Grimm moments for the Kansas City bullpen

April 19, 2018

Kansas City Royals — Less than two weeks ago, Justin Grimm had three holds, a 2.08 ERA, and the inside track on the Royals’ setup job. In five appearances since, he has an ERA over 50 (a stratospheric 243.00 over his last two games) and a style aptly described on Twitter as fat guy in a 5K: “walk, walk, run, walk, run, shower.” On Wednesday, he faced seven batters, let six score, and was just a triple away from the reverse cycle. All this to say: he’s not setting up anymore. We’ll bump up rookies Tim Hill and Brad Keller, with the understanding that it could be weeks before the Royals can confirm it by having a lead to protect.

Updated hierarchy: Herrera | Hill | Keller.

Milwaukee Brewers — Keeping Kato Kaelin happy and vulture save hunters honest, Craig Counsell chose Jacob Barnes to close out Wednesday’s game with Josh Hader getting a day of rest.

Hierarchy remains: *Hader | Albers | Barnes.
* = closer-by-committee

San Francisco Giants — Hunter Strickland blew his second save of the season, but Brad Boxberger gave up two runs in the top of the tenth. Bruce Bochy called on Cory Gearrin for the save in the tenth. Although Gearrin gave up two straight doubles, then walked the bases loaded, he escaped with the save.

Hierarchy remains: Strickland | Watson | Dyson.

Oakland A’s — The A’s called on setup guy Santiago Casilla right away in Wednesday’s game, summoning him in the fourth inning with two on, down three. He gave up his first two hits of the season, expanding the lead to five. Burning Casilla so early forced Oakland to use Blake Treinen for the ninth, tenth, and eleventh innings (44 pitches), then rely on rookie Lou Trivino for three impressive innings to earn the win in 14. We don’t expect Casilla to get a lot of play in the fourth going forward; although Ryan Buchter has been used late, Casilla is probably still the handcuff of choice for the A’s.

Hierarchy remains: Treinen | Casilla | Buchter. 

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Blake Parker/Jim Johnson — Keynan Middleton threw 30 pitches last night and Cam Bedrosian has gone in two straight (35 pitches).

Friday:
1. Joe Jimenez — Shane Greene has gone in two straight.
2. Santiago Casilla/Ryan Buchter — A save chance on Friday may give us insight into the Oakland hierarchy, as Blake Treinen is likely to get a second day off after pitching three innings on Wednesday.

Chris Devenski, Bud Norris pick up saves

April 18, 2018

Houston Astros — After Will Harris kept the Astros ahead, 4-1, through the eighth inning, it was Chris Devenski who got the ball for the ninth. Devenski converted the save and now leads Houston with a whopping two saves this season. AJ Hinch will always look for the best matchup, and Devenski has been terrific against left-handed hitters, two of which were due up in the ninth. Ken Giles owners have every right to be frustrated, as Hinch’s committee appears to be here to stay.

Hierarchy remains: *Giles | Devenski | Peacock.
* = closer-by-committee

St. Louis Cardinals – Mike Matheny called on Greg Holland to protect a 5-1 lead in the eighth inning. A walk, a two-run homer and another walk ended Holland’s night early, however, and Bud Norris came on to convert a five-out save. Norris now has four saves this season and should be the team’s closer. However, with Matheny insistent on easing Holland into that role, Norris’ grasp on the ninth inning remains tenuous. For now though, Norris is the man to own in St. Louis. Meanwhile, Matheny expects Luke Gregerson to be part of the setup mix in what is becoming a crowded bullpen.

