Tony Barnette should get the next save chance in Texas

April 13, 2017

Texas Rangers — Before Texas blew its game open — gifting a save to young Jose Leclerc — the first save chance in the post-Sam Dyson era was slated for Tony Barnette, a 33-year-old with no prior major league saves. In 2015, though, Barnette led the Japan Central League with 41 of them, tied with some guy named Seung-hwan Oh. Jeremy Jeffress pitched the seventh and part of the eighth, but is still in the mix for future opportunities. Behind those two are Matt Bush, whose health is in doubt after a shoulder injection, and Leclerc, who retired Mike Trout and Albert Pujols in a tight spot in the eighth (making Trout look silly in the process), then stuck around for the lower-leverage ninth. Until Bush proves he’s healthy, we’ll move Leclerc past him.

Updated hierarchy: *Barnette | Jeffress | Leclerc.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Angels – Shoulder inflammation has sent Andrew Bailey to the DL, where he joins Huston Street. The Angels don’t have much behind Cam Bedrosian at this point, and we don’t see Blake Parker or J.C. Ramirez challenging Bedrosian for saves in Street’s absence. Parker pitched the sixth with the team down on Wednesday. No word yet on when Street might return so, for now, it’s all Cam.

Updated hierarchy: Bedrosian | Parker | Ramirez.

Oakland A’s — As we retweeted, Bob Melvin has installed Sean Doolittle and Santiago Casilla as the heads of Oakland’s closer committee. Both guys have been excellent; Casilla has gone four innings, allowing only one baserunner, while Doolittle has struck out 7 of the 11 batters he’s faced this year. Ryan Madson and Ryan Dull will share whatever’s left.

Updated hierarchy: *Doolittle | Casilla | Madson.
* = closer-by-committee

Detroit Tigers — We were right that K-Rod would get Wednesday off, but it was Alex Wilson, not Shane Greene, who picked up a two-inning save in his absence. Alex joins Justin in the hierarchy — if only Brian could perfect that knuckleball and join them.

Updated hierarchy: Rodriguez | J. Wilson | A. Wilson.

San Diego Padres — Carter Capps moved ’em on and headed ’em up, helping the Lake Elsinore Storm to a shutout victory over the mighty Visalia Rawhide on Tuesday. Capps probably has a few more weeks out on the trail, but if you have a DL slot available and he’s somehow on your waiver wire, snap him up while you can.

Hierarchy remains: Maurer | Buchter | Hand.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Dan Jennings, Chicago White Sox — David Robertson has pitched in three out of four, and Nate Jones has gone in two straight (45 pitches).
2. Fernando Salas, New York Mets — Addison Reed has been used in three of the last four games.
3. David Phelps, Miami Marlins — A.J. Ramos took the loss Wednesday in his second straight outing. Some rest could clarify whether Phelps, Brad Ziegler, or Kyle Barraclough is next in line for Miami.

Friday:
1. Sergio Romo, Los Angeles Dodgers — Kenley Jansen has gone in three of four, but hasn’t thrown many pitches. If he’s used on Thursday, though, he should be off on Friday.
2. Daniel Hudson, Pittsburgh Pirates — Another outing for Tony Watson could mean a day off on Friday. Hudson will almost certainly get Thursday off after throwing 31 pitches on Wednesday night.
3. Corey Knebel, Milwaukee Brewers — We’re guessing Neftali Feliz can go on Thursday, but if he does, he’ll likely not pitch in a fourth straight game.

Hunter Strickland and Roman Mendez have arrived

September 23, 2014

San Francisco Giants — Since Bruce Bochy’s late-August announcement that Santiago Casilla would share save opportunities with a committee, Casilla has continued to get every available chance. On Monday, though, Casilla pitched the eleventh and twelfth (in a tie game on the road!!), leaving the save for Hunter Strickland, whom you know all too well as the closer for the mighty Richmond Flying Squirrels. Since Strickland came to the big club on September 1, he has seven strikeouts in seven scoreless appearances. The committee isn’t really a thing, but the Giants might want to keep testing whether Strickland could be.

Updated hierarchy: Casilla | Romo | Strickland.

Houston Astros — Last offseason, Houston signed three free agent relievers: Chad Qualls, who has been a serviceable closer since May; Matt Albers, who made it into eight games before hitting the DL; and Jesse Crain, who earned $3.25 million for throwing as many pitches for Houston as your mother did. Now GM Jeff Luhnow says the team will again prioritize relief spending in the winter, in the hopes Houston can hit the rarefied air of “75 [or] 80 wins.” Keep dreaming that crazy dream, Jeff.

Hierarchy remains: Qualls | Fields | Sipp.

Texas Rangers — Rookie Roman Mendez has been getting several high-leverage outs lately for Texas; he was used in the eighth inning up a run on Monday night. Meanwhile, Alexi Ogando is so injured that they put him on the winter league disabled list.

Updated hierarchy: Feliz | Cotts | Mendez.

San Diego Padres — Kevin Quackenbush earned another save in Joaquin Benoit’s stead. Benoit’s first appearance (on Sunday) was uneventful, so if the Padres are telling us the truth, he should return to the closer role soon.

