Brandon Maurer pitching well; Brad Boxberger not so much

May 28, 2015

San Diego Padres – Brandon Maurer got the 8th inning ahead of Craig Kimbrel on Wednesday to pick up his fifth hold on the year. Although he gave up a run to break his 13-inning scoreless streak, Maurer currently sports the best ERA and WHIP on the team at 2.25 and 0.83, respectively. Bud Black and pitching coach Darren Balsley recently praised the young righty, saying he has found his niche in the 7th inning. Expect Maurer to continue to get the ball in that spot, and on nights when Benoit is unavailable, to see the 8th as well.

Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Benoit | Maurer.

Tampa Bay Rays — After converting nine straight save opportunities, Brad Boxberger has taken losses in his last two appearances. Last night he gave up three runs on two walks and a Nelson Cruz moonshot. Boxberger has been great right up until this recent rough patch, and his primary competitor Jake McGee is coming off his own disaster outing on Tuesday, so its unlikely that he would slide out of his spot as the top guy in the committee just yet. However, if he blows a save in his next loss, it could be McGee getting the next look.

Hierarchy remains: *Boxberger | McGee | Jepsen.
* closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Joaquin Benoit, San Diego Padres -Craig Kimbrel has made three consecutive appearances and has yet to pitch four days in a row this season.
2. Zach Duke/Dan Jennings, Chicago White Sox – David Robertson has blown two straight saves, meaning he may get a full day off during Thursday’s doubleheader. Duke should be the first guy to get a save chance, with Jennings in the mix if Duke has an especially long outing in the first game.
3. David Carpenter, New York Yankees – Both Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances have pitched three of the last four, so Carpenter may get a chance if both guys get the night off.
4. Sergio Romo, San Francisco Giants – Santiago Casilla has pitched in back-to-back days and in five of the last seven.
5. Joba Chamberlain, Detroit Tigers – Joakim Soria has thrown 19 pitches in consecutive outings.

Enrique Burgos hits DL; two relievers steal saves

May 27, 2015

Arizona Diamondbacks – Enrique Burgos was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis. Arizona will surely miss his MLB-best 16.46 K/9, but help may soon be on the way in the form of David Hernandez, who is close to rejoining the Diamondbacks after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. Until Hernandez’s rehab stint is complete, Daniel Hudson and LOOGY Oliver Perez will compete for holds ahead of Addison Reed and Brad Ziegler.

Updated hierarchy: *Ziegler | Reed | Hudson.

Seattle Mariners –Following a Fernando Rodney blown save in which Rodney allowed three runs, Joe Beimel picked up his first save since June 11, 2009. Rodney may have pulled off the save if not for Robinson Cano not being able to turn a double play in the ninth, but his ERA climbed to 6.98 instead. Manager Lloyd McClendon doesn’t care about ERA, and Rodney is indeed third in the AL with 13 saves, but you wonder how long McClendon can ignore Carson Smith’s 0.86 ERA and 0.67 WHIP.

Hierarchy remains: Rodney | Smith | Wilhemsen.

St. Louis Cardinals — As predicted in Tuesday’s Vulture Save Watch, Seth Maness picked up his third save of the season while Trevor Rosenthal and Kevin Siegrist each received a day off.

Hierarchy remains: Rosenthal | Siegrist | Maness.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Tony Cingrani, Cincinnati Reds – Aroldis Chapman has pitched in three straight games and thrown 73 pitches during that stretch, including 27 on Tuesday.
2. Chad Qualls, Houston Astros – Luke Gregerson has appeared in three of four.
3. Carlos Torres, New York Mets – Jeurys Familia has tossed 54 pitches over back-to-back games, including 32 on Tuesday.
4. Carson Smith, Seattle Mariners – Fernando Rodney has pitched in four of the last five games, including a 29-pitch outing on Tuesday.
5. Keone Kela/Ross Ohlendorf, Texas Rangers – Shawn Tolleson has pitched on three consecutive days for only the second time this season.

Sean Doolittle activated; Greg Holland struggling

May 26, 2015

Oakland Athletics – Sean Doolittle will be activated from the disabled list today. Bob Melvin has repeatedly said that while Doolittle won’t close right away, he will be serving in that role in short order. So we’re moving him to the top of the hierarchy because the assumption is that he will be the closer by the end of the week; we’ll tag him with an asterisk for now and remove it once he gets his first save.

Updated hierarchy: *Doolittle | Clippard | Scribner.
* = closer-by-committee

Texas Rangers – Neftali Feliz had only gotten into one game since the blown save that cost him his job, and on Monday we were given the reason — an abscess on his right side that has now resulted in a trip to the disabled list. Shawn Tolleson just picked up his fourth save in six games, and Feliz would have to do a lot upon returning to even get himself into the 1st in line spot. So if you don’t have a DL spot open, he’s probably droppable in most leagues at this point.

