Oh taking control of Cardinals’ bullpen again

July 9, 2017

St. Louis Cardinals — Seung-Hwan Oh pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his eighteenth save of the season.  After giving way to Trevor Rosenthal for a few save opportunities, Oh has received the last two save chances and converted both.  Rosenthal had his chance, but it looks like Oh has asserted himself as the closer again, so we will drop the committee asterisk.

Hierarchy remains: Oh | Rosenthal | Cecil.

New York Mets – Fernando Salas continued to struggle yesterday, as he gave up another run and pitched with the Mets losing.  It’s hard to imagine the Mets using Salas to protect any type of lead, but they don’t have a lot of other good options.  Paul Sewald has picked up a couple holds in July so we move him into Salas’ spot on the hierarchy.  Injured closer Jeurys Familia is expected to begin throwing during the All-Star break, but there is still no real time table for his return.

Updated hierarchy: Reed | Blevins | Sewald. 

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Pedro Baez – Kenley Jansen has pitched in two straight, and four of five.
2. Brad Hand – Brandon Maurer has pitched in two straight, and three of four.
3. Trevor Rosenthal – Seung-Hawn Oh has pitched in four of the past five games.
4. Brad Boxberger – Alex Colome has pitched in two of the past three, including a 30 pitch outing yesterday.

Monday – No Games

Jim Johnson adds a seventh blown save to his league-leading total

July 8, 2017

Atlanta Braves — Arodys Vizcaino’s injury came at a bad time for the Braves. In danger of completely falling out of contention, the team has no obvious backup plan to replace Jim Johnson and his league-leading seven blown saves, and it faces decreasing returns if it seeks to move the veteran before the trade deadline. Vizcaino owners are in the odd situation of having to root for Johnson to improve, at least over the short term.

Hierarchy remains: Johnson | Ramirez | Freeman.

Los Angeles Dodgers — 25-year-old Brock Stewart pitched a perfect seventh and eighth with a three-run lead to get the ball to Kenley Jansen. Stewart still projects as a #3 or #4 starter long-term, but he wouldn’t be the first one of those to wind up at the back end of the bullpen. Worth keeping an eye on.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Baez | Morrow.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Brad Brach — Zach Britton threw 22 pitches in a non-save situation and has gone in two of three.
2. Jose Ramirez/Jason Motte — Jim Johnson has pitched in two straight, including a 30-pitch blown save on Friday. Ramirez has gone in two straight and Sam Freeman three, so Jason Motte could get a look.
3. Taylor Rogers/Tyler Duffey — Brandon Kintzler has appeared in four of five and five of seven, while Rogers has gone in two straight and three of four.
4. Pedro Baez — Kenley Jansen has pitched in three of four and Baez is well-rested.

Sunday:
1. C.J. Edwards — Wade Davis has gone in two of three.
2. Archie Bradley — Fernando Rodney has gone in two straight.

Seung Hwan Oh, yes! Final Boss grabs his first save in weeks

July 7, 2017

Arizona Diamondbacks — Before Sunday, Fernando Rodney hadn’t allowed an earned run since April, if you can believe that. Thursday marks his second straight blown save, however. Entering the game with a 4-1 lead in the ninth, Rodney allowed this sequence: single, walk, walk, bases-loaded walk, two-run single, intentional walk. His fourth and final charged run came when T.J. McFarland allowed a walk-off single on his first pitch. Rodney’s seat was white-hot at the end of April, and it could be heating up again as Archie Bradley (four outs on nine pitches Thursday; 1.15 ERA) continues to mow hitters down. Jake Barrett, Arizona’s most reliable reliever for much of 2016, also returned from a bout of shoulder stiffness, and could recapture the seventh-inning role.

Hierarchy remains: Rodney | Bradley | J. de la Rosa.

St. Louis Cardinals — Meet the new Final Boss, same as the old Final Boss. After Brett Cecil collected five outs, Seung Hwan Oh entered for his third straight appearance to pick up his first save since June 21. Trevor Rosenthal, who has allowed runs in four of his last six appearances, did not get the call even though he hasn’t pitched since July 4. With Oh presumably tired, Rosenthal should get the Friday save chance, if applicable. Perhaps that was Mike Matheny’s plan all along. Stay tuned.

