Possible relievers cut thus far: Josh Fields, Eric Hull, Luis Munoz, Chris Seddon, Denny Stark, Tracey Thorpe, Sean White,  Luis Pena, Stephen Kahn, Marwin Vega, Justin Thomas, Jason Vargas, Ryan Feierabend, Gaby Hernandez.

Granted, some of these guys are obviously starters and didn’t really fit into the bullpen picture, but after cutting 14 pitchers (10 RH, 4 LH) you’d think the bullpen would be shaping up a bit.  Truth is, it’s no less clear now than it was on the onset of camp.

Who will be the lefties?

One of them will probably be Rule 5er Jose Lugo.  He’s only pitched 6.2 Cactus League innings this spring and hasn’t yet reached AA, but relievers can often get by with less minor league seasoning than starters.  The lack of experience means he probably won’t be pitching late in the ballgame though, so I don’t see him as Don Wakamatsu’s primary lefty out of the ‘pen.  Starters Vargas and Seddon looked like they might be given the opportunity to fill the role but have been cut, and Thomas might have been the favorite until getting beat up this spring (although a surprising high amount of his misfortune can be attributed to Mike Morse playing RF).

Cesar Jimenez is still around but hasn’t performed well and doesn’t have the skill set to consistently get left handed hitters out.  Tyler Johnson could make a decent late inning lefty but missed all of last season and is struggling to stay healthy this spring.  He could help at some point this season, but I don’t really see him being healthy enough for Opening Day.  Jarrod Washburn will almost certainly be in the rotation.

Is Ryan Rowland-Smith going to be the go-to lefty this year?  Brandon Morrow figures to miss the first couple weeks of the regular season to continue building his arm strength in extended Spring Training or with AA West Tenn, making RRS a shoe in for the rotation, right?  Not so fast.  There have been whispers that the new regime likes Garrett Olson as a starter more than RRS, so maybe Olson gets the rotation gig and RRS becomes the teams lefty setup man.  That is probably me putting too many pieces together, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it.

Lugo makes it unless he gets hurt or implodes in the next couple of weeks.  Johnson also makes it if he can get healthy and strong in time, with RRS being the backup plan.  (UPDATE – See comments)

The closer battle

No one has jumped out and made a clear case to be the team’s closer.  Early on Wakamatsu named Miguel Batista, Roy Corcoran and Miguel Batista Mark Lowe as the primary candidates but all have been inconsistent.  Tyler Walker has come back from injury to pitch okay, and could be back in consideration.  David Aardsma wasn’t supposed to be considered, but he is the only guy really making a strong case (12 K, 4 BB, 11 H in 11 IP).

I think Lowe, Aardsma and Walker are the top candidates at this point.  We’ll see.

Non-roster surprises

Chris Jakubauskas, Randy Messenger and Shawn Kelley have all pitched well so far and have made a case for the Opening Day roster.  Jak and Messenger don’t have great stuff, however, and have very limited upsides because of it.  They shouldn’t take a bullpen spot from anyone but Batista.  Kelley, on the other hand, is the real deal and could probably pitch in the big leagues right now if things weren’t so crowded.  Chances are he starts in AAA, but if someone with options (say Lowe) continues to stink it up he could find himself in the big leagues come Opening Day.

Wrap

The names that will be in the Opening Day ‘pen are fairly obviously, we just have no idea where they’ll land.  As far as the righties go, I would assume that Batista becomes the swing man with Aardsma, Walker, Lowe and Corcoran being ranked 1-4 with 1 being the closer, 2 being the primary setup man and 3-4 being the middle relievers.