Sergio Romo records save, Jim Johnson returns

August 17, 2014

San Francisco Giants — Sergio Romo got the last two outs of the game last night and picked up his first save since June 22nd.  Manager Bruce Boche said he wanted to give closer Santiago Casilla a day off.  Casilla has allowed a run in his last three appearances, picking up losses in the past two.  Romo, on the other hand, has not allowed a run in his last eight games.  Casilla has not blown a save since he took over as closer at the end of June but if he continues to give up runs and former All Star closer Romo regains his form, the Giants could consider making a change.

Hierarchy remains: Casilla | Romo | Affeldt.
Santiago Casilla to Hot Seat.

Detroit Tigers – Joe Nathan gave up another run last night but picked up his 25th save of the season.  Nathan’s ERA is over 5.00 but that seems great compared to his new bullpen mate.  The Tigers have called up Jim Johnson, and his 7.14 ERA.  If Johnson can regain the form that saw him record 50 saves last season, he could factor into the late inning plans for the Tigers, but for now he is likely just bullpen depth.

Hierarchy remains: Nathan | Chamberlain | Alburquerque.

St. Louis Cardinals – Kevin Siegrist took the loss last night, giving up four runs in less than an inning of work.  Siegrist has now given up 11 runs in 9 appearances since returning from the DL on July 25th.  Seth Maness picked up the 8th inning hold on Friday night and has not given up any runs so far in August.  With Siegrist struggling, Maness should see more time in the later innings.

Updated hierarchy: Rosenthal | Neshek | Maness.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Edward Mujica, Boston Red Sox – Koji Uehara has pitched in two in a row.
2. Kevin Jepsen, Los Angeles Angels – Huston Street and Joe Smith have both pitched in two straight and three of the last four.

Neshek picks up save, Chapman’s historic streak ends

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.

John Axford claimed by Pirates; Brian Wilson gets knocked around

August 15, 2014

Cleveland Indians – The Indians placed John Axford on waivers earlier this month, and yesterday, he was claimed by the Pirates, who will pick up the remaining $1.1 million of his salary. We’ll leave him off the Pirates hierarchy until we see how they’re going to use him, but in Cleveland, look for Scott Atchison to continue his recent run of 7th inning holds.

Updated hierarchy: Allen | Shaw | Atchison.

Milwaukee Brewers – Will Smith has had an up and down season, which we’ve been thoroughly happy to chronicle with help from his IMDB page. Right now, he’s back on the upswing, with a bunch of recent 8th inning holds to his name. Last night, Smith pitched a perfect 8th with two strikeouts and is again the most likely candidate for saves when Francisco Rodriguez needs a night off.

Updated hierarchy: Rodriguez | Smith | Kintzler.

Los Angeles Dodgers – Brian Wilson had an ugly outing last night, allowing three earned runs in 0.2 innings and forcing Kenley Jansen into an extended appearance. Prior to last night, Wilson had been sort of decent lately, and his strikeout totals are still excellent (50 in 39.1 IPs). But he’s still walking way too many guys, leading to an ERA and WHIP of 5.26 and 1.70 — unseemly numbers for the would-be set-up man on the NL’s best team. With Brandon League pitching very effectively lately, Wilson might not be Jansen’s handcuff at this point. We’ll watch how this unfolds in the coming days.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Wilson | League.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Brad Boxberger, Tampa Bay Rays – With his appearance last night, Jake McGee has now worked 3 innings over the last 3 days.

David Carpenter has only just begun

August 14, 2014

Atlanta Braves — David Carpenter picked up his second high-leverage hold in four days; although Shae Simmons is nearing a return from the disabled list, memories of Carpenter’s astounding 2013 performance (and the fact that his K/9 and FIP have actually improved this year) should keep him in the top three regardless.

Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Walden | Carpenter.

Boston Red Sox — As foretold in Wednesday’s Vulture Save Watch, it was again Edward Mujica who got the save opportunity with Koji Uehara unavailable. Mujica gave up two singles to start the inning, but escaped with the help of a strikeout on a foul bunt.

Hierarchy remains: Uehara | Mujica | Tazawa.

Seattle Mariners — Don’t tell Fernando Rodney he needs rest — not before an off day. On Wednesday night, he pitched for the fifth time in six days, running his weekly pitch count to 90. Yoervis Medina took the eighth, but as we mentioned a few times in July, until he actually spells Rodney one of these times, we’ll keep him behind Danny Farquhar.

Hierarchy remains: Rodney | Farquhar | Medina.

Matt Lindstrom returns from the DL

August 13, 2014

Chicago White Sox — Matt Lindstrom was activated from the disabled list on Tuesday; although Jake Petricka will retain the closer role, Robin Ventura indicated that Lindstrom will be used in high-leverage spots going forward. Just to make things interesting, Petricka blew Tuesday night’s save and needed Zach Putnam’s help to escape without a loss.

Updated hierarchy: Petricka | Putnam | Lindstrom.

Miami Marlins — As we predicted on Tuesday, Bryan Morris got the call in lieu of Steve Cishek in that night’s save situation. But after Morris put two men on, Mike Redmond turned to lefty Mike Dunn to face fellow southpaw Mike Adams, and Dunn wound up earning his first save of the year with a strikeout. Oh, and if it matters to you (we sincerely hope it doesn’t), Kevin Gregg is out for the season after surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow.

Hierarchy remains: Cishek | Morris | Ramos.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Edward Mujica, Boston Red Sox — Koji Uehara has pitched in four of the last five; although Mujica has pitched in three of four, he’s thrown a total of 24 pitches in those games.
2. Danny Farquhar, Seattle Mariners — Fernando Rodney has also pitched on four of the last five days.
3. Brad Ziegler, Arizona Diamondbacks — A doubleheader today could mean two save opportunities for Arizona . . .
4. Bryan Shaw, Cleveland Indians — . . . or Cleveland.