Ryan Madson grabs another save in Oakland

April 9, 2016

Oakland A’s — A few days ago, Bob Melvin explained that though Sean Doolittle was the team’s closer, he could be used in the eighth if matchups required a strong lefthander. And in a tie game Friday night, Doolittle came on in the eighth to face the middle of the Seattle order, including two lefties and a switch-hitter. Ryan Madson earned his second save of the year and told reporters afterward that there were “no egos” in the Oakland bullpen. This approach is great for A’s fans and bullpen postmodernists, but Doolittle owners might prefer a more traditional role for the bearded one, as he fights to return to his 2014 dominance.

Hierarchy remains: Doolittle | Madson | Axford.

Pittsburgh Pirates — In a one-run game in the eighth, Clint Hurdle used Neftali Feliz yet again. Both Hurdle and GM Neal Huntington have called Tony Watson the team’s second-best reliever, but say he won’t be limited to the eighth inning alone. That doesn’t explain why he sat and watched Feliz pick up this high-leverage hold, but for now, we’ll keep the status quo. (P.S. — Only two days left to secure your own piece of Neftali Feliz memorabilia! Prove you bought this and we’ll give you free Closer Monkey Premium for a year!)

Hierarchy remains: Melancon | Watson | Feliz.

Cincinnati Reds — Few pitchers have good numbers with the bases loaded, but J.J. Hoover’s struggles are titanic. Last night he was summoned with three on with a chance for a four-out save, but instead surrendered a Papa Slam grand slam to earn the loss. Hoover will likely be featured in our first Hot Seat column next week.

Hierarchy remains: Hoover | Diaz | Cingrani.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Michael Blazek, Milwaukee Brewers — Jeremy Jeffress has pitched on three of the last four days.

Jeanmar Gomez may be next in line for a Philly save opp

April 8, 2016

Philadelphia Phillies — The Phillies are now 0-3 after Thursday’s loss, and although there was no save chance, the closer situation became even murkier. After the game, manager Pete Mackanin said he was thinking about using Jeanmar Gomez in a save opportunity: “I was thinking about Gomez. We’re auditioning. We’ve got to find out. It’s a daily question. Why not Gomez? Let’s see what he can do.” Later he called the situation “up for grabs” and a “toss-up.” This kind of uncertainty is not what fantasy managers want to hear. Either way, it could be worth snatching up the new leader in the majors’ most volatile committee.

Updated hierarchy: *Gomez | Hinojosa | Hernandez.
* = closer-by-committee

Texas Rangers — The Rangers have three losses, each credited to a member of their beleaguered bullpen. Shawn Tolleson, whose grip on the ninth inning weakens every day, allowed a walk-off, bases-loaded single to Albert Pujols Thursday night. That run was charged to Sam Dyson, who took the loss but pitched pretty well, escaping a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the eighth inning. Jeff Bannister doesn’t blame Tolleson or anyone else in the Rangers pen for the struggles, saying after the game, “I felt like our bullpen threw the ball very well.” Yeah, okay. For now, there are no changes to the hierarchy…

Hierarchy remains: Tolleson | Dyson | Kela.

Houston Astros — What happened to Ken Giles? A consensus top-five closer before the season, he was relegated to setup duty after a rough spring, a move that took him by surprise. After allowing a run in one inning against New York earlier this week, Giles came on in a tie game on Thursday with a runner on first in the seventh. He gave up a single and a three-run homer, ballooning his early ERA to 16.20. The home run allowed — his second of the year — matches his total for all of 2015.

Hierarchy remains: Gregerson | Giles | Neshek.

Baltimore Orioles — Zach Britton got a night off after throwing 26 pitches in Wednesday’s game, leaving the save opportunity for the excellent Darren O’Day, who struck out the side.

Hierarchy remains: Britton | O’Day | Givens.

New York Yankees — Andrew Miller fought through the pain from a chip fracture in his non-pitching hand and picked up his first save of the season, working around two singles. Despite his injury, he’ll man the closer role until Aroldis Chapman returns from his domestic violence-related suspension.

Hierarchy remains: Miller | Betances | Shreve.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Dalier Hinojosa/David Hernandez, Philadelphia Phillies — Mackanin says Gomez is the next guy up for a save opportunity. He probably is, but Mackanin says a lot of things. Keep an eye on this situation.

Dalier Hinojosa latest Phillies reliever to struggle

April 7, 2016

Philadelphia Phillies – For the second straight game the Philadelphia bullpen could not close out a one-run game. This time it was Dalier Hinojosa who blew a 9th-inning lead, loading the bases before allowing a walk-off double. After the game, Pete Mackanin said he might go back to Hinojosa, but also praised Jeanmar Gomez and David Hernandez, leaving little clarity in what is quickly becoming the majors’ most volatile bullpen. Don’t be surprised if Hernandez or Gomez gets the next save opportunity.

Hierarchy remains: *Hinojosa | Hernandez | Gomez.
* = closer-by-committee

Tampa Bay Rays – As the first Vulture Save Watch of the year predicted, Alex Colome was unavailable after a 34-pitch outing on Tuesday. However, Kevin Cash is nothing if not consistent with his bullpen. He has let the reliever who pitched the eighth inning finish the game in each of the last two outings, with Erasmo Ramirez the latest pitcher to do so. Ramirez may return to the rotation when Brad Boxberger returns to the bullpen. Meanwhile, Xavier Cedeno was seen warming up for the ninth, and given that Danny Farquhar has made two straight 7th-inning appearances with the Rays trailing, it seems that Cedeno is being trusted with higher-leverage situations in the early going. Until Boxberger returns from injury, it looks like Kevin Cash will keep his promise to play matchups, which means we will be monitoring the Rays bullpen closely for the next few weeks.

