Clippard, Lorenzen record saves

April 16, 2017

New York Yankees — As predicted in yesterday’s Vulture Save Watch, Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances both got the day off on Saturday, and that left Tyler Clippard for the save chance.  Clippard made it interesting, he allowed a homerun and two other baserunners, but was able to strike out the side to record his first save of the season.

Hierarchy remains: Chapman | Betances | Clippard.

Cincinnati Reds — On Saturday, Michael Lorenzen became the third Reds’ reliever to record a save this season.  Lorenzen was coming off a rough outing on Friday where he allowed four runs, but was able to bounce back yesterday to pick up his first career save.  Raisel Iglesias pitched two innings earlier in the game, and ended up with the win, while Drew Storen got the last out of the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth ahead of Lorenzen.  The Reds will continue to use Iglesias, Storen, and Lorenzen for saves as long as it continues to work.

Hierarchy remains: *Iglesias | Storen | Lorenzen.
* = closer-by-committee

Chicago Cubs — With the Cubs up one in the seventh inning on Saturday, they summoned Pedro Strop from the bullpen.  Unfortunately, Strop was not able to get the job done as he allowed a walk and a go-ahead homer while taking the loss.  Koji Uehara, on the other hand, threw a scoreless eighth inning and has yet to allow a run on the season.

Updated hierarchy: Davis | Uehara | Strop.

Atlanta Braves — Jose Ramirez (no, not that Jose Ramirez) earned his second consecutive seventh inning hold ahead of Arodys Vizcaino and closer Jim Johnson.  Ramirez has been pitching well and should continue to see time in the seventh inning until Mauricio Cabrera is able to return.

Updated hierarchy: Johnson | Vizcaino | Ramirez

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Ian Krol, Atlanta Braves – Jim Johnson, Arodyz Vizcaino, and Jose Ramirez have all pitched in two straight and three of the past four.
2. Brad Ziegler, Miami Marlins – A.J. Ramos has appeared in two straight and four of the last five games
3. Daniel Hudson, Pittsburgh Pirates – Tony Watson has pitched in two straight and three of the past four

Monday:
1. Koji Uehara, Chicago Cubs – Wade Davis has pitched in two of the past three games and will likely not be available Monday if he pitches today.

Pedro Baez is back for the Dodgers

April 15, 2017

Los Angeles Dodgers — Pedro Baez was activated from the disabled list and immediately saw late-inning action with a lead. A six-run lead, sure, and only against three batters, but Baez was solid, striking out one and throwing 11 of his 15 pitches for strikes. We expect Baez to take over the seventh inning now that he has returned.

Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Romo | Baez.

Houston Astros – Chris Devenski isn’t in the Astros’ top three, but he’s worth your consideration if you’re in a deep league and need help with ratios and strikeouts. On the strength of a 12 MPH gap between his fastball and changeup, Devenski has 19 strikeouts over 9 innings so far this year — including three last night.

Hierarchy remains: Giles | Gregerson | Harris.

Seattle Mariners — Mark Rzepczynski has been excellent in the early going, including a scoreless outing last night for his third hold of the season. Scrabble is a classic LOOGY with a hefty contract, who has squeezed 10 outs out of the nine lefties he has faced this season, thanks to a double play. While he won’t see many traditional save chances, he could vulture an opportunity if Diaz is unavailable and the ninth is lefty-heavy.

Hierarchy remains: Diaz | Altavilla | Vincent.

Cincinnati Reds — Reds manager Bryan Price promised to try something different with his bullpen — using relievers for multiple innings at a time — and thus far it has paid off. His reluctance to use relievers on back-to-back days (only Wandy Peralta and Blake Wood have gone in two straight) can help you out with extra vulture saves and holds if you pay close attention.

Hierarchy remains: *Iglesias | Storen | Lorenzen.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Tyler Clippard, New York Yankees — Aroldis Chapman pitched in his third straight game yesterday and will be unavailable. Dellin Betances will probably also be off, having thrown 42 in the last two days.

Sunday:
1. Brad Brach/Darren O’Day, Baltimore Orioles — All three of Baltimore’s top relievers have pitched on consecutive days, so if any are held out of today’s game, they are likely to go on Sunday.
2. Nate Jones, Chicago White Sox — David Robertson has pitched in three of the last four, so if he gets the call again today, he will certainly get Sunday off.
3. Brad Ziegler/David Phelps, Miami Marlins — AJ Ramos has pitched in three of four well, so another appearance today would leave him out for Sunday. Phelps has been getting the eighth inning regularly, but Ziegler might still be the backup closer.

Justin Haley may win you Closer Monkey Premium!

April 14, 2017

Minnesota Twins — We are offering free Closer Monkey Premium to the first person who sends a screenshot of their fantasy team starting Justin Haley for his beautiful, 3.1 IP save Thursday for the Twins. Email [email protected]. Pics or it didn’t happen!

Hierarchy remains: Kintzler | Pressly | Belisle.

Boston Red Sox – Those in the Boston area have seen milk cartons with Joe Kelly’s mug on the side. Where is he? Manager John Farrell has made it clear he doesn’t trust Kelly in a high-leverage spot (Kelly last pitched earlier this week in a 12-5 loss), opting repeatedly for Heath Hembree in that 7th-inning role (and again on Thursday – 1.2 scoreless innings ahead of Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel). Kelly has the better stuff, but his upper-90s fastballs rarely get swings-and-misses, which is an issue for a late-inning reliever.

Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Barnes | Hembree.

Kansas City Royals – Kelvin Herrera finally picked up his first save of the season Thursday for the three-win Royals. He’s clearly the guy moving forward, but how many chances he gets is a bit up in the air. Peter Moylan, meanwhile, has been impressive, striking out five in 4.2 scoreless innings to start the season.

