September 10, 2017
St. Louis Cardinals — The Cardinals went right back to their newest bullpen piece last night, and Juan Nicasio responded by striking out two in a scoreless inning for the save. Nicasio has been pitching well and racking up reliever stats (2 wins, 2 holds, and 2 saves in his last 7 appearances). Seung Hwan Oh has not been particularly effective at the top of the committee, and now the Cardinals look ready to use the veteran Nicasio in that spot.
Updated hierarchy: *Nicasio | Lyons | Oh.
* = closer-by-committee
Toronto Blue Jays – Ryan Tepera got the call in the ninth inning yesterday, and despite giving up a couple runs, he was able to record his second save of the season. Regular closer Roberto Osuna was unavailable due to a bad neck. The Blue Jays hope Osuna will only miss a day or two, but we will continue to monitor the situation to see if the injury becomes more serious. Ryan Tepera should close while Osuna is out.
Hierarchy remains: Osuna | Tepera | Leone.
Kansas City Royals — Brandon Maurer pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up the first save since Kelvin Hererra’s demotion. Mike Minor pitched 1.2 scoreless innings ahead of Maurer and got the win. Maurer should get the majority of save chances, and could have a chance to kick the asterisk if he can pitch well down the stretch.
Hierarchy remains: *Maurer | Alexander | Minor.
* = closer-by-committee
New York Yankees — The Yankees are hoping Aroldis Chapman can return to form as a dominant closer down the stretch, and yesterday he certainly looked the part. In his first 1-2-3 save since July 25th, Chapman was efficient throwing strikes while also electric, striking out Mike Napoli on a 102 MPH fastball to finish the game. This outing might be enough to solidify Chapman in the closer’s role again, but we will wait to see one more before removing the committee.
Hierarchy remains: *Chapman | Betances | Robertson.
* = closer-by-committee
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Ryan Tepera – Roberto Osuna may get another day off to deal with his bad neck.
Monday
1. Jake McGee – If Greg Holland pitches Sunday, it will be three in a row
2. Tony Barnette/Ricardo Rodriguez – Alex Claudio threw 30 pitches yesterday so if he goes again today, he could get Monday off.
