August 4, 2023
Philadelphia Phillies – Seranthony Dominguez earned his second save in the past three days on Thursday, allowing one hit with one strikeout in a scoreless ninth inning. Score one for the Vulture Save Watch. While Gregory Soto was likely unavailable Thursday, Dominguez’s success this week is hard to ignore. If you recall, in his first converted save earlier this week, he pitched the ninth inning and Soto pitched the eighth inning (Soto’s appearance came in a tie game, it’s worth noting). We will speculatively move Dominguez up to No. 2 in this hierarchy. As for Craig Kimbrel, he blew the save Wednesday, and the Phillies now believe he was tipping his pitches. We’ll keep an eye on usage this weekend.
Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Dominguez | Soto.
Los Angeles Dodgers – Emmett Sheehan tossed the final four innings Thursday for his first career save. The rookie has promise, but likely as a starter in his future. He won’t factor into the normal late-innings mix for the Dodgers.
Hierarchy remains: *Phillips | Graterol | Ferguson.
* = closer-by-committee
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Tyler Rogers (SF) – Camilo Doval has gone in two straight and five of six.
2. Michael King (NYY) – Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle have each gone in two straight.
3. Justin Topa (SEA) – Andres Munoz has gone in two straight and three of four.
4. Gregory Soto/Seranthony Dominguez (PHI) – Craig Kimbrel might get another day off while he works to resolve potential pitch-tipping issues.
Saturday:
1. Aroldis Chapman (TEX) – An outing Friday would be three of four and four of six for Will Smith.
2. Griffin Jax (MIN) – Jhoan Duran could need Saturday off if he goes Friday (that would be three of four for him).
3. Reynaldo Lopez (CHW) – Carlos Estevez threw 26 pitches in a rough outing Thursday and a Friday appearance would for sure mean a day off on Saturday for him.
4. A.J. Puk (MIA) – A Friday appearance would be four of six for David Robertson.
5. Joel Payamps (MIL) – It would also be four of six for Devin Williams.