High-leverage Ryan Brasier is back; A’s bullpen a mess

April 17, 2023

Boston Red Sox – Chris Martin was placed on the IL on Sunday with shoulder inflammation, and Ryan Brasier got the surprise vulture save on Sunday in Martin’s absence (Kenley Jansen had pitched two straight), so we’ll slot Brasier in to the set-up role.

Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Brasier | Schreiber.

Oakland A’s – After walking 17 hitters in Friday’s game (one short of the major league record), Oakland’s bullpen picked up where it left off on Sunday, issuing 7 free passes in the final four innings, with Dany Jimenez blowing the 9th inning save. The two relievers who came away looking decent were Richard Lovelady, who was just called up from AAA and contributed two scoreless innings, and Sam Moll, who actually ended up with the loss, purely because he started the 10th inning and thus was “responsible” for the automatic runner, who scored after Zach Jackson came on and walked three hitters. Neither of these guys are on the hierarchy, and with only 3 wins in 16 games so far, maybe it doesn’t matter all that much, but this is probably the most unsettled bullpen in baseball right now, and we’ll continue to monitor to see if anyone emerges.

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

Chicago Cubs – Brad Boxberger got the save on Sunday after Michael Fulmer pitched a scoreless 8th inning. That’s one save apiece for the ostensible co-closers. We’ll keep the hierarchy as is, for now.

Hierarchy remains: *Fulmer | Boxberger | Hughes.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Dauri Moreta – David Bednar and Colin Holderman have both gone back to back.
2. Matt Bush/Peter Strzelecki – Devin Williams threw 33 pitches yesterday.
3. Brandon Hughes – Michael Fulmer has gone back to back and Brad Boxberger, who pitched Sunday, historically doesn’t appear twice in a row very often.
4. Adam Ottavino – David Robertson has gone back to back.
5. Aroldis Chapman – Scott Barlow has gone back to back.

Tomorrow
1. Luis Garcia – If Josh Hader goes tonight, it’s back to back.
2. Brusdar Graterol – Same for Evan Phillips.
3. Nick Anderson – Same for AJ Minter.
4. Matt Brash – Same for Paul Sewald.

Tanner Scott and David Robertson record saves while Michael Fulmer blows one.

April 16, 2023

Miami Marlins — The Marlins have won four in a row and have eight wins on the season but yesterday was their first save since the second game of the season.  It went to Tanner Scott, who pitched a perfect 9th inning for his first save of the season.  Dylan Floro and A.J. Puk both pitched the day before and have typically been pitching after Scott, but this is a good reminder that this looks to be a true committee at this point.

Hierarchy Remains: *Floro | Puk | Scott.
* = closer-by-committee

Chicago Cubs — Michael Fulmer has the Cubs only save so far this season and got the call in the 9th inning yesterday to try and close out a 1-0 game.  Unfortunately Fulmer could not get the job done and he blew the save and took the loss after allowing a walk-off two-run single.  Fulmer had a chance to distance himself from his competition but instead the situation becomes a little murkier with Brandon Hughes returning from the IL.  We still think Fulmer is the reliever most likely to see saves for the Cubs but we will see how this setback affects his usage moving forward.

Updated hierarchy: *Fulmer | Boxberger | Hughes.
* = closer-by-committee

New York Mets — After Adam Ottavino picked up the last save for the Mets, it was right back to David Robertson yesterday.  Robertson pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his third save of the season.  Robertson could be used before the 9th inning in certain situations but he has three saves to Ottavino’s one so far and we expect that to continue.

Hierarchy remains: *Robertson | Ottavino | Raley.
* = closer-by-committee

Pittsburgh Pirates — Dauri “Money” Moreta picked up an extra innings save yesterday after he pitched a scoreless bottom of the 10th inning with the Pirates up 6-3.  David Bednar and Colin Holderman pitched the 8th and 9th inning and Duane Underwood Jr. was likely unavailable after pitching in the two previous games.  

Hierarchy Remains: Bednar | Holderman | Underwood.

