Closer Monkey Donation Drive

Closer Monkey is now almost five years old, and we’re continuing to grow. On the day of the All Star Game, we reached the same number of hits to the site in 2016 that we had in ALL of 2015. And don’t get us wrong — we are thrilled with the growth! But sending close to half a million emails per month gets costly, and we’re continually looking for ways to support the site and ensure that it remains free for all of our readers.

So, since we’re not very creative, we’ve fallen back on our usual strategy: begging you guys for money and hawking silly merchandise. If we’ve helped you win some scratch in your fantasy leagues in years past, we’re hoping you might be willing to throw a few bananas our way. Here’s how you can support us:

1. Sign up for Premium. $20 gets you full text updates right in your inbox. No more clicking through to the site!

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3. Donate. There’s a button on the left sidebar of the desktop site.

Thank you for your support!

Colorado suddenly has lots of good relievers

July 19, 2016

Colorado Rockies – Between the emergence of Carlos Estevez, the recent returns of Jake McGee and Boone Logan from the disabled list, and the activation of Adam Ottavino after Tommy John surgery, the Rockies suddenly have a bunch of competent relievers to get them through the late innings. But even with all those arms available, it’s been Jason Motte pitching the 8th inning in close games over the last two days. Ottavino has been used in the 7th in his last two appearances, and McGee has only pitched one third of an inning over the past week, despite Walt Weiss explaining before the All-Star break that he intended to “work him back in” to the late inning mix. We expect Weiss to keep going with what works for now, especially following last night’s win.

Updated hierarchy: Estevez | Ottavino | Motte.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Justin Wilson, Detroit Tigers – K-Rod has pitched in three of the last four.
2. David Phelps, Miami Marlins – Both A.J. Ramos and Fernando Rodney are seriously overworked.

Diamondbacks committee off to a shaky start

July 18, 2016

Arizona Diamondbacks – Sunday wasn’t a banner day for any of the three relievers vying for saves in the Arizona bullpen. In the 8th inning, the Diamondbacks held a comfortable 6-0 lead, but Daniel Hudson surrendered a two-run homer to Justin Turner before escaping the inning. Tyler Clippard came on for the 9th and allowed three baserunners while recording just one out, before he was lifted for Jake Barrett. From a statistical perspective, Barrett came away from this looking the best, as he got the last two outs and earned the save, but he wasn’t exactly sharp, allowing two hits and all of the inherited runners to score before escaping. It’s possible he gets the next save chance, but more likely that Arizona will give Clippard and Hudson more chances to prove themselves in the hopes of increasing their trade value.

Updated hierarchy: *Clippard | Barrett | Hudson. 
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Kevin Quackenbush, San Diego Padres – Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter (and Brad Hand) have all pitched in three straight.
2. Mauricio Cabrera, Atlanta Braves – Jim Johnson has pitched in back to back games.

Edwin Diaz emerging in Seattle

July 17, 2016

Seattle Mariners — Edwin Diaz pitched the eighth inning in Saturday’s 1-0 win, striking out two and allowing just one hit. After the game, Scott Servais said that Diaz has “earned his trust,” but that Diaz hasn’t formally supplanted Joaquin Benoit in the eighth inning. Servais’ major concern is overusing Diaz, who is not yet used to a long major league season. So while Benoit is still the most likely option ahead of Steve Cishek, don’t be surprised if Diaz continues to get high-leverage spots as the Mariners try and climb back into the playoff picture.

Hierarchy remains: Cishek | Benoit | Diaz.

San Francisco Giants – Santiago Casilla had a rough 10th inning on Saturday, allowing three straight singles and a walk-off balk against the Padres. After the game, Bruce Bochy said that he doesn’t want to flip-flop any of the late-inning roles. Casilla had converted nine straight saves prior to Saturday’s struggles, but with Sergio Romo back in the fold, Casilla’s leash may indeed be getting shorter.

Hierarchy remains: Casilla | Romo | Strickland.

Los Angeles Dodgers – Adam Liberatore has been outstanding in July, picking up holds in five of his six appearances so far this month. That included a seventh-inning hold on Saturday in an eventual Dodgers loss, which lowered his ERA to 0.59. He has only allowed two earned runs all season, both of which came in the same outing, has a WHIP of 0.82 and is averaging over a strikeout per inning. With the Dodgers looking to make a second-half run, Liberatore may be a key cog for them in the late innings.

Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Blanton | Liberatore.

Kansas City Royals — Wade Davis did indeed return from the DL on Saturday, making his first appearance since June 30. It was a non-save situation in the ninth, but Davis felt “free and easy,” despite also saying the ball felt a little erratic.