Hierarchy remains: *Holland | Norris | Hicks.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Dodgers – Kenley Jansen now has as many blown saves as he does converted saves after he allowed the Padres to tie Tuesday’s tilt in the ninth. Jansen got off to a rough start to the season, and a combination of low velocity and poor command of his cutter was once again on display Tuesday. After the game, manager Dave Roberts said that Jansen wasn’t right, but also said that he’d run Jansen back out there again. Jansen said he’d figure it out, and he’s earned a longer leash than others. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for Pedro Baez, who earned his first hold of the season on Tuesday thanks to four strikeouts. He has 12 strikeouts against just two walks in 8.2 IP and a 1.04 ERA.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Fields | Cingrani.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. AJ Minter – Arodys Vizcaino has thrown 43 pitches over back-to-back games.
2. Matt Albers – Josh Hader threw 29 pitches in a two-inning save on Tuesday, and Craig Counsell wants to make sure Hader gets the proper rest.

Tomorrow
1. AJ Minter – If Vizcaino gets the ball today, he’ll almost certainly get Thursday off.
2. Matt Albers – If Hader does get a second straight save chance on Wednesday, he’ll get that rest on Thursday.

Shane Carle off to a good start in Atlanta; Luke Gregerson activated

April 17, 2018

Atlanta Braves – Arodys Vizcaino finally tallied his first save of the season Monday night, closing out a 2-1 victory. As expected, pitching ahead of him was AJ Minter, who despite a brief bout of control issues to start the season has opened up with 8.1 scoreless innings. Also picking up a hold was 26-year-old Shane Carle, who got the final two outs of the 7th inning. Carle (11.1 IP, 1.59 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 9 K, 2 BB) has been steady and reliable for the Braves thus far, and we think they’ll continue to look to him to protect leads going forward.

Updated hierarchy: Vizcaino | Minter | Carle. 

St. Louis Cardinals – The Cardinals activated Luke Gregerson before yesterday’s (postponed) game. It’s quite possible that he enters the mix for saves until Greg Holland is ready for the full time gig, but we’ll see how he is used before we mess with the hierarchy.

Hierarchy remains: *Holland | Norris | Hicks.
* = closer-by-committee

Washington Nationals – Ryan Madson picked up the save last night, as Sean Doolittle got a rest after pitching in two straight. Score another one for the Vulture Save Watch.

Hierarchy remains: Doolittle | Madson | Kintzler. 

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Juan Nicasio – Edwin Diaz has pitched in three of four and five of seven.
2. Robert Gsellman – Jeurys Familia and AJ Ramos have gone back to back and three of four.

Tomorrow
1. Jared Hughes – If Raisel Iglesias goes today, it’ll be back to back and three of four.

Bud Norris earns second save in three days

April 16, 2018

St. Louis Cardinals – Bud Norris got another save on Sunday, though it wasn’t the most inspired outing. Adam Duvall homered to lead off the inning, making it a one-run game. A bunt single and a hit batsman then sandwiched a couple of strikeouts, followed by Billy Hamilton rapping a hard liner to left that fortunately found the glove of Harrison Bader, allowing the Cardinals to escape. Despite the shaky outing, though, two saves in three days is what fantasy owners will care about, so until the “easing in” of Greg Holland is complete, we’ll slap a committee tag on this bullpen.

Updated hierarchy: *Holland | Norris | Hicks.
* = closer-by-committee

Oakland A’s – Ryan Buchter picked up his fourth hold of the season on Sunday, retiring two hitters before giving way to closer Blake Treinen, who pitched the final 1.1 innings. That appearance is enough to elevate him over the struggling Chris Hatcher.

Updated hierarchy: Treinen | Casilla | Buchter. 

Texas Rangers – Jake Diekman picked up his first save of the season late Sunday night, pitching a clean 10th inning after the Rangers had taken the lead. Keone Kela and Alex Claudio had already pitched, while the other reliever who may have gotten the call, Chris Martin, had gone in back to back games and three of the previous four.

Hierarchy remains: Kela | Martin | Claudio.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Ryan Madson – Sean Doolittle has pitched in back to back games.
2. Chris Martin – Keone Kela has pitched in back to back games.
3. Tyler Glasnow – Going deep for this one, as the entire Pittsburgh hierarchy has gone back to back games and three of four.

