August 23, 2019
Houston Astros — Righty Ryan Pressly is out for the next four to six weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery. Joe Biagini took his place, but ran into trouble while pitching the ninth with a six-run cushion, so Roberto Osuna, who’s been busy lately, tossed seven pitches to secure the save. Will Harris will continue to see high-leverage looks, but manager AJ Hinch prefers to use him in tight spots with runners on base, so he might not be used to begin an eighth inning very often. Holds will also be available for Hector Rondon and Joe Smith.
Updated hierarchy: Osuna | Harris | Rondon.
New York Mets — As we figured, Seth Lugo didn’t get the save on Thursday, but Mother Nature intervened to make sure Edwin Diaz didn’t either. Diaz was warming while Paul Sewald tossed a clean eighth, but when the rain took over, Sewald walked away with the sneaky vulture save.
Hierarchy remains: *Lugo | Diaz | Wilson.
* = closer-by-committee
Oakland A’s — The Vulture Save Watch correctly predicted Liam Hendriks’s day off — but instead of Blake Treinen, who had thrown only five pitches since last Saturday, the A’s used Joakim Soria, who allowed a run but managed to record his first save. Neither Soria nor Treinen has been very good lately, but we’ll give Soria the leg up based on usage.
Updated hierarchy: Hendriks | Soria | Treinen.
Chicago Cubs — Rowan Wick did get that vulture save we predicted, closing out a 1-0 win for the Cubs on Thursday.
Hierarchy remains: Kimbrel | Wick | Strop.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Matt Barnes — Brandon Workman has pitched in two straight.
2. Jose Alvarado — Emilio Pagan has thrown 40 pitches over the last two days.
3. Will Harris/Hector Rondon — Roberto Osuna threw just seven pitches Thursday but has pitched in four of five.
4. Ty Buttrey — The Angels were off Thursday, but Hansel Robles has still pitched in three of four and four of six.
Today/tomorrow:
1. Derek Law/Justin Shafer — Ken Giles is on paternity leave, and the Blue Jays might not go right back to Law after he blew the save Thursday.
2. Joe Kelly — Kenley Jansen’s limited workload plan means he will only pitch once per series for the rest of the season.
