Nathan might not finish 2013 with an ERA starting with a one, but he’s still a top option for saves both in real life and our fantasies.

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• What is this Adam Jones wizardry? Baltimore’s center fielder took Mariano Rivera deep for a two-run shot in the ninth this afternoon, hanging a “BS” on the future-hall-of-famer’s box score line. The blown save was only his third since the end of 2011. I know there has been some chatter here and there about Rivera not being Rivera-like this year, but I find it tough to make that argument. His K% is down a tick from his career average, but he’s also walking slightly fewer hitters. His 10.9% SwStr% is plenty good enough to keep inducing whiffs and his fastball velocity has actually nudged up a bit in his age 43 season. The only real negative that stands out is a jump in LD% rate (26% in 2013, 17% career average) which may imply hitters are making better contact. Even so, I am not selling Mo high in redraft leagues unless I get a sweet offer.

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–Edward Mujica blew his first save opportunity of the twenty-thirteen campaign on Independence Day, yielding two earned runs on four hits — one of which left the park — in a 6-5 loss to the Angels. The longball turned out to be the third of its kind Mujica allowed in his previous six trips to the bump — leading to five earned runs — spiking his ERA from 1.57 to 2.62. The fifth of July, however, seemed to be a bit friendlier to the veteran right-hander. Mujica faced the minimum in a clean ninth-inning of work on Friday, fanning two Marlins and inducing one worm burner en route to a 4-1 Cardinals’ victory and Mujica’s 22nd save of the season.

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Apologies for the belated and brief BR this evening morning.

• Mariano Rivera recorded a one-out save, his 27th of the year. In more interesting news, the Twins gave Mo a the “Chair of Broken Dreams” as he played his final game in Minnesota in his swan song year.

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Welcome to July and the halfway point of the season! Now is the time to see how much ground you can gain in saves and holds as we inch closer to both the MLB trading deadline and your league specific deadline. A few bullpen situations are sure to change and we’ll provide the latest and greatest rumors so you can snag that next-in-line closer before the current one is moved.

• Koji Uehara blew his first save as the anointed Red Sox closer last night but was actually fortunate enough to receive the win. The last time the Sox made a closer switch, Junichi Tazawa was named closer but the Sox are now going with Uehara. I don’t think the Red Sox will be so fickle as to remove Uehara because of a rough outing or two, especially since he’s pitching to a 2.58 xFIP. However, considering the Sox gave him the first chance and the fact Uehara might receive a few more days off than a normal closer to keep him fresh, Tazawa should remained owned in fantasy leagues. Even if he wasn’t going to sniff the ninth inning Tazawa is worthwhile of a roster spot with a 2.94 xFIP, a 9.73 K/9 and the third best strikeout to walk ratio among all relievers.

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–Jason Grilli dished a scoreless ninth-inning en route to his 27th save in 28 opportunities as the Pirates earned their league-leading 50th victory by clipping the Brewers, 2-1. In addition to Grilli’s impeccable save conversion percentage, the right-hander owns an impressive 42.7% K%, a 1.82 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. Grilli’s whiff rates (42.7% K%) appear gaudy and are well-above his career average (21.4% K%), but career bests landing the first strike (61.8% F-Strike%) and inducing swinging strikes (15.7% SwStr%) suggest the spike in strikeouts isn’t exactly a mirage or stroke of luck. If you own shares of the Pirates’ ninth-inning man I wouldn’t be mad if you shopped him around your league — you’d likely get a hefty return on your investment — but as long as health remains in his corner and your squad is in need of saves, ride the wave.

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-With fans and fantasy owners on the edge of their seats, Red Sox skipper signaled for “new” closer Koji Uehara to close out the Blue Jays in the top of the ninth frame at Fenway today. The 38-year-old veteran needed just 16 pitches while facing the minimum to induce two strikeouts and a ground out en route to his second save since being named Andrew Bailey’s replacement last week and his third overall save on the season. The Japanese right-hander has now made eight consecutive appearances without surrendering an earned run and has lowered his twenty-thirteen ERA and WHIP to 1.97 and 0.81 respectively. Additionally, Uehara’s K% spiked to 37.4% after fanning two Toronto batters in today’s contest. Going forward, I’d consider Uehara a borderline top-ten closing option.

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• It took a while, but Koji Uehara finally got his first save since being anointed Boston’s fourth closer of the year last week. Uehara spun a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a pair of Rockies looking to polish off a John Lackey victory. While there remains some question as to how frequently Uehara can work back-to-back days, he continues to flaunt otherworldly peripherals; even if his BB% has “jumped” to 6% so far this season. He doesn’t have the prototypical mid-90’s gas, but his 16.1% SwStr% shows he doesn’t need it. If he hasn’t been picked up in your league already (maybe everyone is following that Aaron Hernandez saga too closely?), stop reading and grab him.

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