June 23, 2022
Minnesota Twins — The local paper wrote up Emilio Pagan as the Twins’ pseudo-closer on Tuesday, but since then, the 31-year-old has blown the lead in back-to-back games. The article quotes Rocco Baldelli as saying that he won’t commit to one particular closer, but we think Jhoan Duran is now more likely to get the next save chance. Behind Duran and Pagan, Griffin Jax has emerged as a solid option for Minnesota.
Updated hierarchy: *Duran | Pagan | Jax.
* = closer-by-committee
San Francisco Giants — We did our part, correctly forecasting that Camilo Doval would get the night off and Jake McGee would get a shot at a vulture save. Unfortunately for our readers, McGee gave up a home run and two singles, and Tyler Rogers couldn’t keep the winning run off the board in relief.
Hierarchy remains: Doval | McGee | Leone.
St. Louis Cardinals — Second-in-line Genesis Cabrera grabbed the vulture save we forecast on Wednesday night, spinning two scoreless innings to give Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley the night off.
Hierarchy remains: *Helsley | Gallegos | Cabrera.
* = closer-by-committee
Baltimore Orioles — Rookie Nick Vespi — just one of several relievers quietly having an excellent season for Baltimore this year — pitched a clean sixth inning with a three-run lead and wound up with an unexpected save when the game was rained out.
Hierarchy remains: Lopez | Bautista | Tate.
San Diego Padres — With a big lead, the Padres turned to Nick Martinez, who reinvented himself during a stint in Japan. Martinez got 11 outs for his first major-league save.
Hierarchy remains: Rogers | Garcia | Crismatt.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Eli Morgan (CLE) — Emmanuel Clase hasn’t thrown many pitches, but he’s appeared in three of four.
Friday:
1. Michael King (NYY) — An appearance Thursday for Clay Holmes would be two straight and three of four.
2. Joe Kelly (CWS) — A Kendall Graveman outing on Thursday would also be three of four.
3. Luis Garcia (SD) — Same for Taylor Rogers.
4. Jake McGee/Dominic Leone (SF) — And Camilo Doval.
