June 18, 2014
Boston Red Sox — With Koji Uehara and Andrew Miller unavailable after heavy recent use, John Farrell elected to keep Junichi Tazawa in a set-up role and go to Edward Mujica, who hadn’t pitched in six days, for the vulture save. After the game, Farrell explained that he would ideally like to go to Mujica on nights when Uehara is unavailable, so although recent usage and statistics don’t support it, we’ve got to put Mujica back in the hierarchy. In non-hierarchy news, Burke Badenhop has now pitched 30.1 straight innings without surrendering an earned run.
Updated hierarchy: Uehara | Miller | Mujica.
St. Louis Cardinals — Trevor Rosenthal was given a second straight night off, and the Cardinals went with Jason Motte with a four-run lead in the ninth. But after Motte gave up a home run and a ground-rule double, Pat Neshek got three straight outs to nail down the victory. Although we still believe Motte would close if Rosenthal went down with an injury, Neshek is making a strong case as well.
Hierarchy remains: Rosenthal | Motte | Neshek.
Atlanta Braves — After a period of very heavy use (59 pitches in three days), David Carpenter was placed on the disabled list Tuesday with a strained right biceps. Jordan Walden will take on a bigger role in Carpenter’s absence.
Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Simmons | Walden.
Los Angeles Dodgers — With solid performances over the past three weeks, Brian Wilson has earned his job back, supplanting Brandon League as next in line behind Kenley Jansen.
Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Wilson | League.
Philadelphia Phillies — Jacob Diekman and his 100 MPH fastball have been seeing some high-leverage innings lately, including Tuesday’s eighth. Although Antonio Bastardo would probably be the next choice for saves in the Philly bullpen, Diekman and Ken Giles could play larger roles as the season progresses.
Updated hierarchy: Papelbon | Bastardo | Diekman.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. A.J. Ramos, Miami Marlins — Steve Cishek threw 23 pitches Tuesday on his third straight day of work.
