Bruce Rondon grabs a save; Drew Storen getting rocked lately

August 13, 2015

Cincinnati Reds – In the 7th inning the Reds turned to Jumbo Diaz to protect a 2 run lead. He has now had holds in two of his last three appearances, and has only given up 1 run since returning to the big leagues on July 18th. Meanwhile, Burke Badenhop has appeared in 3 straight losses. On the off chance that both Hoover and Chapman are unavailable, it seems that Diaz would fill in.

Updated hierarchy: Chapman | Hoover | Diaz.

Detroit Tigers – With Detroit up 3, it was Bruce Rondon who got the call to close out the game. When he started to get in trouble, hitting a batter and then issuing a 5 pitch walk, Alex Wilson was seen frantically warming up. Rondon settled down and got the next two outs for his 2nd save. After the game, Brad Ausmus said that with an off day coming up he did not want to use Alex Wilson, who was available, but is still recovering from shoulder fatigue. However, Ausmus also said that with the way Rondon has been pitching recently, he will see more opportunities. We have liked Rondon as the closer ever since the Joakim Soria deal, and this might be the first signs that the Tigers agree, but with Ausmus still backing Wilson for the late innings, we won’t shift this committee around just yet.

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

Washington Nationals – Demoted after the Jonathan Papelbon trade, Drew Storen looked like a man on a mission, racking up nine strikeouts over five hitless innings. But over his last three outings, Storen has been a wreck, taking consecutive losses against the Rockies and letting the game get out of hand last night against the Dodgers. In total, he’s allowed 8 ERs over those three appearances, more than doubling his ERA (1.52 to 3.07). We won’t push him down the hierarchy yet, but with the Nationals starting to lose ground in the standings, they might be quick to push Casey Janssen into a larger role. Janssen has posted 10 scoreless appearances in his last 11 outings.

Hierarchy remains: Papelbon | Storen | Janssen.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Bryan Shaw, Cleveland Indians – Cody Allen has thrown 40 total pitches in back to back appearances and his outing yesterday spanned 1.2 innings.

Junichi Tazawa gets first save chance for Boston after Uehara’s injury

August 12, 2015

Boston Red Sox — Boston got its first post-Uehara save chance, and John Farrell went to Jean Machi for a shaky eighth, followed by Junichi Tazawa in the ninth. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Tazawa gave up two singles, a wild pitch, and a sac fly to blow the save. As you probably know, Tazawa’s numbers (2.69 FIP, 48 K in 49 IP) are far superior to Machi’s (4.36 FIP, 3.86 BB/9), so we’re going to cross our fingers and hope that tonight might be a sign that he’ll get a majority of chances in this committee. Meanwhile, even though the recently promoted Ryan Cook was used in the sixth on Tuesday night, Farrell mentioned him as a third closer option down the stretch. With options like these, your only winning move is not to play.

Updated hierarchy: *Tazawa | Machi | Cook.

Tampa Bay Rays — Kevin Cash got Brad Boxberger and Jake McGee some extra rest by using lefty Xavier Cedeno to pick up the save. The outing was Cedeno’s twelfth straight without a run allowed, and Cash has praised him as a “model of consistency.”

Updated hierarchy: Boxberger | McGee | Cedeno.

Baltimore Orioles — Shoulder tendinitis is the apparent source of Chaz Roe’s recent struggles; he’ll head to the disabled list and be replaced in the Baltimore hierarchy by Brad Brach (63 K in 55.1 IP).

Updated hierarchy: Britton | O’Day | Brach.

Kansas City Royals — Luke Hochevar earned a 2.2-inning save on Tuesday night. If you started him on your fantasy team and you can prove it with a screenshot, we’ll let you sponsor tomorrow’s email for free! NOTE: Offer does not apply to fantasy teams owned by Luke Hochevar. While we’re here, we should mention that Wade Davis has a stiff back and hasn’t pitched since last Thursday.

Hierarchy remains: Holland | Davis | Herrera.

Chicago Cubs — With a lefty-heavy lineup coming up for the Brewers, the Cubs called on lefty James Russell to nail down the save. BOOM!! You got MADDONed! It was a planned night off for Hector Rondon.

