April 5, 2023
Arizona Diamondbacks – The Vulture Save Watch noted that Scott McGough and Andrew Chafin were both in line for a rest, but when Kevin Ginkel got the top of the order in the 7th inning, and the D-Backs took the lead in the 8th, they turned to Drey Jameson to hold off the Padres for the last 2 innings. Jameson gave up a run, but go the 6 outs he needed for his first career save. Jameson came up through the minors as a starter, and was solid as a major leaguer in limited action last year, but probably won’t see too many late inning chances going forward. Arizona’s hierarchy should be rested going into today, and McGough may be on the hot seat in the committee after a rough start to the season.
Hierarchy remains: *McGough | Chafin | Ginkel.
* = closer-by-committee
Washington Nationals – Washington’s held a 1 run lead going into the 9th inning, and turned to closer/fireman Kyle Finnegan. Finnegan misunderstood the assignment, and started the fires instead of putting them out. He gave up back to back homers to blow the save, and then end up in line for the loss. 4 batters (and one pickoff) later, a 3 run shot pushed the lead to 4 runs. Finnegan was pulled after that, for a final line of 0.1 innings, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 HR surrendered. After the game, Davey Martinez referred to Finnegan as “our closer” and said they “need to get him right, right?” Based on those comments, we’ll leave the hierarchy in place for now, but it might be time to buy a little insurance in the form of Carl Edwards, who has come out of the gate strong.
Hierarchy remains: *Finnegan | Edwards | Harvey.
* = closer-by-committee
Seattle Mariners — With an 11 run lead, the Mariners gave the ball to Paul Sewald in the 8th inning. He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk, stranding a couple runners in the process. We shouldn’t overreact to a low leverage situation, but the fact that this was such a low leverage spot isn’t a great look for the leader of a committee. Sewald had just thrown 19 pitches on Sunday, so presumably this wasn’t just getting his work in. Andres Muñoz may have jumped to the top of this committee, but we’ll wait to see the next save chance to be sure.
Hierarchy remains: *Sewald | Muñoz | Castillo.
* = closer-by-committee
Vulture Save Watch:
- Jeurys Familia, Zach Jackson (OAK) — The entire Oakland hierarchy could use a rest, with everyone throwing over 20 pitches last night. If they go off-hierarchy, Jeurys Familia was off yesterday.
- Andres Muñoz (SEA) — Paul Sewald threw 30 pitches last night, and likely needs a day off.
- Joe Jimenez, Colin McHugh (ATL) — AJ Minter has thrown back to back, while Jimenez threw 16 pitches last night.
- Carl Edwards (WAS) — Kyle Finnegan had a disaster outing, and might get a night off to settle himself.
- Wil Crowe, Colin Holderman (PIT) — David Bednar and Colin Holderman have pitched back to back, while Crowe is well rested.
For Thursday:
- Jason Adam (TB) — Today would be back to back for Pete Fairbanks.
- Erik Swanson, Yimi Garcia (TOR) — Same for the entire Toronto hierarchy.
- Seranthony Dominguez (PHI) — Same for Craig Kimbrel.
- Brusdar Graterol, Alex Vesia (LAD) — Today would be back to back and 3 of 4 for Evan Phillips.
