August 16, 2014
St. Louis Cardinals – Trevor Rosenthal was given the night off yesterday after throwing 24 pitches in an adventurous save on Thursday. Pat Neshek recorded his 4th save of the season and should continue to see any save chances when Rosenthal is unavailable.
Hierarchy Remains: Rosenthal | Neshek | Siegrist.
Cincinnati Reds – Aroldis Chapman picked up his 26th save of the season last night. However, it was a little bittersweet as Chapman failed to record a strikeout for the first time in almost a year. Chapman’s record 49 straight games with a strikeout as a reliever beat the previous record by ten games. Chances are he will start a new streak in his next appearance.
Hierarchy remains: Chapman | Broxton | LeCure.
Pittsburgh Pirates – Recently acquired John Axford had a solid debut for his new team, as he pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Axford has good strikeout numbers this season, but the walks have really hurt him. If he can limit his walks he should work his way into some high leverage spots for the Pirates, but that is a big if.
Hierarchy remains: Melancon | Watson | Hughes.
Toronto Blue Jays – Dustin McGowan was summoned in the 5th inning yesterday with the Blue Jays getting blown out. McGowan’s usage has been a little all over the place recently and it appears that Aaron Loup, and potentially even Brett Cecil, have surpassed him on the Blue Jays bullpen hiearchy.
Updated hierarchy: Janssen | Loup | McGowan.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Jeurys Familia, New York Mets – Jenrry Mejia has pitched in two straight and have been battling a number of injuries.
2. Drew Storen, Washington Nationals – Rafael Soriano and Tyler Clippard have both appeared in three straight games.
