September 7, 2015
Oakland A’s – Sunday’s 1-run loss to the Mariners saw both Drew Pomeranz and Sean Doolittle pitch, but for the first time, Pomeranz went first, logging a scoreless 8th before giving way to Doolittle for the 9th. We’ve been saying since he returned that Doolittle would eventually get the closer job back, and though he hasn’t reclaimed it yet, we think the next save chance goes to him.
Hierarchy remains: *Doolittle | Pomeranz | Venditte.
* = closer-by-committee
Texas Rangers – The Rangers shut down Keone Kela this past weekend after he felt some discomfort in his elbow. He may return soon, but in the mean time, Texas will continue to look to their deadline acquisitions — Sam Dyson and Jake Diekman — to bridge the gap to Shawn Tolleson.
Updated hierarchy: Tolleson | Dyson | Diekman.
Washington Nationals – A few rough outings over the past couple weeks have dropped Casey Janssen down a peg or two in the Nationals hierarchy; yesterday, he finished off the sixth inning while young Felipe Rivero got the 7th. Despite being a lefty, Rivero has been pitching full innings (35 appearances, 37.2 IP, 2.63 ERA), and he has 32 strikeouts against just four unintentional walks. Look for him to get a few more holds as the Nationals try and rally down the stretch.
Updated hierarchy: Papelbon | Storen | Rivero.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Carson Smith, Seattle Mariners – Tom Wilhelmsen’s Sunday outing spanned 1.2 innings and he’s pitched in four of the last six.
2. Sergio Romo, San Francisco Giants – Santiago Casilla has pitched in back to back games, and with a stretch of fatigue in his not-too-distant past, he might get the night off.