June 12, 2021
Seattle Mariners — Kendall Graveman was activated from the IL yesterday, although he didn’t get a chance to pitch in a blowout loss. As a part of the move, Kenyan Middleton was optioned to AAA. Graveman immediately jumps to the top of the committee to hopefully pick up right where he left off before his COVID stint.
Updated hierarchy: *Graveman | Montero | Sewald.
* = closer-by-committee
Cincinnati Reds — As we hinted at yesterday, the Reds placed Tejay Antone on the IL with right forearm inflammation. David Bell believes Antone will return as soon as eligible, which would be June 19. This solidifies Lucas Sims as the top option in the Reds bullpen for at least the next week.
Updated hierarchy: *Sims | Hembree | Doolittle.
* = closer-by-committee
San Diego Padres — In this, our eleventh season of bullpen updates, Joe Beimel has been mentioned just once, six years ago, in a post that marked his first save since six years before that. Well, Beimel’s back, baby, pitching in the mid-90s at age 44 and headed to Double-A San Antonio. See you again in 2027, Joe!
Hierarchy remains: Melancon | Pagan | Stammen.
Chicago White Sox — The Vulture Save Watch picked up another one, but not in the classic way. Liam Hendriks forced a rain delay with a two-run lead in the 9th, but after the sky cleared, he couldn’t convert the save chance. When the Sox regained the lead in the 10th, Aaron Bummer came in to pick up his second save of the year. Hendriks had been riding a 14-game scoreless streak, so he will be fine. Just make sure you’ve got a dry ball for him.
Hierarchy remains: Hendriks | Bummer | Crochet.
Los Angeles Angels — After Raisel Iglesias couldn’t protect a one-run lead in the ninth inning, the tenth went to Steve Cishek and Alex Claudio. Claudio struck out the last batter to earn his first save of the year. Claudio spent some time as the Rangers closer back in 2017, but isn’t a usual part of the Angels’ late-inning plans.
Hierarchy remains: Iglesias | Mayers | Watson.
Tampa Bay Rays — Hey, great, Pete Fairbanks got the save last night for Tampa. Moving forward, we will be replacing Rays updates with a spinning casino wheel that assigns random probabilities to every Tampa reliever, plus Fernando Rodney, because he’s the last one we could trust. Today we have: Diego Castillo 42%, JP Feyereisen 27%, Ryan Thompson 12%, Fernando Rodney 9%, Andrew Kittredge 6%, Jeffrey Springs 4%. Take it to the bank.
Hierarchy remains: *Castillo | Feyereisen | Fairbanks.
* = closer-by-committee
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Aaron Bummer (CHW) — Liam Hendriks had now pitched in three of four and four of six, and even though Bummer picked up the save last night, he is still the best-rested option.
2. Anthony Bass/Dylan Floro (MIA) — Yimi Garcia has pitched back to back, and Floro threw 22 pitches last night, so Bass could steal a save today.
3. Jake Diekman/Yusmeiro Petit (OAK) — Lou Trivino has pitched in three of four, including 20 pitches last night. Diekman has had a similar workload, so it may be Petit who gets a chance instead today.
Sunday:
1. Andrew Chafin (CHC) — Today would be back-to-back and three of four for Craig Kimbrel.
2. Kevin Ginkel (ARI) — Same for Stefon Crichton.
3. Gregory Soto (DET) — And Jose Cisnero.
4. Tony Watson (LAA) — And Raisel Iglesias and Mike Mayers.
