June 15, 2021
Tampa Bay Rays – Peter Fairbanks got the 9th inning for the Rays on Monday, collecting his second save in four days. As a result, we’re moving him up a slot in this committee, thus basically guaranteeing JP Feyereisen gets the next save chance.
Updated hierarchy: *Castillo | Fairbanks | Feyereisen.
* = closer-by-committee
Boston Red Sox – Josh Taylor pitched the 8th inning ahead of Matt Barnes on Monday, earning his 8th save of the year. He seems to have recently surpassed Darwinzon Hernandez as the go-to late inning lefty, though Barnes and Adam Ottavino remain the clear 1-2 punch in this pen.
Updated hierarchy: Barnes | Ottavino | Taylor.
Detroit Tigers – Michael Fulmer returned from the IL to pitch a scoreless 8th inning. It’s probably safe to assume he will work his way back into high-leverage spots pretty quickly.
Updated hierarchy: *Cisnero | Soto | Fulmer.
* = closer-by-committee
Oakland A’s – While Bob Melvin talked earlier in the season about giving Jake Diekman save chances, he hasn’t done so since May 26; Lou Trivino has gotten all five saves since then. We’ll remove the asterisk for now.
Updated hierarchy: Trivino | Diekman | Petit.
San Francisco Giants – Jake McGee got the save on Monday for the Giants after Tyler Rogers pitched the 8th. By all indications, this continues to be a committee; since the start of May, both players have gotten 6 saves.
Hierarchy remains: *Rogers | McGee | Littell.
* = closer-by-committee
Seattle Mariners – We love it when old hierarchy mainstays disappear for awhile and then randomly return elsewhere, so we were thrilled to see Drew Steckenrider on Monday night, picking up his first save since September of 2018. Kendall Graveman had gone two straight and Rafael Montero’s last outing was pretty rugged, so this probably isn’t more than a moonlighting gig for Steck, but he has been quite good this year, posting a 2.59 ERA over 24.1 innings thus far. We’ll watch to see if this turns into something more significant. At the very least, he’s increasing his trade value.
Updated hierarchy: *Graveman | Montero | Steckenrider.
* = closer-by-committee
Los Angeles Dodgers – Converted starter Jimmy Nelson has found a new home in the Los Angeles bullpen. So far this season, he’s posted 36 Ks in 21.2 innings — his best strikeout rate ever by a very wide margin — to go along with a 2.08 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. He got the 8th inning ahead of Kenley Jansen last night and could see more high-leverage work if his success continues.
Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Treinen | Nelson.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Tanner Rainey – Brad Hand has pitched 3 innings over the last three days, and Kyle Finnegan has thrown 60 pitches over the same span, so both could be down today.
2. Yusmeiro Petit – Lou Trivino and Jake Diekman have both pitched back to back and three of four, so they both could be down today.
3. Jimmy Nelson – Kenley Jansen and Blake Treinen has gone back to back.
Tomorrow
1. Miguel Castro/Seth Lugo – If Edwin Diaz goes today, it’ll be back to back and four of five.
