• We talked about Neil Ramirez a bit last night, and although it seemed like he was just going to rest without any injury he was just put on the 15-day DL today. Ramirez has a sore right triceps muscle and he hopefully is back soon for the Cubs. The interesting piece in all of this is that the Cubs apparently really did just want Ramirez to rest but sending someone to the minors for that reason “could be viewed as an attempt to save on a major league salary.”

• Neftali Feliz recorded a save late last night, his second of the season. The good news is that it looks like Feliz is taking the reigns on the closing gig in Texas. The bad news is all of our previous concerns about Feliz and his injury haven’t quite evaporated. Feliz made his bread throwing in the high 90s, but he was maxing out at 93 mph last night.  That’s enough to be a successful major league pitcher, and if he’s getting saves Feliz will have value but it goes without say that a lot of his shine has worn off, and anyone expecting Feliz to return to the Feliz when he first came on the seen will be disappointed.

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There have been a few updates since our last Bullpen Report so as a wise man once said, “Aw, here it goes!”

• Neil Ramirez had been terrific as a setup option for the Cubs (0.96 ERA, 33 Ks in 28 IP) but he was sent down to AAA Iowa over the weekend. The move was clearly not performance related, and it’s unlikely that Ramirez is being stretched into a starter in the minors. Ramirez hasn’t shown any obvious signs of injury (although his velos have been up and down) and the Cubs would like to keep it that way, with Ramirez simply getting some rest. With Ramirez out of the fold temporarily, expect Pedro Strop to be the primary setup man behind Hector Rondon which played out tonight with Strop getting the last two outs of the eighth and Rondon finishing the game for his 13th save of the year.

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• Casey Janssen struggled this evening and Brett Cecil came on for the one-out save, his fourth of the year. In spite of Janssen’s struggles in his last couple of outings, his job is still fully secure. Rather than have Janssen labor in a tough outing, taking him out earlier tonight might actually give him a chance to pitch in tomorrow’s game. I wouldn’t rush to pick up Cecil, but along with Aaron Loup he’s a primary setup man in Toronto’s pen.

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• Aroldis Chapman allowed two baserunners but also struck two guys out en route to his 18th save of the year in game one against the Cubs today. Chapman’s ERA is higher than some of the other top tier relievers this year but he’s actually quietly having his best year yet. In 25.2 innings Chapman has 49 stirkeouts. His BB% (8.6) is the lowest it’s ever been since 2012 (8.3%) and his K% is an absurd 50.5 %. That’s right, Aroldis is now striking out over half of the batters he faces with an average fastball velocity of 100 mph. No joke.  Unsurprisingly his FIP and xFIP are tremendous at 0.85 and 1.04 respectively. Chapman doesn’t register ground balls at an elite rate, but with so few bats even making contact, even less makes great contact. There’s not much else to say here, we all know he’s among the league’s best, if not the best and ranks in the top three fantasy relievers at the worst.

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• Jenrry Mejia entered tonight’s game in the eighth inning for a four out save, and although he got four outs he also blew the one-run lead allowing a run and five baserunners. Before tonight’s outing Mejia had six consecutive scoreless appearances stretching over 6.2 innings. Mejia had a bumpy road in early June but has looked good of late and his job is still relatively secure.

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• Quick Recap from last night: Grant Balfour picked up the save last night with Jake McGee pitching the eighth. This is still a committee and McGee is the best reliever so he’d still be my favored option in the Rays pen for fantasy. Joe Smith picked up two saves, his eighth and ninth of the season and it doesn’t seem like Grilli is taking over the ninth in the near future. Koji Uehara got the loss entering the ninth in a tie game and although he said he’s “fatigued” he was also available to pitch tonight so no injury worries, yet. If Uehera can’t close it’s unclear who is next in line. Junichi Tazawa and Andrew Miller have been better than Mujica, but Mujica received an opportunity this year.  Of course Mujica pitched poorly in an inning tonight and I’d wager the Sox would go to a committee type if Uehara’s fatigue caused him to miss any time. Addison Reed did what the Diamondbacks have done all year, blown. Hector Rondon also recorded a save, his 11th of the season and after a few hiccups last week that situation is going from Red –> Yellow.

