May 17, 2019

Texas Rangers — Jose Leclerc will serve as the Rangers’ opener for Friday’s game against the Cardinals, and Ariel Jurado is slated to pitch as well. It’s Leclerc’s first career “start” — and maybe it’s being used as a mechanism to get him right for an eventual move back to the ninth inning. For now, Chris Martin, who’s thrown eight straight scoreless innings, has that job locked down. 

Hierarchy remains: Martin | Leclerc | Jurado.

St. Louis Cardinals — Carlos Martinez will likely be activated from the injured list on Saturday and will head to the bullpen, at least at first. We’ll watch his usage to see if he can become a factor in the late innings.

Hierarchy remains: Hicks | Miller | Gant.

Baltimore Orioles — Richard Bleier was activated from the injured list and thrust into action Thursday, allowing two runs in 1.2 innings in another lopsided loss for the O’s. The performance actually improved his ERA to 13.50. He might be one of the team’s best relievers, but it’s hard to imagine him anywhere near a save situation right now. 

Hierarchy remains: Givens | Fry | Armstrong.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Kyle Barraclough — Sean Doolittle has thrown 45 pitches over the past two days, including 31 in a stressful Thursday outing. 
2. Jared Hughes — Raisel Iglesias has pitched in two straight, throwing 35 pitches.

Saturday:
1. Ryan Brasier — If Matt Barnes pitches Friday, that would be three appearances in four days. 
2. Pedro Baez — Same with Kenley Jansen.
3. Taylor Rogers — A Friday outing would be three of four and four of six for Blake Parker.