October 2, 2016
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Milwaukee Brewers — Jacob Barnes picked up his first career save last night. Tyler Thornburg blew the save in the ninth inning, and Carlos Torres and Corey Knebel had already pitched, so that left Barnes for the extra-innings save.
Hierarchy remains: Thornburg | Knebel | Torres.
Cleveland Indians — Cody Allen recorded his 31st save of the season on Saturday. Since the Indians acquired Andrew Miller at the end of July, Allen has picked up eleven saves. Miller only has three saves during that same time and has consistently appeared in games ahead of Allen. Allen and Miller are both under team control for the next two seasons, so this might be something to monitor next spring, but it looks like manager Terry Francona prefers to use Allen as his closer.
Hierarchy remains: *Allen | Miller | Shaw.
* = closer-by-committee
Boston Red Sox — Joe Kelly threw two perfect innings yesterday with four strikeouts. Kelly has made eleven appearances out of the bullpen since getting recalled at the beginning of September, and he has only given up one earned run. Koji Uehara and Brad Ziegler are both free agents after this year and if the Red Sox do not bring them back next season, Kelly could challenge Matt Barnes for the set-up role ahead of closer Craig Kimbrel.
Hierarchy remains: Kimbrel | Uehara | Ziegler.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Randall Delgado, Arizona Diamondbacks – Daniel Hudson has pitched in three straight.
2. Koji Uehara, Boston Red Sox – Craig Kimbrel has appeared in two straight and three of four, throwing a total of 65 pitches over those three appearances.
3. Hansel Robles/Jerry Blevins, New York Mets – With the Mets clinching a playoff birth yesterday, they can finally rest their overworked bullpen. Familia, Reed, and Salas have all pitched in two straight and four of the past five.
