July 10, 2016
Boston Red Sox — Koji Uehara struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning on Saturday for his fourth save of the season. Manager John Farrell has named Uehara the closer while Kimbrel is out. Newly acquired Brad Ziegler will see save chances only when Uehara is unavailable for now.
Hierarchy remains: Uehara | Ziegler | Barnes.
Kansas City Royals — Kelvin Herrera recorded his first save of the year yesterday. Herrera pitched a perfect ninth, while Soria pitched a scoreless eighth inning. It appears Ned Yost will go with the reliever pitching better over closing experience at this point so we will move Herrera to the head of the committee. However, it may be short lived as Wade Davis threw back-to-back days pain free, and will assume the closer’s role as soon as he returns.
Updated hierarchy: *Herrera | Soria | Hochevar.
* = closer-by-committee
Chicago White Sox — With David Robertson unavailable, Nate Jones got four outs to record his third save of the season. Robertson will be out until after the All-Star break, and Jones should continue to close while he is out.
Hierarchy remains: Robertson | Jones | Duke.
Oakland A’s – Ryan Dull’s streak of stranding inherited runners ended on Saturday but he still picked up his first save of the season. Regular closer Ryan Madson was unavailable, and Dull should continue to see save chances when Madson can’t go.
Hierarchy remains: Madson | Dull | Axford.
Minnesota Twins – Fernando Abad’s struggles continued on Saturday; he has given up at least one run in five of his last seven appearances. Brandon Kintzler came on to clean up Abad’s mess in the eighth inning, and even though he gave up a run of his own in the ninth, he recorded his fifth save of the year. Kintzler is seeing most of the save chances and pitching better than Abad so we will drop the asterisk. Trevor May pitched a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts, and now has three scoreless innings since returning from the DL. May’s strikeout numbers are great and he could work his way into the saves conversation if he continues to throw up zeroes.
Updated hierarchy: Kintzler | Abad | May.
Pittsburgh Pirates – Jared Hughes pitched the last three innings of a Pirates’ blowout win to record the save. Hughes has pitched pretty well this season but the Pirates’ back end of the bullpen is pretty set right now with Melancon, Feliz, and Watson.
Hierarchy remains: Melancon | Feliz | Watson.
Colorado Rockies — Jordan Lyles picked up the second three inning save of Saturday in a Rockies’ five run victory. Lyles does not figure into the Rockies’ regular late inning plans.
Hierarchy remains: Estevez | McGee | Ottavino.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Nate Jones, Chicago White Sox – David Robertson is out with a leg injury.
2. Brad Ziegler, Boston Red Sox – Koji Uehara has pitched in two straight.
3. Pedro Baez, Los Angeles Dodgers – Kenley Jansen and Joe Blanton have both pitched in two straight and three of four.
4. David Phelps, Miami Marlins – AJ Ramos and Fernando Rodney have both appeared in two straight.
5. Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals – The Royals could still give the veteran a shot at saves.