April 13, 2015
Pittsburgh Pirates – After a ridiculous spring that included a 21:1(!) K:BB ratio, Arquimedes Caminero has brought his 101-mph fastball to the 7th inning in Pittsburgh. On Sunday, he picked up his 2nd hold of the season, and he’s now totaled 2.2 scoreless to start the year.
Updated hierarchy: Melancon | Watson | Caminero.
Chicago White Sox – Zach Duke picked up his second straight 8th inning hold on Sunday. The White Sox have been wise to make good on their offseason investment (3 years, $15M), as Duke has been one of the only reliable arms in the Chicago bullpen thus far. Would-be set-up man Zach Putnam has struggled out of the gate (4 ERs in 2 innings) after struggling during the spring (9.35 ERA) and might be looking at a trip to the minors if he can’t sort things out soon.
Updated hierarchy: Robertson | Duke | Guerra.
Tampa Bay Rays – Ernesto Frieri cleaned up an 8th inning mess and then stayed on for the 9th after the Rays tacked on a run. Frieri allowed a run himself, but picked up a vulture save.
Hierarchy remains: Boxberger | Jepsen | Balfour.
Colorado Rockies – John Axford has left the Rockies for a while to be with his son, who just had surgery following a rattlesnake attack. His absence may be poorly timed for Axford owners, as LaTroy Hawkins just blew his second save in a row and remains firmly on the Hot Seat. With Axford away, Adam Ottavino and Boone Logan are the relievers who could benefit if the Rockies are looking to give Hawkins a break.
Hierarchy remains: Hawkins | Ottavino | Logan.
Seattle Mariners – Fernando Rodney had an atrocious outing on Sunday afternoon, allowing the A’s to score four runs in the bottom of the 9th inning — Yoervis Medina would eventually pick up the save in extras. Rodney also had a shaky spring, with 7 walks in 8.1 IPs, and with his control problems spilling over into the regular season, those in deeper leagues might look to stash either Medina or Danny Farquhar should Rodney end up on the Hot Seat. (He’s already pretty close.)
Hierarchy remains: Rodney | Farquhar | Medina.
Los Angeles Dodgers – Chris Hatcher had another brutal outing on Sunday, allowing 3 runs to score while only recording one out. Joel Peralta came in afterwards to lock down the 1-out save, and is now firmly in the lead in the Los Angeles committee; in fact, the way things have gone thus far, it would surprise us to see anyone other than Peralta used in the 9th going forward. We’ll hold off on lifting the asterisk for one more save, but frankly, Hatcher might not even stay in the bigs for very much longer if he keeps pitching the way he has (33.75 ERA) over the season’s first week.
Updated hierarchy: *Peralta | Hatcher | Howell.
*closer-by-committee
Boston Red Sox – Koji Uehara will come off the disabled list today and will resume closing immediately.
Updated hierarchy: Uehara | Mujica | Ogando.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Joba Chamberlain, Detroit Tigers – Joakim Soria has pitched in three straight.
2. Roman Mendez, Texas Rangers – Neftali Feliz and Shawn Tolleson have both pitched in three straight.
3. Eric O’Flaherty, Oakland A’s – Tyler Clippard has pitched in two straight and three of four, throwing 57 pitches in the process.
4. Jumbo Diaz, Cincinnati Reds – Aroldis Chapman has pitched in four of the last five games.
