Ken Giles is hurting, but how badly?

April 20, 2018

Houston Astros — Manager A.J. Hinch revealed before Thursday’s game that Ken Giles has been dealing with back tightness that has “gotten a bit worse.” The tightness was the reason for his absence for the last couple days. Giles said after Thursday’s game that he believes he must have slept wrong, but he’ll be “ready to go” on Friday. So has his tightness gotten worse, or is he ready to go? We’ll see what happens Friday night, but consider handcuffing yourself with Chris Devenski in the meantime, if he’s available.

Hierarchy remains: *Giles | Devenski | Peacock.
* = closer-by-committee

St. Louis Cardinals – Likely future closer Greg Holland got in some work with his team down three in the seventh inning Thursday night and held the Cubs to no hits with just one walk in a clean frame. He’ll need to string a few appearances like this one together before he is given the full reins as closer.

Hierarchy remains: *Holland | Norris | Hicks.
* = closer-by-committee

Baltimore Orioles — Injured closer Zach Britton is scheduled to throw off a half-mound on Friday — a big step in the rehabilitation process. Britton still projects to be out until at least late May.

Hierarchy remains:  Brach | O’Day | Givens.

San Diego Padres – Kirby Yates was activated off the disabled list on Thursday when first eligible. He should resume his role at the back end of the Padres bullpen going forward.

Updated hierarchy: Hand | Yates | Stammen.

San Francisco Giants — Manager Bruce Bochy said Mark Melancon is about a week away from playing catch. Sure, it’s a good sign, but he still has a long way to go.

Hierarchy remains: Strickland | Watson | Dyson.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Santiago Casilla/Ryan Buchter – Blake Treinen threw three innings on Wednesday and probably needs another rest today. As we mentioned yesterday, this could offer some insight into what the A’s hierarchy really looks like. All it requires is Oakland having a lead against the 16-2 Red Sox — and protecting it.

Saturday:
1. Archie Bradley/Yoshihisa Hirano – Brad Boxberger and Archie Bradley have each pitched in two straight entering today’s games.
2. CJ Edwards/Steve Cishek – Brandon Morrow, CJ Edwards and Steve Cishek have all pitched in two of the last three. Usage today will determine rest for someone in this trio for Saturday. If they all make an appearance again today, perhaps Justin Wilson, Pedro Strop or Brian Duensing would get a look on Saturday.
3. Joe Jimenez – If Shane Greene throws today, that’ll be three out of four for him.

Grimm moments for the Kansas City bullpen

April 19, 2018

Kansas City Royals — Less than two weeks ago, Justin Grimm had three holds, a 2.08 ERA, and the inside track on the Royals’ setup job. In five appearances since, he has an ERA over 50 (a stratospheric 243.00 over his last two games) and a style aptly described on Twitter as fat guy in a 5K: “walk, walk, run, walk, run, shower.” On Wednesday, he faced seven batters, let six score, and was just a triple away from the reverse cycle. All this to say: he’s not setting up anymore. We’ll bump up rookies Tim Hill and Brad Keller, with the understanding that it could be weeks before the Royals can confirm it by having a lead to protect.

Updated hierarchy: Herrera | Hill | Keller.

Milwaukee Brewers — Keeping Kato Kaelin happy and vulture save hunters honest, Craig Counsell chose Jacob Barnes to close out Wednesday’s game with Josh Hader getting a day of rest.

Hierarchy remains: *Hader | Albers | Barnes.
* = closer-by-committee

San Francisco Giants — Hunter Strickland blew his second save of the season, but Brad Boxberger gave up two runs in the top of the tenth. Bruce Bochy called on Cory Gearrin for the save in the tenth. Although Gearrin gave up two straight doubles, then walked the bases loaded, he escaped with the save.

Hierarchy remains: Strickland | Watson | Dyson.

Oakland A’s — The A’s called on setup guy Santiago Casilla right away in Wednesday’s game, summoning him in the fourth inning with two on, down three. He gave up his first two hits of the season, expanding the lead to five. Burning Casilla so early forced Oakland to use Blake Treinen for the ninth, tenth, and eleventh innings (44 pitches), then rely on rookie Lou Trivino for three impressive innings to earn the win in 14. We don’t expect Casilla to get a lot of play in the fourth going forward; although Ryan Buchter has been used late, Casilla is probably still the handcuff of choice for the A’s.

