August 15, 2015
Oakland A’s — Edward Mujica pitched the seventh and eighth innings with Oakland down two runs, and after the A’s tied the score, Fernando Rodriguez pitched the ninth. As the game stretched on, Drew Pomeranz worked the eleventh and twelfth, then suffered an apparent elbow injury in the thirteenth. The good news is that Sean Doolittle pitched a perfect eighth for Nashville on a rehab assignment; until he gets back, we’ll move the streaking Fernando Abad into the hierarchy, assuming that Pomeranz takes some time off. The A’s are one intradivisional trade away from the world’s first all-Fernando hierarchy.
Updated hierarchy: *Mujica | Rodriguez | Abad.
Detroit Tigers — Bruce Rondon has moved ahead of Alex Wilson in the Detroit closer committee, and should see the most save opportunities going forward, as the team tries to figure out if he can be the long-term solution. Manager Brad Ausmus added that lefthander Blaine Hardy will also see use in the eighth and ninth innings, based on matchups.
Updated hierarchy: *Rondon | Wilson | Hardy.
* = closer-by-committee
Milwaukee Brewers — In between plans to launch a Fresh Prince reboot, Will Smith has kept pulling up to the mound in the seventh and eighth, nudging aside Jeremy Jeffress, who has made only one appearance since August 5.
Updated hierarchy: Rodriguez | Smith | Jeffress.
Atlanta Braves — Arodys Vizcaino is cementing his role as the Braves closer, and David Aardsma seems to be his chief lieutenant, although the relief roles officially remain fluid. Aardsma got the seventh and eighth in front of Vizcaino on Friday night.
Updated hierarchy: Vizcaino | Aardsma | McKirahan.
Minnesota Twins – A trip to the disabled list for Phil Hughes has forced Paul Molitor to move Trevor May back into the Minnesota rotation, perhaps permanently. May had been successful as a reliever, and with Blaine Boyer also hitting the DL (elbow inflammation), the Twins will now be forced to rely heavily on Casey Fien and Kevin Jepsen to set up Glen Perkins.
Updated hierarchy: Perkins | Jepsen | Fien.
Los Angeles Dodgers — After two months, the Dodgers activated Chris Hatcher from the disabled list, only to see Juan Nicasio take his place with an abdominal strain. Yimi Garcia, recently recalled from Triple-A, should return to a higher-leverage role.
Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Baez | Garcia.
San Francisco Giants — Frisbee champion Javier Lopez got the last out of a three-run win by retiring Bryce Harper. He didn’t get a save, but we needed an excuse to link to that GIF.
Hierarchy remains: Casilla | Romo | Strickland.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Wade Davis, Kansas City Royals — Greg Holland bounced back from his horrible Thursday outing to grab the save on Friday, but now he’s up to 45 pitches in two days.
2. Dellin Betances/Justin Wilson, New York Yankees — Justin Wilson needed 28 pitches to get Friday’s save and threw 18 on Thursday.
3. Kevin Siegrist, St. Louis Cardinals — Trevor Rosenthal has pitched in three of four (42 pitches).
