Ian Hamilton, Adbert Alzolay, and Zach Jackson record saves

May 7, 2023

New York Yankees – Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless 8th inning with the Yankees down 2-0.  After the Yankees rallied for three runs in the top of the 9th, Ian Hamilton pitched a scoreless bottom of the 9th to pick up his first career save.  Hamilton and Michael King have both pitched much better than Clay Holmes this season, and with King working to be available more often moving forward, we think Holmes is losing his grip on the closer role.  We will throw an asterisk on this for now and see if anybody can establish himself as the primary closer moving forward.

Updated hierarchy: Holmes | King | Hamilton.
*=closer-by-committee

Chicago Cubs – The Cubs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to take a two run lead and Adbert Alzolay came out for the 9th to try and close it out.  Alzolay pitched a perfect inning for his first save of the season.  This bullpen is wide open right now and we will monitor this to see what everybody’s usage will be moving forward.

Updated hierarchy: *Boxberger | Leiter Jr. | Alzolay.
* = closer-by-committee

Oakland A’s – Don’t look now, but those feisty A’s have won two games in a row and this one even ended in a save! Zach Jackson pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his first save of the season.  Jackson should see the majority of save chances and if the A’s actually keep winning some games, we might get a better idea of what the back-end of their bullpen will look like moving forward.

Hierarchy remains: *Jackson | Moll | Lovelady.
* = closer-by-committee

Colorado Rockies — Pierce Johnson pitched a scoreless 9th inning with a pair of strikeouts for his 5th save of the season.  Daniel Bard still has not allowed a run since returning but continues to be used in low-leverage situations.  Johnson is clearly the guy to own right now but we will see if Bard can work his way back to save situations or if Johnson will run away with the job.

Hierarchy remains: *Johnson | Bard | Lawrence.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Dodgers – Evan Phillips struck out the side to pick up his 4th save of the season.  Brusdar Graterol recorded the 8th inning hold ahead of Phillips.  Phillips now has the last two Dodgers’ saves and should continue to be the best bet for saves in this committee.

Hierarchy remains: *Phillips | Graterol | Ferguson.
* = closer-by-committee

Kansas City Royals – Josh Staumont pitched a perfect 8th inning, including two strikeouts, with the Royals down one.   Staumont now has seven straight scoreless appearances and has only given up three hits against twelve strikeouts during that time.

Updated Hierarchy: Barlow | Chapman | Staumont.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Chris Martin – Kenley Jansen has pitched in two straight.
2. Richard Lovelady – Zach Jackson and Sam Moll have both pitched in two straight and three of four.
3. Carl Edwards – Kyle Finnegan blew the save yesterday and has pitched in four of five.
4. Scott McGough – Andrew Chafin has pitched in two straight and three of four.
5. Tyler Rogers – Camilo Doval has pitched in two straight and four of five.

Monday
1. Justin Topa – If Paul Sewald pitches on Sunday, it will be two straight and three of four.
2. Dylan Floro – Same with AJ Puk…
3. Daniel Bard/Justin Lawrence – …and Pierce Johnson.