Hierarchy remains: *Oh | Rosenthal | Cecil.
* = closer-by-committee

Pittsburgh Pirates — Count it as a half-win for the Vulture Save Watch. Marked down to likely be rested Friday, regular closer Felipe Rivero was instead rested Thursday, giving Juan Nicasio a vulture save in his third straight game. Keep an eye on Tony Watson too. The former closer tossed a clean seventh inning on Thursday and has allowed onliy one run since June 18. He’s pushing Daniel Hudson to be second in line and could be traded to a contender soon.

Hierarchy remains: Rivero | Nicasio | Hudson.

Detroit Tigers — Shane Greene and Bruce Rondon continued their recent strong performances in the seventh and eighth innings ahead of Justin Wilson. Struggling Alex Wilson hasn’t pitched since a low-leverage outing six days ago.

Updated hierarchy: J. Wilson | Rondon | Greene.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Trevor Rosenthal — As noted, Oh has appeared in three straight games.
2. Michael Lorenzen — Raisel Iglesias threw two innings yesterday (33 pitches).
3. Danny Barnes/Aaron Loup — Roberto Osuna has gone in three straight, and Ryan Tepera has gone in three of four (22 pitches last night).
4. Taylor Rogers — Brandon Kintzler has pitched in three of four (46 pitches).

Saturday:
1. Brad Boxberger/Tommy Hunter — Alex Colome has appeared in two of the last three, including a 38-pitch outing on Wednesday. Note also that Boxberger has pitched the seventh and Hunter the eighth in the last two setup situations; rest for Colome could shed light on his primary handcuff.
2. Bruce Rondon/Alex Wilson — Justin Wilson has gone in two of three; another outing Friday might give him Saturday off. Rondon has gone in two straight (as has Shane Greene), while Alex Wilson is well-rested.
3. Sean Doolittle — Santiago Casilla has pitched on two of the last three days.
4. Pedro Baez — As has Kenley Jansen.
5. Daniel Hudson/Tony Watson — And Felipe Rivero. Juan Nicasio has gone in three straight.

Bud Norris is restoring order to the Angels’ bullpen

July 6, 2017

Los Angeles Angels — Miracle of miracles, the Angels actually had a low-drama save, courtesy of Bud Norris. One more and we jettison the asterisk. Meanwhile, Huston Street’s twingy groin will put him back on the disabled list until the season restarts on July 14.

Hierarchy remains: *Norris | Hernandez | Bedrosian.
* = closer-by-committee

Texas Rangers — Jeff Banister confirmed that Texas will be using a three-man committee to close: Jose Leclerc, Alex Claudio, and Matt Bush. Ernesto Frieri was recently designated for assignment to make room for Jeremy Jeffress.

Hierarchy remains: *Leclerc | Claudio | Bush.
* = closer-by-committee

Atlanta Braves — Arodys Vizcaino strained the index finger on his throwing hand and will require a stint on the DL. The Braves don’t expect the injury to be serious, but it’s at least a slight blow to his status as a second-half save sleeper. Sam Freeman, one of three lefties in the Atlanta bullpen, should see more work in the late innings through the All-Star break. Jason Motte and Rex Brothers are also hanging around for the Braves.

Updated hierarchy: Johnson | Ramirez | Freeman.

New York Yankees — Dellin Betances’s ERA has octupled in the past two weeks, which will happen when you’re walking guys at a rate of 23 per nine innings. Wednesday’s debacle saw him walk the bases loaded against Toronto’s 7-8-9 hitters, strike out Jose Bautista, get squeezed on a 2-2 curve, and then walk in the eventual winning run. Repeated collapses from the Yankees’ bullpen have been a huge factor in their wretched 6-16 stretch.

Hierarchy remains: Chapman | Betances | Green.

Baltimore Orioles — Zach Britton got a low-leverage seventh to help him shake off some rust.

