Daniel Hudson hits the IL

July 7, 2023

Los Angeles Dodgers — It was another good news/bad news day for the Dodgers’ bullpen on Thursday. The bad news is that Daniel Hudson, who earned his first save in 392 days on Wednesday, landed on the IL with an MCL sprain on his right knee. Hudson is expected to miss at least 1-2 months, if not longer. The good news is that Brusdar Graterol, who was expected to end up on the IL yesterday, avoided that and looked sharp in an efficient eighth-inning hold. With Evan Phillips still unavailable, that left the save to Alex Vesia, who was recalled from Triple-A that afternoon. Vesia looked sharp as well, earning his first save in nearly a year. Caleb Ferguson, who desperately needed a day off after three straight outings, returns to the hierarchy following the Hudson injury, but we’ll keep an eye on Vesia to see if he continues to get high-leverage looks even when the Dodgers have their full complement of relievers available.

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

Toronto Blue Jays — The Blue Jays recorded two saves on Thursday, but none came from a member of their hierarchy. After Jordan Romano blew a save in game one of the doubleheader, Yimi Garcia got the final two outs of the 11th inning to preserve a 6-2 win. In the nightcap, Nate Pearson was the last reliever standing to earn his first MLB save.

Hierarchy remains: Romano | Swanson | Mayza.

Milwaukee Brewers — As predicted in yesterday’s Vulture Save Watch, Joel Payamps protected a 6-5 lead for his third save of the season.

Hierarchy remains: Williams | Payamps | Peguero.

Chicago White Sox – Joe Kelly landed on the IL with right elbow inflammation, which means Reynaldo Lopez has returned to the hierarchy.

Updated hierarchy: Graveman | Kelly | Lopez.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Genesis Cabrera (STL) — Both Jordan Hicks and Giovanny Gallegos have gone back-to-back days.
2. Nick Martinez (SD) — Josh Hader may get a second straight day of rest after he pitched three in a row earlier this week.
3. Elvis Peguero (MIL) — This is a bit of a long shot, but if Devin Williams gets a second consecutive night off, Peguero could vulture a save since Joel Payamps has pitched in two straight.

Tomorrow:
1. Erik Swanson (TOR) — If Jordan Romano pitches today that will be two straight and three of four.
2. Gregory Santos (CHW) — Same is true for Kendall Graveman.
3. Jose Alvarado (PHI) — And for Craig Kimbrel.
4. Lucas Sims (CIN) — If Alexis Diaz pitches today it will be two in a row.

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.

Hunter Harvey moves to the top of the Nationals’ committee

June 25, 2023

Washington Nationals — Hunter Harvey pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his 5th save of the season while Kyle Finnegan pitched the 8th ahead of him.  Harvey has recorded three of the last four saves for the Nationals.  Meanwhile, Kyle Finnegan has not recorded a save since May 25th.  We will move Harvey to the head of this committee and see if Finnegan will remain in the mix or if Harvey takes the job by himself moving forward.

Updated hierarchy: *Harvey | Finnegan | Thompson.
* = closer-by-committee

New York Yankees — The Yankees were lining up to use Tommy Kahnle in the 7th, Wandy Peralta in the 8th, and Clay Holmes in the 9th but after Peralta ran into some trouble, Holmes was needed to finish out the 8th.  That left Ron Marinaccio for the 9th and he pitched a scoreless inning for his second save of the season.  The Yankees bullpen have a lot of solid options at the back-end of their bullpen but there are two guys heading in opposite directions right now and we will swap them on the hiearchy.  Tommy Kahnle has 10 straight scoreless appearances since returning from the IL and has only allowed three hits.  Meanwhile, Michael King has given up runs in five of his last six appearances. 

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

Los Angeles Dodgers – After a Ryne Stanek balk in the top of the 9th inning allowed the go-ahead run to score, Evan Phillips earned his 10th save of the season with a scoreless bottom of the 9th inning.  Phillips is the best bet to get a save on any given night but Brusdar Graterol has been solid this season and could steal some saves from Phillips.

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

Detroit Tigers – Alex Lange recorded all four of his outs via strikeout yesterday to close out a 3-2 Tigers win and pick up his 12th save of the season.  Jason Foley picked up the hold ahead of Lange.  Lange has had two straight impressive outings and could remove the committee tag with a couple more.

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

New York Mets – David Robertson recorded the last five outs of the Mets win yesterday to pick up his 11th save of the season.  The Mets have not had many saves recently but Robertson now has more than double the number of saves as Adam Ottavino and is his usage and overall numbers indicate he should be the primary closer moving forward.  We will kick the asterisk but note this is still a modern bullpen so even without it being a true committee, there could be times when Robertson is used before the 9th based on matchups and game situations. 

Hierarchy remains: Robertson | Ottavino | Raley.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Chris Martin (BOS) – Kenley Jansen has pitched in two straight and three of four.
2. Michael King (NYY) – Clay Holmes, Wandy Peralta, and Tommy Kahnle have all pitched in two straight
3. Erik Swanson (TOR) – Jordan Romano has pitched in two straight and four of five.
4. Dauri Moreta (PIT) – David Bednar has pitched in two straight and three of four.
5. Giovanny Gallegos (STL) – Jordan Hicks is battling an illness so he may be unavailable today.
6. Taylor Rogers (SF) – Camilo Doval has pitched in two straight and three of four while Tyler Rogers has pitched in two straight and four of five.

