June 21, 2016
Los Angeles Dodgers – Joe Blanton, age 35, is coming into his own as a set-up man in L.A. Three of his last four appearances have come in the eighth inning, including a hold ahead of Kenley Jansen last night. In one of the more unlikely bullpen developments of 2016, he now appears to be Dave Roberts’s go-to guy in the eighth.
Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Blanton | Baez.
Houston Astros – Pat Neshek was originally credited with his first save of the season after recording the final two outs, up three runs with nobody on base against the Marlins last night. However, later on, his save was rescinded. According to the save rule, in order to qualify for a save in that situation, Neshek would have had to pitch the entire inning. Baseball is weird.
Hierarchy remains: Harris | Giles | Gregerson.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Daniel Hudson, Arizona Diamondbacks — Brad Ziegler has pitched in three straight.
2. Koji Uehara, Boston Red Sox — Craig Kimbrel has also pitched in three straight, including a loss in the tenth inning last night.
3. Jake Diekman, Texas Rangers — Sam Dyson has thrown 73 pitches over 4.1 innings in the last week. He will probably get a rest tonight.