Tomorrow
1. Santiago Casilla – If Blake Treinen goes tonight, it’ll be back to back outings including an appearance that stretched across two innings last night.
2. AJ Ramos – If Jeurys Familia goes tonight, it’ll be back to back and three of four.
3. Jake McGee – If Wade Davis goes tonight, it’ll be back to back and three of four.

Josh Hader dominates in first career save, Middleton keeps racking up saves

April 15, 2018

Milwaukee Brewers — Josh Hader dominated the Mets on Saturday to pick up his first career save.  Hader pitched two perfect innings with five strikeouts in closing out the Brewers’ win.  Although Craig Counsell has said that he doesn’t want to make Hader the closer, it’s going to be hard for Counsell to not use Hader as much as possible in save chances with Knebel out.  Hader has a ridiculous 22 strikeouts in 9.2 innings so far this season.  We will move Hader to the top of the committee based on his save yesterday, but Matt Albers will likely still see his share of save chances in situations where Hader is needed before the ninth or is unavailable due to multiple-inning outings.

Updated hierarchy: *Hader | Albers | Barnes.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Angels — Another Angels’ save opportunity, and another Keynan Middleton save.  Middleton is now 4 for 4 in save chances this year, and that’s enough for us to drop the committee asterisk.

Hierarchy remains: Middleton | Bedrosian | Parker.

Texas Rangers — Alex Claudio picked up his first save of the season on Saturday.  Claudio came on with two outs and two men on to face lefty Josh Reddick, and got him to ground out to end the game.  Keone Kela recorded the win by pitching a scoreless bottom of the ninth in a tie game.  Before the season, the Rangers said that Kevin Jepsen would likely close when Kela was unavailable.  However, Jepsen was not used at all on Saturday, and instead, it was Chris Martin who started the tenth in the save opportunity.  Martin has four holds on the season, including both eighth-inning holds ahead of Kela saves, and it looks like Martin has moved ahead of Jepsen.  Either way, saves could be few and far between for the Rangers, as their lead in the 10th inning on Saturday was the first time they held a lead in 54 innings.

Updated hierarchy: Kela | Martin | Claudio. 

Houston Astros — Manager AJ Hinch thinks Ken Giles will end up with the most saves at the end of the season, but he likes all his options to close games.  One of those options, Brad Peacock, gave up 3 runs in the eighth on Saturday to blow the Astros lead.  Giles pitched a scoreless ninth in a tie game.  At this point, it certainly looks like a committee in Houston, but Giles should still see the majority of save chances and has a chance to kick the committee if he can pitch like he did during the regular season last year.

Hierarchy remains: *Giles | Devenski | Peacock.
* = closer-by-committee

Boston Red Sox — Marcus Walden recorded a three-inning save in the Red Sox 10-3 victory yesterday.  If you had Walden in your fantasy lineup, be the first person to send us a screenshot (and possibly an explanation why) and you will win free Closer Monkey Premium for a year.

Hierarchy remains: Kimbrel | Kelly | Barnes.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Nick Vincent – Edwin Diaz and Juan Nicasio have both gone in two straight and Diaz has gone in four of the past five games.
2. Cam Bedrosian – Keynan Middleton has appeared in back-to-back games and three of four.
3. CJ Edwards – Brandon Morrow has pitched in two straight and the Cubs will likely be cautious with him early in the season.
4. Bud Norris – Greg Holland pitched yesterday and the Cardinals have said they don’t want to use him in back-to-back games yet.
5. Matt Albers – Josh Hader pitched two innings yesterday.
6. Craig Stammen – Brad Hand has pitched in two straight, including a 4 out save yesterday.

Monday
1. George Kontos – If Felipe Vazquez pitches on Sunday, it will be two straight and three of four.
2. Chris Martin/Alex Claudio – If Keone Kela pitches on Sunday, it will be two straight and the Rangers will probably not use Kela in three straight this early in the season given his history.