Monday
1. Joe Kelly/Renaldo Lopez (CHW) – Kendall Graveman threw 28 pitches yesterday and will likely get Monday off if he pitches again today.
2. Jason Foley/Jose Cisnero (DET) – Alex Lange also threw 28 pitches yesterday and will likely get Monday off if he pitches again today.

Phillips gets extra rest, Bush returns.

June 24, 2023
Los Angeles Dodgers – Just prior to last night’s game, Dave Roberts said that despite having Thursday off he wanted to stay away from Evan Phillips due to his recent workload. True to his word, this left the 9th inning for Brusdar Graterol, who needed only 7 pitches to close out a 1 run game. Phillips and Graterol continue to be the best options in the Dodgers bullpen, and while Phillips seems to be the top choice, Graterol is very much in the mix. 

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

Milwaukee Brewers — Matt Bush was activated from the IL yesterday, and pitched a clean 9th inning of a 6 run game. He jumps right back into the hierarchy, and may quickly move to first in line with Peter Strzelecki struggling in his last few outings.

Updated hierarchy: Williams | Strzelecki | Bush.

Vulture Save Watch:

  1. Dylan Floro (MIA) — AJ Puk has gone back to back including 22 pitches in a loss last night.
  2. Erik Swanson/Tim Mayza (TOR) — Jordan Romano has pitched in 3 of 4 and took a loss last night. If Toronto has a solid lead they could lean on a better rested option.
  3. Griffin Jax/Emilio Pagan (MIN) — Jhoan Duran has thrown 52 pitches over the last 3 days, while Brock Stewart threw 28 last night. Jax and Pagan are well rested by comparison.
  4. Taylor/Tyler Rogers (SF) — Camilo Doval has pitched in 4 of 6, while Tyler Rogers has pitched in 3 of 4.

For Sunday:

  1. Jose Alvarado/Gregory Soto (PHI) — Today would be 3 in a row for anyone on the Phillies hierarchy
  2. Buck Farmer/Lucas Sims (CIN) — The Reds have won 12 in a row (!!) but their bullpen has been stretched thin. Look for them to try to rest Alexis Diaz if the opportunity presents itself.
  3. Chris Martin/Josh Winckowski (BOS) — Today would be back to back and 3 of 4 for Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin.
  4. Dauri Moreta (PIT) — Same for David Bednar.
  5. Josh Sborz (TEX) — Same for Will Smith.

Clay Holmes moves back to the top of the Yankees hierarchy

June 11, 2023

New York Yankees – Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless 9th inning with a pair of strikeouts yesterday to pick up his 8th save of the season.  Tommy Kahnle recorded the 8th inning hold ahead of Holmes and he has four scoreless appearances since his debut at the beginning of June.  Holmes has recorded the last two saves for the Yankees and four of the last five.  Meanwhile, Michael King has not recorded a save since May 15th.  We will move Clay Holmes to the head of this committee and see how the Yankees continue to manage the back-end of their bullpen.

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

Los Angeles Dodgers – Andre Jackson pitched three scoreless innings to finish off a 9-0 Dodgers’ win and pick up his second save of the season.  Jackson also pitched three scoreless innings for a save in his debut this season but has given up 13 runs in his other 5 appearances.  Apparently Jackson struggles in non-save situations (of the three inning variety) like some closers so maybe the Dodgers would be best to try and use him in those three inning save situations.

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

Oakland A’s — Don’t look now, but the A’s have won four in a row and produced saves in three of those wins.  Tevor May and Lucas Erceg both got the day off and Richard Lovelady pitched the 8th inning so that left Sam Long to pick up his first save of the season with a scoreless 10th inning. 

Hierarchy remains: *May | Lovelady | Erceg.
* = closer-by-committee

Atlanta Braves — As predicted in the Vulture Save Watch yesterday, Raisel Iglesias got the day off and AJ Minter earned his 9th save of the season.

Hierarchy remains: Iglesias | Minter | Anderson.

Cleveland Guardians – The Guardians sent James Karinchak down to Triple-A.  Sam Hentges and Eli Morgan should see more high leverage usage ahead of Emmanuel Clase and Trevor Stephan.

Updated hierarchy: Clase | Stephan | Hentges.

Los Angeles Angels — Ben Joyce has been placed on the IL.  Jose Soriano has picked up two holds in his past two appearances and should see more time in the later innings for the Angels while Joyce is out.

Updated hierarchy: Estevez | Devenski | Soriano.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Hector Neris (HOU) – Ryan Pressly has pitched in two straight while Bryan Abreu has pitched in three of four.
2. Adam Ottavino (NYM) – David Robertson has pitched in two of three, throwing a total of 54 pitches.
3. Steven Wilson (SD) – Josh Hader has pitched in two straight and three of four while Nick Martinez has also pitched in two straight.

Monday
1. Aroldis Chapman (KC) – Scott Barlow threw 22 pitches yesterday so if he pitches again today he could get Monday off.
2. Chris Devenski (LAA) – If Carlos Estevez pitches today, it will be three of four and four of six.