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• Jake Arrieta was four outs away from throwing a no-no before Stephen Drew singled and at 120 pitches, Pedro Strop came in to get the final out of the eighth inning. Hector Rondon entered for the ninth and pitched around a lead off single to record his 10th save of the season. Rondon has had a few flare ups of late but he’s still the Cubs closer and should continue to get save chances as they come, especially if he pitches more like he did tonight. However if he struggles again soon or is put on the trading block, look for Neil Ramirez to fill in for saves.

• Dellin Betances finally showed he was human allowing two-walks and an unearned run in the eighth inning tonight against the Rays. With the “off” outing Betances still supports a 1.69 xFIP with a 14.25 K/9 and remains the likely best non-save option in fantasy baseball.  Robertson finished the eighth, allowing Betances’ inherited run to score and stayed on to throw a scoreless frame in ninth as well.

• Jake McGee entered tonight’s game with a one-run lead in the eighth and pitched around a couple of base hits for a scoreless inning, lowering his ERA to 1.24. Even though a couple of lefties were due up in the ninth, it was Joel Peralta who came on for the save that he quickly blew on a home run by an unlikely source in Brian Roberts. This is obvioulsy good news for McGee owners. He has received the last two save opportunities for the Rays and given Peralta’s performance tonight, I fully expect McGee to receive the next opportunity as well.

• There wasn’t a save situation in the Nationals game today but Drew Storen pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Tyler Clippard is likely next in line in the pecking order but Drew Storen is having a nice comeback season after a down year in 2013. His 1.03 ERA is likely to regress but Storen is keeping the ball in the park and avoiding the free pass. There are likely more exciting non-save options for strikeouts and even ratio help, but in Saves+Holds leagues, on a competitive Nationals team that should have a few leads to protect, Storen is certainly a sound option.

• Sean Doolittle has had an incredible season a forgettable June 30th. Doolittle started the ninth in a 4-1 game, but ended up allowing a grand slam walk-off homer to Rajai Davis for his third loss of the season. This was actually Doolittle’s second blown save in a row but even after tonight’s blowup, Doolittle still has an ERA under three with an insane 57/2 strikeout to walk ratio and remains a top tier closer in both real life and fantasy baseball.

Closer Grid:

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

• Sergio Romo is out as closer and Jeremy Affeldt and Santiago Casilla will be part of the closing committee for now. Romo is still expected to pitch in some sort of setup role but Casilla and Affeldt should be receiving the save opportunities in the meantime. Romo hasn’t been as bad as his 5.17 ERA would suggest but even a 3.93 xFIP and 3.27 SIERA is worse than we expected from him. Romo’s never been a big velocity guy but his fastball and slider have actually been a little better than last year. Also, although Romo’s K% have fallen the last few years  his 14.2% SwStr% shows he can still get some whiffs, even if it hasn’t presented itself with his pedestrian K-rates this year. Barring a hidden injury I’d expect Romo to regain his job this summer but it’s Casilla and Affeldt for now. As a lefty/righty combo, gameflow should determine who sees the save on a given night. Both Affeldt (1.33 ) and Casilla (1.17) are owners of some shiny ERA’s and I would reccomend any team in need of saves to snag them if they’re available on the wire. Jean Machi is also having a nice year and could figure into some saves but he’s given up runs in his last two outings and Bochy mentioned Casilla and Affeldt as Romo’s replacements.

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• Ronald Belisario blew his fifth save of the season tonight allowing a pinch hit three-run homer to Chris Davis. Belisario was on fire from late April to late May but has struggled of late allowing 11 earned runs in his last 11 innings pitched. His ERA is now 5.50 but a 3.17/3.34 FIP/xFIP show that the sky isn’t quite falling. Still, an ERA over 5 while converting just 7/11 save opportunities isn’t how you hold a job as closer. As of this writing I haven’t heard anything about Belisario’s status as closer so I assume his job is still relatively safe but keep an eye on Zach Putnam. Putnam also gave up a homer tonight and his peripherals aren’t any better than Belisario but a few more blown saves could force Ventura to make a change.

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• Koji Uehara had a day off after throwing on three consecutive days and Edward Mujica came on for his second save of the year. Mujica has had a largely forgettable year and after tonight’s perfect inning his ERA dropped all the way to 6.04. Although I’d still say Junichi Tazawa or Andrew Miller could see saves if Uehara were to suddenly get hurt, it’s worth noting that Mujica could be in the mix. Also worth noting, even on his off day, is Uehara’s outstanding season with a 33% K-BB% and only two earned runs in 31.2 innings pitched. Uehara has somehow managed to maybe be even better than his phenomenal 2013. Unreal.

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