April 24, 2023
Houston Astros – After a 22-pitch outing on Saturday — his third appearance in the last four games — Ryan Pressly got the night off. In his absence, the Astros went to Hector Neris in the 8th inning in a tie game, followed by Bryan Abreu in the 9th, once they’d taken the lead. Abreu seems to be tightening his grip on the handcuff role, as we speculated yesterday morning.
Hierarchy remains: Pressly | Abreu | Montero.
Los Angeles Dodgers – With Evan Phillips on the paternity list, Brusdar Graterol got the call on Sunday, pitching the game’s final two innings for his first save of the season. The Vulture Save Watch was on this, of course.
Hierarchy remains: *Phillips | Graterol | Ferguson.
* = closer-by-committee
Texas Rangers – With two lefties due up in the 9th, Will Smith was summoned to protect the Rangers’ three-run lead, and the veteran got the job done, allowing just one hit in a scoreless frame. Though the lefty now has two saves to Jose Leclerc’s one, we’ll leave this committee as is for the time being, as Leclerc (0.00 ERA, 0.84 WHIP) hasn’t exactly done anything wrong thus far, and will likely get more matchup-based opportunities, since he’s righthanded.
Hierarchy remains: *Leclerc | Smith | Hernandez.
* = closer-by-committee
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Jason Adam – Peter Fairbanks has gone back to back.
2. Trevor Stephan – Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak have gone back to back.
3. Joe Jimenez/Dylan Lee – AJ Minter and Nick Anderson both threw a lot of pitches yesterday (30 and 27, respectively) so the Braves could mix and match in the late innings tonight.
4. Drew VerHagen – Ryan Helsley threw 24 pitches yesterday, while Gio Gallegos has gone back to back.
5. Tyler Rogers/John Brebbia – Camilo Doval has gone back to back; Tyler Rogers threw 20 pitches yesterday but could be available.
Tomorrow
1. Cionel Perez/Bryan Baker – If Felix Bautista goes tonight, it’s back to back and three of four.
2. Jorge Lopez – If Jhoan Duran goes tonight, it’s back to back.
