Boxberger re-asserting himself in Tampa Bay

June 21, 2015

Tampa Bay Rays — Brad Boxberger ran into a little trouble on Saturday night, loading the bases in the 9th, but he was able to get out of it without allowing any runs, and picked up his 18th save of the season in the process.  After recording no saves in the first half of June, Boxberger has now gotten saves in each of the past three games.  Manager Kevin Cash has other good options to close out games with Jake McGee and Kevin Jepsen, but Boxberger seems to be re-asserting himself as the guy after a shaky start to the month.

Hierarchy remains: *Boxberger | McGee | Jepsen.
* = closer-by-committee

Colorado Rockies — Tommy Kahnle got the call last night with the Rockies protecting a two run lead in the 7th inning and two men on base. He got a double play ball to get out the inning and then came back to pitch a scoreless 8th.  Kahnle was called up at the beginning of June and has recorded a couple holds to go along with an ERA under 1.

Updated hierarchy: Axford | Logan | Kahnle.

Chicago Cubs — Hector Rondon picked up his 12th save of the season on Saturday.  Pedro Strop and Jason Motte each threw scoreless innings in a tie game ahead of Rondon, with Motte getting the win.  Based on that usage, it seems like manager Joe Maddon was saving Rondon for the save opportunity.  Rondon has now converted two straight saves and could be moving towards removing that committee label.

Hierarchy remains: *Rondon | Strop | Motte.
* = closer-by-committee

New York Yankees — Bryan Mitchell pitched the last three innings of a blowout Yankees win to record the save last night.  Mitchell was just called up, and was an option to start yesterday, so he does not factor into the Yankees normal late inning bullpen plans.

Hierarchy remains: Betances | Wilson | Shreve.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Jake McGee/Kevin Jepsen, Tampa Bay Rays
– Brad Boxberger has pitched in three games in a row.
2. Bobby Parnell, New York Mets – Jeurys Familia will likely be unavailable again on Sunday with his groin injury.
3. Jim Johnson, Atlanta Braves – Jason Grilli has pitched in two straight, and three of the last four.
4. Fernando Rodney/Charlie Furbush, Seattle Mariners – Carson Smith has pitched in back-to-back games and has yet to go three in a row this season.
5. Zach Duke, Chicago White Sox – David Robertson has appeared in two straight games, including a 28 pitch outing on Friday.