April 25, 2021
Kansas City Royals — There has still been no reason given for Greg Holland’s IL stint but it was short-lived as Holland has been reinstated. Holland did not pitch yesterday and instead, the Royals used Scott Barlow in the 8th and Josh Staumont in the 9th to protect a one-run lead. Staumont struck out a pair to pick up his first save of the season. We will move Holland back to the top of this committee as he leads the team in saves and has been most consistently used in the 8th inning or later. However, Staumont is probably worth hanging onto if you can as he is pitching the best of any Royals’ reliever right now and could continue to see some save chances.
Updated Hierarchy: *Holland | Staumont | Barlow.
* = closer-by-committee
Toronto Blue Jays — The Blue Jays activated Jordan Romano from the IL and immediately threw him into a high-leverage situation. Romano came on for the bottom of the 8th of a tie game, but ended up with the loss after allowing a couple of walks and only getting one out. Even with the rough first outing back, we will move Romano back to the head of the committee and he and Rafael Dolis should see the majority of save chances for the Blue Jays.
Updated hierarchy: *Romano | Dolis | Mayza.
* = closer-by-committee
St. Louis Cardinals – Giovanny Gallegos only needed 23 pitches to record the final six outs of the Cardinals 2-0 win and pick up his first save of the season. Alex Reyes threw the same amount of pitches to get the save on Friday and the Cardinals felt comfortable just letting Gallegos finish out yesterday’s win. Reyes is still the closer but Gallegos has been pitching well and could allow the Cardinals to more cautious with Reyes’ usage if necessary.
Hierarchy remains: Reyes | Gallegos | Hicks.
Tampa Bay Rays — Diego Castillo is back from the IL but he did not pitch yesterday. Instead, the Rays went back to their old bag of tricks using Andrew Kittredge, who was used as an opener two outings ago, to close out yesterday’s win. We are hoping that things will calm down again and Castillo will settle back into the closer’s role but if the Rays keep up with their usual bullpen shenanigans, we will be forced to give in and bring back the asterisk.
Hierarchy remains: Castillo | Springs | Thompson.
New York Yankees — The Yankees did indeed rest Aroldis Chapman and Chad Green yesterday as the Vulture Save Watch predicted, but it was Jonathan Loaisiga who got the save in their absence. Loaisiga has been good to start the season but so has the rest of the Yankees’ hierarchy so we aren’t ready to move him on there just yet.
Hierarchy remains: Chapman | Green | O’Day.
Houston Astros – Although we focus primarily on saves, we are still a website dedicated to bullpens and for that reason, we feel like we should at least mention Kent Emanuel’s relief outing yesterday. In his major league debut, Emanuel threw 8.2 innings out of the bullpen. We expect the Rays were taking note and will probably start to deploy their pitchers in a similar fashion moving forward.
Hierarchy remains: Pressly | Smith | Stanek.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Evan Marshall/Garrett Crochet (CHW) – Liam Hendriks and Aaron Bummer have both pitched in two straight.
2. Sam Coonrad (PHI) – Hector Neris has pitched in two straight and three of four and Jose Alvarado is on the COVID IL list.
3. Kyle Crick (PIT) – Richard Rodriguez has pitched in three of the last four games.
4. Blake Treinen (LAD) – Kenley Jansen picked up a four-out save yesterday and the Dodgers have been very cautious with his usage so far so he may get the day off today.
5. Joe Smith (HOU) – Ryan Pressly could get another day off after working 3 innings and throwing 42 pitches over his previous two outings.
Monday
1. Richard Bleier/Anthony Bass (MIA) – If Yimi Garcia pitches today, it will be two straight.
2. Devin Williams (MIL) – same for Josh Hader.
3. Chad Green/Darren O’Day (NYY) – If Aroldis Chapman pitches today, it will be three of four. Same for Chad Green if he pitches today.