April 2, 2021
St. Louis Cardinals – Is Alex Reyes the closer? Let’s look at the evidence. Reyes pitched the ninth with a five-run lead, allowing a hit and a walk with a strikeout in a scoreless inning to secure the win. Before the game. beat writer Derrick Goold says he believes Reyes is the team’s closer to open the season, even if the Cardinals won’t publicly say that. This could make sense if they hope to ease Jordan Hicks back into the role slowly. Let’s adjust the hierarchy accordingly, for now.
Updated hierarchy: *Reyes | Gallegos | Hicks.
* = closer-by-committee
Oakland A’s — Closer Trevor Rosenthal was placed on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. Expect Jake Diekman to take over as closer in the interim, with Sergio Romo another possible option. Yusmeiro Petit and Lou Trivino should move into the seventh inning.
Updated hierarchy: Diekman | Romo | Petit.
Cleveland Indians – James Karinchak looked a little shaky in his first outing of 2021. He tossed a scoreless eighth inning with his team trailing, but threw just nine of his 17 pitches for strikes. Emmanuel Clase was seen warming in the bullpen in the event Cleveland took the lead in the ninth. Also, earlier this week, manager Terry Francona said he spoke to Karinchak, Clase and Nick Wittgren about bullpen roles, saying he would “keep workloads pretty even,” which could indicate a committee, at least to start the campaign.
Updated hierarchy: *Karinchak | Clase | Wittgren
* = closer-by-committee
San Diego Padres – While “club sources” hinted that Emilio Pagan would likely be the closer to start the year, manager Jayce Tingler seemed to indicate something very different Thursday. Pagan pitched the seventh inning in a tie game and Drew Pomeranz went into the game with a one-run lead in the eighth inning, leaving Mark Melancon with a clean save chance, which he converted with a seven-pitch ninth inning. Pagan’s appearance suggests he’ll still see high-leverage looks, but perhaps as a relief ace type and not necessarily as the save-getter. After the game, manager Jayce Tingler said as much, citing who would pitch the seventh inning as the most important bullpen decision he made. He added, “You may see some different combinations (in the ninth inning).” We’ll slide Melancon to the top for now, and because of the relative uncertainty, let’s put a committee tag on this until we see Melancon (or someone else) take hold of the closer role.
Updated hierarchy: *Melancon | Pagan | Pomeranz.
* = closer-by-committee
Tampa Bay Rays — Diego Castillo was given the first save chance of the season for the Rays and he converted with two strikeouts. Ryan Thompson pitched the seventh and Pete Fairbanks pitched the eighth ahead of Castillo. It’d be nice if it always worked this way, wouldn’t it? But it won’t. We’ll move Castillo to the front, for now, but expect Fairbanks to get his share of chances, too.
Updated hierarchy: *Castillo | Fairbanks | Roe.
* = closer-by-committee
Kansas City Royals – In a wild Opening Day tilt with the Texas Rangers, Greg Holland was called into the game with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and KC clinging to a 13-9 lead. He stayed on to pitch the ninth after the Royals tacked on a run but ran into trouble, allowing a single, two walks and throwing a wild pitch. Wade Davis of all people came on to strike out Nick Solak and Nate Lowe to close things out to earn his first save with the Royals since 2016. Holland is likely the closer, but an old Royal (Davis) finding form in his return to KC wouldn’t be all that surprising. Remember Holland last year?
Hierarchy remains: Holland | Barlow | Staumont.
Toronto Blue Jays — In a tie game on the road, the Blue Jays went with Tyler Chatwood, David Phelps, Rafael Dolis and Jordan Romano through nine innings. When the Jays took the lead in the 10th, Julian Merryweather did the honors, striking out the side for his first save. Romano was used in a traditional spot for a closer, but we’ll monitor Merryweather as his outing was terrific and he touches 99 mph with his fastball.
Hierarchy remains: *Romano | Dolis | Phelps.
* = closer-by-committee
Pittsburgh Pirates – Richard Rodriguez looked impressive Thursday in nailing down his first save, walking one and striking out two. David Bednar, who turned heads in spring training, pitched nicely in a seventh-inning appearance, striking out two in a scoreless frame. Kyle Crick, meanwhile, was unavailable as he is on paternity leave and will be away from the team to start the year.
Hierarchy remains: *Rodriguez | Crick | Stratton.
* = closer-by-committee
Baltimore Orioles — Opening Day was rained out for the Orioles. When the season starts Friday, they’ll be without committeeman Shawn Armstrong, who is on paternity leave.
Hierarchy remains: *Scott | Armstrong | Fry.
* = closer-by-committee
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Chad Green – Aroldis Chapman is still serving his suspension. The Yankees seemed to indicate they will use a committee approach when Chapman is unavailable, but Green remains the top choice in our eyes.
