September 21, 2021
Cleveland Indians – Anthony Gose, who last played in the bigs five years ago as an outfielder, made his return as a relief pitcher, punctuating his appearance with a 100 mph strikeout of Salvador Perez. It’s a great story, but given the stuff he flashed, Gose has the stuff to develop into a valuable reliever for the Indians going forward.
Hierarchy remains: Clase | Shaw | Parker.
Detroit Tigers – Alex Lange picked up his first save of the year with a clean 9th inning. This might be a committee, but we’re more inclined to think that Michael Fulmer is still the guy here, and that the Tigers just gave him two days off after pitching him twice over the weekend.
Hierarchy remains: Fulmer | Funkhouser | Lange.
Tampa Bay Rays – On the day that the Rays put their erstwhile “closer” Andrew Kittredge on the IL, lefty Dietrich Enns picked up his second save (in his eighth career appearance), recording the final out of the 9th after JT Chargois got the first two. Rays gonna Rays.
Hierarchy remains: *McHugh | Fairbanks | Anderson.
* = closer-by-committee
St. Louis Cardinals – Luis Garcia continued the best season of his career, earning his first save with a scoreless 9th inning on Monday. With a 3-run lead, the Cardinals probably figured this was a good opportunity to get Giovanny Gallegos some rest, though we will move Garcia on to the hierarchy thanks to his stellar second half.
Updated hierarchy: Gallegos | Cabrera | Garcia.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Anthony Bender/Anthony Bass – Dylan Floro has gone back to back, as has Anthony Bender, though the latter has thrown fewer pitches.
Tomorrow
1. Chad Green – If Aroldis Chapman goes tonight, it’s back to back.
