August 17, 2017
St. Louis Cardinals — Trevor Rosenthal didn’t look right in a brief outing on Wednesday night, and was pulled from the game after yielding a homer and a walk. His velocity was down and he reported “tightness” in his throwing arm; the Cards are concerned that it’s a return of the shoulder trouble from spring training. He’ll be checked out on Thursday and, if he’s hurt, we expect saves to come out of a committee of Seung Hwan Oh (1 ER, 13 K over last 12 appearances) and lefty Tyler Lyons (18 K in 14 straight scoreless appearances), with Zach Duke and John Brebbia on the next tier.
Updated hierarchy: Rosenthal | Oh | Lyons.
Chicago White Sox — Things are getting really sad in the White Sox bullpen, guys. No one on the active roster has a save, a streak that was prolonged against the odds Wednesday night. With a two-run lead, Juan Minaya retired the last two men in the eighth on seven pitches. Rather than letting him go for a five-out save, Rick Renteria trotted out Gregory Infante, who induced a flyout. But when a pinch hitter was announced, Renteria pulled Infante for lefty Aaron Bummer — then yanked Bummer in favor of Jake Petricka after he gave up a single. Three line drives later, it was another walk-off for LA. Petricka has given up eight runs this month and has as many baserunners allowed as outs recorded (16). We still think Minaya has the best stuff, but if you’re this desperate for saves, troll for eighth-inning guys, stream our VSW picks, something, anything but this! Don’t own a White Sox reliever!
Hierarchy remains: *Minaya | Petricka | Bummer.
* = closer-by-committee
Cleveland Indians — In a rehab appearance at AAA Columbus, Andrew Miller pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. You can watch all 12 of his pitches here. The Indians expect to have Miller back on Friday.
Hierarchy remains: Allen | Smith | Shaw.
New York Mets — Jeurys Familia made his first rehab appearance since having surgery in May, a scoreless inning for high-A St. Lucie.
Hierarchy remains: Ramos | Blevins | Sewald.
Los Angeles Angels — Three saves in a week would ordinarily be enough to erase an asterisk, but Cam Bedrosian isn’t fully recovered from his groin injury, and won’t be pitching in back-to-back games until that changes. Blake Parker and Keynan Middleton could see more than a usual share of chances as a result.
Hierarchy remains: *Bedrosian | Parker | Middleton.
* = closer-by-committee
New York Yankees — As the Vulture Save Watch predicted Wednesday morning, Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances each got the night off, so it was David Robertson picking up the save. There’s no sign that Chapman has lost the job or will require a DL stint.
Hierarchy remains: Chapman | Betances | Robertson.
Seattle Mariners — After Edwin Diaz walked three and hit two in the ninth inning, Scott Servais brought in lefty Marc Rzepczynski to strike out lefty slugger Chris Davis. Rzepczynski remains the fourth or fifth option in the Mariners pen.
Hierarchy remains: Diaz | Vincent | Zych.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Seung Hwan Oh/Tyler Lyons — Trevor Rosenthal will get at least one day off, and maybe a lot more than one.
Friday:
1. Ryan Tepera — Roberto Osuna has gone in two of three and could need a day off if he pitches on Thursday.
2. Nick Vincent — Even though the Mariners have today off, Edwin Diaz might need Thursday off too. He’s gone in two straight and threw 37 pitches on Tuesday.
