Mychal Givens, Wade Davis both on thin ice

June 17, 2019

Baltimore Orioles – After converting a save earlier in the week, Mychal Givens had another dreadful outing on Sunday, blowing the save in the 9th and then giving up three additional runs in the 10th. The Orioles don’t have much else, so there isn’t a clear candidate for the next save chance here, but it’s certainly safe to say that it might not be Givens.

Hierarchy remains: *Givens | Armstrong | Castro.
* = closer-by-committee


Tampa Bay Rays – Jose Alvarado has finally returned to the United States after a long absence for personal reasons and will report to Port Charlotte for a tuneup before he comes back to the big league club. We’ll leave him on the hierarchy with the understanding that he won’t be back for at least a few more days, but will push Diego Castillo — who converted his 7th save of the year on Sunday — to the top of the hierarchy until Alvarado returns.

Updated hierarchy: *Castillo | Alvarado | Pagan.
* = closer-by-committee


St. Louis Cardinals – Carlos Martinez looked so good protecting a 1-run lead in the 8th inning that Mike Shildt left him out for the 9th inning as well, and Martinez got the job done for his second save of the year. After the game, Shildt said that Martinez “looked good, he’s done it before. It was nothing against not trusting Jordan at all — it was just the fact that he’d gotten the quick eighth, went out there and got his outs in the ninth.” We aren’t calling this a committee yet, but if Martinez keeps pitching like this, it might not be too far away from becoming one.

Hierarchy remains: Hicks | Martinez | Gant.

Colorado Rockies – The Padres managed to win a game on Sunday in which their starter allowed 9 runs in 1.1 innings, and it was in part due to another brutal outing from Wade Davis, who has now allowed 7 earned runs in 4.1 innings since returning from the IL. Scott Oberg, meanwhile, continues to cruise along with a 1.67 ERA. Davis could be on thin ice.

Hierarchy remains: Davis | Oberg | Shaw.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today

1. Jeremy Jeffress – Josh Hader pitched two innings last night and will likely be off tonight.
2. Pedro Baez – Kenley Jansen has gone three straight.
3. Wily Peralta – Ian Kennedy threw 31 pitches last night.

Tomorrow
1. Craig Stammen – If Kirby Yates goes tonight, it’ll be back to back and three of four.