April 10, 2017
Philadelphia Phillies – After four Phillies pitchers combined to shut out the Nationals for eight innings, Jeanmar Gomez came in and surrendered a three-run, game-tying homer. He earned the win when the Phillies walked off, but after the game, Pete Mackanin told reporters he was going to have a talk with Gomez, saying ominously “I’ll have something for you tomorrow.” We think it’s likely that the Phillies have a new closer by the time they take the field tonight against the Mets, and that Hector Neris is the most likely candidate. Joaquin Benoit is worth an add in deep leagues as well.
Hierarchy remains: Gomez | Neris | Benoit.
Seattle Mariners – The Angels staged a stunning comeback against the Seattle bullpen on Sunday, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the 9th to win the game 10-9. Casey Fien was the main offender, but Edwin Diaz also had his first rough outing of the season, facing seven batters and allowing five of them to reach base. Diaz has some of the best stuff in the bigs, and the Mariners don’t have any strong options behind him, so we suspect he bounces back quickly, but we’ll drop Nick Vincent down a peg in favor of last year’s closer for Seattle’s AA affiliate, Dan Altavilla. Vincent wasn’t part of the massive meltdown, but he had a role in paving the way, giving up two runs in the 7th, while Altavilla, who throws a nice slide-piece, struck out the only hitter he faced in the 8th.
Updated hierarchy: Diaz | Altavilla | Vincent.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Hector Neris, Philadelphia Phillies – In the unlikely event that Jeanmar Gomez gets to keep his job, he still could get a night off tonight.
Tuesday
1. Dan Altavilla, Seattle Mariners – Edwin Diaz threw 23 pitches in Sunday’s messfest; another long outing today means a rest on Tuesday.
2. Matt Barnes, Boston Red Sox – Craig Kimbrel threw 25 pitches last night; another long outing today could mean a rest on Tuesday.