Hierarchy remains: Rondon | Strop | Hunter.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Jean Machi/Ryan Cook, Boston Red Sox — See above.

Koji Uehara out for the season, Jean Machi best bet to close

August 11, 2015

Boston Red Sox – While initial x-rays were negative on Koji Uehara’s injured right wrist, a follow-up CT scan revealed that the 40 year-old Red Sox closer had suffered a non-displaced fracture and has been declared out for the rest of the season. Uehara was struck on the wrist by an Ian Kinsler line drive on Friday night. As mentioned yesterday, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe expects Machi to be the team’s primary closer.

Hierarchy remains: *Machi | Tazawa | Ross.

Chicago White Sox – Nate Jones continues to impress in Chicago. The flame-throwing right-hander pitched 1.2 innings to close out the game for Chris Sale last night. Jones was given plenty of breathing room, but we expect him to get work in higher leverage spots in the near future.

Updated hierarchy: Robertson | Duke | Jones.

San Diego Padres – Shawn Kelley struck out three in one inning of work against the Reds in a tight ballgame last night. With the scoreless outing, Kelley lowered his ERA to 2.85 on the year. His recent usage — and Brandon Maurer’s recent struggles — suggests that Pat Murphy will rely on him in the late innings and put him in position to add to his holds total.

Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Benoit | Kelley.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Bruce Rondon, Detroit Tigers – Alex Wilson has been dealing with shoulder soreness.
2. Junichi Tazawa, Boston Red Sox – Jean Machi has the best chance at the first save opportunity in Boston, but Tazawa could also get a look.
3. Darren O’Day, Baltimore Orioles – Zach Britton threw 36 pitches in a 1.2 inning save last night.

Jean Machi and Junichi Tazawa to close with Uehara going to DL

August 10, 2015

Boston Red Sox — As we feared initially, Koji Uehara is headed to the disabled list with his right wrist injury. Expect Jean Machi and Junichi Tazawa to pick up the save chances in his absence.

EDIT: Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe expects Machi to be the team’s primary closer, perhaps due to front office concerns about overusing Tazawa in what has become a lost season.

Updated hierarchy: *Machi | Tazawa | Ross.

Edward Mujica on verge of losing job; Jim Johnson gets demolished

August 10, 2015

Oakland A’s – Edward Mujica’s time as closer for the A’s may have already come to an end. Staked to a 2-run lead against the Astros, Mujica threw 10 pitches, allowing two singles and a go-ahead 3-run home run. The A’s bailed him out by rallying in the bottom half of the inning, but Bob Melvin implied after the game that someone else might get the next save chance. At the very least, Mujica is now in a committee, and Drew Pomeranz or Fernando Rodriguez could end up the full-time stopper in the near future.

Updated hierarchy: *Mujica | Pomeranz | Rodriguez.
* = closer-by-committee

Colorado Rockies – John Axford finished off the 7th inning of a tie game, and then stayed on to pitch the 8th, ultimately earning the win when the Rockies pushed a couple runs across against Drew Storen. In a bullpen as shaky as this, that’s good enough for a place on the hierarchy — Axford moves back ahead of Rafael Betancourt, who coughed up the lead in the 6th.

Updated hierarchy: Kahnle | Miller | Axford.

Tampa Bay Rays – Jake McGee picked up his 6th save of the year on Sunday, as Brad Boxberger got the night off after pitching in five of the previous seven games. McGee continues to have tremendous value in holds leagues and is only a Boxberger misstep or two away from full time closer role.

Hierarchy remains: Boxberger | McGee | Geltz.

Los Angeles Dodgers – Jim Johnson was already off to a very rocky start to his Dodgers career, and that was before Sunday night’s historically bad outing. After a shellacking like that, it’s hard to picture Don Mattingly giving Johnson any more high-leverage chances for a good while. The only two Dodgers middle relievers who have been doing their jobs as of late are Pedro Baez and Juan Nicasio, and we’ll slot them in to the hierarchy for the time being.

Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Baez | Nicasio.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Jeanmar Gomez, Philadelphia Phillies – Ken Giles has pitched in three straight.