Closer Monkey

Year: 2017

  • Matt Bush could be out of a job very, very soon

    July 1, 2017 Texas Rangers — Matt Bush blew his third save in the last five chances, the league-leading 16th blown save for Texas this season. After the game, the normally taciturn Jeff Banister kept repeating, “We’ve got to find a way to close baseball games out.” Complicating that search immensely is Keone Kela’s struggle with…

  • The Nationals’ bullpen is still bad

    June 30, 2017 Washington Nationals – As predicted in yesterday’s Vulture Save Watch, Matt Albers and Enny Romero each enjoyed an off day. They had good seats to watch Blake Treinen fall behind all seven hitters he faced in the ninth inning en route to blowing a two-run lead. While the Nats are probably still a…

  • Trevor Rosenthal earns a stressful save for the Cardinals; Sam Dyson closing in San Francisco

    June 29, 2017 St. Louis Cardinals — After Seung Hwan Oh’s third blown save on Tuesday, Mike Matheny left the door open for a change in the ninth inning. Tonight Brett Cecil (resurgent, but still leading the league in relief meltdowns) shut down the heart of the Arizona lineup in the eighth, and it was Trevor…

  • Mark Melancon returns to the disabled list

    June 28, 2017 San Francisco Giants – Mark Melancon needs another stint on the DL, so the Giants will have to make do with some combination of Hunter Strickland and Sam Dyson in the 9th inning. Dyson probably can’t go today, having pitched 2 innings yesterday, but appears to be the leading choice, according to…

  • Tommy Hunter picks up a save for the Rays

    June 28, 2017 Tampa Bay Rays — After Alex Colome suffered his second straight rough outing, Tommy Hunter nabbed his first save since 2015 by pitching a scoreless 10th inning. The save, coupled with a solid five-out hold on Sunday, has bumped Hunter into the hierarchy for the time being. As for Colome, after the…