Updated hierarchy: *Colome | Cedeno | Farquhar.
* = closer-by-committee

Texas Rangers – The Rangers are the latest team to see their closer get shelled in the early going. Two days after picking up a tough save, Shawn Tolleson gave up five runs without recording an out in a miserable 14-pitch outing. It was the second straight day of bullpen problems in Texas. Jeff Bannister was at least hinting at a situational closer this spring, and this meltdown could begin to push him in that direction, but Tolleson was stellar last year, so it’s a bit early to pull the plug. However, another bad outing and it could be Sam Dyson finding his way into some saves.

Hierarchy remains: Tolleson | Dyson | Kela.

New York Yankees — Ivan Nova picked up the first long-relief save of the year, pitching four scoreless innings in a 10-run blowout. Nova is still fighting for a rotation spot and does not normally factor into the Yankees’ late-inning mix.

Hierarchy remains: Miller | Betances | Shreve.

Oakland A’s — With Sean Doolittle getting a night off after pitching in the past two games, Ryan Madson picked up the save. Madson has looked solid in the early going, and could definitely push Doolittle for the closer’s role, but Madson himself is calling Doolittle the “anchor.”

Hierarchy remains: Doolittle | Madson | Axford.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Sam Dyson, Texas Rangers — Shawn Tolleson may get a night off after yesterday’s nightmare outing.

Rough start for K-Rod and Tigers ‘pen

April 6, 2016

Detroit Tigers — The Tigers revamped their beleaguered bullpen in the offseason and it came to fruition on Tuesday as starter Shane Greene picked up his first career save. Just as the organization drew it up! Francisco Rodriguez was horrible in his Detroit debut, allowing three runs on four hits to set the stage for Greene in the 13th inning. No need to panic with 161 games to go, but it was not a pretty Opening Day for K-Rod, nor was it pleasant for Mark Lowe either, as he gave up a run in the eighth.

Hierarchy remains: Rodriguez | Lowe | J. Wilson.

Atlanta Braves – After a rough Opening Day outing for Jason Grilli, manager Fredi Gonzalez said that Arodys Vizcaino will be his top bullpen option. The problem is that Gonzalez is only concerned about Vizcaino facing the “tough part of the order.” So while he no longer leads the committee at the moment, Grilli is not out of the running for some cheap saves depending on matchups.

Updated hierarchy: *Vizcaino | Grilli | Johnson.
* = closer-by-committee

Tampa Bay Rays – Alex Colome didn’t relinquish the lead in the Rays’ committee on Tuesday, although he did get some help from the Chase Utley Rule. Colome also threw 34 pitches over two innings, so don’t expect him to pitch on Wednesday.

Hierarchy remains: *Colome | Farquhar | Cedeno.
* = closer-by-committee

San Diego Padres — Kevin Quackenbush worked the seventh with the Padres trailing 3-0 on Tuesday. If the Padres ever do get a lead this season, manager Andy Green said that we can expect Brandon Maurer to protect it in the eighth inning ahead of Fernando Rodney.

Updated hierarchy: Rodney | Maurer | Quackenbush.

Arizona Diamondbacks – Tyler Clippard made his Diamondbacks debut with Arizona trailing in the seventh inning. Daniel Hudson was warming in the eighth as the Diamondbacks took a sizable lead, and eventually came on to protect Clippard’s victory. We’ll swap Hudson and Clippard for now and will closely monitor how the duo is used ahead of Brad Ziegler in the early weeks of the season.

Updated hierarchy: Ziegler | Hudson | Clippard.

New York Mets – Jim Henderson, who had last appeared in the majors on May 1, 2014, threw a perfect seventh inning with two strikeouts in a 2-0 win over the Royals. Manager Terry Collins said he doesn’t want to overuse Henderson, but you can expect to see him take the mound more frequently in the seventh inning.

Updated hierarchy: Familia | Reed | Henderson.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Danny Farquhar/Xavier Cedeno, Tampa Bay Rays — Alex Colome threw 34 pitches over two innings last night, so we’ll see who Kevin Cash prefers next in his committee.

Hernandez meltdown elevates Hinojosa’s stock

April 5, 2016

Texas Rangers – In a bizarre home opener where the Rangers won despite managing only one hit against King Felix, Jake Diekman pitched a perfect 8th inning ahead of Shawn Tolleson’s first save of the season. Both Sam Dyson and Keone Kela were warming in the Texas ‘pen at the time, so we won’t make a change just yet, but it certainly looks like Diekman will be in the late-innings mix in Arlington.

Hierarchy remains: Tolleson | Dyson | Kela.

Atlanta Braves – Thirty-nine year old Jason Grilli did little to lock down his provisional closer spot in Atlanta on Opening Day. Brought in with a one-run lead in the 9th, Grilli coughed up a run, and was tagged with a blown save. Given the fluid situation in the Braves’ bullpen, expect Grilli to be on a short leash going forward.

Hierarchy remains: *Grilli | Vizcaino | Johnson.
* = closer-by-committee

Philadelphia Phillies – Opening day was not kind to David Hernandez. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin tapped Hernandez to hold a one-run lead in the 8th inning, and while it’s unclear whether he would have stayed in the game had he pitched well — Phillies beat writers were speculating that Dalier Hinojosa would get the 9th — it was a moot point, as Hernandez melted down, giving up 3 earned runs on two walks and a hit without recording a single out. Regardless of what the plan was, it seems likely that Hinojosa will get the next opportunity.

Updated hierarchy: *Hinojosa | Hernandez | Gomez.
* = closer-by-committee