June 29, 2016
Tampa Bay Rays – Alex Colome was placed on the 15-day DL Tuesday with biceps tendinitis. It’s retroactive to June 19, so Colome may not miss much more time, but in his stead, manager Kevin Cash will mix and match in the late innings based on matchups. Xavier Cedeno is the best bet to lead that committee, with Cash also mentioning righties Matt Andriese and Erasmo Ramirez as candidates.
Updated hierarchy: Cedeno | Ramirez | Andriese.
St. Louis Cardinals – It wasn’t a save situation, but with the Cardinals ahead over the final three innings on Tuesday, Jonathan Broxton, Kevin Siegrist and Seung Hwan Oh came out in that order to finish the game. It’s still a committee, especially with none of the three pitchers having recorded a save since Trevor Rosenthal’s demotion, but all indications so far are that Oh will be the ninth-inning guy for the Cardinals.
Hierarchy remains: *Oh | Siegrist | Broxton.
* = closer-by-committee
Seattle Mariners — Edwin Diaz, a starter-turned-reliever, was called up from Double-A on June 4 and picked up his fourth hold of the season on Tuesday. He showed off his plus fastball to get the final out of the eighth, striking out Gregory Polanco while hitting 100, 101 and 99 on the radar gun. With two strikeouts on Tuesday, Diaz has now fanned 21 of the 58 batters he has faced (36.2%) this season. He earned praise from manager Scott Servais after the game, and with the stuff he has, Diaz should get more high-leverage looks for the Mariners.
Updated hierarchy: Cishek | Benoit | Diaz.
Oakland A’s – Ryan Madson was needed for a six-out save on Tuesday, going two innings for the first time since 2009. Sean Doolitle was unavailable, sore from a 33-pitch outing on Saturday. He’ll be evaluated on Wednesday, but if he is unavailable again look for John Axford to get a save chance.
Hierarchy remains: Madson | Doolittle | Axford.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Kevin Siegrist/Jonathan Broxton, St. Louis Cardinals – Seung Hwan Oh threw 25 pitches last night, and the Cardinals are technically in a committee until further notice.
2. John Axford, Oakland Athletics – As mentioned above, Ryan Madson went two innings last night, throwing 43 pitches. If Sean Doolittle is still sore, Axford should get the call.
3. Jim Johnson, Atlanta Braves – Arodys Vizcaino threw 30 pitches in a tough outing on Tuesday.
4. Pedro Strop, Chicago Cubs – Hector Rondon has appeared in back-to-back games, including a 26-pitch outing last night in which he blew a save, leading to a taxing night for the rest of the bullpen. Strop was a rare Chicago pitcher to not take the mound in the 15-inning contest.
5. Ross Ohlendorf, Cincinnati Reds – Tony Cingrani went 1.2 innings last night and has thrown 37 pitches over the last three days.