April 8, 2022
San Diego Padres — Before Opening Day, the Padres swung a deal for lefty Taylor Rogers and manager Bob Melvin confirmed Rogers would be his closer. Unfortunately, Rogers was unavailable and that proved costly for San Diego. Robert Suarez, the favorite for saves before the Rogers trade, had a disastrous debut. He faced three batters, walking the first two and hitting the third. He also mixed in a wild pitch before he was pulled in favor of Craig Stammen, who threw a wild pitch of his own before allowing a game-ending home run. Yikes! Rogers arrives at the right time and we’ll get rid of that committee label.
Updated hierarchy: Rogers | Suarez | Lamet.
Chicago Cubs – It’s early in the season so you don’t want to read too much into a situation, but it really looks like David Robertson is the man to own in the Cubs bullpen. Rowan Wick ran into trouble pitching with a lead in the eighth, allowing two hits and a sacrifice fly before he was pulled. Mychal Givens got the last out of the inning but did not stay on for the ninth. Robertson allowed a hit but was able to pitch a clean inning for his first save. We have a new committee leader.
Updated hierarchy: *Robertson | Wick | Givens.
* = closer-by-committee
Cincinnati Reds – With the Reds, we have another situation that’s hard not to overreact to one game into the season. With the injury to Lucas Sims it was hard to forecast who would be in line for saves. Enter Tony Santillan, who impressed as a reliever late last year (just 2 ER in 19 innings across August and September with 24 Ks) and was overlooked by most prognosticators this spring. On Opening Day, Santillan struck out two in a clean ninth inning to earn his first save. Hunter Strickland and Art Warren did not appear in this game. Santillan has a chance to steal this role before Sims has a chance to claim it back when healthy.
Updated hierarchy: *Santillan | Strickland | Warren.
* = closer-by-committee
Miami Marlins – Manager Don Mattingly cleared up what appeared to be a muddy bullpen situation in Miami, tapping Anthony Bender as his first choice for saves with Dylan Floro injured, even after the acquisition of Cole Sulser. We’ll adjust accordingly.
Updated Hierarchy: *Bender | Sulser | Bass.
* = closer-by-committee
Boston Red Sox — Manager Alex Cora said he will not have a set closer to begin 2022, but he hopes Matt Barnes can pitch himself back into the role. Barnes dealt with decreased velocity this spring. Garrett Whitlock might be the most talented arm in the bullpen, but he’s currently stretched out and is expected to piggyback Rich Hill starts, at least at the beginning of the year. We’ll put Hansel Robles into the hierarchy, but this situation is still fluid.
Updated hierarchy: *Barnes | Diekman | Robles.
* = closer-by-committee
Minnesota Twins — Until we see the Twins take the field, it’s hard to know what they’ll do with their save chances now that Taylor Rogers has been dealt. It should be some combination of Tyler Duffey, Jorge Alcala and Emilio Pagan to start. Also, keep an eye on 24-year-old Jhoan Duran.
Updated hierarchy: *Duffey | Alcala | Pagan.
* = closer-by-committee
