April 16, 2018
St. Louis Cardinals – Bud Norris got another save on Sunday, though it wasn’t the most inspired outing. Adam Duvall homered to lead off the inning, making it a one-run game. A bunt single and a hit batsman then sandwiched a couple of strikeouts, followed by Billy Hamilton rapping a hard liner to left that fortunately found the glove of Harrison Bader, allowing the Cardinals to escape. Despite the shaky outing, though, two saves in three days is what fantasy owners will care about, so until the “easing in” of Greg Holland is complete, we’ll slap a committee tag on this bullpen.
Updated hierarchy: *Holland | Norris | Hicks.
* = closer-by-committee
Oakland A’s – Ryan Buchter picked up his fourth hold of the season on Sunday, retiring two hitters before giving way to closer Blake Treinen, who pitched the final 1.1 innings. That appearance is enough to elevate him over the struggling Chris Hatcher.
Updated hierarchy: Treinen | Casilla | Buchter.
Texas Rangers – Jake Diekman picked up his first save of the season late Sunday night, pitching a clean 10th inning after the Rangers had taken the lead. Keone Kela and Alex Claudio had already pitched, while the other reliever who may have gotten the call, Chris Martin, had gone in back to back games and three of the previous four.
Hierarchy remains: Kela | Martin | Claudio.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Ryan Madson – Sean Doolittle has pitched in back to back games.
2. Chris Martin – Keone Kela has pitched in back to back games.
3. Tyler Glasnow – Going deep for this one, as the entire Pittsburgh hierarchy has gone back to back games and three of four.
Tomorrow
1. Santiago Casilla – If Blake Treinen goes tonight, it’ll be back to back outings including an appearance that stretched across two innings last night.
2. AJ Ramos – If Jeurys Familia goes tonight, it’ll be back to back and three of four.
3. Jake McGee – If Wade Davis goes tonight, it’ll be back to back and three of four.
