Jason Adam, Daniel Bard hit the IL

September 4, 2023

St. Louis Cardinals – JoJo Romero got a second day off after throwing 35 pitches on Friday, as did Ryan Helsley, who made his first appearance off the IL in the same game. That left the save chance to Giovanny Gallegos, who converted for his 10th of the season.

Hierarchy remains: *Romero | Helsley | Gallegos.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Dodgers – After throwing 1.2 innings last night, Evan Phillips was apparently unavailable on Sunday, so Dave Roberts turned to Brusdar Graterol for the save. Graterol converted for his 7th of the year.

Hierarchy remains: Phillips | Graterol | Ferguson.

Colorado Rockies – Daniel Bard was placed on the IL over the weekend; we’ll see if this means more high-leverage chances for Tyler Kinley, who was recently activated and got a save on Saturday.

Updated hierarchy: Lawrence | Koch | Kinley.

Tampa Bay Rays – With Jason Adam hitting the IL over the weekend, look for Robert Stephenson — who picked up a hold on Sunday — to get more late inning chances.

Updated hierarchy: Fairbanks | Poche | Stephenson.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Jake Bird/Brent Suter – The Rockies’ top three arms are all likely down today, so we’re looking off hierarchy for the vulture save chance.
2. Andrew Kittredge/Chris Devenski – The Rays’ top three are also all likely down today, so here are two possible options for the 9th.
3. Lucas Erceg – Trevor May has gone back to back.

Tomorrow
1. Joel Payamps – If Devin Williams goes today, it’s three of four.
2. Lucas Sims – If Alexis Diaz goes today, it’s back to back and three of four.
3. Jordan Hicks – Same for Jordan Romano.
4. Jose Alvarado – If Craig Kimbrel goes today, it’s back to back.
5. Austin Cox/Taylor Clarke – Same for Carlos Hernandez and Austin Cox…
6. Scott Barlow/Nick Martinez – …and Josh Hader and Scott Barlow…
7. Aaron Bummer – …and Gregory Santos…
8. Chris Martin – …and Kenley Jansen…
9. Danny Coulombe/Shintaro Fujinami – …and Yennier Cano and Danny Coulombe.

Justin Lawrence and Aroldis Chapman are struggling

September 3, 2023

Texas Rangers — In a tie game, the Rangers summoned Will Smith for the 8th inning and he responded with a scoreless inning.  Smith came back out for the first batter of the 9th inning with the game still tied and recorded an out before giving way to Aroldis Chapman.  Chapman retired both batters he faced to send the game to extra innings.  Chapman came back out for the 10th inning but the results were much worse.  He walked the first batter before giving up a pair of singles and was removed without recording an out.  Chapman has now given up at least one run in five of his last six appearances.  Will Smith has four straight scoreless appearances after also having a stretch of giving up runs in five of six appearances.

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

Colorado Rockies – The Rockies were up 3 heading into the 9th inning and called upon their closer Justin Lawrence to finish off the win.  Lawrence walked the first batter he faced and then gave up a triple to cut the lead to two.  He seemed to settle by getting the next two batters outs but then things really fell apart.  Lawrence allowed another run to score on a wild pitch and loaded the bases with two walks and a hit by pitch.  He was finally pulled and replaced by Tyler Kinley, who struck out the only batter he faced for his first save of the season.  Lawrence has given up 10 earned runs over his last six appearances and his ERA is almost up to 4.00 on the season.  We will see if the Rockies continue to send Lawrence out there is save chances or if they look at switching things up.

Hierarchy remains: Lawrence | Bard | Koch.

Boston Red Sox – Nick Pivetta pitching the final three innings of a 9-5 Red Sox win yesterday to earn his first of the season.  Pivetta has bounced between starting and multi-inning relief outings this season and does not typically factor into the Red Sox late inning plans.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Martin | Winckowski.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Tommy Kahnle (NYY) – Clay Holmes has pitched in two of three and four of six.
2. Trevor Stephan (CLE) – Emmanuel Clase has pitched in two straight and four of five.
3. Emilio Pagan (MIN) – Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax have both pitched in two straight and three of four.
4. AJ Minter/Kirby Yates (ATL) – Raisel Iglesias has pitched in four of the last five while AJ Minter has pitched in three of five, including a 22 pitch outing yesterday.
5. Joel Payamps (MIL) – Devin Williams has pitched in two straight, throwing 44 pitches in that time.
6. Colin Holderman (PIT) – David Bednar has pitched in two straight and three of four.

Monday
1. Mark Leiter Jr. (CHC) – If Adbert Alzolay pitches today, it will be two of three and four of six.

Helsley Returns and Yates gets the Vulture Save.

September 2, 2023

Atlanta Braves – With only 4 games on the schedule on Thursday, there weren’t ever going to be many vulture save possibilities, but we picked Kirby Yates as one of them. With both Raisel Iglesias and AJ Minter unavailable, Yates indeed got the save chance and converted for his 3rd save on the year. Expect Iglesias and Minter to be back in action over the weekend.

