Dan Jennings grabs vulture save for Brewers

July 6, 2018

Chicago White Sox — Closer Joakim Soria finally had a rough outing Thursday night, blowing his third save and taking his third loss. It was the first time he has allowed an earned run since May 18, when his ERA was a bloated 5.65. Since then, he’s solidified himself (18 straight appearances without an earned run until Thursday) as the White Sox closer and would make an interesting trade chip later this month.

Hierarchy remains: Soria | Fry | Rondon.

Milwaukee Brewers — Dan Jennings tossed a scoreless eighth inning with the Brewers clinging to a 4-2 lead. After Milwaukee tacked on three more runs, Jennings stayed on in the ninth to earn his first save of the season. Corey Knebel had pitched in three straight entering Thursday, so he needed a breather.

Hierarchy remains: Knebel | Hader | Jeffress.

Texas Rangers — Chris Martin has been placed on the disabled list for a third time this season. This time it’s for a strained groin.  “We want to make sure we get him right,” manager Jeff Bannister said.

Hierarchy remains: Kela | Diekman | Leclerc.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Josh Hader/Jeremy Jeffress — Even with Thursday’s off-day, Corey Knebel has pitched in three of four and may get additional rest.

Saturday:
1. Jake Diekman — Keone Kela has pitched in two consecutive days.
2. Jace Fry — Joakim Soria has pitched in two of three and three of five.
3, Alex Colome — Edwin Diaz earned save No. 34 Thursday night and has now pitched in two of three and four of six.

Victor Arano, Cody Allen, and a bunch of vulture saves

July 5, 2018

Philadelphia Phillies — 23-year-old rookie Victor Arano didn’t quite convert his first save opportunity (June 18), but he made it through two scoreless innings on Wednesday to become the eighth Phillies reliever with a save in 2018. Only five of Arano’s 28 appearances this season have come in late/close situations, but he has good numbers (2.32 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 9.6 K/9) and could see an increased role going forward.

Hierarchy remains: *Dominguez | Hunter | Neshek.
* = closer-by-committee

St. Louis Cardinals — Although Bud Norris felt a slight “stinger” in his finger during his ninth-inning appearance, causing a slight delay, he stayed on to finish a scoreless inning.

Hierarchy remains: Norris | Hicks | Tuivailala.

Cincinnati Reds — With Raisel Iglesias coming off three straight days of work, Jared Hughes picked up the vulture save that we expected.

Hierarchy remains: Iglesias | Hughes | Garrett.

Miami Marlins — You weren’t surprised to see Brad Ziegler get the Independence Day save for Miami. Nothing surprises you. You read the Vulture Save Watch.

Hierarchy remains: Barraclough | Steckenrider | Ziegler.

Houston Astros — Okay, we were a day late with our call on this one — Hector Rondon got a day off immediately after a 35-pitch outing, leaving Ken Giles to lock down the Independence Day save.

Hierarchy remains: Rondon | Giles | Devenski.

Cleveland Indians — With Wednesday night’s save, Cody Allen became Cleveland’s all-time leader in the category, passing Bob Wickman.

Hierarchy remains: Allen | Ramirez | Perez.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Jeremy Jeffress — Corey Knebel has gone in three straight, and we think Josh Hader will get two days off after his three-inning performance on Tuesday. Jeffress threw 23 pitches yesterday but is coming off four days’ rest.

Arodys Vizcaino activated from the DL

July 4, 2018

Atlanta Braves — Arodys Vizcaino was activated from the DL on Tuesday and will return to his role as the Braves closer. Manager Brian Snitker did say that he plans to be careful with Vizcaino for the rest of the season and won’t push him a lot. He also said that he feels like he has three closers because of how A.J. Minter and Dan Winkler pitched during Vizcaino’s absence. We’ll remove the committee tag, but expect Minter and Winkler to be in the mix for saves if the Braves play a lot of close games.

Updated hierarchy: Vizcaino | Minter | Winkler.

Toronto Blue Jays – John Axford nearly got the final six outs on Tuesday, as he pitched the eighth inning of a tie game and started the ninth after Toronto took a two-run lead. Axford retired the first two batters he faced in the ninth, but a single and a walk moved manager John Gibbons to call on Tyler Clippard to record the final out. Axford’s performance earns him a spot in our hierarchy. We’ll also keep Seung Hwan Oh at the top of the committee, as it’s likely Gibbons wanted to rest Oh after three appearances in four days.

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

Chicago Cubs — Brandon Morrow earned a second day off on Tuesday after Sunday’s four-out save. With Morrow unavailable, Joe Maddon turned to Steve Cishek in the eighth before handing the ball to Pedro Strop in the ninth for the save. Cishek was filthy against the heart of the Tigers’ order, but we’ll edge Strop ahead of Cishek in the hierarchy based off of yesterday’s usage.

Updated hierarchy: Morrow | Strop | Cishek.

Texas Rangers — Chris Martin was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock before Tuesday’s tilt, but Jeff Banister made it clear that the move had nothing to do with Martin’s performance. Martin must remain optioned for 10 days unless another player moves to the DL. That could happen very soon, as Tony Barnette suffered a right shoulder sprain on Tuesday and will have an MRI on Wednesday. Jose Leclerc has pitched well this year and should see more high-leverage work in Martin’s absence.

Updated hierarchy: Kela | Diekman | Leclerc.

