Jansen shut down, Alzolay returns

September 30, 2023
Boston Red Sox — The Red Sox announced after last night’s game that Kenley Jansen will be shut down for the season, saying after not pitching for several weeks it wouldn’t be fair to him. This led to Garret Whitlock getting a 2 inning save last night. This means that Josh Winckowski will likely be in line for any save chance today, and Whitlock has a chance at a save on Sunday. John Schreiber fills out the end of the year hierarchy for the Red Sox, who have already started looking to next year.

Updated hierarchy: Winckowski | Whitlock | Schreiber.

Minnesota Twins — With a 1 run lead the Twins turned to Emilio Pagan in the 9th inning. He converted for his first save on the season. Pagan isn’t likely to be in line for any more saves this year, as he is slated to start today’s game, but the Twins will likely take it easy with the back end of their bullpen as they have locked in their playoff position already. 

Hierarchy remains: Duran | Jax | Pagan.

Cincinnati Reds – The Reds kept their playoff hopes alive with a 19-2 thrashing of the Cardinals last night. Having secured the game early they gave the ball to rookie Carson Spiers who pitched 3 clean innings for his first career save. Spiers doesn’t usually factor into the late innings plans, and with the Reds needing to win their last 2 games to have any chance to sneak into the post-season expect them to lean heavily on Diaz this weekend. 

Hierarchy remains: Diaz | Gibaut | Sims.

Miami Marlins — Tanner Scott locked up his 11th save on the year last night, but the most important news out of Miami is that they will finish their game against the Mets which was suspended on Thursday as long as it matters for playoff seeding. It could be a play-in inning if things break the wrong way this weekend, but may only be to determine where Miami will be traveling to. Miami had just taken a 1 run lead in the top of the 9th inning, meaning Monday’s resumption will almost certainly be a save situation, If your league counts it (and you need one hero save), pay attention to Tanner Scott’s usage. If Scott pitches today and tomorrow he will have gone 3 in a row, opening the door for a vulture save on Monday. 

Hierarchy remains: Scott | Nardi | Robertson

Chicago Cubs – Adbert Alzolay was activated from the IL on Friday and pitched a clean 8th inning with the Cubs down 1. He is immediately the top choice for the Cubs, who have fallen apart in the last week of the season. Although he should get any save chance that pops up, the Cubs may be in desperation mode and bring him out earlier than the 9th if the situation warrants it.

Updated hierarchy: Alzolay | Merryweather | Cuas.

Vulture Save Watch:

  1. Aaron Bummer (CHW) — Bryan Shaw has pitched 3 in a row.
  2. Trevor Stephan (CLE) — Emmanual Clase has pitched in 2 of 3.
  3. Luis Garcia (SD) — The entire San Diego hierarchy has pitched in 2 of 3, and with the Padres being eliminated last night, they could all see rest this weekend.

For Sunday:

  1. Bryan Abreu (HOU) — Today would be back to back and 3 of 4 for Ryan Pressly
  2. Carmen Mlodzinski (PIT) — Today would be 3 of 5 for David Bednar.

Aside from normal workload vulture saves, many teams have nothing to play for and may rest normal hierarchy options. The teams that can still affect their playoff seeding, and are likely to deploy their bullpens normally are:

American League:

  1. Texas Rangers
  2. Toronto Blue Jays
  3. Houston Astros
  4. Seattle Mariners

National League:

  1. Arizona Diamondbacks
  2. Miami Marlins
  3. Cincinnati Reds
  4. Chicago Cubs

Rangers look to an old friend for 9th inning help

September 25, 2023

Cincinnati Reds – Coming off two rough outings on Wednesday and Saturday, the Reds opted to pitch Alexis Diaz in the 8th inning with a 1-run lead. Diaz did his job, leaving the 9th for Ian Gibaut, who converted for the save. Diaz had been so good all season long — save for the last two outings — and has been used as a traditional closer virtually the whole time, so we’re chalking this up as a blip for now. We will move Gibaut into the handcuff slot, though.

Updated hierarchy: Diaz | Gibaut | Sims.

Texas Rangers – With Will Smith scuffling for the past month or so, and Aroldis Chapman coming off back to back outings, the Rangers threw it back to 2022, relying on Jonathan Hernandez, Brock Burke, and then Jose Leclerc to navigate the late innings. It’s Leclerc’s 4th save of the season and his second in the past week, so we’ll move him up a rung in this patchwork committee.

Updated hierarchy: *Chapman | Leclerc | Smith.
* = closer-by-committee

Philadelphia Phillies – Craig Kimbrel had pitched three straight from Wednesday to Friday, and Jose Alvarado had gone in three of the last four, so the Phillies decided to look elsewhere to protect a seemingly-comfortable 3-run lead in the late innings. The strategy paid off, as the debuting Orion Kerkering (already a candidate for the hierarchy of top middle reliever names — watch out Arquimedes Caminero) and veteran Michael Lorenzen both pitched perfect innings to close out the Mets. It was Lorenzen’s first save of the year.

Hierarchy remains: *Kimbrel | Alvarado | Dominguez.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Tyler Rogers – Camilo Doval has gone two of three, including a loss last night.

Tomorrow
1. Bryan Abreu – If Ryan Pressly goes today, it’s back to back.
2. Matt Brash – Same for Andres Munoz.

Tyler Kinley records another save

September 17, 2023

Colorado Rockies – In game 2 of their doubleheader yesterday, Tyler Kinley pitched a scoreless 9th inning to pick up his 4th save of the season.  Kinley recorded a pair of saves last week after Justin Lawrence vultured one and he seems to still be the clear option in the 9th for now.  In game 1 of their doubleheader, Gavin Hollowell earned a very interesting save by coming on in the 7th inning with the tying run on deck and pitching the final 2.2 innings.  Hollowell gave up a couple runs but was able to finish off the victory for his first save.

Hierarchy remains: Kinley | Lawrence | Bird.

Chicago White Sox — The White Sox brought in Gregory Santos in the 8th inning with a 6 run lead but he made a mess of things giving up 4 runs (3 earned).  Lane Ramsey started the 9th inning with the White Sox up two but got pulled after giving up a pair of singles.  Tanner Banks came on and walked a pair of batters, which forced in a run, but was able to preserve a 7-6 win for his first save of the season.  The White Sox have now used 3 different relievers to record their 3 saves in September so it’s tough to trust anybody at this point.

Hierarchy remains: *Santos | Bummer | Shaw.
* = closer-by-committee

Detroit Tigers — Alex Lange gave up three runs to blow a save in the bottom of the 9th but ended up with the win after the Tigers took the lead again in the top of the 10th.  Beau Brieske and Jason Foley both pitched earlier in the game so that left Will Vest for the bottom of the 10th and he pitched a scoreless inning for his first save of the season.

Hierarchy remains: Lange | Foley | Brieske.

Kansas City Royals – Carlos Hernandez started the 9th inning with the Royals up 4 but quickly ran into trouble by allowing hits to the first three batters he faced.  Hernandez was then able to record a couple outs but after a walk to put the tying run on base, he was pulled in favor of Taylor Clarke.  Clarke retired the only batter he faced to record his second straight save.  We will leave Hernandez at the top of the hierarchy for now but we will watch this to see if Clarke becomes the preferred option to close out games.  

Updated hierarchy: *Hernandez | Clarke | Snider.
* = closer-by-committee

Cincinnati Reds – The entire Reds’ hierarchy had pitched in three of four and got the day off yesterday.  Derek Law filled in and pitched a scoreless 9th inning to earn his second save of the season.

Hierarchy remains: Diaz | Sims | Gibaut.

Chicago Cubs – Michael Fulmer has been placed on the IL and we will slide veteran Brad Boxberger into his hierarchy spot.  

Updated hierarchy: *Leiter Jr. | Merryweather | Boxberger.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Tommy Kahnle (NYY) – Clay Holmes has pitched in two straight.
2. Yimi Garcia/Erik Swanson (TOR) – Jordan Romano and Jordan Hicks have both pitched in two straight.
3. Steven Cruz (KC) – The entire Royals hierarchy has gone in two straight so maybe Cruz gets a chance today if there is a save opportunity.
4. David Robertson (MIA) – Tanner Scott and Andrew Nardi have both pitched in two straight and three of four.
5. Scott McGough (ARI) – Paul Sewald and Kevin Ginkel have both pitched in two straight.
6. Caleb Ferguson (LAD) – Evan Phillips and Brusdar Graterol have both pitched in two straight.

Monday
1. John Winckowski (BOS) – If Christ Martin pitches on Sunday, it will be two straight and three of four.
2. Joel Payamps (MIL) – If Devin Williams pitches today, it will be three of four and four of six.

Justin Lawrence returns to the ninth inning

September 13, 2023

Colorado Rockies – It looks like Justin Lawrence is back in the high-leverage mix for the Rockies, as he closed out Tuesday night’s win with his 11th save of the season. Tyler Kinley was likely down after two straight days of work, but we’ll keep an eye on this to see if it turns into a committee.

Updated hierarchy: Kinley | Lawrence | Bird.

Atlanta Braves – For the second straight night and the fourth time in five appearances, Raisel Iglesias allowed a run, this time giving up a leadoff homer that sent Tuesday’s game to extras. After Atlanta regained the lead in the 10th, Brad Hand retired all three batters he faced for the save. Iglesias now has two blown saves in a row, but those are his first blown saves since June 12, so we don’t expect him to be in any danger of losing his job. If anything, the Braves will likely be cautious with Iglesias once they clinch the NL East title.

Hierarchy remains: Iglesias | Minter | Yates.

Boston Red Sox – Kenley Jansen left Tuesday night’s game because of fatigue and illness symptoms, which makes sense because we’d be sick and tired of being on the Red Sox too.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Martin | Winckowski.

New York Yankees — After all three members of the Yankees’ hierarchy pitched in game one of Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep of the Red Sox, Nick Ramirez finished off the nightcap with a perfect ninth inning for his first career save.

Hierarchy remains: Holmes | Kahnle | Peralta.

Cincinnati Reds – All three Reds hierarchy members had already pitched, so Buck Farmer collected a 10th-inning save on Tuesday.

Hierarchy remains: Diaz | Sims | Gibaut.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Chris Martin (BOS) – Jansen may be unavailable today after leaving yesterday’s game.
2. Trevor Stephan (CLE) – Emmanuel Clase has gone back-to-back.
3. Jason Foley (DET) – Alex Lange has gone in three of four.
4. Lucas Erceg (OAK) – Trevor May has thrown in two straight.
5. Kirby Yates (ATL) – Both Raisel Iglesias and AJ Minter have gone in three straight.
6. Seranthony Dominguez/Gregory Soto (PHI) – Craig Kimbrel and Jose Alvarado have both pitched back-to-back days while Dominguez threw 24 pitches last night.
7. Robert Suarez (SD) – Josh Hader may get a second straight night off after throwing 43 pitches on Monday.

Tomorrow
1. Colin Poche (TB) – If Pete Fairbanks pitches today that will be three of four.
2. The Rogers Brothers (SF) – The same is true for Camilo Doval and for Tyler Rogers.
3. Tommy Kahnle/Wandy Peralta (NYY) – If Clay Holmes pitches today that will be two straight and three of four, which is also true of both Kahnle and Peralta.
4. Griffin Jax (MIN) – If Jhoan Duran goes today that will be two in a row.
5. Lucas Sims (CIN) – Same for Alexis Diaz….
6. Joel Payamps (MIL) – …and Devin Williams.

Ryan Helsley to lead closer committee after JoJo Romero’s mystery injury

September 5, 2023

St. Louis Cardinals – While there’s still been no official word — or any specific injury designation — from the team, MLB’s transactions page showed that the Cardinals have placed JoJo Romero on the IL, retroactive to Sept. 2. Look for Ryan Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos to share save opportunities in his absence.

Updated hierarchy: *Helsley | Gallegos | Pallante.
* = closer-by-committee

Cincinnati Reds – With Alexis Diaz having gone two of three, the Reds opted to stay away from him on Monday, with Buck Farmer pitching the 8th and logging the first two outs of the 9th before he got into a bit of trouble. He was lifted for Ian Gibaut, who earned his second save of the year.

Hierarchy remains: Diaz | Sims | Gibaut.

Philadelphia Phillies – Craig Kimbrel was used as a fireman on Monday, facing the top of the order in the 8th inning, which left the 9th to Jose Alvarado. Alvarado converted for his 7th save.

Hierarchy remains: Kimbrel | Alvarado | Dominguez.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Matt Koch – Justin Lawrence threw 55 pitches over the weekend and might need a second day off.
2. Colin Holderman – David Bednar has pitched in three of four.
3. Jordan Hicks – Jordan Romano has gone back to back and three of four.
4. Seranthony Dominguez – Craig Kimbrel and Jose Alvarado have gone back to back.
5. Chris Martin – Same for Kenley Jansen…
6. Danny Coulombe – …and Yennier Cano.

Tomorrow
1. Kevin Ginkel – If Paul Sewald goes today, it’s back to back.
2. Jose Soriano – Same for Carlos Estevez.