September 15, 2018
Chicago Cubs — The Cubs’ patchwork bullpen turned in an excellent performance last night with Dillon Maples and Jaime Garcia pitching ahead of Jorge De La Rosa. De La Rosa is a surprise candidate for the first save of the Strop and Morrow-less Cubs, but Steve Cishek, CJ Edwards and Justin Wilson had all pitched in three of the last four games, leaving De La Rosa as a well-rested option. The 37-year-old isn’t likely to see many more save chances, as Cishek and Edwards have the inside track on this committee and Brandon Morrow is set to return next week, but last night highlights just how wide open this committee is and how willing Maddon is to play matchups in the late innings when necessary.
Hierarchy remains: *Cishek | Edwards | Wilson.
* = closer-by-committee
Chicago White Sox – Jace Fry pitched a clean 8th inning with a two-run lead, which left Nate Jones for the 9th inning. Jones gave up a hit but closed the game out for his first save since May 22. Activated earlier this week, this was Jones’ first high-leverage action since his return. Jones is certainly in the mix for saves during the last few weeks, but with the White Sox out of contention and Rick Renteria indicating that they will monitor Jones’ usage, he probably will only see a couple more opportunities to close this year.
Updated hierarchy: *Fry | Jones | Gomez.
* = closer-by-committee
Arizona Diamondbacks – Yoshihisa Hirano wasn’t perfect on Friday, but he bounced back after a blown save on Wednesday to close out a 4-2 win at Houston. Brad Ziegler came on in the seventh to strike out George Springer in a tie game, then stayed on for the eighth after Arizona took the lead. It looks like Hirano and Ziegler are the two leaders of the pack for the Diamondbacks’ committee at the moment if they can continue to pitch well.
Updated hierarchy: *Hirano | Ziegler | Diekman.
* = closer-by-committee
Atlanta Braves – The Braves activated Arodys Vizcaino from the 60-day DL on Friday. According to Brian Snitker, it’s unlikely that Vizcaino sees any high-leverage work right away. With two weeks to prepare for the postseason, expect the Braves to ease Vizcaino back into the late-inning mix as he auditions for a role on the playoff roster.
Hierarchy remains: Minter | Venters | Winkler.
New York Yankees – With the Yankees clinging to an eight-run lead, they turned to Luis Cessa to start the 7th inning. He pitched well enough to go out for the 8th and then the 9th, picking up his second three-inning save of the year to preserve the shutout. Cessa is long relief for the Yankees and is not a normal part of the late innings.
Hierarchy remains: *Betances | Robertson | Britton.
* = closer-by-committee
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Jake Diekman — Both Yoshihisa Hirano and Brad Ziegler have pitched in three of the last four.
2. Kenta Maeda — Kenley Jansen has pitched in three straight games.
3. Taylor Rogers/Trevor May – Trevor Hildenberger gave up a walk-off grand slam last night and has now pitched in three of the last four. He may get tonight off after last night’s disaster. Taylor Rogers has also pitched in three of four.
Saturday:
1. Joe Jimenez – Today would be back-to-back and three of four for Shane Greene.
2. Josh Hader – The same goes for Jeremy Jeffress.
3. Chaz Roe/Sergio Romo – And both Roe and Jose Alvarado.
4. Jeurys Familia – Blake Treinen threw 29 pitches last night, so another long outing could mean he gets a rest on Sunday.
