May 31, 2014
Cleveland Indians — Cody Allen picked up his 2nd save of the season last night. After pitching in the 8th inning on Wednesday, the Indians saved Allen for the 9th on Friday. He faced the heart of the Rockies lineup, pitching a perfect inning while striking out Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. It was an impressive outing and Allen definitely looks like the guy to own in the Cleveland bullpen.
Hierarchy remains: Allen | Shaw | Axford.
Detroit Tigers — Joe Nathan got the night off Friday and the Tigers went to Joba Chamberlain, who converted the save. Manager Brad Ausmus confirmed before the game that Chamberlain would be the closer on nights when Nathan is unavailable. Nathan has struggled recently and is probably one more bad outing from the Hot Seat. Chamberlain showed last night he might be able to handle the job.
Hierarchy remains: Nathan | Chamberlain | Alburquerque.
Pittsburgh Pirates — Jason Grilli recorded his second save in two days on Friday night and is ready to return to the closer’s role full time. Clint Hurdle said he will monitor Grilli’s health the rest of the season, so Melancon will still see some save opportunities when Grilli is given a night off, but Grilli is definitely the guy when he is available.
Hierarchy remains: Grilli | Melancon | Watson.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Neil Ramirez, Chicago Cubs – Hector Rondon will miss a couple games after being placed on the paternity list Friday
2. Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh Pirates – Jason Grilli has pitched in two straight and three of the last four.
3. Andrew Miller/Junichi Tazawa, Boston Red Sox – Koji Uehara has appeared in four of the last 5.
4. Bryan Shaw, Cleveland Indians – Cody Allen has pitched in three of the last four.