Hierarchy remains: Britton | Brach | O’Day.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. David Phelps — The top three for Miami have all pitched in three out of four, but Phelps needed only five pitches on Wednesday.
2. Brad Brach — Zach Britton may not be ready to go back-to-back yet.

Friday:
1. Juan Nicasio — Felipe Rivero has pitched in two straight games; so has Nicasio, but he’s thrown fewer pitches.
2. Ryan Tepera — Roberto Osuna has gone in two straight.
3. Trevor Rosenthal — So has Seung Hwan Oh.
4. Pedro Baez — And Kenley Jansen.
5. Jake McGee — If Greg Holland pitches Thursday, it will be his third game in four days.
6. Taylor Rogers — The same is true of Brandon Kintzler.

Zach Britton is back for the Orioles

July 5, 2017

Baltimore Orioles — Zach Britton will come off the DL today and is expected to reclaim the closer’s role almost immediately. Ideally the Orioles will get to deploy him in a lower-leverage situation off the bat, but if they need him in a tight game right away Britton says he is ready.

Updated hierarchy: Britton | Brach | O’Day.

Colorado Rockies — Adam Ottavino had an abysmal June and his struggles have continued into July. On Tuesday, he allowed two homers in the eighth inning of a blowout loss. Ottavino has given up 12 runs over his last six appearances and seen his ERA shoot up to 6.00. Hard to think at this point that if Greg Holland needed a day off it’d be Ottavino and not Jake McGee getting the call for the ninth inning. McGee had struggled a bit at the end of June but has since lowered his ERA to 2.83 with four straight scoreless appearances.

Updated hierarchy: Holland | McGee | Ottavino.

Tampa Bay Rays — Alex Colome nearly blew a three-run lead against the Cubs yesterday, but he was able to convert the save. It was Colome’s fifth straight appearance in which he allowed an earned run; he’s given up 10 earned runs in that five-game stretch. Kevin Cash didn’t suggest a change was imminent and Colome surprisingly only has one blown save in this recent stretch that has ballooned his ERA to 4.10. While Colome’s job doesn’t appear to be in jeopardy, former closer Brad Boxberger is looming and Colome’s leash has to be a little bit shorter.

Hierarchy remains: Colome | Boxberger | Hunter.

Oakland A’s – For the ninth game in a row, the Oakland bullpen allowed a run. This time it was Santiago Casilla allowing the tying run to score as part of his fourth blown save of the year. Casilla’s ERA is at 4.02 and hovered around that mark for much of June into July. Sean Doolittle had allowed an earned run in each of his last two appearances prior to a clean eighth inning Tuesday, but if Casilla’s struggles continue he may get a chance to reclaim the closer’s role.

Hierarchy remains: Casilla | Doolittle | Madson.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Tommy Kahnle/Anthony Swarzak — Today is the last day of paternity leave for David Robertson.
2. Andrew Miller — Cody Allen has pitched in three of the last four games.
3. Tyler Duffey/Taylor Rogers — Brandon Kintzler has pitched in two straight and three of four. Taylor Rogers needed 27 pitches yesterday, so Tyler Duffey may be called upon first if the Twins need a save.
4. Sean Doolittle — Santiago Casilla has pitched in three of the last four games, so Doolittle may get a turn.
5. Brad Boxberger —  Alex Colome had a 38-pitch outing on Tuesday, so he may get today off.

Thursday:
1. Brad Brach — If Zach Britton does return today and has a tough outing, the Orioles may turn to a well-rested Brach on Thursday.
2. Andrew Miller — If Allen does get the ball again today, don’t expect him to pitch on Thursday.
3. David Phelps/Kyle Barraclough — It will be three of four for A.J. Ramos is he pitches on Wednesday. Same goes for David Phelps, so Kyle Barraclough may be an option if that’s the case.
4. Sean Doolittle — If Casilla pitches on Wednesday it will be two straight and four of the last five.
5. Brad Boxberger/Tommy Hunter —  If Colome does get the ball today and rack up some more pitches, Brad Boxberger or Tommy Hunter will likely be in line for Thursday’s save chance.