Scott McGough hits the IL; Camilo Doval roughed up

September 18, 2023

San Francisco Giants – Camilo Doval entered the 9th with a 5-run lead and promptly got into a mess of trouble, allowing 4 runs while only logging two outs, eventually departing with the tying run on first base. Taylor Rogers came on to get the 1-out save, his second of the season. Don’t you just love when your closers pitch in non-save situations?

Hierarchy remains: Doval | Ty.Rogers | Ta.Rogers.

Los Angeles Dodgers – The Dodgers’ top arms needed a rest, and fortunately, some early offense and a strong bulk outing by Ryan Yarbrough allowed them to turn to struggling rookie Gavin Stone for the final out of the 6th inning. Stone proceeded to turn in by far the best outing of his young career — it was, in fact, the first of his 7 career appearances whereby he didn’t allow a run — and recorded the game’s final 10 outs for his first save.

Hierarchy remains: Phillips | Graterol | Ferguson.

Arizona Diamondbacks – Scott McGough was placed on the IL with shoulder inflammation on Sunday; expect Miguel Castro to get more holds in his absence.

Updated hierarchy: Sewald | Ginkel | Castro.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Jordan Weems – Kyle Finnegan has gone back to back and Hunter Harvey has gone in two of three, including 30 pitches yesterday.
2. Beau Brieske – Alex Lange and Jason Foley have gone back to back.

Tomorrow
1. Brusdar Graterol/Caleb Ferguson – If Evan Phillips or Brusdar Graterol go today, it’s three of four.
2. Giovanny Gallegos/John King – If Ryan Helsley or Giovanny Gallegos go today, it’s back to back.
3. Danny Coulombe/Shintaro Fujinami – Same for Yennier Cano and Danny Coulombe.

Jason Adam, Daniel Bard hit the IL

September 4, 2023

St. Louis Cardinals – JoJo Romero got a second day off after throwing 35 pitches on Friday, as did Ryan Helsley, who made his first appearance off the IL in the same game. That left the save chance to Giovanny Gallegos, who converted for his 10th of the season.

Hierarchy remains: *Romero | Helsley | Gallegos.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Dodgers – After throwing 1.2 innings last night, Evan Phillips was apparently unavailable on Sunday, so Dave Roberts turned to Brusdar Graterol for the save. Graterol converted for his 7th of the year.

Hierarchy remains: Phillips | Graterol | Ferguson.

Colorado Rockies – Daniel Bard was placed on the IL over the weekend; we’ll see if this means more high-leverage chances for Tyler Kinley, who was recently activated and got a save on Saturday.

Updated hierarchy: Lawrence | Koch | Kinley.

Tampa Bay Rays – With Jason Adam hitting the IL over the weekend, look for Robert Stephenson — who picked up a hold on Sunday — to get more late inning chances.

Updated hierarchy: Fairbanks | Poche | Stephenson.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Jake Bird/Brent Suter – The Rockies’ top three arms are all likely down today, so we’re looking off hierarchy for the vulture save chance.
2. Andrew Kittredge/Chris Devenski – The Rays’ top three are also all likely down today, so here are two possible options for the 9th.
3. Lucas Erceg – Trevor May has gone back to back.

Tomorrow
1. Joel Payamps – If Devin Williams goes today, it’s three of four.
2. Lucas Sims – If Alexis Diaz goes today, it’s back to back and three of four.
3. Jordan Hicks – Same for Jordan Romano.
4. Jose Alvarado – If Craig Kimbrel goes today, it’s back to back.
5. Austin Cox/Taylor Clarke – Same for Carlos Hernandez and Austin Cox…
6. Scott Barlow/Nick Martinez – …and Josh Hader and Scott Barlow…
7. Aaron Bummer – …and Gregory Santos…
8. Chris Martin – …and Kenley Jansen…
9. Danny Coulombe/Shintaro Fujinami – …and Yennier Cano and Danny Coulombe.

More bullpen trouble in Texas

August 31, 2023

Texas Rangers — Will Smith had a bounce-back outing on Wednesday, retiring five batters and allowing only one walk in a tie game. Unfortunately for the Rangers, after they failed to score in the top of the tenth, Aroldis Chapman ended things with an intentional walk, an unintentional walk, and a bases-loaded hit by pitch. The game was tied, by the way, because Jose Leclerc gave up a two-run homer in the eighth before Smith came on. With Texas in the thick of races for the division and the wild card, now is not the time for bullpen uncertainty.

Hierarchy remains: *Chapman | Smith | Leclerc.

San Diego Padres — Steven Wilson was placed on the injured list with right hip inflammation, giving Scott Barlow another chance at high-leverage work. Barlow pitched a solid seventh and eighth with a one-run lead on Wednesday, only to see a rare Josh Hader blown save in the ninth. 

Updated hierarchy: Hader | Suarez | Barlow.

Pittsburgh Pirates — Thomas Hatch, who picked up his third hold in the seventh inning last night, has moved into the Pirates’ hierarchy behind David Bednar and Colin Holderman.

Updated hierarchy: Bednar | Holderman | Hatch.

New York Yankees — Don’t look now, but the Yankees have reeled off three wins in a row and could be making an improbable push for the — just kidding, they’re still totally cooked. But Ian Hamilton did pick up a nice three-inning save for them last night.

