June 27, 2018
Chicago Cubs – Brandon Morrow will likely return from the DL today. The Cubs didn’t win much in his absence, but the bullpen’s deployment in his absence answered few questions about who would get save chances should the oft-injured righty get hurt again. Steve Cishek, who was leading our hierarchy, entered the game last night with a 7-2 lead in the 6th inning last night, pitching well in his two innings of work, but not exactly appearing in a spot for a traditional closer. At any rate, expect Morrow to immediately return to his 9th inning role (we won’t be sending an alert since this is a DL activation) and expect continued confusion if he gets hurt again.
Hierarchy remains: *Cishek | Strop | Wilson.
* = closer-by-committee
Baltimore Orioles – Darren O’Day will return to the DL after hurting his hamstring last night. All this means is that Brad Brach likely won’t have any significant competition for the closer role once Zach Britton is traded.
Updated hierarchy: Britton | Brach | Givens.
Milwaukee Brewers – Josh Hader vultured a 1-out save after Jacob Barnes worked himself into some trouble with a 4 run lead in the 9th. Corey Knebel was available, but with the left-handed Alex Gordon coming to the plate, Craig Counsell wisely opted for his dominant lefty.
Hierarchy remains: Knebel | Hader | Jeffress.
Chicago White Sox – We could wax poetic about Jace Fry all night, as Tuesday brought another appearance and another clean 8th inning. Fry struck out the Twins’ two best hitters, Eddie Rosario and Eduardo Escobar, in another impressive outing for the young lefty. He now has 30 K’s in 23 IP, and with Nate Jones on the shelf, Fry would likely be the White Sox closer if and when Joakim Soria gets dealt.
Hierarchy remains: Soria | Fry | Rondon.
Arizona Diamondbacks – Archie Bradley crapped his pants before an outing earlier this year and still went out and pitched a scoreless inning. So that’s amazing. Of more relevant fantasy news, Bradley got the 7th inning last night while Yoshihisa Hirano got the 8th, marking the third straight time that Hirano has pitched the 8th inning. Bradley got a save just 9 days ago, but with Hirano’s ERA/WHIP sitting at 1.29/1.00 through 35 major league innings, he’s likely in competition with Bradley for saves on nights when Boxberger is unavailable. We’ll continue to watch this one closely.
Hierarchy remains: Boxberger | Bradley | Hirano.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Alex Colome/James Pazos – Edwin Diaz has pitched back to back and three of four; Alex Colome has also gone back to back.
2. Lou Trivino – Blake Treinen has pitched back to back and three of four.
3. Robert Gsellman – Jeurys Familia pitched 1.2 innings last night, and also pitched on Sunday; he could get the day off today.
4. Jared Hughes – Raisel Iglesias pitched 1.1 innings last night and also pitched on Sunday; he could get the noon game off today.
Tomorrow
1. Tony Watson – If Sam Dyson pitches tonight, it’ll be back to back and four of five.
2. Joe Jimenez – If Shane Greene goes tonight, it’ll be three straight.