Hierarchy remains: Treinen | Casilla | Buchter. 

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Blake Parker/Jim Johnson — Keynan Middleton threw 30 pitches last night and Cam Bedrosian has gone in two straight (35 pitches).

Friday:
1. Joe Jimenez — Shane Greene has gone in two straight.
2. Santiago Casilla/Ryan Buchter — A save chance on Friday may give us insight into the Oakland hierarchy, as Blake Treinen is likely to get a second day off after pitching three innings on Wednesday.

Chris Devenski, Bud Norris pick up saves

April 18, 2018

Houston Astros — After Will Harris kept the Astros ahead, 4-1, through the eighth inning, it was Chris Devenski who got the ball for the ninth. Devenski converted the save and now leads Houston with a whopping two saves this season. AJ Hinch will always look for the best matchup, and Devenski has been terrific against left-handed hitters, two of which were due up in the ninth. Ken Giles owners have every right to be frustrated, as Hinch’s committee appears to be here to stay.

Hierarchy remains: *Giles | Devenski | Peacock.
* = closer-by-committee

St. Louis Cardinals – Mike Matheny called on Greg Holland to protect a 5-1 lead in the eighth inning. A walk, a two-run homer and another walk ended Holland’s night early, however, and Bud Norris came on to convert a five-out save. Norris now has four saves this season and should be the team’s closer. However, with Matheny insistent on easing Holland into that role, Norris’ grasp on the ninth inning remains tenuous. For now though, Norris is the man to own in St. Louis. Meanwhile, Matheny expects Luke Gregerson to be part of the setup mix in what is becoming a crowded bullpen.

Hierarchy remains: *Holland | Norris | Hicks.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Dodgers – Kenley Jansen now has as many blown saves as he does converted saves after he allowed the Padres to tie Tuesday’s tilt in the ninth. Jansen got off to a rough start to the season, and a combination of low velocity and poor command of his cutter was once again on display Tuesday. After the game, manager Dave Roberts said that Jansen wasn’t right, but also said that he’d run Jansen back out there again. Jansen said he’d figure it out, and he’s earned a longer leash than others. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for Pedro Baez, who earned his first hold of the season on Tuesday thanks to four strikeouts. He has 12 strikeouts against just two walks in 8.2 IP and a 1.04 ERA.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Fields | Cingrani.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. AJ Minter – Arodys Vizcaino has thrown 43 pitches over back-to-back games.
2. Matt Albers – Josh Hader threw 29 pitches in a two-inning save on Tuesday, and Craig Counsell wants to make sure Hader gets the proper rest.

Tomorrow
1. AJ Minter – If Vizcaino gets the ball today, he’ll almost certainly get Thursday off.
2. Matt Albers – If Hader does get a second straight save chance on Wednesday, he’ll get that rest on Thursday.

Shane Carle off to a good start in Atlanta; Luke Gregerson activated

April 17, 2018

Atlanta Braves – Arodys Vizcaino finally tallied his first save of the season Monday night, closing out a 2-1 victory. As expected, pitching ahead of him was AJ Minter, who despite a brief bout of control issues to start the season has opened up with 8.1 scoreless innings. Also picking up a hold was 26-year-old Shane Carle, who got the final two outs of the 7th inning. Carle (11.1 IP, 1.59 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 9 K, 2 BB) has been steady and reliable for the Braves thus far, and we think they’ll continue to look to him to protect leads going forward.

Updated hierarchy: Vizcaino | Minter | Carle. 

St. Louis Cardinals – The Cardinals activated Luke Gregerson before yesterday’s (postponed) game. It’s quite possible that he enters the mix for saves until Greg Holland is ready for the full time gig, but we’ll see how he is used before we mess with the hierarchy.

Hierarchy remains: *Holland | Norris | Hicks.
* = closer-by-committee

Washington Nationals – Ryan Madson picked up the save last night, as Sean Doolittle got a rest after pitching in two straight. Score another one for the Vulture Save Watch.

Hierarchy remains: Doolittle | Madson | Kintzler. 

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Juan Nicasio – Edwin Diaz has pitched in three of four and five of seven.
2. Robert Gsellman – Jeurys Familia and AJ Ramos have gone back to back and three of four.

Tomorrow
1. Jared Hughes – If Raisel Iglesias goes today, it’ll be back to back and three of four.

Bud Norris earns second save in three days

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.