July 21, 2015
Philadelphia Phillies – With set-up man Ken Giles given the night off after pitching in three straight games, right-hander Jeanmar Gomez was called on to pitch the eighth inning in front of Jonathan Papelbon. With a scoreless inning last night, Gomez’s ERA drops to 2.38 ERA on the season. We expect him to play a larger role in the late innings for the rest of the season, especially if Pap is shipped out.
Updated hierarchy: Papelbon | Giles | Gomez.
Arizona Diamondbacks – The Diamondbacks optioned Enrique Burgos and his 5.14 ERA to Triple-A Reno on Sunday. Veteran left-hander Oliver Perez will likely slide into Burgos’s role pitching in the late innings.
Updated hierarchy: Ziegler | Hudson | Perez.
Cincinnati Reds – After throwing 1 2/3 innings on Sunday, Manny Parra has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained elbow. We like Burke Badenhop to fill Parra’s role, but we also wouldn’t be surprised if the Reds return to Jumbo Diaz and his Jumbo ERA in the late innings. (But it shouldn’t matter who is out there as long as Brandon Phillips can make a play like this in the 7th inning of every game. Goodness gracious.)
Updated hierarchy: Chapman | Hoover | Badenhop.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. J.J. Hoover, Cincinnati Reds – Aroldis Chapman has thrown 56 pitches in three innings in the last 2 days.
2. Daniel Hudson, Arizona Diamondbacks – Brad Ziegler was summoned for a 1.2 inning save last night, and needed 40 pitches to get the job done.
