Scott Effross injury pushes Yankees further into committee mode

August 23, 2022

New York Yankees – A Scott Effross IL stint, combined with the Yankees continued reluctance to give the full time job back to Aroldis Chapman, meant that Jonathan Loaisiga was asked to get the final four outs of Monday’s Subway Series opener. Loaisiga responded by retiring all four hitters he faced, becoming the 11th Yankee to record a save this season. Yankees gonna… Rays?

Updated hierarchy: *Chapman | Peralta | Loaisiga.
* = closer-by-committee

Philadelphia Phillies – With most of the Phillies bullpen unavailable, Andrew Bellatti picked up his second save of the season with a scoreless 9th inning.

Hierarchy remains: Robertson | Alvarado | Hand.

Tampa Bay Rays – Jason Adam got the middle of the Angels’ order in the 8th inning, leaving the 9th to Shawn Armstrong, who converted for his first save of the season. He’s the 10th Tampa Bay reliever to record a save this season, in case you were wondering after reading that Yankees update.

Hierarchy remains: *Adam | Fairbanks | Poche.
* = closer-by-committee

Texas Rangers – With Jonathan Hernandez needing a second day off after pitching two innings on Sunday, the Rangers turned to Matt Moore for Monday’s save chance. The lefty converted for his third save of the season.

Hierarchy remains: Hernandez | Moore | Leclerc.

St. Louis Cardinals – Ryan Helsley was placed on the restricted list yesterday following his three day maximum on the paternity list. This could be for any number of reasons, but we’ll reshuffle Giovanny Gallegos to the top with the understanding that this could switch back in a matter of hours.

Updated hierarchy: Gallegos | Cabrera | Hicks.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Jose Alvarado – David Robertson might need a second day off after throwing a ton of pitches over the weekend.

Tomorrow
1. Dylan Floro – If Tanner Scott goes today, it’s back to back and three of four.

David Robertson to shoulder the load amidst Phillies bullpen injuries

August 22, 2022

Milwaukee Brewers – Devin Williams wasn’t available Sunday after a heavy workload leading up, so Taylor Rogers got the 9th inning in a 3-run game, converting for his 29th save of the season — and his first since July 23.

Hierarchy remains: Williams | Rogers | Bush.

Cincinnati Reds – With a four-run lead, it wasn’t a save chance, but another dominant outing from Alexis Diaz means we’re removing the asterisk. Diaz has been as dominant as any reliever in baseball since the start of July, having allowed just 1 run in his last 17.2 innings — including a 16:1 K:BB ratio in August.

Updated hierarchy: Diaz | Kuhnel | Sanmartin.

Tampa Bay Rays – Pete Fairbanks got his second save in as many days, and he’s now collected all four of saves since July 27. Colin Poche only has one save in that span, so Fairbanks climbs up to first in line.

Updated hierarchy: *Adam | Fairbanks | Poche.
* = closer-by-committee

Texas Rangers – Taylor Hearn picked up a three-inning save in a Rangers blowout on Sunday. He doesn’t factor in to the usual late inning plans for Texas.

Hierarchy remains: Hernandez | Moore | Leclerc.

San Diego Padres – With Luis Garcia having pitched in two straight, Nick Martinez got the 9th inning opportunity for San Diego on Sunday, and converted for his 5th save of the season.

Hierarchy remains: Garcia | Martinez | Hader.

San Francisco Giants – The seventh man out of the San Francisco bullpen on Sunday was the one who ended up with the save, as Zack Littell got the job done in the 11th inning, thanks in part to a baseunning faux pas by Sam Hilliard, who made the game’s final out trying to advance to third on a fly ball.

Hierarchy remains: Doval | Leone | Brebbia.

Oakland A’s – The A’s used six relievers to navigate the final four innings on Sunday, leaving the final two outs of a 2-run game to veteran Austin Pruitt, who converted for his first save since 2018. The rest of the Oakland hierarchy appeared earlier in the game, though as Pruitt’s usage might suggest, none of them had a particularly impressive outing.

Hierarchy remains: *Jimenez | Jackson | Puk.
* = closer-by-committee

St. Louis Cardinals – With Ryan Helsley still on paternity leave, Giovanny Gallegos got his 12th save of the season, pitching a clean 9th inning. Helsley should return today, so we’ll slot him back atop this hierarchy.

Updated hierarchy: Helsley | Gallegos | Cabrera.

Philadelphia Phillies – As mentioned yesterday, Seranthony Dominguez is headed to the IL with a triceps injury; David Robertson will take over as closer while Dominguez is out. The Phillies also got news later in the day that Corey Knebel’s season is over due to a tear in his shoulder capsule.