Arizona Diamondbacks – The Diamondbacks brought in Scott McGough to protect a one-run lead in the 7th inning but he couldn’t get the job done.  He allowed three hits while only recording one out and ended up with the loss.  Andrew Chafin still has a 0.00 ERA on the season while McGough’s jumped over 9.00.  It’s still early but Chafin could have a chance to take a hold of this job for himself.

Updated hierarchy: *Chafin | McGough | Castro.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Chris Martin – Kenley Jansen has pitched in two straight.
2. Adam Cimber – Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson have both pitched in two straight.
3. Kendall Graveman/Aaron Bummer – Reynaldo Lopez has pitched in two straight. Kendall Graveman threw 33 pitches yesterday so if they are both unavailable, Aaron Bummer could be an option to close.
4. Trevor Stephan – Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak have both pitched in two straight.
5. Jose Cisnero – Alex Lange has pitched in three of the last four.

Monday
1. Giovanny Gallegos – Ryan Helsley threw 27 pitches yesterday and if he pitches again today, he will likely get Monday off.

Gallegos records first save, Wilson his second.

April 15, 2023
St. Louis Cardinals — With a 3 run lead in the 9th the Cardinals turned the ball over to Giovanny Gallegos who converted for his first save on the year. Gallegos has been stellar this year, allowing no runs and only 1 hit in his 4 appearances. Normally this would hint at the start of a committee, but Helsley is riding a 4 game scoreless streak of his own, including 3 saves. The more interesting news is the emergence of Drew VerHagen, who took down the heart of the Pirates order with only a 1 run lead in the 8th. Verhagen leads the team with 3 holds, and has earned a jump into the hierarchy. 

Updated Hierarchy: Helsley | Gallegos | VerHagen.

Milwaukee Brewers – Trivia: Two weeks into the season, who leads the Milwaukee Brewers in saves? If you said Devin Williams you’d be understandably wrong. If you said Joel Payamps because he got the save on Thursday, you’d be less understandably wrong. The correct answer is long reliever Bryse Wilson, who picked up a 3 inning save on April 3rd, and after another 3 inning save last night now leads the Brewers with 2 saves. We said earlier on that Wilson doesn’t normally factor into the late inning plans, but we should maybe add the caveat: Unless the Brewers are up by 10. 

Hierarchy remains: Williams | Bush | Strzelecki.

Seattle Mariners – Paul Sewald secured his 3rd save of the season in a clean 9th inning with a pair of strikeouts. This is enough to kick the asterisk, at least until Anthony Munoz returns from the IL. This comes with another shakeup in the hierarchy as Justin Topa secured his first hold on the year, and has now pitched in the 7th or 8th inning of the Mariners last 2 wins. 

Updated hierarchy: Sewald | Brash | Topa.

Kansas City Royals – The Royals optioned Dylan Coleman to AAA last night and brought back Josh Staumont. Staumont immediately got the ball in the 7th inning with his team down by 7, so not the highest leverage return. However, he pitched a clean inning and the Royals don’t have a ton of back end bullpen options, so he jumps straight back into the hierarchy. 

Updated Hierarchy: Barlow | Chapman | Staumont.

Vulture Save Watch:

  1. Cionel Perez/Bryan Baker (BAL) — Felix Bautista has pitched back to back games.
  2. Jorge Lopez/Caleb Theilbar (MIN) — Jhoan Duran has pitched in 3 of 4.

For Sunday:

  1. Erik Swanson/Yimi Garcia (TOR) — Today would be back to back and 3 of 4 for Jordan Romano
  2. James Karinchak/Trevor Stephan (CLE) — Same for Emmanual Clase and James Karinchak
  3. Matt Brash/Justin Topa (SEA) — Same for Paul Sewald and Matt Brash

Alex Lange finally picks up first save for Tigers

April 14, 2023

Detroit Tigers — That’s more like it, A.J. Hinch. Alex Lange was used in the ninth inning of a save situation Thursday, nailing down the save on just 10 pitches. He will most likely be used as the team’s closer moving forward, but we’ll continue to monitor things.

Hierarchy remains: Lange | Cisnero | Foley.

