Brad Brach likely to close with Zach Britton’s departure from the Orioles

July 24, 2018

Baltimore Orioles — With the departure of Zach Britton to the Bronx, Brad Brach is likely to step into the closer’s role. Brach may be the next guy out of town, however, so owners may wish to speculate on Mychal Givens.

Updated hierarchy: Brach | Givens | Fry.

New York Yankees — Zach Britton is coming to the Yankees, giving them an insanely deep bullpen that boasts 535 saves among the top four options. We expect Britton to slot in between David Robertson and Dellin Betances to start.

Updated hierarchy: Chapman | Betances | Britton.

 

Jose Alvarado, Jace Fry worth a look as deadline approaches

July 24, 2018

Tampa Bay Rays – It wasn’t the prettiest outing (1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 0 K), but Jose Alvarado managed to lock down his 4th save of the season on Monday night. Sergio Romo was unavailable due to a stomach bug, and appears to be basically the full-time closer at this point, but Alvarado is the best player to own should Romo get dealt in the next seven days. Also, with Diego Castillo’s recent struggles, keep an eye on righty Ryne Stanek (1.91 ERA, 47 Ks in 37.2 IP) to potentially get paired with Alvarado in a would-be closer committee.

Updated hierarchy: Romo | Alvarado | Stanek.

Chicago White Sox – After a rough stretch in early July, Jace Fry has rebounded with two scoreless outings after the All Star Break, including an 8th inning hold last night. Fry should be among those considered for 9th inning duties in the event of a Joakim Soria trade, though the White Sox might look to a committee in the early going.

Hierarchy remains: Soria | Fry | Cedeno.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today/tomorrow
1. Jordan Hicks – Bud Norris successfully hazed rookie Daniel Poncedeleon by blowing his win last night, but racked up 26 pitches in the process and might get tonight off. If he does go today, count on him being unavailable Wednesday.

Tomorrow
1. Jace Fry – If Joakim Soria goes tonight, it’ll be back to back and three of four.

Blue Jays seem content with committee until Osuna’s return

July 23, 2018

Toronto Blue Jays – Tyler Clippard picked up his 7th save of the season on Sunday afternoon, bouncing back from an atrocious outing on Friday. Ryan Tepera and Seung-Hwan Oh had pitched in the previous two games, and Tepera remains atop this committee for now, but the Blue Jays — perhaps with an eye on increasing trade value — seem content on giving multiple players opportunities in the 9th until Roberto Osuna’s return.

Updated hierarchy: *Tepera | Clippard | Oh.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Dodgers – After three rough starts to begin in major league career, 22-year-old Caleb Ferguson has thrived in long relief for the Dodgers. Since being moved to the bullpen, he’s allowed just 2 ER in 16 innings, and has struck out 20 hitters against just 2 walks. Yesterday, he picked up his second save of the season with three scoreless innings.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Goeddel | Alexander.

Kansas City Royals – Sunday brought another save for Wily Peralta, and he should be in the clear for all future opportunities, so long as he’s rested. We’re removing his asterisk. Also, if you like high-risk holds, sidearmer Tim Hill has a 5.59 ERA but has gotten 8th inning holds each of the past two nights.

Updated hierarchy: Peralta | Maurer | McCarthy.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Drew Steckenrider/Adam Conley – Kyle Barraclough has pitched two straight including a disastrous, 40-pitch outing last night, and should be off today.
2. Brandon Maurer – Wily Peralta has pitched in three straight.

Tomorrow
1. Ryan Madson – Kelvin Herrera threw 1.2 innings last night. He should be fine today, but we’d bet he gets Tuesday off if he goes again tonight.

Ryan Tepera is back to closing for the Blue Jays and Zach Britton could be on the move soon

July 22, 2018

Toronto Blue Jays – Ryan Tepera pitched a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts for his seventh save of the season.  Seung Hwan Oh pitched a perfect eighth inning ahead of Tepera, and the Blue Jays seem content to use Oh in a set-up role.  We will move Tepera back to the head of the hierarchy, and he should see the bulk of the save opportunities until Roberta Osuna is eligible to return on August 5th.

Updated hierarchy: *Tepera | Oh | Clippard.
* = closer-by-committee

Baltimore Orioles – Zach Britton threw a scoreless inning for the Orioles yesterday, but he could be pitching for somebody else soon.  The Orioles want to get a deal done this weekend or early next week.  The Astros, Cubs, and Dodgers are among the teams interested in Britton.  Brad Brach would likely take over as closer if Britton is dealt, but Brach is also a trade candidate and the Orioles could turn to Mychal Givens or Tanner Scott if both are traded.

Hierarchy remains: Britton | Brach | Givens.

New York Yankees – Aroldis Chapman had a tough outing on Saturday as he faced five batters and recorded zero outs.  16 of his 19 pitches were balls, including his last 11.  Chasen Shreve came on with the bases loaded and nobody out and got a double play and groundout to record his first save of the season.  Chapman has been battling tendinitis in his knee, but it’s hard to know if that had any impact on his performance yesterday.

Hierarchy remains: Chapman | Betances | Robertson.

Kansas City Royals – Wily Peralta bounced back last night with a perfect inning for the save.  Peralta is three for three in save chances and is close to kicking the asterisk.

Hierarchy remains: *Peralta | McCarthy | Maurer.
* = closer-by-committee

Cleveland Indians — If you checked the Indians box score this morning, you may have been surprised to see Cody Allen threw 0.1 innings in the seventh inning of an eventual 16-3 blowout win.  We aren’t reading too much into this as manager Terry Francona said Allen needed to work on some things with his mechanics.  Despite Allen’s high ERA, Friday night was only his second blown save of the season and it also ended a streak of 15 consecutive saves converted.  We expect Francona to stay true to his word to use Allen as the primary closer but it will be worth monitoring if he continues to struggle with giving up home runs.

Hierarchy remains: Allen | Hand | Ramirez.

New York Mets — After an evening of speculation on Friday, Jeurys Familia was officially traded to Oakland Saturday afternoon. Mickey Callaway said that he’ll prefer to use a committee as opposed to one main closer. Robert Gsellman should be the leader of a pack that includes Anthony Swarzak and Seth Lugo.

Updated hierarchy: *Gsellman | Swarzak | Lugo.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Kevin McCarthy – Wily Peralta has pitched in two straight, including a 35 pitch outing on Friday.

Monday
1. Brad Hand – If Cody Allen pitches on Sunday, that will be three in a row.

Jeurys Familia traded to Oakland

July 21, 2018

New York Mets — After an evening of speculation on Friday, Jeurys Familia was officially traded to Oakland this afternoon. Mickey Callaway said that he’ll prefer to use a committee as opposed to one main closer. Robert Gsellman should be the leader of a pack that includes Anthony Swarzak and Seth Lugo.

Updated hierarchy: *Gsellman | Swarzak | Lugo.
* = closer-by-committee

Oakland A’s — Oakland’s bullpen gets a nice boost with the addition of Familia, but don’t expect closer Blake Treinen to lose his job since he has been terrific this year. That’s bad news for Familia owners, as he will join Lou Trivino as a setup man for Treinen.

Updated hierarchy: Treinen | Familia | Trivino.