Carson Smith struggles again; Nate Jones is filthy

August 17, 2015

Seattle Mariners – After a successful recent stretch in AAA, Danny Farquhar returned to the big leagues over the weekend and picked up a save in extra innings on Sunday. At the moment, he doesn’t factor in to the usual late-inning plans in Seattle, but given Carson Smith’s struggles (he blew another save on Sunday), Farquhar could become an option for Lloyd McClendon. A resume that includes “past closer experience” still plays pretty well among most MLB managers.

Hierarchy remains: Smith | Rodney | Wilhelmsen.

Chicago White Sox – Nate Jones got the 8th inning in a 3-run game on Sunday, striking out the side ahead of David Robertson. Jones has been electric since returning to the big leagues, and has shown that he still has “closer-in-waiting” stuff. Look for him to share 8th inning duties with Zach Duke going forward — if Jones hasn’t passed him already, that is.

Updated hierarchy: Robertson | Jones | Duke.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Will Smith, Milwaukee Brewers – Francisco Rodriguez has pitched in four straight.
2. Fernando Rodney, Seattle Mariners – Carson Smith threw 40 pitches last night.

Bruce Rondon blows save, Justin Grimm pitching well

August 16, 2015

Detroit Tigers — Blaine Hardy and Alex Wilson combined to pitch a scoreless eighth inning and it was Bruce Rondon again who got the call in the ninth.  However, this time Rondon was unable to convert the save opportunity, as he blew the one run lead by giving up a leadoff home run.  He did finish the inning strong by striking out the final two batters to preserve the tie.  Neftali Feliz ended up recording the save after the Tigers took the lead in the eleventh inning.

Hierarchy remains: *Rondon | Wilson | Hardy.
* = closer-by-committee

Chicago Cubs — Justin Grimm got the last out of the seventh inning and then pitched the eighth inning ahead of closer Hector Rondon yesterday.  Grimm has yet to allow a run in August and has racked up a win, a save, and four holds so far this month.  With an ERA just over 1.00, Grimm should continue to see work in the later innings for the Cubs.

Updated hierarchy: Rondon | Strop | Grimm.

New York Mets – Carlos Torres pitched a perfect seventh inning in a tie game yesterday.  Torres has given up zero earned runs over his last eleven innings, picking up two wins during that time.  Meanwhile, Bobby Parnell took the loss on Thursday after he gave up three hits and two runs without recording an out.  Parnell has only one strikeout versus four walks in her last 4.1 innings and it will be hard for the Mets to trust him in tight situations with those type of numbers.

Updated hierarchy: Familia | Clippard | Torres.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Will Smith/Jeremy Jeffress, Milwaukee Brewers – Francisco Rodriguez has pitched in three straight.
2. Pedro Strop, Chicago Cubs – Hector Rondon has pitched in two straight and three of four.
3. Joakim Soria, Pittsburgh Pirates – Mark Melancon has pitched in three straight
4. Alex Wilson, Detroit Tigers – Bruce Rondon blew the save yesterday so Wilson could get a shot today.
5. Josh Fields, Houston Astros – Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek have both appeared in the last two games and three of the last four.

Sean Doolittle is almost back to save Oakland’s bullpen

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).

Hot Seat: August 15, 2015

Here’s our latest Hot Seat update, a ranking of current closer job security.

Hottest – In a committee, or on the verge of losing their job right now

30. Edward Mujica (cuffs: Fernando Rodriguez/Sean Doolittle)
29. Junichi Tazawa (cuff: Jean Machi)
28. Tommy Kahnle (cuff: Justin Miller)
27. Bruce Rondon (cuff: Alex Wilson)

-Oakland’s next save chance might go to Doolittle after he successfully completed his second rehab outing on Friday. Koji Uehara’s injury has thrown the Boston bullpen into chaos, with neither Tazawa nor Machi clearly in charge. In Detroit, Bruce Rondon has grabbed the job from Alex Wilson, but has only slightly more job security.

Hot – Closers who could be in danger after their next blown save

26. Santiago Casilla (cuff: Sergio Romo)
25. Carson Smith (cuffs: Fernando Rodney/Tom Wilhelmsen)
24. Brad Boxberger (cuff: Jake McGee)
23. Greg Holland (cuff: Wade Davis)

-Casilla has stayed iffy, and Holland drops down a level after his four-run, no out debacle on Thursday. Some more regular work might help him.

