Will Smith becoming clear leader in Texas; Tigers’ roles getting murkier

August 8, 2023

Detroit Tigers – Alex Lange pitched the 8th inning last night in a game that the Tigers were losing by 8 runs, which feels like as good a time as any to highlight this AJ Hinch quote from the weekend, whereupon he gave Lange whatever the opposite of a vote of confidence is. (A vote of unconfidence?) Anyway, we’re adding the committee tag here and seeing how this plays out.

Updated hierarchy: *Lange | Foley | Holton.
* = closer-by-committee

Texas Rangers – When Aroldis Chapman showed up, Bruce Bochy was all “committee now!” and we slapped an asterisk on accordingly. But Will Smith has now gotten the team’s last six saves, with Chapman’s most recent coming more than 3 weeks ago. Obviously we’ll put this asterisk back quickly should things shift, but for now, Smith is the clear leader here.

Updated hierarchy: Smith | Chapman | Sborz.

Chicago White Sox – Veteran Bryan Shaw picked up his first save in nearly a year, posting two scoreless innings against the Yankees. Gregory Santos, on the bereavement list, should return shortly.

Hierarchy remains: *Santos | Bummer | Shaw.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Gregory Soto – The Phillies have a doubleheader today…
2. Jordan Weems – …against the Nationals.
3. Reynaldo Lopez/Jose Soriano – Carlos Estevez has gone back to back and Matt Moore has gone four of five. Lopez likely gets the chance if he’s back from bereavement; if not, Soriano’s our best bet.

Tomorrow
1. Colin Holderman – If David Bednar goes today, it’s back to back and four of five.
2. Lucas Sims – If Alexis Diaz goes today, it’s back to back.
3. Tyler Rogers – Same for Camilo Doval…
4. AJ Minter – …and Raisel Iglesias…
5. Aroldis Chapman – …and Will Smith…
6. Austin Cox – …and Carlos Hernandez…
7. Chris Martin – …and Kenley Jansen.

Ryan Pressly experiencing some soreness

August 7, 2023

Houston Astros – Ryan Pressly, who last pitched Friday, was unavailable for Sunday’s game on account of some soreness. With a day off today, it seems possible or even likely that he’ll be available again on Tuesday. But if not, then Bryan Abreu — who capably converted the save on Sunday — could get another chance or two.

Hierarchy remains: Pressly | Abreu | Neris.

Chicago White Sox – With Gregory Santos on the bereavement list, righty Jimmy Lambert got the 9th inning and converted for his first career save. Score one for the Vulture Save Watch…?

Hierarchy remains: *Santos | Bummer | Shaw.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Trevor Stephan – Emmanuel Clase has gone two of three, including a 22-pitch blown save on Sunday.
2. Dany Jimenez – Trevor May has gone back to back.
3. Jose Ferrer – The top three arms in the Washington bullpen have all gone three straight, so we’ll take a stab with young lefty Jose Ferrer.
4. Julian Merryweather – Adbert Alzolay and Mark Leiter Jr. have both gone back to back and three of four.
5. Daniel Bard – Justin Lawrence threw 31 pitches last night.

Tomorrow
1. Tommy Kahnle/Michael King – If Clay Holmes goes today, it’s four out of six.
2. Matt Moore – If Carlos Estevez goes tonight, it’s back to back.

Erik Swanson and Will Smith record saves

August 6, 2023

Toronto Blue Jays – A day after Jordan Hicks picked up his first save as a Blue Jay, Toronto went back to Erik Swanson.  Swanson gave up a run but benefited from the Red Sox getting doubled up off second base on a fly out to end the game.   It appears to be a true committee while Jordan Romano is out but we will see if Hicks or Swanson can get a leg up.

Hierarchy remains: *Hicks | Swanson | Garcia.
*=closer-by-committee

Texas Rangers – Will Smith was a little shaky yesterday, giving up a two-run homer, but luckily he was staked with a three run lead and was able to close out the win for his 20th save of the season.  Smith has three saves already in August and has five saves since Aroldis Chapman’s save on July 15th. 

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

Chicago White Sox — Gregory Santos has been placed on the bereavement list.  Aaron Bummer and Bryan Shaw combined to finish off the White Sox victory and should continue to fill in for Santos while he is out.

Hierarchy remains: *Santos | Bummer | Shaw.
* = closer-by-committee

Detroit Tigers — For the second straight appearance, Alex Lange really struggled with his control.  Lange walked the first two batters he faced but was able to get a double play from the next batter.  However, after Lange walked Wander Franco, the Tigers pulled him and brought on Beau Brieske.  Brieske retired the only batter he faced for his first save.  If Lange’s control issues continue, we could see Jason Foley and Tyler Holton, who got the 8th inning hold last night, in the mix for saves.

Updated hierarchy: Lange | Foley | Holton

Oakland A’s — The A’s have activated Dany Jimenez from the IL and we expect him to work his way to the back end of their bullpen.

Updated hierarchy: May | Jimenez | Long.

Washington Nationals – Mason Thompson has been placed on the IL.  Andres Machado should see more time in the later innings while Thompson is out.

