Will Smith picks up another save in the volatile Giants bullpen

July 2, 2018

San Francisco Giants — On Sunday, the Giants used Sam Dyson in the seventh, Tony Watson in the eighth, and then turned to Mark Melancon with a four-run lead in the ninth. Melancon retired the first two guys, but then gave up three straight singles, so it was Will Smith earning his second save in three nights. Lefties Smith (34 K in 24.1 IP, 0.70 WHIP) and Watson (1.64 ERA, 15 straight scoreless appearances) have been awesome this season, as has Reyes Moronta. Melancon could be in the mix, and you can’t necessarily rule out Dyson, so this situation will stay messy, but we’ll move Smith up top and hope he can hang on to the job. For his part, Bruce Bochy says he considers these guys “interchangeable.”

Updated hierarchy: *Smith | Watson | Dyson.
* = closer-by-committee

Atlanta Braves — AJ Minter grabbed his third save of the season on Sunday, but it might be his last for a while — Arodys Vizcaino is expected to be activated from the DL on Monday.

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

Philadelphia Phillies — Pat Neshek returned from the disabled list and made his season debut, allowing a single and inducing a groundout in the seventh. Neshek is almost 38, but not many middle relievers can match his success over the past few years, and he should get a chance to re-establish himself in the seventh inning for the Phils.

Updated hierarchy: *Dominguez | Hunter | Neshek.
* = closer-by-committee

Seattle Mariners — Seattle’s 26-11 record in one-run games is due in large part to Edwin Diaz, whose 32 saves are tops in MLB by a whopping eight. Diaz, only 24, is already in the top 200 for career saves (84), and is on pace to threaten K-Rod’s record of 62 saves in a single season. K-Rod, by the way, is 16 months younger than Pat Neshek, and is currently earning saves alongside Jordany Valdespin and Emilio Bonifacio on the independent Long Island Ducks. (Get your QuackerJack wallpapers here.) The point here is that Edwin Diaz is really good.

Hierarchy remains: Diaz | Colome | Pazos.

New York Mets — After two sparkling starts and three more pedestrian ones, the Mets have returned Seth Lugo to the bullpen, where he will bolster Anthony Swarzak and Robert Gsellman in the middle innings.

Hierarchy remains: Familia | Swarzak | Gsellman.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Jose Alvarado — Sergio Romo has pitched in three straight.
2. John Buccigross — Scott Van Pelt tweaked his shoulder patting himself on the back for predicting LeBron’s move to the Lakers, and may not be able to go tomorrow.

Tuesday:
1. Kyle Crick — Felipe Vazquez has gone in two of three.

Ryan Tepera to DL, Giants bullpen wide open

July 1, 2018

Toronto Blue Jays – The Blue Jays have placed Ryan Tepera on the 10-day DL.  Seung Hwan Oh got the top ninth in a tie game yesterday, which is usually a spot for the team’s closer, so we will move Oh to the top of the committee.  Manager John Gibbons said that he likes that Oh is going to come in and throw strikes.  However, that could work against him since Gibbons could choose to bring him in prior to the 9th.  Tyler Clippard got the most recent save and will certainly be in the mix.  For now, we expect those two to split closing duties but we shall see if either one can seize the job until Osuna comes back.

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

San Francisco Giants – The Giants bullpen appears to be wide open.  After Sam Dyson’s latest blown save on Thursday, Bochy said he would open the closing job to others.  He made good on that on Friday with Will Smith getting the save, but with Dyson unavailable that night and so many other options to close, it’s hard to know where Bochy will go next.  For now, it appears Mark Melancon may not be in the mix since his arm isn’t strong enough yet to resume the role of closer.  That still leaves Dyson, Smith, as well as Tony Watson and rookie Reyes Moronta.  Bochy has been trying to manage the workload for all these guys so it looks like a committee for now.

Updated hierarchy: *Dyson | Smith | Watson.
* = closer-by-committee

Philadelphia Phillies – Yesterday, Seranthony Dominguez recorded his seventh save in eight chances.  In other Phillies’ bullpen news, the team leader in saves, Hector Neris, got sent back down to Triple-A after giving up three homers on Friday night.

Updated hierarchy: *Dominguez | Hunter | Morgan.
* = closer-by-committee

Colorado Rockies — As predicted by the Vulture Save Watch, Wade Davis got the day off on Saturday and Adam Ottavino recorded his second save of the season.  Ottavino should continue to see save chances when Davis is unavailable.

Hierarchy remains: Davis | Ottavino | McGee.

Oakland A’s — The Vulture Save Watch went 2 for 2 yesterday, with the assist going to Santiago Casilla.  With the A’s up five in the ninth, Casilla loaded the bases and Lou Trivino came on to get last two outs and record the save.

Hierarchy remains: Treinen | Trivino | Buchter.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Tyler Clippard – Seung Hwan Oh has pitched in two straight

Monday
1. Drew Steckenrider – If Kyle Barraclough pitches on Sunday, that will be three in a row.