Warmish – Two blown saves in a row and these players might be in trouble

22. Luke Gregerson
21. Glen Perkins
20. Arodys Vizcaino

-Gregerson and Perkins aren’t out of the woods yet; Vizcaino continues to impress, but probably needs to do a little more to escape this cohort.

Cool – These players would have to blow 3 consecutive saves for their jobs to be in jeopardy

19. Francisco Rodriguez
18. Hector Rondon
17. Brad Ziegler
16. AJ Ramos
15. David Robertson
14. Jeurys Familia
13. Huston Street
12. Roberto Osuna
11. Kenley Jansen
10. Cody Allen
9. Ken Giles
8. Mark Melancon

-Osuna moves up five slots on the strength of a three-save week. Street and Robertson slide a bit.

Sub-zero – These players would have to blow 4+ consecutive saves for their jobs to be in jeopardy

7. Jonathan Papelbon
6. Trevor Rosenthal
5. Shawn Tolleson
4. Zach Britton
3. Andrew Miller
2. Craig Kimbrel
1. Aroldis Chapman

-Welcome Papelbon and Rosenthal to the safest zone of all. Britton and Miller each get passed by Kimbrel after some minor struggles.

Greg Holland melts down, Jake Diekman moves up

August 14, 2015

Kansas City Royals — It can’t get worse than how the Royals’ top two relievers performed Thursday night. Wade Davis, who has been unhittable all year, allowed two runs. To put it into context, Davis has now only allowed five earned runs all season (0.96 ERA), but three have come in his last three games. Davis hurt KC, but the Royals still had a 5-3 lead. Enter Greg Holland, who allowed two two-run doubles without recording an out to fork over the lead. He has now allowed 7 earned runs over his last 7 IP, ballooning his ERA from 2.60 to 4.15 (his WHIP now rests at 1.47). Holland isn’t in danger of losing his job yet, but he has to be feeling the heat for the first-place Royals.

Hierarchy remains: Holland | Davis | Herrera.

Pittsburgh Pirates — Joakim Soria was a key acquisition for Pittsburgh at the deadline, but with Mark Melancon firmly entrenched in the closer’s role (1.53 ERA, 35 saves), Soria’s value has been restricted to holds leagues. None of this should be news to you, but a closer look reveals Soria isn’t the best holds option for the Pirates either. That honor goes to Tony Watson, who pitched the eighth inning last night to secure another hold (his 28th). Watson hasn’t pitched in a loss since June 25. Soria, meanwhile, could only get one out in the seventh inning Thursday, allowing two earned runs on three hits and a walk. If Soria keeps struggling, we’ll swap him with Watson, but for now, we’ll leave them be, in the belief that any fill-in chances will go to the guy with the ninth inning experience. If it’s holds you want, though, Watson’s the man.

Hierarchy remains: Melancon | Soria | Watson.

Texas Rangers — Jake Diekman has been getting high-leverage work since coming over from Philadelphia in the Cole Hamels trade. That trend continued yesterday, with Diekman (not Sam Dyson) pitching the eighth ahead of Shawn Tolleson. Diekman has three holds and has allowed only two runs in 7.2 IP since he joined the contending Rangers.

Updated hierarchy: Tolleson | Diekman | Dyson.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Joe Smith, Los Angeles Angels — Huston Street has pitched in two straight (41 pitches). Joe Smith could be in line for the chance Friday.
2. Wade Davis, Kansas City Royals — Even though Davis allowed two runs Thursday, Greg Holland may need Friday off after a rough 29-pitch outing.
3. Bruce Rondon, Detroit Tigers — Joe Nathan isn’t walking through that door. Joakim Soria isn’t walking through that door. Hell, Todd Jones isn’t even walking through that door. What the Tigers are left with is Red Sox castoff Alex Wilson (who has pitched quite well this year, to be fair) and fireballer Bruce Rondon, who collected the most recent save. He could get the next shot, too, so stay tuned.
4. Jean Machi, Boston Red Sox — When Koji Uehara was declared out for the year, John Farrell said that Jean Machi would get looks at closer. Instead, Junichi Tazawa got the first crack, and quickly blew the save. Will Taz get the next shot, or will it be Machi’s turn?