Hierarchy remains: Tolleson | Kela | Ohlendorf.

Kansas City Royals – In his first appearance since May 14, Greg Holland had a discouraging outing against the Yankees, allowing two runs while only recording one out. It was a blowout, and many closers are notoriously ineffective without the context of a save situation to jack up their adrenaline, but Holland wasn’t throwing as hard as usual. As we alluded in last week’s Hot Seat column, it might be time to buy some Wade Davis shares.

Hierarchy remains: Holland | Davis | Herrera.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Casey Janssen/Aaron Barrett, Washington Nationals – Drew Storen has pitched in back to back games, three of four, and five of seven. He could get the night off.
2. Seth Maness, St. Louis Cardinals – Trevor Rosenthal has pitched three innings over the last two days.
3. Tony Cingrani, Cincinnati Reds – Aroldis Chapman has pitched in back to back games, throwing 46 pitches.
4. Chris Hatcher, Los Angeles Dodgers – Kenley Jansen has pitched in three of four and is coming off an injury.

Shawn Tolleson pulls away from Rangers committee

May 25, 2015

Washington Nationals – After he pitched a scoreless inning in his Nats debut Saturday, Casey Janssen was given a high-leverage opportunity, getting the last two outs of the 8th inning on Sunday ahead of Drew Storen. If he continues to pitch well, then Janssen would likely be someone that Matt Williams would look to on nights when Storen was unavailable. He has the prior closing experience that managers crave, and might be a good add in holds leagues since he figures to get more 8th inning looks.

Updated hierarchy: Storen | Janssen | Barrett.

Arizona Diamondbacks – Brad Ziegler picked up his second save on Sunday, pitching a scoreless 9th inning against the Cubs. After Enrique Burgos’s rough outing on Saturday, Ziegler figures to be the first choice for saves for Arizona, though we’ll leave the committee tag on for now. Addison Reed, meanwhile, had a good outing, pitching a clean 8th ahead of Ziegler.

Hierarchy remains: *Ziegler | Burgos | Reed.

Texas Rangers – Shawn Tolleson, meanwhile, is losing his asterisk. In striking out the side on 13 pitches last night, he earned his third save in five days and has given Texas no reason to look to anyone else for 9th inning opportunities. The “no roles” bullpen has quickly morphed into “no roles for anyone except Tolleson,” and given his ratios at this point (29 Ks and 4 BBs in 20.1 innings), the hard-throwing righty could be a very solid option for saves going forward.

Hierarchy remains: Tolleson | Kela | Ohlendorf.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Mike Dunn, Miami Marlins – AJ Ramos has pitched in three straight.
2. Junichi Tazawa, Boston Red Sox – Koji Uehara has pitched in back to back games, and has yet to go three straight all season.
3. Jim Johnson, Atlanta Braves – Jason Grilli is coming off a minor injury, and has pitched in back to back games.

Pedro Strop records save for Cubs

May 24, 2015

Chicago Cubs – Pedro Strop pitched a perfect 9th for his first save of the season on Saturday night, as regular closer Hector Rondon got the night off.  Rondon has two blown saves in his last three appearances, but Joe Maddon still trusts his closer.  However, if Rondon has a couple more tough outings, you can expect to see him on the next Hot Seat report.

Hierarchy remains: Rondon | Strop | Wood.

Seattle Mariners — Tom Wilhelmsen, who had 24 saves just two season ago, pitched a scoreless 7th inning yesterday with the Mariners up 1.  Since his return from the DL in early May, Wilhemsen has 5 scoreless appearances.  With Danny Farquhar struggling, Wilhemsen, who manager Lloyd McClendon calls “the glue,” could see more time in the late innings.

Updated hierarchy: Rodney | Smith | Wilhemsen.

Arizona Diamondbacks — Enrique Burgos gave up a go-ahead 3-run homer to Anthony Rizzo in the 9th inning last night.  Burgos had been pitching well, and still recorded three strikeouts last night, but if he has a few more outings like last night, Ziegler would likely solidify himself as the primary closer.

Hierarchy remains: *Ziegler | Burgos | Reed.
*closer by committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Yimi Garcia, Los Angeles Dodgers – Kenley Jansen has pitched in two straight and the Dodgers might not want to send him out there for three in a row since he recently returned from injury
2. Mike Dunn, Miami Marlins – A.J. Ramos has pitched in two straight, including a 25 pitch outing on Friday.
3. Jeremy Affeldt/Javier Lopez, San Francisco Giants – Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo have both pitched in three straight
4. Tom Wilhemsen, Seattle Mariners – Fernando Rodney and Carson Smith have each appeared in two straight and three of the last four.