April 9, 2018
Chicago Cubs – CJ Edwards got the 8th inning ahead of Brandon Morrow yesterday afternoon, and with the clean outing, he has now allowed just 1 run in 5 innings (with 9 Ks) to start the season. Edwards looks to be the handcuff thus far, though the Cubs have lots of other relievers that are off to hot starts, including three men who have closed for stints before: Steve Cishek, Pedro Strop, and Justin Wilson. Nice problem to have, huh?
Updated hierarchy: Morrow | Edwards | Cishek.
Kansas City Royals – Justin Grimm threw another scoreless inning last night, and has two eighth inning holds to his name so far this young season. Meanwhile, would-be set-up man Brandon Maurer, who followed Grimm into a tie game last night, had his second consecutive poor performance. Ned Yost insisted afterwards that it’s too early to be dissecting player performance, so instead we’ll just play this one by what’s actually happened so far: Grimm has been setting up and Maurer has not. And the way they’re both pitching, that seems exactly the way it should be.
Updated hierarchy: Herrera | Grimm | Maurer.
Detroit Tigers – With a clean 8th inning last night, 23-year-old Joe Jimenez has opened his season with a 6-appearance scoreless streak. He has been consistently used later in games than Alex Wilson, and is now the likely handcuff for Shane Greene.
Updated hierarchy: Greene | Jimenez | Wilson.
Oakland A’s – Santiago Casilla pitched two scoreless innings last night, and the veteran has still yet to even allow a hit on the season. Casilla and Chris Hatcher appear to be the two most likely candidates to get a save chance on nights when Blake Treinen is unavailable.
Updated hierarchy: Treinen | Casilla | Hatcher.
Houston Astros – Ken Giles got Sunday off after pitching in two straight games, which meant a second save chance for Brad Peacock, who is settling in very nicely to his bullpen role.
Updated hierarchy: Giles | Devenski | Peacock.
New York Mets – Jacob Rhame picked up his first career save on Sunday night, pitching a scoreless bottom of the 12th inning after the Mets took the lead. Jeurys Familia threw 1.2 innings on Saturday and was being given the night off.
Hierarchy remains: Familia | Ramos | Gsellman.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Shawn Kelley – Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson, and Brandon Kintzler have all pitched on back to back nights and three of four. They could all get the night off tonight.
2. Tony Watson – Hunter Strickland has pitched in two straight.
3. CJ Edwards – Brandon Morrow has pitched in two straight.
4. AJ Minter/Jose Ramirez – Arodys Vizcaino has pitched in two straight.
Tomorrow
1. Ryan Tepera/Seung Hwan Oh – If Roberto Osuna goes tonight, it’ll be back to back and three of four.
2. Andrew Miller – If Cody Allen goes tonight, it’ll be back to back and three of four.
