June 11, 2017

Washington Nationals – Koda Glover blew the save last night, but the bigger concern is his back.  Glover tweaked his back yesterday before the game, but tried to pitch through the injury.  It is unclear if Glover will miss time, but if he does, it could be Matt Albers taking over.  Albers threw two scoreless innings yesterday with four strikeouts.  Shawn Kelley on the other hand, gave up three more runs last night and saw his ERA jump over 7.00 for the season.  We will continue to monitor Glover’s status.

Updated hierarchy: Glover | Albers | Kelley.

Pittsburgh Pirates — The first save opportunity since Tony Watson lost his job went to Felipe Rivero.  He struck out three batters in 1.1 innings on his way to his first save with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Rivero’s stuff is nasty (just ask Dee Gordon), and the only thing keeping him from being the full time closer is the possibility that the Pirates decide to use him like the Indians use Andrew Miller.  We will slide Rivero to the top of the committee for now, and if he reels of  a couple more saves in a row, the job will likely be his for the rest of the season.

Updated hierarchy : *Rivero | Nicasio | Hudson.
* = closer-by-committee

Oakland A’s — Sean Doolittle returned last night with a perfect eighth inning ahead of closer Santiago Casilla.  Prior to Doolittle’s injury in April, the A’s were employing a semi-committee approach with Doolittle and Casilla getting saves.  Casilla was fine in the closer’s role by himself while Doolittle was out, but he certainly didn’t run away with the job.  Doolittle could work his way back to some chances if he continues to pitch like he did last night.

Updated hierarchy: Casilla | Doolittle | Madson.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Matt Albers/Shawn Kelley – If Koda Glover can’t go today because of his back, Matt Albers could get the call.  However, Albers threw 29 pitches in a two inning outing yesterday so if he also gets the day off, they could go to Shawn Kelley.

Monday
1. Tommy Kahnle – David Robertson threw 29 pitches in two innings yesterday so if he pitches again on Sunday, he could get Monday off.
2. Taylor Rogers –  If Brandon Kintzler pitches on Sunday, that will be two straight and four of the previous five games.