Updated hierarchy: Robertson | Alvarado | Hand.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Zach Jackson/AJ Puk – Dany Jimenez, Zach Jackson, and AJ Puk have all gone back to back with a similar number of pitches. Whoever wakes up feeling good this morning gets the save chance.
2. Brandon Hughes – Rowan Wick has gone back to back.
3. Jose Alvarado – This whole bullpen is gassed, so even though Alvarado has gone two straight, we figure he’s got the best shot to get a save tonight.

Tomorrow
1. Adam Ottavino – Edwin Diaz threw 21 pitches Sunday; another long outing today and he’ll be off Tuesday.
2. Joel Kuhnel – If Alexis Diaz goes tonight, it’s back to back and three of four.

Luis Garcia records save after Josh Hader is removed from closer’s role while Seranthony Dominguez needs an MRI

August 21, 2022

Philadelphia Phillies – The Vulture Save Watch predicted that David Robertson might get a save yesterday but it certainly didn’t play out as we planned.  Seranthony Dominguez was unavailable because of tightness in his right tricep.  Dominguez will likely have an MRI today and we will send an alert if it comes back with bad news.  

Hierarchy remains: *Dominguez | Robertson | Alvarado.
* = closer-by-committee

San Diego Padres – After announcing that Josh Hader would get a break from closing, the Padres sent Luis Garcia out for the 9th inning to try and protect a one-run lead.  Garcia responded with a scoreless inning for his 3rd save of the season.  Garcia should continue to see save chances until Hader can get back to his old self.  

Updated hierarchy: Garcia | Martinez | Hader.

Oakland A’s — Zach Jackson got the call in the 8th inning with the A’s up by one but he couldn’t hold the lead.  Dany Jimenez pitched a scoreless 9th inning with the game tied and then after the A’s took the lead in the top of the 10th, he came back out with a scoreless 10th inning to finish off the win.  It wasn’t a save but it was certainly the kind of usage you would expect from a closer.  The A’s haven’t recorded a save in over two weeks so it’s hard to have a great idea of what they want to do, but we will move Jimenez to the top of the committee based on yesterday’s usage and his success earlier this season.

Updated hierarchy: *Jimenez | Jackson | Puk.
* = closer-by-committee

Toronto Blue Jays — Jordan Romano got the day off after pitching two in a row.  Yimi Garcia, who has been great the past couple months, pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his first save of the season.  Anthony Bass pitched a scoreless 7th inning.  We will swap these two behind closer Jordan Romano as it appears Garcia is the preferred handcuff at this time. 

Updated hierarchy: Romano | Garcia | Bass.

Tampa Bay Rays – Jason Adam pitched a perfect 8th inning and Pete Fairbanks pitched a perfect 9th for his 3rd save of the season.  The Rays are at least sticking to our hierarchy, as their last eight saves have come from Adam, Fairbanks, or Colin Poche, but it’s hard to know which one they will go with on any given night.

Hierarchy remains: *Adam | Poche | Fairbanks.
* = closer-by-committee

Boston Red Sox – Garrett Whitlock pitched the final two innings of the Red Sox victory yesterday to pick up his 5th save of the season.  Whitlock made his first appearance since last Sunday and should continue to be the first choice for saves when he is available.  

Updated hierarchy: *Whitlock | Schreiber | Barnes.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. John Schreiber (BOS) – Garrett Whitlock pitched two innings yesterday and the Red Sox might be cautious with him after he missed some time last week.
2. David Robertson/Jose Alvarado (PHI) – Seranthony Dominguez is dealing with a tricep injury and David Robertson threw 36 pitches across two innings yesterday so it could be Jose Alvarado today if both are unavailable.
3. Matt Bush (MIL) – Devin Williams has pitched in two of three, including a 37 pitch outing yesterday.
4. Robert Stephenson (COL) – Daniel Bard, Carlos Estevez, and Lucas Gilbreath have all pitched in two straight.
5. Nick Martinez (SD) – Luis Garcia has pitched in two straight.

Monday
1. Jhoan Duran (MIN) – If Jorge Lopez pitches today, it will be three in a row.
2. Matt Moore/Jose Leclerc (TEX) – Jonathan Hernandez threw 25 pitches yesterday so if he goes again today, he will likely get Monday off. Matt Moore threw 30 pitches yesterday so the same is true for him.

Padres to give Josh Hader a break from closing

August 20, 2022

San Diego Padres – We told you this morning to expect the Padres to demote Josh Hader, and they did just that, as Bob Melvin announced that they will give Hader “a break” from closing in order to get him some more regular work. Luis Garcia should be the first Padre given a chance to close games, with Nick Martinez also in the mix.

Updated hierarchy: Garcia | Martinez | Hader.