May 23, 2021
Tampa Bay Rays — Diego Castillo pitched a scoreless 9th inning yesterday to pick up his 8th save of the season. The Rays have a deep bullpen, with newly acquired JP Feyereisen joining the mix with a scoreless 6th inning yesterday, but Castillo certainly appears to be closer. We will see how the Rays handle things moving forward, but we are cautiously optimistic that Castillo will be able to kick the asterisk soon.
Hierarchy remains: *Castillo | Fairbanks | Thompson.
* = closer-by-committee
Washington Nationals — Brad Hand bounced back with a perfect 9th inning to record his 6th save of the season. Daniel Hudson earned his 3rd win of the season with a scoreless 8th and now has a stellar 1.13 ERA and 0.69 WHIP for the season. The Nationals will hope that Hand can settle back in and start pitching like he did for the first month of the season, but considering how well Hudson is pitching, the situation is still worth monitoring.
Hierarchy remains: Hand | Hudson | Harris.
Pittsburgh Pirates – The Pirates have reinstated Kyle Crick from the IL. Crick should jump right back into the set-up role for the Pirates and could see some save chances when Richard Rodriguez is unavaiable.
Updated hierarchy: Rodriguez | Crick | Stratton.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Dylan Floro (MIA) – Yimi Garcia has pitched in two straight and three of four.
2. Ryan Thompson (TB) – Diego Castillo and Pete Fairbanks have both pitched in two straight and three of four.
3. Will Harris (WAS) – Brad Hand and Daniel Hudson have also pitched in two straight and three of four.
4. Blake Treinen (LAD) – Kenley Jansen has pitched in three of four and four of the last six.
5. Adam Ottavino (BOS) – Matt Barnes has pitched in two of three, throwing 43 pitches over that time.
6. Lou Trivino (OAK) – Jake Diekman has appeared in back-to-back games
Monday
1. Taylor Rogers/Alex Colome (MIN) – If Hansel Robles pitches today, it will be two straight and three of four. Same for Taylor Rogers.