Tampa Bay Rays – The Rays grabbed a 9-4 lead against the Marlins in the 16th inning and turned to catcher Jesus Sucre to lock up the win. He allowed the first three batters to reach, followed by a sac fly in what turned out to be quite a unique at-bat. Jose Alvarado then entered to finally end things and pick up his third save of the year. Sergio Romo had pitched a scoreless 10th and 11th, throwing 42 pitches in the process, which means Alvarado has a good chance to get his second save of the day.

Hierarchy remains: *Romo | Alvarado | Roe.
* = closer-by-committee

San Diego Padres — Kirby Yates went on paternity leave Tuesday and will likely be back on Friday. We also learned after Tuesday’s game that Brad Hand was unavailable due to a family matter, but he is expected to be back on Wednesday.

Hierarchy remains: Hand | Yates | Stammen.

Houston Astros – Hector Rondon notched a four-out save on Tuesday. He has allowed just one earned run over his last 18 appearances and owns a 1.44 ERA with 40 total strikeouts in 31.1 IP this season. Safe to say at this point that the closer’s role firmly belongs to Rondon.

Hierarchy remains: Rondon | Giles | Devenski.

Boston Red Sox – Tyler Thornburg will be activated today, which means he will be in the majors for the first time in 2016. The righty was projected to be a big part of the Boston bullpen when the Red Sox acquired him prior to the 2017 season, but those expectations have since been tempered. Still, it will be interesting to see if Thornburg can pitch himself into the late-innings conversation. If he does, it will certainly be a big boost for the AL East leaders.

Hierarchy remains: Kimbrel | Kelly | Barnes.

VULTURE PILOT WATCH
Today
1. Russell Casse – Casse hasn’t factored in the U.S. military’s war plans since he fought in Vietnam, but the Air Force is desperate for anyone who can fly a plane. He has seen mostly low-leverage crop dusting work of late, but if Casse can overcome his struggles with alcoholism, he may end up saving the world.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Dellin Betances – Aroldis Chapman has pitched in three straight games.
2. Jared Hughes – Same goes for Raisel Iglesias.
3. Jose Alvarado – As we mentioned above, Sergio Romo threw 42 pitches yesterday and has now appeared in four of five.
4. Brad Ziegler – Kyle Barraclough and Drew Steckenrider have both pitched in three of four. Ziegler has gone in two straight, but has only thrown 14 pitches over that time.

Tomorrow
1. Jace Fry/Bruce Rondon – If Joakim Soria pitches today it will be two straight and three of four. Jace Fry has pitched in three of four, so if he also gets the ball on Wednesday then it’s likely he gets a day off as well.
2. Ken Giles – Hector Rondon threw 35 pitches in a four-out save on Tuesday, so depending on his usage today he could see a day off on Thursday.
3. Drew Steckenrider/Brad Ziegler – If Barraclough gets the ball today, he should have Thursday off. Same goes for Steckenrider.
4. Jeremy Jeffress – Corey Knebel enters Wednesday having pitched two straight. Josh Hader threw 36 pitches in three innings of work on Tuesday, so he may get another day of rest.
5. Alex Colome – Edwin Diaz will have pitched in two straight and four of his last five with a Wednesday appearance.

Joe Jimenez blows first chance with Shane Greene on DL

July 3, 2018

Detroit Tigers — As we predicted yesterday, Joe Jimenez has indeed taken over closing duties for the Tigers after Shane Greene was placed on the disabled list. Manager Ron Gardenhire thinks he’ll learn something from the temporary promotion. Anyway, Jimenez got his first crack Monday night but blew the save. Some feel he got a tough call on a 2-2 pitch with the bases loaded, so perhaps some bad luck was involved. The Tigers won anyway, giving Blaine Hardy his first career save with a scoreless tenth inning after Buck Farmer started the inning by allowing a single and was pulled. Jimenez is definitely the man to own, here, but Alex Wilson, Louis Coleman, Farmer and perhaps Hardy could factor into the team’s late-inning plans as well.

Updated hierarchy: Jimenez | Wilson | Coleman. 

Atlanta Braves — Arodys Vizcaino was expected to be activated on Monday, but that didn’t happen, so A.J. Minter did the honors again and picked up his fourth save. Vizcaino is now expected to be activated on Tuesday, though we’ll see about that! Either way, he will be the closer upon his return.

Hierarchy remains: *Minter | Winkler | Carle.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Dodgers –Caleb Ferguson has pitched in six career games (three starts) and has factored into the decision three times already, with a win, a loss and his first career save, which came Monday night. The save was a very vulturey three-inning one in a 17-1 win. Free Closer Monkey Premium goes to the first person to prove they had Ferguson in their fantasy lineup for that save.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Goeddel | Alexander.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. AJ Minter/Dan Winkler – Arodys Vizcaino is expected back today, but we thought that was the case yesterday as well.

Tomorrow
1. Dellin Betances – Aroldis Chapman has pitched in two straight…
2. Jared Hughes – …so has Raisel Iglesias.
3. Alex Wilson/Louis Coleman – Joe Jimenez has pitched in two of three, throwing 37 pitches. Alex Wilson is dealing with a calf strain, so he may not be available either.
4. Jordan Hicks – Bud Norris has gone in two of three.

Joe Jimenez likely to close in Detroit with Shane Greene injured

July 2, 2018

Detroit Tigers — Closer Shane Greene was placed on the disabled list Monday with a right shoulder strain. The injury had not been previously announced, so at the moment, a timetable for his return is not clear. Joe Jimenez should get the closing duties in the meantime. Alex Wilson is coming off a strained calf, but should handle the middle innings along with Louis Coleman and Buck Farmer.

Updated hierarchy: Jimenez | Wilson | Coleman.