Hierarchy remains: Benoit | Quackenbush | Thayer.

Cleveland Indians – Unbeknownst to us, Cody Allen couldn’t come back out for the tenth inning of the Indians’ suspended game against the Royals, because rookie lefty Kyle Crockett had already been announced as the new pitcher before the game was called in late August. That left it to Scott Atchison to pick up the save, 22 days later.

Hierarchy remains: Allen | Shaw | Atchison.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Tony Watson, Pittsburgh Pirates — The Bucs are riding their bullpen hard as they approach the postseason; Mark Melancon has now thrown on four of the last five days (67 pitches), and five of the last seven (84).
2. Neal Cotts, Texas Rangers — Neftali Feliz has pitched on two straight days, and he hasn’t gone three in a row all year.
3. Brian Wilson, Los Angeles Dodgers — Kenley Jansen has thrown 20+ pitches each of the last two days.

Aaron Sanchez complicating things for Casey Janssen owners

September 4, 2014

Toronto Blue Jays — Aaron Sanchez’s future is as a front-line starter, but like Adam Wainwright in 2006, he’s building confidence in the bullpen down the stretch. The Jays have made it clear that Casey Janssen is still the team’s official closer, but Janssen, a free agent next season, hasn’t taken kindly to the competition. John Gibbons explained that he went with Sanchez for Wednesday’s save because he was already warm. Janssen owners approaching the playoffs should avail themselves of a less volatile option if possible.

Hierarchy remains: Janssen | Sanchez | Cecil.

Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers — The six men who make up the hierarchies of the Dodgers and Nationals combined on Wednesday for three blown saves, eight runs (seven earned), and a whopping 2.47 WHIP. They also make an average of just over $7 million a year, which works out to about $7,000 per pitch. Feel free this morning to revel, just a little, in their failure.

Hierarchy remains: Soriano | Clippard | Storen.
Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Wilson | League.

Atlanta Braves — Craig Kimbrel picked up his 42nd save of the year in bright gold cleats that will be auctioned off to benefit a childhood cancer charity.

Hierarchy remains: Kimbrel | Walden | Carpenter.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Kevin Quackenbush, San Diego Padres — Quack . . . quack . . . quack . . .

John Axford claimed by Pirates; Brian Wilson gets knocked around

August 15, 2014

Cleveland Indians – The Indians placed John Axford on waivers earlier this month, and yesterday, he was claimed by the Pirates, who will pick up the remaining $1.1 million of his salary. We’ll leave him off the Pirates hierarchy until we see how they’re going to use him, but in Cleveland, look for Scott Atchison to continue his recent run of 7th inning holds.

Updated hierarchy: Allen | Shaw | Atchison.

Milwaukee Brewers – Will Smith has had an up and down season, which we’ve been thoroughly happy to chronicle with help from his IMDB page. Right now, he’s back on the upswing, with a bunch of recent 8th inning holds to his name. Last night, Smith pitched a perfect 8th with two strikeouts and is again the most likely candidate for saves when Francisco Rodriguez needs a night off.

Updated hierarchy: Rodriguez | Smith | Kintzler.

Los Angeles Dodgers – Brian Wilson had an ugly outing last night, allowing three earned runs in 0.2 innings and forcing Kenley Jansen into an extended appearance. Prior to last night, Wilson had been sort of decent lately, and his strikeout totals are still excellent (50 in 39.1 IPs). But he’s still walking way too many guys, leading to an ERA and WHIP of 5.26 and 1.70 — unseemly numbers for the would-be set-up man on the NL’s best team. With Brandon League pitching very effectively lately, Wilson might not be Jansen’s handcuff at this point. We’ll watch how this unfolds in the coming days.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Wilson | League.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Brad Boxberger, Tampa Bay Rays – With his appearance last night, Jake McGee has now worked 3 innings over the last 3 days.

Kevin Gregg? Kevin Gregg. And Twitter hates Brian Wilson’s beard

June 26, 2014

Miami Marlins — We can’t hide from this anymore. Kevin Gregg, fresh from coaching Little League, is relevant again in Miami. Wednesday night, he pitched a perfect eighth in a one-run game, an enormous, bespectacled bridge to Steve Cishek. His vast (if checkered) closing experience, combined with Mike Redmond’s obvious willingness to use him in big spots, will make him the next guy up when necessary.

Updated hierarchy: Cishek | Gregg | Ramos.

Los Angeles Dodgers — As predicted in Wednesday’s Vulture Save Watch, Kenley Jansen got the night off and Brian Wilson picked up his first save in 26 months, oblivious to the endless litany of catty tweets he inspired.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Wilson | League.

Los Angeles Angels — Although the Angels scored an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, Joe Smith had been warming in preparation for a second straight save. That news pales in comparison to the true accomplishment in Anaheim on Wednesday night.

Hierarchy remains: Smith | Jepsen | Frieri.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Jason Motte, St. Louis Cardinals — Trevor Rosenthal threw a whopping 41 pitches on Wednesday night.