Brusdar Graterol might be hurt, leaving the save to Daniel Hudson

July 6, 2023

Los Angeles Dodgers — LA has wasted little time getting Daniel Hudson back into the late-innings mix, turning to him for a rocky save on Wednesday — his first in 392 days — when Evan Phillips needed rest. The bad news for the Dodgers is that Brusdar Graterol was unavailable with an “arm thing” that could land him on the IL as early as today.

Updated hierarchy: *Phillips | Graterol | Hudson.
* = closer-by-committee

St. Louis Cardinals — Jordan Hicks’s wildness was to blame for last night’s wild 10-9 loss to Miami, but the culprit wasn’t a slider or a 105 mph fastball. It was a double-clutched 45 mph putout attempt that Hicks threw 10 feet over Paul Goldschmidt’s head, allowing the Marlins to walk off the victory.

Hierarchy remains: Hicks | Gallegos | Cabrera.

San Diego Padres — It hasn’t been Luis Garcia pitching more high-leverage innings with Steven Wilson out; it’s been rookie lefty Tom Cosgrove, back from his own IL stint and boasting a 0.59 WHIP through 20.1 innings.

Updated hierarchy: Hader | Martinez | Cosgrove.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Mark Leiter Jr. (CHC) — Adbert Alzolay has appeared in three of the last four.
2. Adam Ottavino (NYM) — David Robertson too.
3. Joel Payamps/Elvis Peguero (MIL) — And Devin Williams.
4. Dylan Floro (MIA) — AJ Puk has gone in two of three.
5. Ryan Brasier (LAD) — If Graterol still can’t go and Evan Phillips needs a second day of rest, there’s not much left in the Dodger pen. We’ll speculate with Brasier.

Friday:
1. Hector Neris (HOU) — An appearance Thursday will be four out of five for Ryan Pressly.

Cubs’ Daniel Palencia impressive in debut; Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase in rough stretch

July 5, 2023

Chicago Cubs — The Cubs remade their bullpen a bit Tuesday, calling up hard-throwing righty Daniel Palencia. He came on in a tight spot Tuesday night, pitching scoreless tenth and eleventh innings on just 12 pitches to earn his first major league win. Meanwhile, it would appear Julian Merryweather has pitched his way into more late-inning looks for the Cubs. He earned a seventh-inning hold Tuesday and has recorded five holds since the start of June. Manager David Ross turned to him again Tuesday after he had a rough outing Monday in which he allowed three runs – his first earned runs allowed since May 26 – and perhaps this shows he has the manager’s trust more than Michael Fulmer, who pitched in a bulk role Monday, has a 4.50 ERA on the season and hasn’t had a hold in three weeks.

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

Miami Marlins – Andrew Nardi was placed on the injured list Tuesday with left triceps inflammation. Huascar Brazoban has been impressive as of late and could see more late-inning appearances as a result.

Updated hierarchy: Puk | Floro | Brazoban.

Cleveland Guardians – Emmanuel Clase had his third straight rough outing Tuesday, allowing a game-tying home run to Ozzie Albies to blow the save. He also allowed four runs in an outing Sunday and two runs (one earned) in an appearance Thursday. Prior to this stretch, his previous run allowed came May 26, so he was going strong for a while and of course he has earned the benefit of the doubt. His ERA (3.54) and WHIP (1.18) are pretty pedestrian for an elite closer, though we’re sure fantasy managers are enjoying his 24 saves, a total that’s one back from the major league lead.

Hierarchy remains: Clase | Stephan | Hentges.

Texas Rangers – A day after a deflating blown save, Will Smith was called into the game Tuesday in a save situation with two runners on, two outs and a four-run lead and delivered for his 15th save.

Hierarchy remains: *Smith | Chapman | Sborz.
* = closer-by-committee

Cincinnati Reds — Lucas Sims notched a pair of strikeouts in a clean ninth inning Tuesday for his first save of the season, as predicted by Tuesday morning’s Vulture Save Watch. Alexis Diaz had gone in two straight and three of four.