Updated hierarchy: Finnegan | Weems | Machado.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Wandy Peralta (NYY) – Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle have both pitched in three of four while Michael King has pitched in two of three, throwing a total of 39 pitches.
2. Justin Topa (SEA) – Andres Munoz and Matt Brash have both pitched in three of four.
3. Andres Machado/Jose Ferrer (WAS) – Kyle Finnegan and Jordan Weems have both gone in two straight and three of four. Andres Machado has also pitched in two straight.
4. Colin Holderman (PIT) – David Bednar has pitched in two straight, including a blown save yesterday.
5. Bryan Shaw/Insert Reliever Here (CHW) – Gregory Santos is on the bereavement list while Aaron Bummer threw 33 pitches yesterday and Bryan Shaw has gone in two straight. If Bryan Shaw is unavailable, the White Sox will need to dig deep after trading most of their bullpen arms at the deadline.

Monday
1. Griffin Jax (MIN) – If Jhoan Duran pitches on Sunday, it will be three of four and four of six.
2. Aroldis Chapman/Josh Sborz (TEX) – If Will Smith pitches on Sunday, it will be two straight and three of four. Same for Aroldis Chapman.

Brash and Cox pick up Vulture saves

August 5, 2023

Kansas City Royals – The Royals are in the midst of a 7 game winning streak, and last night turned the 9th inning over to rookie Austin Cox. Cox shut the door for the first save of his career. Cox started his career on a 6 game scoreless streak before running into a rough patch in early July, but now has 2 holds and a save in the last week. Carlos Hernandez pitched the 7th, facing Philadelphia’s 2-3-4 hitters, which is just enough to hold the top spot in this committee, but Cox jumps to 1st in line with last night’s performance. 

Updated hierarchy: *Hernandez | Cox | Coleman.
* = closer-by-committee

Cleveland Guardians – Enyel De Los Santos pitched the 7th inning of a 2 run game, earning his 10th hold on the year and helping to bridge the gap to Emmanuel Clase. De Los Santos has quietly been one of the best relievers in the Cleveland bullpen right now, running up 10 straight scoreless appearances. That’s enough to join the hierarchy for the Guardians, who will be scraping for every win they can in the battle for the AL Central.  

Updated hierarchy: Clase | Stephan | De Los Santos.

Seattle Mariners – Andres Munoz needed a night off, and Justin Topa took the 7th inning of a tie game, so when the Mariners took the lead in the 8th it was Matt Brash who was left for the save chance. He converted for his second save of the year. Brash has an impressive 15.43 K/9 on the season, behind only Felix Bautista and Aroldis Chapman amongst pitchers with at least 10 innings. While Munoz is still the top arm to own in Seattle, this appearances is enough to bump Brash to 1st in line. 

Updated hierarchy: Munoz | Brash | Topa.

Texas Rangers – Josh Sborz pitched the 7th inning of a 2 run game last night. Texas expanded their lead so it did not end up as a save situation, but Sborz now has 7th inning holds in his last 3 appearances, and looks to have jumped to 2nd in line for the Rangers.

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

Baltimore Orioles – Bryan Baker was the odd man out when the Orioles acquired Jack Flaherty, and was optioned to AAA. He is likely to be back up in the majors when rosters expand, but look for Danny Coulombe to get more high leverage looks in the meantime.

Updated hierarchy: Bautista | Cano | Coulombe.

Vulture Save Watch:

  1. Lucas Sims (CIN) — Alexis Diaz threw 32 pitches last night, and may get today off.
  2. Griffin Jax (MIN) — Jhoan Duran has pitched in back to back and 3 of 4.

For Sunday:

  1. Mason Thompson (WAS) — Today would be back to back and 3 of 4 for Kyle Finnegan
  2. Bryan Abreu (HOU) — Same for Ryan Pressly

Seranthony Dominguez gets another save as Phillies wonder if Craig Kimbrel has been tipping pitches

August 4, 2023

Philadelphia Phillies – Seranthony Dominguez earned his second save in the past three days on Thursday, allowing one hit with one strikeout in a scoreless ninth inning. Score one for the Vulture Save Watch. While Gregory Soto was likely unavailable Thursday, Dominguez’s success this week is hard to ignore. If you recall, in his first converted save earlier this week, he pitched the ninth inning and Soto pitched the eighth inning (Soto’s appearance came in a tie game, it’s worth noting). We will speculatively move Dominguez up to No. 2 in this hierarchy. As for Craig Kimbrel, he blew the save Wednesday, and the Phillies now believe he was tipping his pitches. We’ll keep an eye on usage this weekend.

Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Dominguez | Soto.

Los Angeles Dodgers – Emmett Sheehan tossed the final four innings Thursday for his first career save. The rookie has promise, but likely as a starter in his future. He won’t factor into the normal late-innings mix for the Dodgers.

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

VULTURE SAVE WATCH

Today:
1. Tyler Rogers (SF) – Camilo Doval has gone in two straight and five of six.
2. Michael King (NYY) – Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle have each gone in two straight.
3. Justin Topa (SEA) – Andres Munoz has gone in two straight and three of four.
4. Gregory Soto/Seranthony Dominguez (PHI) – Craig Kimbrel might get another day off while he works to resolve potential pitch-tipping issues.

Saturday:
1. Aroldis Chapman (TEX) – An outing Friday would be three of four and four of six for Will Smith.
2. Griffin Jax (MIN) – Jhoan Duran could need Saturday off if he goes Friday (that would be three of four for him).
3. Reynaldo Lopez (CHW) – Carlos Estevez threw 26 pitches in a rough outing Thursday and a Friday appearance would for sure mean a day off on Saturday for him.
4. A.J. Puk (MIA) – A Friday appearance would be four of six for David Robertson.
5. Joel Payamps (MIL) – It would also be four of six for Devin Williams.