September 4, 2015
Minnesota Twins — Glen Perkins said he felt good after his most recent outing Tuesday, but (as we told you yesterday) when he woke up on Wednesday, he couldn’t get out of bed. “It completely blindsided me,” Perkins said. “The muscles are spasming. I irritated something, and my back’s [not happy about it].” With the expanded September rosters, Perkins won’t go on the DL, but Kevin Jepsen could be serving as the fill-in closer for quite a while.
Updated hierarchy: Jepsen | May | Fien.
San Diego Padres — Both Craig Kimbrel and Joaquin Benoit threw 30+ pitches Wednesday night, leaving the Padres in a bit of a pickle on Thursday night. Both Kimbrel and Benoit told interim manager Pat Murphy they were good to pitch, but he opted to rest Kimbrel (52 pitches Tuesday and Wednesday combined) at the advice of the world-famous Closer Monkey Vulture Save Watch, of course. Benoit nailed down a clean ninth inning on just 13 pitches to earn his second save; he’ll be unavailable Friday, but Kimbrel should be good to go.
Hierarchy remains: Kimbrel | Benoit | Kelley.
New England Patriots — Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension was nullified by a federal judge on Thursday, freeing the four-time Super Bowl winner to suit up and start on opening night next Thursday against the Steelers. A disappointed Jimmy Garoppolo slides down to first in line, but no one is more, dare we say, “deflated,” than NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell who, for the second straight year, moves to the Hot Seat.
Updated hierarchy: Brady | Garoppolo | Lindley.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Alex Wilson, Detroit Tigers — As long as Bruce Rondon (6.56 ERA, 1.54 WHIP) keeps pitching poorly, it’s hard to say his job is secure.
2. Drew Pomeranz, Oakland A’s — We think Sean Doolittle will get the bulk of the save chances this month, but Pomeranz did pick up two saves last weekend.