Hierarchy remains: Diaz | Sims | Farmer.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. A.J. Minter (ATL) – Raisel Iglesias has gone in three straight.
2. Brusdar Graterol (LAD) – Evan Phillips has also pitched in three in a row.
3. Aroldis Chapman (TEX) – Will Smith has gone in two straight and three of four.
4. Daniel Palencia/Michael Fulmer (CHC) – Adbert Alzolay has pitched in two of three, and both outings were taxing (52 total pitches). Mark Leiter Jr., meanwhile, has gone in two straight and Julian Merryweather has gone in three of four. Who would be next? Perhaps it’s Daniel Palencia, who looked impressive in his major league debut. Michael Fulmer also lurks as a potential option.
5. Nick Martinez (SD) – Josh Hader has appeared in two straight days.

Thursday
1. Andres Munoz (SEA) – If he goes Wednesday, that would be four of five for Paul Sewald.
2. Adam Ottavino (NYM) – If David Robertson pitches Wednesday, that would be three of four and five of seven for him.
3. Lucas Sims (CIN) – An outing Wednesday would be four of six for Alexis Diaz.
4. Sam Moll (OAK) – Trevor May threw 20 pitches to earn the save Tuesday and another appearance Wednesday would be two straight and four of six for him.
5. Trevor Stephan (CLE) – Emmanuel Clase has had two rough appearances this week. If he goes again Wednesday, that would be two straight and three of four.
6. Erik Swanson (TOR) – If Jordan Romano appears Wednesday, that would be two straight and three of four for him.
7. Jose Alavardo (PHI) – Same as above for Craig Kimbrel.
8. Elvis Peguero (MIL) – The above is also true for Devin Williams.
9. Bryan Abreu (HOU) – Ditto for Ryan Pressly.

Will Smith blows a save at the worst possible time

July 4, 2023

Texas Rangers – An absolutely wild affair with the Astros which saw the Rangers surrender 10 runs in the first four innings was seemingly calming down after a stellar long relief outing from Cody Bradford and another scoreless inning from Aroldis Chapman, which allowed Texas to claw back and take an 11-10 lead in the bottom of the 8th inning. But Will Smith wasn’t able to close the door, allowing two runs in the top of the 9th and taking the loss. He now has a 3.19 ERA on the season, compared with Chapman’s 2.37 (to go along with his always-otherworldly strikeout rates) and could be on the verge of losing the job.

Hierarchy remains: *Smith | Chapman | Sborz.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Seth Martinez – This whole bullpen is gassed so we’re going off hierarchy and taking a stab with longman Seth Martinez.
2. Justin Topa – Paul Sewald has gone three straight and Andres Munoz has gone back to back and three of four.
3. Nick Anderson – Raisel Iglesias and AJ Minter have gone back to back.
4. Lucas Sims – Alexis Diaz has gone back to back and three of four.
5. Elvis Peguero – Devin Williams has gone back to back and Joel Payamps has gone in four of the last six.
6. Brusdar Graterol – Evan Phillips has gone back to back.

Tomorrow
1. Tommy Kahnle – If Clay Holmes goes today, it’s back to back and three of four.
2. Dylan Floro – If AJ Puk goes today, it’s back to back.
3. Nick Martinez – Same for Josh Hader…
4. Tyler Rogers – …and Camilo Doval.

Hunter Harvey is closing; Aroldis Chapman is not

July 3, 2023

Chicago White Sox – With much of the Chicago hierarchy needing the night off, the White Sox went to Gregory Santos in the 9th inning. Santos recorded his first save, which is enough to push him past the inconsistent Reynaldo Lopez on this hierarchy.

Updated hierarchy: Graveman | Kelly | Santos.

Washington Nationals – Hunter Harvey picked up his 8th save on Sunday; as promised, we’re kicking his asterisk.

Updated hierarchy: Harvey | Finnegan | Thompson.

Boston Red Sox – Making just his 6th career appearance, Joe Jacques picked up a save with a clean inning. Kenley Jansen was off and Chris Martin had pitched a scoreless 8th inning.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Martin | Winckowski.

Texas Rangers – Time to pump the brakes a bit — at least temporarily — on the Aroldis Chapman Fantasy Renaissance. Chapman got the 7th in a tie game and kept it that way only to see Josh Sborz blow up in the 8th. We’ll continue to monitor the usage here, but for now, Will Smith is back in the driver’s seat.

Updated hierarchy: *Smith | Chapman | Sborz.
* = closer-by-committee

St. Louis Cardinals – Drew VerHagen was placed on the 15-day IL; look for Genesis Cabrera to get a few more late inning chances as a result.

Updated hierarchy: Hicks | Gallegos | Cabrera.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Emilio Pagan – Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax have both gone back to back.
2. Andres Munoz – Same for Paul Sewald.
3. Buck Farmer – Alexis Diaz has pitched in four of the last six.

Tomorrow
1. Yennier Cano – If Felix Bautista goes today, it’s back to back.
2. Chris Devenski – …and Carlos Estevez…
3. AJ Minter – …and Raisel Iglesias…
4. Brusdar Graterol – …and Evan Phillips…
5. Giovanny Gallegos/Genesis Cabrera – …and Jordan Hicks and Giovanny Gallegos…
6. Hector Neris/Bryan Abreu/Ryne Stanek – …and Ryan Pressly, Hector Neris, and Bryan Abreu…
7. Kyle Finnegan/Mason Thompson/Jordan Weems – …and Hunter Harvey, Kyle Finnegan, and Mason Thompson.

Scott McGough bounces back and Will Smith records a save

July 2, 2023

Arizona Diamondbacks — The Diamondbacks went right back to Scott McGough after allowing three runs in a blown save in his previous outing and he responded with a scoreless 9th inning for his 7th save of the season.  Andrew Chafin got the 8th inning hold ahead of him.  It’s a good sign for McGough that the Diamondbacks were not deterred by one bad outing and this appears to be McGough’s job for the foreseeable future.

Hierarchy remains: McGough | Chafin | Castro.

Texas Rangers — The Rangers were up 5-0 headed into the 9th inning but after Joe Barlow gave up a couple runs to make it 5-2, Will Smith came on to record the final out of the game and pick up his 15th save of the season.  It’s hard to read too much into this one out save so we will leave the hierarchy as is until we get a more traditional save opportunity.

Hierarchy remains: *Chapman | Smith | Sborz.
* = closer-by-committee

New York Mets – As predicted in the Vulture Save Watch yesterday, David Robertson received the day off and Adam Ottavino got the 9th inning in his absence.  Ottavino bounced back from giving up two runs in his previous appearance to pitch a scoreless 9th inning and earn his 6th save of the season. 

Hierarchy remains: Robertson | Ottavino | Raley.

Milwaukee Brewers — Devin Williams got a second day off after a heavy workload and Joel Payamps pitched a perfect 9th inning for his second save of the season.  Payamps should continue to be the back-up to Williams and see the occasional save opportunity when he is unavailable. 

Hierarchy remains: Williams | Payamps | Peguero.

Pittsburgh Pirates – Colin Holderman returned after missing the minimum 15 days on the injured list and had a scoreless appearance.  He should slide back into the set-up role for the Pirates.

Updated hierarchy: Bednar | Holderman | De Los Santos.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Chris Martin (BOS) – Kenley Jansen has pitched in two of three, including 22 pitches yesterday.
2. Reynaldo Lopez (CHW) – Kendall Graveman has pitched in three of four while Joe Kelly has pitched in two of three, including a 33 pitch outing yesterday.
3. Jason Foley (DET) – Alex Lange has pitched in two of three, throwing a total of 54 pitches over that time.
4. Sam Moll (OAK) – Trevor May has pitched in two straight.

Monday
1. Taylor Clarke/Amir Garrett (KC) – If Scott Barlow pitches today, it will be two straight and three of four. Same for Taylor Clarke.