Tampa Bay Rays — The Rays continued their run of dominance Thursday, winning their 13th straight game to start the season, and they can thank the bullpen for this one after starter Jeffrey Springs left the game with an injury after just 3 IP. Braden Bristo, who was just called up prior to the game, wrapped up the Rays sweep with three shutout innings to close a 9-3 final to get the save. Sure, Rays gonna Rays, but Bristo will not normally factor into the late-inning plans.

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

Milwaukee Brewers – Milwaukee’s entire hierarchy pitched in Thursday’s win against the Padres, but it was Joel Payamps who picked up the save. How? Peter Strzelecki got the final out of the sixth and pitched a clean seventh. After Matt Bush blew the save in the eighth inning, allowing a tying a home run, Devin Williams pitched a clean ninth with the game still tied. That left room for Payamps to pick up the save in the 10th after the Brewers scored in the top half. He might not see another save chance this season.

Hierarchy remains: Williams | Bush | Strzelecki.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Jose Cisnero (DET) – The entire Tigers hierarchy has pitched in two straight, though Cisnero only threw one pitch Wednesday and 12 pitches Thursday.

Saturday:
1. Dany Jimenez (OAK) – If he goes Friday, that would be three of four for Trevor May.
2. Jorge Lopez (MIN) – Same as above for Jhoan Duran.
3. Giovanny Gallegos (STL) – Ditto for Ryan Helsley.
4. Jason Adam (TB) – A Friday outing would be three of five for Pete Fairbanks.

What was A.J. Hinch doing exactly?

April 13, 2023

Detroit Tigers — Some weird stuff from A.J. Hinch on Wednesday. Up two in the eighth with all of his relievers rested, he called on closer Alex Lange. After Lange threw 12 pitches against Toronto’s 9-1-2 hitters, he was lifted in the ninth for Trey Wingenter, whose only career save came on a vulture opportunity in April 2019. Wingenter loaded the bases with a single, walk, and hit batsman, and left in favor of Chasen Shreve, who managed to hold the Blue Jays to two runs on sacrifice flies. Jose Cisnero finally entered in the tenth and gave up a walk-off single. Hinch didn’t offer much of a defense for his tactics after the game, and we certainly don’t have an explanation for it. Could be another long season in Detroit.

Hierarchy remains: Lange | Cisnero | Foley.

New York Mets — The Mets continue to use David Robertson as a fireman, calling on him in the seventh or eighth inning when necessary to face an opponent’s toughest hitters. Buck Showalter has buy-in from both Robertson and Adam Ottavino, each of whom should accrue his share of saves this season.  

Hierarchy remains: *Robertson | Ottavino | Raley.
* = closer-by-committee

New York Yankees – The Yankees are turning to Michael King again in a setup role, along with Wandy Peralta, their only lefthanded reliever. We think King is probably most likely to grab any vulture saves (unless they’re matchup-based), with Ron Marinaccio moving a step behind Peralta.

Updated hierarchy: Holmes | King | Peralta.

Los Angeles Angels — Vulture save for Jose Quijada, as we predicted in this space Wednesday morning.

Hierarchy remains: *Estevez | Quijada | Herget.
* = closer-by-committee

Oakland A’s — Chad Smith entered the game with a three-run lead in the eighth inning, and got six outs to finish things off. That’s a save, right? You know your MLB rules, that’s a save. Well, under Rule 9.17(c), The Man confiscated Smith’s save — Smith’s beautiful, singular, precious save — Smith’s first career save — and gave him some useless “win” in its place. This unmitigated larceny, ratified by the highest levels of the commissioner’s office, threatens all we hold dear and strikes at the heart of all we thought we knew. You’ve made a powerful enemy this day, Official Scorer.

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

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Jorge Lopez (MIN) — Jhoan Duran has appeared on two straight days (39 pitches).
2. Jordan Hicks/Zack Thompson (STL) — Ryan Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos have each gone in two straight. Hicks has struggled this year and might not be next in line anymore.

Friday:
1. Jason Adam/Colin Poche (TB) — Pete Fairbanks has gone in two of three, but has thrown only 19 pitches. An appearance today would likely see him held out on Friday. Adam has pitched in three of four himself.