June 6, 2013
Kansas City Royals – After five appearances in the minors in which he allowed two hits and no runs in 4.2 innings, Kelvin Herrera returned to the bigs and on Wednesday was immediately thrust back in to his old 8th inning role. He pitched a clean inning, and another solid outing or two will re-secure his status as the the go-to guy behind Greg Holland. Hierarchy change: Kelvin Herrera to Set-up, Aaron Crow to 2nd in line.
. | Closer | . | Set-Up | . | 2nd in line | . | 2014 Closer | . | Updated | |
KC | Greg Holland | Kelvin Herrera | Aaron Crow | Greg Holland | 6/6/13 |
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Los Angeles Angels – The Angels bullpen has been a real point of strength lately. Converted starter Garrett Richards has taken to his new relief role, and Robert Coello’s WTF pitch has him seeing more higher-leverage innings as well. Also, recently returning from injury was one of Mike Scioscia’s favorite arms from a year ago, Kevin Jepsen. In five appearances since coming off the DL, Jepsen has the following line: 4.2 IP, 7 Ks, 2 hits, 1 walk, 0.00 ERA (and the walk was intentional). Scott Downs might still be an occasional match-up play for a vulture save, but Jepsen is looking like his 2012 self and should start to see more late inning work, as he did last night, pitching the 8th in a tie game. Hierarchy change: Kevin Jepsen to 2nd in line, replacing Scott Downs.
. | Closer | . | Set-Up | . | 2nd in line | . | 2014 Closer | . | Updated | |
LAA | Ernesto Frieri | Garrett Richards | Kevin Jepsen | Ernesto Frieri | 6/6/13 | |||||
Ryan Madson (DL) |
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Cleveland Indians – Chris Perez is under investigation after a package containing marijuana was delivered to his home. He hasn’t been charged with anything, but obviously, any lengthy suspension would put his season in doubt and greatly increase Vinnie Pestano’s value. No hierarchy change.
. | Closer | . | Set-Up | . | 2nd in line | . | 2014 Closer | . | Updated | |
CLE | Vinnie Pestano | Joe Smith | Cody Allen | Chris Perez | 6/6/13 | |||||
Chris Perez (DL) |
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VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Jesse Crain, Chicago White Sox – In one of the most spectacular relief appearances in recent memory, Addison Reed entered with a 5-run lead in the 14th inning last night and gave up 5 runs, including a game-tying grand slam to Kyle Seager. It was the first time in baseball history that anyone had ever hit a game-tying grand slam in extra innings, but perhaps even more amazingly, Reed went on to pitch two more innings and earn the win. Anyway, relevant to VSW is the fact that Reed threw 55 pitches in the effort, and won’t be available today (or possibly Friday, either). Jesse Crain will likely see the save in his absence, though the White Sox could also play matchups with lefty Matt Thornton.