Nate Jones leads the league in blown saves

August 30, 2016

St. Louis Cardinals — Alex Reyes’s return to the rotation over the weekend has left a hole in the seventh inning for the Cardinals. Matt Bowman has been filling in there, but when he and Kevin Siegrist gave up a combined four runs last night, it was the recently promoted Miguel Socolovich who stopped the bleeding and set St. Louis up for a comeback win. It was an impressive outing for Socolovich, but not enough to crack the hierarchy yet.

Updated hierarchy: Oh | Siegrist | Bowman.

Chicago White Sox — The major league leader in blown saves is Nate Jones, who suffered his ninth on Monday night. It’s mostly been a matter of bad timing, however; his 0.93 WHIP and 3.25 FIP don’t point to any significant problems.

Hierarchy remains: Robertson | Jones | Jennings.

Toronto Blue Jays — Joe Biagini picked up a clean eighth-inning hold last night, his fifth of the season to go with a 2.28 ERA. Biagini still seems to be fourth in the Toronto bullpen, but we’ll be keeping an eye on the big righty down the stretch.

Hierarchy remains: Osuna | Grilli | Benoit.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Andrew Miller, Cleveland Indians — Cody Allen threw 37 pitches to get five outs on Monday.
2. Antonio Bastardo, Pittsburgh Pirates — The Pirates bullpen is running on fumes at this point. Tony Watson and Felipe Rivero have pitched on five of the last six days, and Neftali Feliz has gone on four of five (including a 29-pitch outing last night). Who’s left? We’re crazy enough to think it might be Bastardo, who has pitched surprisingly well since returning to Pittsburgh at the trade deadline.
3. Shawn Kelley, Washington Nationals — Mark Melancon has pitched in four of five.