By Ray Flowers
July 3, 2008 11:34pm CDT

Two bullpens have recently been thrown for a loop due to injury to their closer, and neither squad appears to have a clear-cut option to turn to take over the vacated role. In what follows, we won't necessarily attempt to tell you who will be given the most save chances moving forward, but we will give you a quick rundown of every pitcher who is in the mix and will attempt to guide you as to which pitchers' skills seem to be best suited for success the rest of the way.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES

Injury: Matt Capps has been placed on the DL with bursitis in his throwing shoulder. In addition, he is also suffering from internal rotation deficit, which inhibits his ability to completely extend his throwing arm. The good news is that he won't require surgery. The bad news is that he will likely be out of action for about two months.

Damaso Marte: 4-0, 3.54 ERA, 44 K, 1.13 WHIP with 1 SV in 40.2 IP
9.74 K/9, 2.43 BB/9, 4.00 K/BB, 0.77 G/F, .305 BABIP

Marte would appear to be the top internal option to take over the closer role, both from a logical point of view, and a statistical one. His K/9 rate is tremendous, as is his K/BB rate. Add it up, and his WHIP is also solid, though his ERA is a bit higher than some of his other numbers would lead you to believe. This is something that frequently happens with relievers that have a bad couple of innings, which is why ERA is a horrible measurement to look at with relievers. One of the reasons that Marte's ERA is a tad high is that his left on base percentage (LOB%) is a bit low at 74.3%, slightly below his career 78.0% mark, which is still significantly better than the major league average of about 70%.

Tyler Yates: 3-1, 3.67 ERA, 26 K, 1.54 WHIP in 41.2 IP
5.62 K/9, 6.48 BB/9, 0.87 K/BB, 1.50 G/F, .259 BABIP

Yates has one advantage the other two relievers don't have, and that is that he is right-handed. Other than that, this guy's current performance is a wasteland of mediocrity, and frankly, his ratios signal that a possible implosion could be in the cards. First off, his K/9 rate is below the standard we look for of 6.00. Second, his walk rate is scary high and signifies that he simply cannot be trusted in tight games. Third, his K/BB rateis horrific and less than 50% of the mark that is desired (2.00). Toss in a BABIP that is well below his career .311 mark and is likely to rise substantially given that it clearly doesn't match the rest of his work, and Yates is a poor bet for success. About the only thing he does well is keep the ball on the ground, but that clearly isn't enough to recommend him in any format.

John Grabow: 4-2, 3.37 ERA, 34 K, 1.29 WHIP in 42.2 IP
7.17 K/9, 3.59 BB/9, 2.00 K/BB, 0.92 G/F, .270 BABIP

Until the past three weeks, Grabow was having a solid season out of the pen. Unfortunately, he has taken a turn for the worse, having allowed nine runs in his last 10 innings (8.10 ERA), while also permitting a ton of base runners (2.10 WHIP). While his K/9, BB/9 and K/BB are solid, there are some concerns. Grabow is allowing a career-high 39.7% of batted balls to be hit in the air, resulting in a career low 36.5% groundball rate. This has led to a career worst G/F ratio of 0.92 (50% worse than his career long 1.40 mark). Grabow is also sporting a below average BABIP rate (the major league average is about .300), leading to the conclusion that he has pitched in a fair bit of luck this season, especially considering his career .327 mark (another factor in the "luck" call is a 84.0% LOB rate).

TAMPA BAY RAYS

Injury: Tory Percival was placed on the 15-day DL due to another setback with his injured left hamstring. The Rays are hopeful he will return shortly after the All-Star break, but he has been struggling all year with the injury and it is clear that it will likely continue to linger.

Dan Wheeler: 2-3, 1.82 ERA, 26 K, 0.91 WHIP with 3 SV in 39.2 IP
5.90 K/9, 2.95 BB/9, 2.00 K/BB, 0.59 G/F, .181 BABIP

Though the ratios look fantastic, there are some serious signs of skill erosion here. First, his K/9 rate is a full two batters below his career average (7.99), and that number is at a point where it's slightly below the safety zone for long-term success (6.00). Second, his K/BB ratio is roughly 30% below his career mark (2.73) due to the lack of strikeout prowess. Third, his G/F ratio is currently at its lowest mark ever, as he is allowing more than half of all balls hit to end up as flyballs (55.8%). Fourth, his HR/F ratio is slightly depressed at 6.3% (his career mark is 9.2%). When that number normalizes, we could see a whole lot of balls flying out of the yard. And finally his current BABIP is so low that there is no doubt at all that he has been exceedingly lucky this season. His career BABIP mark is .301, and when that number normalizes, he could turn into a pitching machine for batters, given that his current LOB mark of 88.8% is also completely unsustainable.

Grant Balfour: 2-0, 1.08 ERA, 25 K, 0.78 WHIP with 2 SV in 16.2 IP
13/50 K/9, 3.78 BB/9, 3.57 K/BB, 1.00 G/F, .214 BABIP

Balfour has been gaining a lot of traction of late thanks to his excellent work. He has dominated hitters with a massive K/9 rate, which has led to an extremely strong K/BB ratio. His G/F ratio isn't great, but it is at a manageable level. Dominating isn't the right word for what he has done to left-handers this year, holding them to a .150 batting average, while his work against righties has been, simply, super (.088 BAA). He has been helped greatly by the fact that he hasn't permitted a home run yet, while posting a tiny BABIP mark and an amazing LOB rate (84.6%). Sill, one would think, based on his other ratios, that he should be able to continue to contribute when those three measures normalize.

J.P. Howell: 6-0, 2.96 ERA, 47 K, 1.14 WHIP with 2 SV in 51.2 IP
8.19 K/9, 4.01 BB/9, 2.04 K/BB, 1.93 G/F, .245 BABIP

Howell is left-handed, and given the success he has had in the setup role, one would think he wouldn't likely be called on to become the team's full-time closer. His production this year has been extremely solid, save for a poor BB/9 mark. Still, he strikes out enough batters to keep his K/BB solid, somewhat mitigating the lack of control. He also is a groundball machine with almost two ground balls induced to every fly ball, allowing him to hold batters somewhat in check from an extra-base angle. Howell's BABIP is low, given a career .322 average. On the plus side, his LOB% is solid at 74.0%, helping to keep his ERA in check.

Al Reyes: 1-2, 4.02 ERA, 15 K, 1.21 WHIP in 15.2 IP
8.62 K/9, 4.60 BB/9, 1.88 K/BB, 0.88 G/F, .255 BABIP

Currently on the DL with shoulder tendinitis, Howell is nearing his return. However, given his less than impressive work this season and the multiple injuries he has suffered, he's not a candidate to step into the closer role.