May 26, 2016
Minnesota Twins — With all that’s gone wrong for the Twins this season, it’s been easy to overlook how bad their bullpen has gotten. Glen Perkins is on the 60-day DL and Kevin Jepsen has made his home on the hot seat, but now Trevor May’s recent struggles have led Paul Molitor to demote him from the setup role, in favor of journeyman lefty Fernando Abad and the oft-injured Brandon Kintzler. We can’t give up on May just yet, though; his high K rate (33 in 22.2 IP) and favorable xFIP suggest that this is mostly a run of bad luck. Abad’s success this year gets him in the hierarchy, but we’ll keep a close eye on Minnesota’s bullpen use going forward — provided they can get the lead.
Updated hierarchy: Jepsen | Abad | May.
Colorado Rockies — Jason Motte is back from the disabled list, but taking his place will be Boone Logan (strained shoulder). Walt Weiss intends to ease Motte back into things, so for now, Miguel Castro moves to second in line.
Updated hierarchy: McGee | Estevez | Castro.
Texas Rangers — Shawn Tolleson didn’t do himself any favors on Wednesday, giving up two singles and a home run in a brief eighth-inning appearance. The outing didn’t really hurt the team — Texas was up seven when Tolleson came in — but it won’t get him any closer to regaining his old job.
Hierarchy remains: Dyson | Diekman | Bush.
Los Angeles Dodgers — Louis Coleman has holds in his last three appearances and appears to have moved ahead of Chris Hatcher in the Dodgers’ hierarchy.
Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Baez | Coleman.
Pittsburgh Pirates — Bullpen completists and holds connoisseurs should know that Tony Watson went on paternity leave Wednesday, and could be out until Saturday.
Hierarchy remains: Melancon | Watson | Feliz.
Milwaukee Brewers — The top three options in the Brewers bullpen had already pitched, so Carlos Torres wound up with the 13th-inning save Wednesday night. As always, the first person to contact us with proof that they owned and started Torres yesterday gets a free year of Closer Monkey Premium (full text emails)!!
Hierarchy remains: Jeffress | Thornburg | Blazek.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Tyler Thornburg/Carlos Torres, Milwaukee Brewers — Jeremy Jeffress has thrown in two straight, including a two-inning outing last night. Thornburg is the most rested option in the hierarchy, but if the whole triumvirate needs rest, we could always see Torres again.
2. Ken Giles, Houston Astros — Luke Gregerson has thrown 43 pitches over two straight days of work.
