Aroldis Chapman is back and ready to fire away

May 9, 2016

New York Yankees – Aroldis Chapman was reinstated from his 30-game suspension this morning and will close immediately for the Yankees. Andrew Miller has done a stellar job in his place and becomes perhaps one of the best middle relievers in the game — he’s worth holding on to, especially if the Yankees continue to sputter and look to (gasp!) rebuild.

Updated hierarchy: Chapman | Miller | Betances.

Cincinnati Reds – After Blake Wood gave up the tying run in the 7th inning, Ross Ohlendorf was summoned to keep the game tied in the 8th and immediately surrendered a go-ahead home run to Jonathan Lucroy. Ohlendorf and Tony Cingrani continue to be the most likely options to close for Cincinnati, with this outing perhaps giving the edge to the lefty.

Hierarchy remains: *Ohlendorf | Cingrani | Wood.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Daniel Hudson, Arizona Diamondbacks – Brad Ziegler has pitched in three straight.
2. Xavier Cedeno, Tampa Bay Rays – Alex Colome has pitched in three straight.
3. Pedro Strop, Chicago Cubs – Hector Rondon pitched in four straight from Wednesday to Saturday, and could potentially need a second day off to recover.
4. Pedro Baez, Los Angeles Dodgers – Kenley Jansen has pitched in back to back games, including an outing that spanned parts of two innings on Sunday.

Shawn Kelley keeps throwing up zeroes

May 8, 2016

Washington Nationals — For the second night in a row, Blake Treinen came on in the sixth inning. Shawn Kelley has a 0.00 ERA and has been pitching later in games than Treinen. Kelley was signed this off-season to be the primary set-up man for Jonathan Papelbon, and it looks like he is finally starting to pitch like he deserves to be in that role.

Updated hierarchy: Papelbon | Kelley | Rivero.

Cincinnati Reds — A day after the Reds’ bullpen ended their streak of consecutive games allowing a run, they decided to start a new streak. Caleb Cotham gave up five runs while recording no outs in the tenth inning.  Cotham has really struggled recently, giving up ten runs in his past five appearances. Blake Wood hasn’t allowed a run in his four May outings, and replaces Cotham on our hierarchy for now. The Reds also optioned J.J. Hoover to the minors.

Updated hierarchy: *Ohlendorf | Cingrani | Wood.
* = closer-by-committee

Minnesota Twins — Casey Fien was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers yesterday. Ryan Pressly, who has 19 strikeouts in 17 innings, should see time in the later innings.

Updated hierarchy: Jepsen | May | Pressly.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Pedro Strop, Chicago Cubs  – Hector Rondon has pitched in four straight.
2. Will Harris, Houston Astros – Luke Gregerson has pitched in three straight and four of the past five.
3. Joel Peralta, Seattle Mariners – Steve Cishek threw 35 pitches over two innings yesterday and has pitched in three of the past four.
4. Xavier Cedeno, Tampa Bay Rays – Alex Colome has appeared on two straight and three of the past four.

Jesse Chavez and Cory Gearrin are moving up

May 7, 2016

Toronto Blue Jays — After the Jays called on a shaky Drew Storen to finish off a 5-2 win over the Dodgers, John Gibbons explained that Roberto Osuna was unavailable with a mild groin strain. Osuna, speaking through a translator (to the bafflement of Blue Jay Twitter), said he’d be fine for Saturday, but Gibbons wasn’t ready to commit. Meanwhile, Brett Cecil continues to be used primarily as a lefty specialist, while Jesse Chavez has impressed (16 K in 10.2 IP). As long as Chavez stays in the bullpen, he has a chance at high-leverage work.

Updated hierarchy: Osuna | Storen | Chavez.

San Francisco Giants — Cory Gearrin isn’t striking guys out, but he’s retiring them nonetheless, and Bruce Bochy appreciates his calm demeanor in the late innings. He finished the eighth last night in a tight win over the Rockies. Gearrin, whose last save came three years ago (but was still predicted by the Vulture Save Watch), is definitely in the mix to pick up another if Santiago Casilla needs a rest.

Updated hierarchy: Casilla | Osich | Gearrin.

