Will Smith picks up another save in the volatile Giants bullpen

July 2, 2018

San Francisco Giants — On Sunday, the Giants used Sam Dyson in the seventh, Tony Watson in the eighth, and then turned to Mark Melancon with a four-run lead in the ninth. Melancon retired the first two guys, but then gave up three straight singles, so it was Will Smith earning his second save in three nights. Lefties Smith (34 K in 24.1 IP, 0.70 WHIP) and Watson (1.64 ERA, 15 straight scoreless appearances) have been awesome this season, as has Reyes Moronta. Melancon could be in the mix, and you can’t necessarily rule out Dyson, so this situation will stay messy, but we’ll move Smith up top and hope he can hang on to the job. For his part, Bruce Bochy says he considers these guys “interchangeable.”

Updated hierarchy: *Smith | Watson | Dyson.
* = closer-by-committee

Atlanta Braves — AJ Minter grabbed his third save of the season on Sunday, but it might be his last for a while — Arodys Vizcaino is expected to be activated from the DL on Monday.

Hierarchy remains: *Minter | Winkler | Carle.
* = closer-by-committee

Philadelphia Phillies — Pat Neshek returned from the disabled list and made his season debut, allowing a single and inducing a groundout in the seventh. Neshek is almost 38, but not many middle relievers can match his success over the past few years, and he should get a chance to re-establish himself in the seventh inning for the Phils.

Updated hierarchy: *Dominguez | Hunter | Neshek.
* = closer-by-committee

Seattle Mariners — Seattle’s 26-11 record in one-run games is due in large part to Edwin Diaz, whose 32 saves are tops in MLB by a whopping eight. Diaz, only 24, is already in the top 200 for career saves (84), and is on pace to threaten K-Rod’s record of 62 saves in a single season. K-Rod, by the way, is 16 months younger than Pat Neshek, and is currently earning saves alongside Jordany Valdespin and Emilio Bonifacio on the independent Long Island Ducks. (Get your QuackerJack wallpapers here.) The point here is that Edwin Diaz is really good.

Hierarchy remains: Diaz | Colome | Pazos.

New York Mets — After two sparkling starts and three more pedestrian ones, the Mets have returned Seth Lugo to the bullpen, where he will bolster Anthony Swarzak and Robert Gsellman in the middle innings.

Hierarchy remains: Familia | Swarzak | Gsellman.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Jose Alvarado — Sergio Romo has pitched in three straight.
2. John Buccigross — Scott Van Pelt tweaked his shoulder patting himself on the back for predicting LeBron’s move to the Lakers, and may not be able to go tomorrow.

Tuesday:
1. Kyle Crick — Felipe Vazquez has gone in two of three.

Ryan Tepera to DL, Giants bullpen wide open

July 1, 2018

Toronto Blue Jays – The Blue Jays have placed Ryan Tepera on the 10-day DL.  Seung Hwan Oh got the top ninth in a tie game yesterday, which is usually a spot for the team’s closer, so we will move Oh to the top of the committee.  Manager John Gibbons said that he likes that Oh is going to come in and throw strikes.  However, that could work against him since Gibbons could choose to bring him in prior to the 9th.  Tyler Clippard got the most recent save and will certainly be in the mix.  For now, we expect those two to split closing duties but we shall see if either one can seize the job until Osuna comes back.

Updated hierarchy: *Oh | Clippard | Biagini.
* = closer-by-committee

San Francisco Giants – The Giants bullpen appears to be wide open.  After Sam Dyson’s latest blown save on Thursday, Bochy said he would open the closing job to others.  He made good on that on Friday with Will Smith getting the save, but with Dyson unavailable that night and so many other options to close, it’s hard to know where Bochy will go next.  For now, it appears Mark Melancon may not be in the mix since his arm isn’t strong enough yet to resume the role of closer.  That still leaves Dyson, Smith, as well as Tony Watson and rookie Reyes Moronta.  Bochy has been trying to manage the workload for all these guys so it looks like a committee for now.

Updated hierarchy: *Dyson | Smith | Watson.
* = closer-by-committee

Philadelphia Phillies – Yesterday, Seranthony Dominguez recorded his seventh save in eight chances.  In other Phillies’ bullpen news, the team leader in saves, Hector Neris, got sent back down to Triple-A after giving up three homers on Friday night.

Updated hierarchy: *Dominguez | Hunter | Morgan.
* = closer-by-committee

Colorado Rockies — As predicted by the Vulture Save Watch, Wade Davis got the day off on Saturday and Adam Ottavino recorded his second save of the season.  Ottavino should continue to see save chances when Davis is unavailable.

Hierarchy remains: Davis | Ottavino | McGee.

Oakland A’s — The Vulture Save Watch went 2 for 2 yesterday, with the assist going to Santiago Casilla.  With the A’s up five in the ninth, Casilla loaded the bases and Lou Trivino came on to get last two outs and record the save.

Hierarchy remains: Treinen | Trivino | Buchter.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Tyler Clippard – Seung Hwan Oh has pitched in two straight

Monday
1. Drew Steckenrider – If Kyle Barraclough pitches on Sunday, that will be three in a row.