August 21, 2017
Chicago White Sox — Juan Minaya still looks like the man to own for the White Sox, but he’s not making things easy. After Aaron Bummer walked a man on four pitches, in came Minaya. He walked the next guy, induced a double play, then gave up a two-run homer, but managed to retire Elvis Andrus to nail down a rocky save. Meanwhile, Gregory Infante has begun to get late-inning looks in a setup role, and the newly promoted Danny Farquhar is also someone to watch — last night he pitched a scoreless seventh.
Updated hierarchy: *Minaya | Bummer | Infante.
* = closer-by-committee
Los Angeles Angels — Angels committee leader Cam Bedrosian was used strangely again on Sunday. He pitched a clean seventh inning in a tied game, retiring the 8-9-1 hitters. When the Angels took the lead later in the game, it was old friend Bud Norris who picked up the save. Norris is apparently in good graces again, having “shown improvement lately.” Sunday’s clean inning was his second straight after he gave up runs in his previous three outings. Make of Sunday’s bullpen use what you will, but for now we’ll slide Norris back into the hierarchy and hope this situation sorts itself out.
Updated hierarchy: *Bedrosian | Norris | Parker.
* = closer-by-committee
Chicago Cubs — Koji Uehara returned from the disabled list and pitched in a tight spot with the score tied in the tenth. He was charged with two runs, but the Cubs became the first team this season to win after trailing by multiple runs in extra innings, so he was spared the loss. We’ll return him to his normal hierarchy spot now, but we’ll track the Cubs bullpen closely this week to see if things change.
Updated hierarchy: Davis | Wilson | Uehara.
Texas Rangers — Matt Bush is in the concussion protocol after colliding with Joey Gallo during Sunday’s game. Bush suffered a knee bruise and won’t travel with the team unless tests confirm he didn’t suffer a concussion. No DL trip yet.
Hierarchy remains: *Claudio | Leclerc | Bush.
* = closer-by-committee
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Santiago Casilla — Blake Treinen went two innings for a save last night.
2. Bud Norris — Cam Bedrosian isn’t pitching back-to-back games yet.
3. Juan Nicasio/George Kontos — Felipe Rivero has gone in two straight (30 pitches) and hasn’t done three since he became the closer. Nicasio has also gone in two straight, while Kontos was rested on Sunday.
4. Aaron Bummer/Gregory Infante — Juan Minaya has gone in two of three, and the White Sox have a doubleheader today.
Tuesday:
1. Addison Reed/Joe Kelly — Craig Kimbrel has gone in two of three.
2. Anthony Swarzak — Corey Knebel has gone in two straight.
