April 5, 2017
Chicago Cubs — The Cubs are two games into their season and Hector Rondon’s name hasn’t been called yet. The Cubs never led on Sunday, but with a one-run lead on Tuesday, it was Koji Uehara and Pedro Strop serving as the bridge to Wade Davis. Joe Maddon wasn’t ready to panic this past weekend over Rondon’s rough spring, but it certainly looks like he is hoping to ease Rondon into the season with some low-leverage work. Expect more of Uehara, Strop and Carl Edwards Jr. in the late innings until Rondon can find his groove again.
Updated hierarchy: Davis | Strop | Uehara.
Colorado Rockies — Mike Dunn pitched a clean eighth inning ahead of Greg Holland on Tuesday. This comes after a strong seventh inning on Monday. He has struck out five of the seven batters he has faced and has yet to allow a hit this season. This has come after an outstanding spring. Meanwhile, Jake McGee’s 2017 debut on Tuesday consisted of one batter faced and one hit allowed.
Updated hierarchy: Holland | Ottavino | Dunn.
Arizona Diamondbacks — Randall Delgado made his 2017 debut on Tuesday…in the fifth inning. It was just a 3-2 deficit for the D-Backs before Delgado allowed a leadoff homer as part of a five-hit, five-run inning for the Giants. Needless to say, not exactly setup material. We’ll see what happens when Arizona actually has a lead to protect, though some good news is that Jake Barrett is expected to throw live batting practice on Wednesday.
Updated hierarchy: Rodney | Hoover | Delgado.
Oakland A’s — For the second straight night, Ryan Madson got the eighth inning and the task of facing the heart of the Angels’ order. He retired Mike Trout and got Albert Pujols to ground into a double play. However, unlike Monday, Bob Melvin tabbed Ryan Dull and not Santiago Casilla for the ninth. Melvin liked the matchups for Dull, though it didn’t work out, as Dull allowed a three-run homer. Melvin, who said Casilla was unavailable, looks committed to playing matchups when the A’s hold a late lead, with Madson likely getting the toughest assignments no matter the inning. Good luck, everybody.
Hierarchy remains: *Madson | Casilla | Doolittle.
* = closer-by-committee
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Adam Ottavino, Colorado Rockies — All three of the Rockies’ big arms have pitched two straight games, but Greg Holland is unlikely to go in three straight, so Ottavino may get that honor.
2. Bryan Shaw, Cleveland Indians — Cody Allen and Andrew Miller have both pitched in the last two games, which means Shaw is likely to get the call. It is worth noting, however, that Miller only threw 21 pitches over the two games.
3. Will Harris, Houston Astros — Both Ken Giles and Luke Gregerson have thrown in two straight games.
Thursday (new feature):
1. Will Harris, Houston Astros — If Giles and Gregerson both go on Wednesday, definitely don’t expect them to pitch in Thursday’s series finale.
2. Andrew Bailey, Los Angeles Angels — Cam Bedrosian may not get three straight games this early in the season, and Mike Scioscia may share closing duties anyway.
3. Bruce Rondon, Detroit Tigers — Rondon may get a look if K-Rod throws a heavy ninth on Wednesday.