Updated hierarchy: Herrera | Soria | Moylan.

Los Angeles Angels – Angels reliever JC Ramirez is making a spot start Friday, so for now that takes him out of the late-innings conversation for LAofA. The Angels’ bullpen situation is pretty rough right now, but we think Yusmeiro Petit (1.50 ERA, 7 Ks in 6 IP) may see more high-leverage work in the near future.

Updated hierarchy: Bedrosian | Parker | Petit.

Chicago Cubs — Hector Rondon hasn’t really been used much in high-leverage situations this year, and now he’s hurt (no, not just his feelings). He felt a pop in his left knee after a home-plate collision this week, and on Thursday he underwent an MRI, which came back clean. Manager Joe Maddon suspects he’ll be available Saturday. Regardless, he’s still behind Wade Davis, Pedro Strop, Koji Uehara and Carl Edwards Jr., at least, in the Cubs bullpen.

Hierarchy remains: Davis | Strop | Uehara.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Fernando Salas, New York Mets — If the Mets have two save chances Friday and Saturday, Addison Reed won’t be getting both of them, as Reed has gone in two straight (he threw just 16 pitches over 2 IP Thursday and another 17 pitches Wednesday). Reed will probably pitch if needed Friday, but if not, the Mets could go with Fernando Salas, who has also pitched in two straight. Hansel Robles is definitely out Friday – he has pitched in four straight and five of the last six.

Saturday:
1. Dellin Betances, New York Yankees — Aroldis Chapman has pitched in two straight games, and if he pitches again Friday, he’ll most certainly be out of action for Saturday.
2. Fernando Salas/Hansel Robles, New York Mets — If Salas gets the night off Friday but Reed takes the mound, Salas will get the Saturdaysave chance. If Salas and Reed pitch Friday, we suspect Robles will be rested enough to get the save chance Saturday.
3. Adam Ottavino, Colorado Rockies — Greg Holland has been dynamite this year (6 saves, 0 ER), but he has been used heavily. If he pitches Friday, that’ll be three games in four days for him, so he would likely be rested Saturday, leaving an opportunity for Adam Ottavino.

Tony Barnette should get the next save chance in Texas

April 13, 2017

Texas Rangers — Before Texas blew its game open — gifting a save to young Jose Leclerc — the first save chance in the post-Sam Dyson era was slated for Tony Barnette, a 33-year-old with no prior major league saves. In 2015, though, Barnette led the Japan Central League with 41 of them, tied with some guy named Seung-hwan Oh. Jeremy Jeffress pitched the seventh and part of the eighth, but is still in the mix for future opportunities. Behind those two are Matt Bush, whose health is in doubt after a shoulder injection, and Leclerc, who retired Mike Trout and Albert Pujols in a tight spot in the eighth (making Trout look silly in the process), then stuck around for the lower-leverage ninth. Until Bush proves he’s healthy, we’ll move Leclerc past him.

Updated hierarchy: *Barnette | Jeffress | Leclerc.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Angels – Shoulder inflammation has sent Andrew Bailey to the DL, where he joins Huston Street. The Angels don’t have much behind Cam Bedrosian at this point, and we don’t see Blake Parker or J.C. Ramirez challenging Bedrosian for saves in Street’s absence. Parker pitched the sixth with the team down on Wednesday. No word yet on when Street might return so, for now, it’s all Cam.

Updated hierarchy: Bedrosian | Parker | Ramirez.

Oakland A’s — As we retweeted, Bob Melvin has installed Sean Doolittle and Santiago Casilla as the heads of Oakland’s closer committee. Both guys have been excellent; Casilla has gone four innings, allowing only one baserunner, while Doolittle has struck out 7 of the 11 batters he’s faced this year. Ryan Madson and Ryan Dull will share whatever’s left.

Updated hierarchy: *Doolittle | Casilla | Madson.
* = closer-by-committee

Detroit Tigers — We were right that K-Rod would get Wednesday off, but it was Alex Wilson, not Shane Greene, who picked up a two-inning save in his absence. Alex joins Justin in the hierarchy — if only Brian could perfect that knuckleball and join them.

Updated hierarchy: Rodriguez | J. Wilson | A. Wilson.

San Diego Padres — Carter Capps moved ’em on and headed ’em up, helping the Lake Elsinore Storm to a shutout victory over the mighty Visalia Rawhide on Tuesday. Capps probably has a few more weeks out on the trail, but if you have a DL slot available and he’s somehow on your waiver wire, snap him up while you can.

Hierarchy remains: Maurer | Buchter | Hand.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Dan Jennings, Chicago White Sox — David Robertson has pitched in three out of four, and Nate Jones has gone in two straight (45 pitches).
2. Fernando Salas, New York Mets — Addison Reed has been used in three of the last four games.
3. David Phelps, Miami Marlins — A.J. Ramos took the loss Wednesday in his second straight outing. Some rest could clarify whether Phelps, Brad Ziegler, or Kyle Barraclough is next in line for Miami.

Friday:
1. Sergio Romo, Los Angeles Dodgers — Kenley Jansen has gone in three of four, but hasn’t thrown many pitches. If he’s used on Thursday, though, he should be off on Friday.
2. Daniel Hudson, Pittsburgh Pirates — Another outing for Tony Watson could mean a day off on Friday. Hudson will almost certainly get Thursday off after throwing 31 pitches on Wednesday night.
3. Corey Knebel, Milwaukee Brewers — We’re guessing Neftali Feliz can go on Thursday, but if he does, he’ll likely not pitch in a fourth straight game.