Cincinnati Reds — The Reds finally grabbed their second save of the year, after only 30 games. Tony Cingrani earned it by escaping an eighth-inning jam, then finishing things up in the ninth while Ross Ohlendorf warmed. With four scoreless innings, the bullpen’s record streak of consecutive games allowing a run ended at 23. After the game, Bryan Price praised Cingrani, but confirmed that he is not the team’s sole closer.

Hierarchy remains: *Ohlendorf | Cingrani | Cotham.
* = closer-by-committee

Miami Marlins — As we predicted, A.J. Ramos got a break on Friday, and David Phelps nailed down his second vulture save for the red-hot Fish.

Hierarchy remains: Ramos | Phelps | Barraclough.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Drew Storen, Toronto Blue Jays — If Osuna’s groin stays balky, Storen could get another save chance.
2. Brandon Maurer, San Diego Padres — Fernando Rodney has fired arrows in four of five (and five of seven) and might get Saturday off to replenish his quiver.
3. Dellin Betances/Chasen Shreve, New York Yankees — Andrew Miller needed 36 pitches and a Big Papi hissyfit to escape the ninth on Friday (by the way, that ugly 3-1 pitch was somehow a strike). The Yankees haven’t needed a closer too often lately, but Betances or Shreve could get the call Saturday. Remember: on Monday, Aroldis Chapman comes back.
4. Pedro Strop, Chicago Cubs — Hector Rondon hasn’t thrown many pitches, but he’s been used on three straight days.

Ken Giles: the struggle continues

May 6, 2016

Houston Astros — Ken Giles has been relegated to earlier appearances for a little while now, an attempt to “ease the burden of the eighth inning” off of his world-weary shoulders. Giles opened the seventh for Houston on Thursday and didn’t seem any more relaxed; he put the first two guys on, then watched Tony Sipp usher them home. Giles’s struggles this year may be the result of bad luck (with four HR allowed, his ERA is almost 3x his xFIP), but until he starts seeing better results on the field, we think Will Harris — who has pitched all three meaningful eighth innings for Houston this month — has moved ahead of him.

Updated hierarchy: Gregerson | Harris | Giles.

Baltimore Orioles — Zach Britton made his long-awaited return to the Orioles bullpen Thursday night, entering the game with two outs in the ninth inning of a scoreless game. He managed to end the inning on a pickoff, then retired three of the four hitters he faced in the tenth, earning the win. Darren O’Day did nice work in Britton’s absence, but all should be back to normal in Baltimore’s bullpen.

Hierarchy remains: Britton | O’Day | Brach.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. David Phelps, Miami Marlins — A.J. Ramos has pitched on three straight days.
2. Will Harris, Houston Astros — We would be remiss if we didn’t mention Luke Gregerson’s poor outing on Thursday; he loaded the bases before allowing a three-run double in a tie game. His job is safe, but he threw 25 pitches in the loss and has pitched on three of the last five days. If he needs a break, Harris could get a shot, with Pat Neshek and Giles also possibilities.

Final Boss making moves in St. Louis

May 5, 2016

St. Louis Cardinals – The Final Boss, Seung Hwan Oh, lowered his ERA to 1.72 in the 8th inning of Wednesday’s game. He also sports an 11.2 K/9 as while limiting opponents to a .148 batting average. These numbers, and the fact that Jonathan Broxton has been used while his team is trailing in recent days, suggests that Oh has stepped ahead of Broxton on the hierarchy. Oh earned his nickname from his time as a dominant closer in Japan, so a lack of closing experience shouldn’t hold him back. However, with Trevor Rosenthal locked into the 9th inning, it may take an injury for Oh to see consistent save opportunities.

Updated hierarchy: Rosenthal | Siegrist | Oh.

Cincinnati Reds – In the closest thing to a save situation that the Reds have seen recently, Ross Ohlendorf was sent out to protect a four-run lead. He managed to do that, but not only did he not earn a save for his trouble, he extended the streak of consecutive games in which the bullpen has given up a run. We see this as the way that Bryan Price will try to handle those rare late-inning leads, so if you are speculating on the Cincinnati committee, Ohlendorf seems to be the best bet. Tony Cingrani was used in the 7th and 8th innings and pitched well, while Caleb Cotham has struggled recently, so Cingrani moves up in our committee as well.

Updated hierarchy: *Ohlendorf | Cingrani | Cotham.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Hector Neris, Philadelphia Phillies – Jeanmar Gomez has pitched in back-to-back games and took the loss in a 28-pitch outing yesterday.