Hierarchy remains: Holmes | Kahnle | Peralta.

Los Angeles Dodgers — For the second time in two weeks, Ryan Yarbrough earned a super-sized save. Wednesday he gave the rest of the bullpen the night off by powering through four innings of scoreless ball in a 7-0 win.

Hierarchy remains: Phillips | Graterol | Ferguson.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Robert Suarez (SD) — Josh Hader’s blown save came on his third straight day of work.
2. A.J. Minter (ATL) — Raisel Iglesias has pitched back-to-back.

Friday:
1. Tyler Kahnle (NYY) — If Clay Holmes pitches Thursday, that will be three games in four days.
2. Mark Leiter Jr./Julian Merryweather (CHC) — The Cubs play a doubleheader Friday…
3. Lucas Sims (CIN) — …against the Reds.

Jose Leclerc — and not Will Smith — earns save for Rangers

August 29, 2023

Texas Rangers – After Aroldis Chapman worked in back-to-back games over the weekend, he was apparently unavailable Monday. But that meant Will Smith did the job in a save situation, right? Well, no. Enter old friend Jose Leclerc, who mixed in a walk with two strikeouts to earn his second save. Reading between the lines, recent usage would indicate Chapman is the committee leader and Leclerc is a part of the mix with Smith. Smith not being used in an obvious situation for a closer Monday is very telling. It’s also worth noting Rangers beat writer Evan Grant said that Leclerc got the save chance after Chapman and Brock Burke had worked in the previous two days — and he did not mention Smith. We’ll make the swap in our hierarchy now and this situation is definitely worth monitoring.

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

New York Mets – For the first time since undergoing patellar tendon surgery, Edwin Diaz threw a bullpen session. He maintains that his goal is to return to pitch for the Mets before the end of the season even though the club is out of contention, so if he happens to be available in your league (only 16% rostered in Yahoo!, for example), he could be worth stashing if you have IL space.

Hierarchy remains: *Ottavino | Raley | Smith.
* = closer-by-committee

St. Louis Cardinals — Ryan Helsley expects to be activated from the injured list on Wednesday. Whether he jumps right back into the saves mix upon his return remains to be seen.

Hierarchy remains: *Romero | Gallegos | Pallante.
* = closer-by-committee

Toronto Blue Jays – As predicted by the Vulture Save Watch, Jordan Romano did not appear Monday after throwing 36 pitches Sunday, leaving Jordan Hicks there to earn his fourth save since being traded to Toronto.

Hierarchy remains: Romano | Hicks | Garcia.

Los Angeles Dodgers – Evan Phillips did not pitch Monday, as projected by the Vulture Save Watch, but it was Caleb Ferguson and not Brusdar Graterol who got the opportunity in the ninth, earning his third save. He has been used as an opener recently, but this save chance proves he still belongs in the hierarchy. Graterol last worked Friday, throwing 31 pitches, so perhaps manager Dave Roberts wanted an additional day of rest to keep him fresh.

Hierarchy remains: Phillips | Graterol | Ferguson.

Minnesota Twins – The Vulture Save Watch correctly predicted an off-day for Jhoan Duran, but it certainly did not foresee Josh Winder pitching three hitless innings to earn his first career save. He won’t normally factor into the late-inning plans.  

Hierarchy remains: Duran | Jax | Pagan.

Houston Astros – Jose Urquidy covered the final four innings (4 hits, 1 ER, 2 walks 1 strikeout) of what became a blowout Astros win Monday to earn his first career save.

Hierarchy remains: Pressly | Abreu | Neris.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Jose Alvarado (PHI) – Craig Kimbrel has pitched in two straight.
2. Taylor Rogers (SF) – Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers have each gone in two consecutive games.
3. Andrew Nardi (MIA) – The Marlins were off Monday but Tanner Scott has been busy lately (he pitched in both weekend games).

Wednesday:
1. Shintaro Fujinami (BAL) – If he goes Tuesday, that would be three of four for Yennier Cano.
2. Brooks Raley (NYM) – Same as above for Adam Ottavino.
3. Griffin Jax (MIN) – The above is also true for Jhoan Duran.

Jason Foley picks up another save for the Tigers

August 20, 2023

Detroit Tigers – Jason Foley struck out a pair in a perfect 9th inning to record his 7th save of the season.  Foley has recoreded the last three saves for the Tigers and one more should be enough to kick the asterisk.

Hierarchy remains: *Foley | Brieske | Cisnero.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Angels – As predicted in the Vulture Save Watch, Carlos Estevez received the day off and Reynaldo Lopez picked up the save in game one of their doubleheader.

Hierarchy remains: Estevez | Lopez | Moore.

Los Angeles Dodgers – Evan Phillips pitched a perfect 9th inning in game one to earn his 19th save of the season.  The Dodgers won game two of the doubleheader also and this time Brusdar Graterol closed it out for his 6th save of the season.  Score another one for the Vulture Save Watch.

Hierarchy remains: Phillips | Graterol | Ferguson.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Beau Brieske (DET) – Jason Foley has pitched in two straight and three of four.
2. AJ Minter/Kirby Yates (ATL) – Raisel Iglesias has pitched in two straight and three of four. AJ Minter has also pitched in two straight but has only thrown 14 pitches.

Monday
1. Austin Cox (KC) – If Carlos Hernandez pitches today, it will be three of four.