Hierarchy remains: Davis | Herrera | Soria.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Dan Otero, Cleveland Indians — Both Cody Allen (30 pitches) and Bryan Shaw (41) have gone in back-to-back games while Otero has just once since the All-Star break.
2. Kevin Quackenbush, San Diego Padres — In a similar situation to the Indians, both Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter have thrown 29 pitches over the last two days while Quackenbush has just one outing under his belt since the All-Star break.

Wade Davis and Kevin Siegrist return; Arodys Vizcaino down with injury

July 16, 2016

Atlanta Braves — In an attempt to shake off nine days of rust, Brian Snitker called on Arodys Vizcaino in the ninth with the Braves down five. The move backfired terribly when Vizcaino exited after three pitches with what appeared to be a right oblique injury. After the game, Snitker announced that Vizcaino had injured a side muscle and was expected to hit the DL. Although 22-year-old Mauricio Cabrera has the “future closer” tag and a 100+ MPH fastball, Jim Johnson has closing experience and should have the edge for save chances over the short term. Johnson got the last save opportunity on July 10, and the Braves may want to boost his trade value. Vizcaino’s absence will allow more room in the late innings for lefthanded strikeout machine Dario Alvarez (23 K, 10.2 IP).

Updated hierarchy:  Johnson | Cabrera | Alvarez.

Kansas City Royals — Closer Wade Davis should be activated from the DL on Saturday morning. One of the best relievers in the game, Davis will likely resume closing immediately, bumping Kelvin Herrera and Joakim Soria back in line. For all the speculation about Davis’s replacement, the Royals managed to record just one save in his absence.

Updated hierarchy: Davis | Herrera | Soria.

Texas Rangers — While it isn’t quite as embarrassing as injuring yourself taking off your shoes, Jake Diekman found his way to the DL after cutting himself on a broken souvenir Cheers mug. Texas immediately inquired about aging Boston prospect Sam “Mayday” Malone, but the deal fell through when Malone failed a physical. It wasn’t all bad news for Texas, which also got Keone Kela back from the 60-day DL. Jeff Bannister said that he will use Kela in the late innings immediately, and that Matt Bush will be used in big spots against left-handed hitters. We give Bush the edge, as Kela hasn’t pitched since April.

Updated hierarchy: Dyson | Bush | Kela.

Colorado Rockies — Adam Ottavino maintained a pristine 0.00 ERA in his third appearance since returning from Tommy John surgery. Walt Weiss has said that Ottavino is a “big league closer,” and that he will try to get Ottavino back into that role, so if you’re looking for a speculative add, you could do a lot worse. He seems to have moved ahead of Jake McGee, but still has some work to do in order to pass Carlos Estevez.

Updated hierarchy: Estevez | Ottavino | McGee.

Boston Red Sox — Craig Kimbrel had a successful knee surgery over the All-Star break, but he was joined officially on the DL by Junichi Tazawa (right shoulder impingement). Koji Uehara continued his perfect run as the leader of the patchwork Boston bullpen, pitching a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his fifth save. Kimbrel is expected to miss 3-6 weeks, while Tazawa will be eligible to return as early as July 19.

Hierarchy remains: Uehara | Ziegler | Barnes.

St. Louis Cardinals — Kevin Siegrist was activated from the DL (mono) and pitched an inning in a Cardinals loss on Friday. When healthy, Siegrist was one of the Cardinals most trusted relievers, so he immediately jumps back into the hierarchy.

Updated hierarchy: Oh | Siegrist | Broxton.

Cincinnati Reds — Tony Cingrani came in to protect a two-run lead, but gave up a walk and a pair of singles, prompting Bryan Price to get Ross Ohlendorf warming. After a sacrifice bunt, another walk, and a foul out, Cingrani was lifted for Ohlendorf, who picked up the one-out save. Cingrani has been very good since taking the lead in the Cincinnati committee, but the Reds bullpen is still volatile, so don’t be surprised to see Ohlendorf snagging a few saves here and there.

Hierarchy remains: Cingrani | Ohlendorf | Iglesias.

Tampa Bay Rays — Kevin Jepsen, released by the Twins, was picked up by the Rays this week and immediately pitched the ninth with the team down a run. While Jepsen will have to improve on his woeful Minnesota numbers to stick around, he is returning to a team where he saved five games last season — and Kevin Cash has been known to use his best reliever in the highest-leverage moments, not just the ninth inning. If Jepsen can return to the form he showed in 2015, he could climb into the hierarchy, but we’ll wait and see how he gets used before making that move.

Hierarchy remains: Colome | Cedeno | Ramirez.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Kelvin Herrera, Kansas City Royals — If Wade Davis needs a game to get his legs back under him, this may be Herrera’s last shot at a clean save opportunity.
2. Ross Ohlendorf, Cincinnati Reds — Tony Cingrani struggled throwing 27 pitches yesterday. Ohlendorf only needed two to pick up the save, and may be called upon again today.