May 14, 2023

New York Yankees — Wandy Peralta pitched a scoreless 9th inning to pick up his second straight save. The Yankees bullpen is wide open right now and two straight saves are enough to get Peralta back on the hierarchy.  We will continue to monitor this situation to see if anybody can emerge as the primary closer moving forward.

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

Chicago White Sox — Kendall Graveman closed out a 3-1 White Sox victory to record his second save of the season.  Graveman should continue to be the best bet for saves on any given night until Liam Hendriks is able to return.  Hendriks is currently on a rehab assignment and is expected to pitch today and again Tuesday or Wednesday before being re-evaluated. 

Hierarchy remains: *Graveman | Lopez | Middleton.
* = closer-by-committee

Cleveland Guardians – After the Guardians scored six runs in the bottom of the 8th to take a two run lead, Trevor Stephan came out for the save opportunity in the top of the 9th.  Stephan put a couple runners on but was able to work a scoreless inning for his second save of the season.  Stephan also got the 8th inning on Friday ahead of closer Emmanuel Clase and seems to have moved ahead of James Karinchak on the Guardians’ hierarchy.

Updated hierarchy: Clase | Stephan | Karinchak.

Philadelphia Phillies — As the Vulture Save Watch predicted, Craig Kimbrel got the day off yesterday and Gregory Soto pitched a perfect 9th inning for his first save of the season. 

Hierarchy remains: *Kimbrel | Soto | Dominguez.
* = closer-by-committee

St. Louis Cardinals — Ryan Helsely got the day off after throwing 28 pitches on Friday and that allowed Giovanny Gallegos to earn his third save of the season with a scoreless 9th inning.

Hierarchy remain: Helsley | Gallegos | VerHagen.

Los Angeles Dodgers – The Dodgers’ flip-flopped Evan Phillips and Brusdar Graterol last night with Phillips getting the 8th inning and Graterol getting the 9th.  Phillips pitched a scoreless inning and Graterol recorded outs on the first two batters he faced, but after allowing back-to-back singles, Caleb Ferguson came on in relief of Graterol.  Ferguson struck out the only batter he faced and picked up his first save of the season.  We will see if this sort of usage continues and pushes this back towards a committee. 

Hierarchy remains: Phillips | Graterol | Ferguson.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Yennier Cano – Felix Bautista has pitched in two straight.
2. Chris Martin – Kenley Jansen has pitched in two straight and three of four.
3. Lucas Sims – Alexis Diaz has pitched in two straight, including a 41 pitch outing yesterday.
4. Miguel Castro – Andrew Chafin has pitched in two straight and three of four.
5. Brusdar Graterol – Evan Phillips has pitched in two straight.

Monday
1. Bryan Abreu – If Ryan Pressly pitches Sunday, it will be two of three and four of six.
2. Adam Ottavino – David Robertson threw 40 pitches on Friday so if he pitches on Sunday, he will likely get Monday off.
3. Lucas Sims/Ian Gibault – Alexis Diaz could get a couple days off after his 41 pitch outing on the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday.