August 14, 2023
New York Yankees – Clay Holmes has been great lately, but yesterday was bad, as he coughed up a 4-run lead and then took the loss after Tommy Kahnle was unable to stem the damage. Holmes was in and out of a committee earlier this season, and we’ll see if this outing changes the way the Yankees approach the 9th inning. Our guess is it won’t… yet. In other news, Michael King is being stretched out to potentially start games, so we’ll swap Wandy Peralta into the hierarchy.
Updated hierarchy: Holmes | Kahnle | Peralta.
Oakland A’s – Trevor May had also been going well, having allowed just 1 earned run in his last 10.2 innings. But he coughed up an even bigger lead than Holmes, allowing five baserunners to reach while only recording two outs. Kirby Snead (and the A’s defense) did him no favors, as the Nats plated six runs in the inning to walk it off. May is still likely the closer here but we’ll watch to see if he falters again.
Hierarchy remains: May | Felipe | Long.
Texas Rangers – In the least awful — but perhaps most consequential — blown save of the evening, Will Smith had the Giants down to their final out, but then served up a walkoff 2-run home run to Patrick Bailey. Given how good Aroldis Chapman has been, this could push Bruce Bochy back to a committee. We’ll see how it plays out.
Hierarchy remains: Smith | Chapman | Sborz.
Baltimore Orioles – With Felix Bautista getting the day off, the Orioles still used setup man Yennier Cano in the 8th inning, leaving the 9th to Mike Baumann, who promptly blew the save. Shintaro Fujinami ended up shutting the door in extra innings for his first career save. (By the way, Cedric Mullins was the real story of this game, as he robbed a homer then hit a go-ahead homer minutes later, but we don’t really care about hitters that much.)
Hierarchy remains: Bautista | Cano | Fujinami.
New York Mets – Adam Ottavino pitched a perfect 9th inning, inducing three groundouts, to pick up his 7th save. Brooks Raley had a forgettable outing in the 8th, allowing a home run and a walk before Drew Smith bailed him out. We’ll switch up the committee accordingly, though this is still a fluid situation.
Updated hierarchy: *Ottavino | Raley | Smith.
* = closer-by-committee
Pittsburgh Pirates – Carmen Mlodzinski was placed on the IL over the weekend, so we’ll welcome Angel Perdomo to this hierarchy.
Updated hierarchy: Bednar | Holderman | Perdomo.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Tommy Kahnle – Clay Holmes has gone two of three, including the aforementioned 23-pitch blown save yesterday.
2. Matt Brash – Andres Munoz has gone back to back.
3. Scott McGough – Same for Paul Sewald and Kevin Ginkel.
Tomorrow
1. Yennier Cano – If Felix Bautista goes today, he’s likely off tomorrow given his recent workload and pattern of usage.
2. Reynaldo Lopez – If Carlos Estevez goes today, it’s back to back.
3. Tyler Rogers – Same for Camilo Doval.
4. Aroldis Chapman/Josh Sborz – If Will Smith or Aroldis Chapman go today, it’s back to back and three of four.
5. Colin Holderman/Angel Perdomo – The whole Pirates hierarchy — plus a few others — pitched yesterday so monitor usage today for a potential vulture tomorrow.
