September 8, 2020
Miami Marlins – After Brandon Kintzler blew the save in the 9th inning, the Marlins retook the lead in the 10th and Nick Vincent converted the opportunity. Kintzler has had a couple blown saves recently but has been generally solid and is unlikely to lose the job at this point.
Hierarchy remains: Kintzler | Boxberger | Vincent.
Philadelphia Phillies – Brandon Workman pitched a clean 9th in a tie game, and Hector Neris picked up his third save after the Phillies took the lead in the 10th. Workman remains the closer here.
Hierarchy remains: Workman | Neris | Phelps.
Seattle Mariners – Yoshihisa Hirano still hasn’t pitched back to back since being activated, so yesterday, Yohan Ramirez nabbed his third save of the year with a two-out effort. We don’t think this is a committee, but until Hirano proves he can go back to back, there might be ample opportunities for Ramirez and others.
Hierarchy remains: Hirano | Ramirez | Misiewicz.
Colorado Rockies – The Rockies held the Padres without a run through 8 innings via Kyle Freeland, Yency Almonte, and Mychel Givens, but Carlos Estevez couldn’t keep the game scoreless, allowing hits to the first two hitters he faced. We suspect that Estevez, who now has an ERA of 6.41, has likely fallen down the hierarchy given his struggles in recent weeks.
Updated hierarchy: Bard | Givens | Almonte.
San Francisco Giants – Sam Coonrod got the save last night, pitching the final 1.1 innings. We suspect that Tony Watson and Tyler Rogers are still the top two options here (they’d both gone two straight and didn’t pitch) but with Gabe Kapler at the helm, that’s purely a guess.
Hierarchy remains: *Watson | Rogers | Coonrod.
* = closer-by-committee
Houston Astros – Blake Taylor was placed on the IL yesterday with elbow soreness. With so little experience in the Astros bullpen, we figure that veteran Brad Peacock — just activated from the IL himself — will get some high-leverage work pretty quickly.
Updated hierarchy: Pressly | Scrubb | Peacock.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. James Karinchak – Brad Hand has gone three straight.
2. Nick Vincent – Brandon Kintzler has gone three straight and Brad Boxberger has gone back to back.
3. Justin Wilson – Edwin Diaz has appeared in three of five (70 pitches total) and could get the day off; if not, he’ll definitely be off tomorrow.
Tomorrow
1. Tanner Rainey/Will Harris – Daniel Hudson, Tanner Rainey, and Will Harris all appeared yesterday; watch usage today to see who’ll be able to go tomorrow.
2. Hector Neris – If Brandon Workman goes today, that’s two straight.