Kenley Jansen proves he deserves the ninth inning and Papa Grande proves why he didn’t have a job on Opening Day. Your Bullpen Report starts now!

• After being named the closer yesterday, Kenley Jansen was given a save opportunity last night and unsurprisingly converted the save, his third of the season. Jansen pitched a perfect ninth while striking out two batters and as the full-time closer in Los Angeles, this is something we should get used to seeing. Jansen has been a dominant reliever for a while now and it will be business as usual just with the extra bonus of saves, delighting Jansen owners everywhere. Jansen’s actually posting the lowest strikeout rate of his career but 12.55 K/9 is certainly nothing to sneeze at and it’s  come with the best walk rate of his career (1.64 BB/9). Considering Jansen’s still striking batters out an an elite rate, increased control at the expense of a few strikeouts is a trade he, the Dodgers and his fantasy owners would make any day.

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• Brandon League was very Brandon League last night, giving up four runs en route to his fourth blown save and third loss of the season. The best thing you can say about League’s ERA this year (6.00) is that it’s an even number. The (bad) luck card isn’t usable in this situation either as League’s FIP is 5.15, and with a mere 4.88 K/9, League doesn’t even net your fantasy team any strikeouts. It shouldn’t have taken this long, but finally with all of that said, it appears that Mattingly has named Kenley Jansen his closer.

If you know of a paid league that still has Kenley Jansen available on the wire, please invite me next year. It goes without say that Jansen must be owned and with his strikeout ability, he could be one of the better closers from here on out if he holds onto the job all year. League’s salary or whatever he was doing to hold onto the job for so long with a significant better option on the team could theoretically get him the job back at some point again this season but right now he seems so broken that I have confidence that Jansen runs away with it all year.

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A few teams are off tonight but you still get 100% of the Bullpen Report (I think)…

• Greg Holland picked up the clean save tonight, striking out two for his 13th save of the year. Since his struggles earlier on in the season Holland has been great and in his last eleven appearances, Holland has thrown 11.0 scoreless frames with 16 strikeouts against only three walks. On the year Holland now has a 1.96 ERA supported by a fantastic 1.33 FIP and 2.13 xFIP. Holland’s control (3.91 BB/9) isn’t perfect, but he makes up for it with a fantastic 13.70 K/9, backed by an equally fantastic ability to miss bats (14.3% SwStr%). Holland hasn’t received as many save opportunities as some other relievers (I’m looking at you Mr. Jason Grilli) but not many pitchers have Holland’s ability to get K’s and he should be one of the better options out of the pen, whether it’s real life or fantasy this season.

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• Bobby Parnell gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth tonight, blowing the save against the Nationals. For Parnell it was his third blown save of the year and his second loss to go with his four wins on the season. Even after tonight’s outing, Parnell still has a 2.55 ERA on the season, backed by an impressive 2.30 FIP. Considering Parnell throws 95 mph, it would be nice to see a few more swings and misses (8.6% SwStr%; 8.39 K/9) but his worm killing ways (52.4% GB%) and better than average control make him a highly effective end game option. Before the season, Frank Francisco’s name was mentioned as someone to keep an eye on, but the only news we have heard has been set backs, and at this point the Mets don’t really know when he’ll be back. With nobody lurking behind him Parnell’s job is very secure and although the name on the front of his jersey isn’t ideal for saves, he remains a solid fantasy and real life option.

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A light(er) and (less) important load today with a few teams off, but some bullpen notes for your reading pleasure below.

• Chris Perez isn’t joining the Indians quite yet, but he’s set to start throwing in a few days. In his place closing games for the Indians has been Vinnie Pestano and although he hasn’t pitched all that well this year (5.57 FIP) he’ll still get the ball in the ninth. Setting him up has been and will continue to be Joe Smith, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen. Mr. Allen might be the farthest away from getting a save but he’s also the most effective reliever in Cleveland, leading the bullpen in WAR(0.5), FIP (2.49) and K/9 (11.92). The Indians lost today against the Yankees, but Cody Allen finished the seventh inning with Joe Smith pitching a scoreless eighth. Whether it’s in a winning or losing effort, that distribution should continue for the Indians with everyone entering the game a little earlier once Chris Perez returns.

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Today we go real deep to find you potential hidden treasure that will catapult your fantasy teams into Yoo-Hoo shower stardom. Then again, you’re all definitely in first place already, because you read RotoGraphs every day and get the best advice on the planet.

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• Chris Perez was placed on the 15-day DL yesterday with a shoulder injury and after an MRI today, we now know he has rotator cuff tendinitis. While the news could have been worse, as shoulder injuries are always worrisome especially considering Perez had a few shoulder flare ups earlier this season, the Indians are glad he won’t have to miss any significant time due to the injury. In his place in the ninth inning will be Vinnie Pestano. Pestano has been an ace reliever the last couple of years but has struggled in 2013. Pestano has never had great control with a career 3.62 BB/9 but he compensated for it with terrific swing and miss stuff. This year his control has eluded him a bit (5.25 BB/9) as his strikeout rate (9.0 K/9) is down from his career numbers (10.87). Add it all up and Pestano is pitching to an ugly 4.99 FIP.

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• A day after blowing his third consecutive save chance, Jim Johnson pitched a scoreless tenth inning against the Yankees in a tie game this evening. Although it obviously wasn’t a save opportunity, Johnson was the pitcher of record when Nate McLouth hit the walk-off home run and before the game, Buck Showalter said that Johnson would still be used as the closer. While Johnson can’t really afford to blow another three consecutive saves, he’s still the man in the back of the bullpen with the support of his manager. Behind Johnson is Darren O’Day, who has been fantastic in 2013 (and 2012) with a 1.74 ERA, 3.56 FIP and a 9.58 K/9 on the season. O’Days control has left him a little this year with a 10.1 BB% after posting  a 5.3% BB% in 2012 and 6.8% in 2011 but if he can regress back to those normals this year, he should have the fancy peripherals to match the ERA.

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We’re going to do something a little different here. The Bullpen Report guys — Alan Harrison, Benjamin Pasinkoff and Colin Zarzycki — are knee-deep in every bullpen every night, just to update you. So they’re in a great position to rank relievers when it comes to 5×5 roto leagues.

So they’ve got the keys to the car, and now they get to wreck it.

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• Vinnie Pestano, Chris Perez and Joe Smith each gave up an earned run in the eighth, ninth and tenth innings respectively this afternoon against Seattle and in the bottom half of the tenth the Indians took back the lead, netting Joe Smith his second win of the season. Although Pestano blew the save today, back from the DL he’s slotted again into his usual set up/eighth inning role ahead of Chris Perez. Perez has struggled a tad of late, giving up a run today and blowing the save in his last appearance this weekend but his hold on the job remains secure.

In the same game, Tom Wilhelmsen blew a save of his own (his first of the year) in the ninth inning allowing a run to score via his own fielding error. On the season, Wilhelmsen’s strikeout rate (20%) is less than what we would expect thus far given his career (24.7% K%) but he’s still pitching to a 0.47 ERA and 2.24 FIP and remains in the upper half of closing options in fantasy baseball. Before the season I suspected Wilhelmsen to be a potential trade target and while that could still be a possibility, the Mariners are playing close to .500 ball and I’ve yet to hear any trade rumors/whispers. If anything were to happen however, Carter Capps and Charlie Furbush would look to take over.

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