Aaron Sanchez, Mark Lowe ascending to 8th inning roles

July 27, 2015

Oakland A’s – Tyler Clippard is likely to be traded soon, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Nationals, Mets, and Yankees were listed as possible landing spots; he would not close for any of those teams. The two most likely beneficiaries in the Oakland bullpen are Edward Mujica and Drew Pomeranz; the latter was discussed as a candidate for the rotation, but recently had his Wednesday start scratched.

Hierarchy remains: Clippard | Mujica | Pomeranz.

Toronto Blue Jays – Aaron Sanchez’s mere presence in the major league bullpen looked like it was probably going to be enough to supplant Bo Schultz as the primary set-up man in Toronto, and that was before Schultz gave up two runs in the 7th inning last night to blow the lead. Sanchez now has two scoreless 8th innings to his name and is the most likely candidate for a save when Roberto Osuna is unavailable.

Updated hierarchy: Osuna | Sanchez | Schultz.

Seattle Mariners – Mark Lowe pitched the 8th and 9th innings of a tie game on Sunday, posting two scoreless frames and lowering his ERA to a tidy 1.03. Lowe has been no fluke, as he’s throwing all of his pitches harder this year and has 46 strikeouts (in 35 innings) to show for it, and his Sunday outing mirrored an outing he had on Thursday, where he also kept the game tied in a 2-inning appearance. Those two outings — coupled with his 8th inning hold on Friday — have pushed Lowe to the 1st in line spot.

Updated hierarchy: Smith | Lowe | Rodney.

Arizona Diamondbacks – It was a long road back for David Hernandez, who missed all of 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and didn’t get back to the big leagues until the middle of this season. But after a rough patch in late June, Hernandez has logged six straight scoreless appearances, including an 8th inning hold ahead of Brad Ziegler on Sunday.

Updated hierarchy: Ziegler | Hudson | Hernandez.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Daniel Hudson, Arizona Diamondbacks – Brad Ziegler has pitched in three straight.
2. Sergio Romo, San Francisco Giants – Santiago Casilla has pitched in back to back games. He has yet to pitch in three straight since experiencing some dead arm in early July.