Hierarchy remains: Iglesias | Minter | Yates.

St. Louis Cardinals — Ryan Helsley was activated before Friday’s game and immediately pitched a clean 8th inning in a tie game. JoJo Romero took the loss in extra innings, which may be just the crack in the door that Helsley needs. It’s a bit too early to hand him the top of the committee, but Helsley makes for a great speculative add in leagues where you’re chasing saves as he has an excellent chance to be in the mix for the rest of the season. 

Updated hierarchy: *Romero | Helsley | Gallegos.
* = closer-by-committee


Chicago Cubs — In the first game of a doubleheader the Cubs brought Keegan Thompson on to protect a 3 run lead in the 8th inning. When the Cubs extended the lead to 5 he stuck around for the 9th to earn his first save on the season. Thompson has exactly one save in each of his first 3 years in the majors, and with a month left in the season he has a chance to achieve a career high if he can get another opportunity, but it would likely have to be a similar situation to last night. 

Hierarchy remains: Alzolay | Leiter Jr. | Merryweather.

New York Mets – When the Mets took a 1 run lead in the bottom of the 8th it was Drew Smith who got the call to try to shut the door. Smith had given up solo homers in each of his last 2 appearances, but Buck Showalter felt good enough to run him out there again, and he delivered. Things looked dicey after a leadoff walk, but he picked off the pinch runner and got the last two outs to earn his 3rd save on the year. This is about as pure a committee as you could find right now, but given Smith’s most recent save he bumps up to first in line. 

Updated hierarchy: *Ottavino | Smith | Raley.
* = closer-by-committee

Vulture Save Watch:

  1. Giovanny Gallegos/Ryan Helsley (STL) — JoJo Romero threw 35 pitches in a loss last night, while Helsley may not be ready for back to back games.
  2. Andrew Nardi (MIA) — Tanner Scott threw 30 pitches last night.
  3. Matt Brash (SEA) — Andres Munoz threw 27 pitches last night and has gone in 2 of 3.
  4. Jason Foley (DET) — Today would be 3 in a row for Alex Lange.

For Sunday:

  1. Joel Payamps (MIL) — Devin Williams threw 20 pitches last night, so another long outing could earn him a rest.
  2. Lucas Sims (CIN) — Today would be back to back and 3 of 4 for Alexis Diaz.
  3. Mark Leiter Jr./Julian Mayweather (CHC) — The entire Cubs hierarchy pitched during yesterdays double header and has gone in 3 of 4.
  4. Griffin Jax/Emilio Pagan (MIN) — Today would be back to back and 3 of 4 for Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax.
  5. Trevor Stephan/Matt Moore (CLE) — Today would be 4 of 5 for Emmanuel Clase.

Guardians claim Matt Moore, Reynaldo Lopez off waivers

September 1, 2023

Cleveland Guardians – Cleveland is six games under .500, but in the pitiful AL Central that puts them only five games back of the division-leading Twins at the start of September. With that in mind, the Guardians made some big moves Thursday, claiming pitchers Lucas Giolito, Matt Moore and Reynaldo Lopez off waivers from the Angels. For our purposes, Moore and Lopez are interesting additions to the bullpen. We think Moore fits into the hierarchy right away, but expect some shuffling of the many viable options behind Emmanuel Clase.

Updated hierarchy: Clase | Stephan | Moore.

Los Angeles Angels – The Angels lost two hierarchy members Thursday when Cleveland landed both Matt Moore and Reynaldo Lopez. We’ll slot in Jose Soriano, who had four holds in August, and Aaron Loup, who has an ERA above 5.00 on the season but had a pair of holds in August.

Updated hierarchy: Estevez | Soriano | Loup.

Detroit Tigers — Just when it seems like he pulls us back in, Alex Lange burns us once again. On Thursday, Lange was protecting a 3-0 lead in the ninth inning when he yielded a game-tying, three-run shot to blow the save. Lange, who had been on a run of seven straight scoreless outings before Thursday, is still likely the Tigers closer moving forward, but we’ll see how he trends over the final few weeks.

Hierarchy remains: *Lange | Foley | Brieske.
* = closer-by-committee

San Diego Padres — Robert Suarez has dropped his appeal of a 10-game suspension issued over foreign-substance use on the mound. Suarez began serving it Thursday. For the time being, expect Nick Martinez to gather some late-inning holds when the Padres have a slim lead.

Updated hierarchy: Hader | Barlow | Martinez.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Kirby Yates (ATL) – Raisel Iglesias has gone in three straight, while A.J. Minter has pitched in three of four.
2. Tommy Kahnle (NYY) – Clay Holmes has gone in three of four.
3. Mark Leiter Jr. (CHC) – The Cubs play a doubleheader Friday…
4. Lucas Sims (CIN) – … against the Reds.

Saturday:
1. Scott Barlow (SD) – If he goes Friday, that would be four of five for Josh Hader.