August 3, 2020
Baltimore Orioles – Cole Sulser picked up his third save of the season on Sunday with a clean 2-inning effort against the Rays. All indications are that he’s the full time stopper at this point, so we’re removing his asterisk.
Updated hierarchy: Sulser | Givens | Castro.
Minnesota Twins – Taylor Rogers got the day off after pitching two straight, allowing Sergio Romo to pick up his second save of the year. Always read your Vulture Save Watch, folks.
Hierarchy remains: Rogers | Romo | Stashak.
Texas Rangers – After the Rangers took a 4-run lead in the top of the 7th inning, they turned to Jonathan Hernandez, who turned in two very strong innings (0 hits, 1 walk, 4 Ks) before giving way to Edinson Volquez, who pitched a perfect 9th. While both outings were impressive, the order in which these two were used suggests that Volquez has the edge for saves at the moment. We’ll shuffle the committee hierarchy accordingly.
Updated hierarchy: *Volquez | Hernandez | Goody.
* = closer-by-committee
Colorado Rockies – Wade Davis was placed on the 10-day IL Sunday with a right shoulder strain. Jairo Diaz picked up the 1-out save in his absence, following a somewhat shaky inning of work from Carlos Estevez, who allowed three inherited runners to score in the 8th and an additional run in the 9th. Still, he’s probably second to Diaz in this hierarchy. With this shakeup, we’d also like to tip our cap to Daniel Bard, who claims the record for “longest stretches between appearances on a Closer Monkey hierarchy,” as we’re adding him at 2nd in line. Bard last appeared on a hierarchy in November 2011 — the fifth month of this site’s existence — when he was briefly elevated to the closer role for the Red Sox (behind him: Alfredo Aceves and Franklin Morales) in the short period between the departure of Jonathan Papelbon and the signing of Mark Melancon. Bard would shift to the rotation soon after, and though the Sox did put him back in the bullpen before releasing him — and while he had short minor league stints with four other teams (as well as a career eulogy on one of our All Star Break shitposts) — he never made it back to a hierarchy. Until now. A heartfelt congratulations, Daniel.
Updated hierarchy: *Diaz | Estevez | Bard.
* = closer-by-committee
Houston Astros – As expected, Roberto Osuna’s arm injury has resulted in an IL stint. Ryan Pressly is the best bet to close in his absence.
Updated hierarchy: Pressly | Taylor | Scrubb.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Joakim Soria – Liam Hendriks and Jake Diekman have pitched in back to back games.
Tomorrow
1. Adam Ottavino – If Zack Britton goes tonight, it’ll be two straight.
2. Blake Treinen – If Kenley Jansen goes tonight, it’ll be two straight.
3. Shane Greene/Chris Martin – If Mark Melancon goes tonight, it’ll be two straight. Same for Shane Greene, so check usage to see who’s available tomorrow.