Will Smith picks up a save for the Giants

June 30, 2018

San Francisco Giants – Bruce Bochy announced before Friday’s game that Sam Dyson would be unavailable for a save chance after pitching in four of the last seven games. Mark Melancon had also pitched in four of seven, so with a one-run lead and Tony Watson having already pitched, the save chance fell to Will Smith. Smith pitched a perfect 9th with two strikeouts to earn his first save of the year. Dyson has had a rough June, with a 5.11 ERA and two blown saves. Because Bochy announced before the game that Dyson would get the night off, we aren’t ready to remove him from the closer’s role, but he is on a burning hot seat with Watson, Melancon and now Smith pitching well behind him.

Hierarchy remains: Dyson | Melancon | Watson.

Toronto Blue Jays – The Blue Jays used Seung Hwan Oh in the 8th inning of a one-run game before they turned to Tyler Clippard instead of Ryan Tepera to close out the game in the 9th. Clippard converted for his fifth save of the year. Tepera started out with six straight save conversions, but has since blown two in a row. John Gibbons said after the game that Tepera was unavailable, but this has all the looks of a committee, with Tepera, Oh and Clippard all getting saves in the past week. Whoever closes for Toronto in July, it seems that it is only a temporary role, as Toronto GM Ross Atkins announced that Roberto Osuna is the team’s closer when he returns from his suspension on August 5. Osuna is serving a 75-game suspension for a violation of MLB’s domestic violence policy, and has a court date on July 9th. Now may be the time to stash Osuna in case he was dropped when the suspension was announced.

Hierarchy remains: *Tepera | Oh | Clippard.
* = closer-by-committee

Tampa Bay Rays – Sergio Romo started the 9th inning, but after two quick outs he gave up a single and got pulled for Jose Alvarado. Alvarado got a groundout to end the game and secure his second save of the year. Tampa Bay may still use Romo as a starter, but if he isn’t opening games he will certainly continue to see save opportunities when available.

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

Atlanta Braves – The Braves had a five-run lead going into the 9th inning, but when Luke Jackson loaded the bases with only one out, they brought in Dan Winkler. An inherited runner scored, but Winkler got out of the inning to record his first save of the year. The Braves are clearly in committee mode and used AJ Minter in the 8th inning. Both Minter and Winkler are pitching well, so any save opportunity will come down to matchups, at least until Arodys Vizcaino returns.

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

Los Angeles Dodgers — Setup man Josh Fields was placed on the 10-day DL with shoulder inflammation. Manager Dave Roberts has indicated he will use a variety of pitchers to replace Fields in the 8th. Fields’ absence isn’t likely to be very long, but while he is out we think Scott Alexander is likely to see a bump in responsibilities. Alexander has five holds in his last eight appearances, but as a lefty his situational use may cut down on clear save opportunities.

Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Goeddel | Alexander.

Baltimore Orioles – Darren O’Day has hit the 60-day DL, and may be out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury. As we noted, this makes Brad Brach the clear frontrunner for saves when Zach Britton is inevitably traded.

Hierarchy remains: Britton | Brach | Givens.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Lou Trivino – Blake Treinen has pitched in back to back games and four of the last five.
2. Adam Ottavino – Wade Davis has gone on back-to-back days, and the only time he has pitched three n a row this year (June 5/6/7), he blew the save chance on that third day.

Tomorrow
1. Joe Kelly/Matt Barnes – Craig Kimbrel got a much needed rest last night, but if he pitches today it will be three of four with over 40 pitches in that span.
2. Steve Cishek – Brandon Morrow has pitched back-to-back games (while only throwing seven pitches), so today would be three in a row for him.
3. Kyle Crick – Today would be back-to-back and three of four for Felipe Vazquez.

Sam Dyson might not be closing for much longer

June 29, 2018

San Francisco Giants – Sam Dyson’s stint as Giants closer may be nearing an end. After allowing the tying and go-ahead runs last night, he’s now got four blown saves and has allowed 6 runs in his last 4.2 IP. Mark Melancon got the 8th inning hold and might get the next opportunity, if Bruce Bochy deems him ready.

Updated hierarchy: Dyson | Melancon | Watson.

Seattle Mariners – With Edwin Diaz and Alex Colome unavailable, having both pitched three straight, the Mariners went to James Pazos and then Nick Vincent in a tie game. When they took the lead in the 10th inning, Juan Nicasio entered and picked up his first save of the season. We still consider him behind both Pazos and Vincent on the depth chart, though it’s rare anyone other than Diaz or Colome will be needed for saves on most nights.

Hierarchy remains: Diaz | Colome | Pazos.

Philadelphia Phillies – With a 3-run lead entering the 9th, Gabe Kapler opted for Tommy Hunter, but when Hunter proceeded to allow the first two batters to reach base, Seranthony Dominguez started getting loose. After a groundout, Dominguez was summoned, and he would strike out the two batters he faced, locking down the save. Count on Kapler deploying his bullpen in an unusual manner from time to time, but over the past month, Dominguez has 5 saves while the entire rest of the bullpen has 4. He remains the favorite going forward.

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

Houston Astros – All signs are pointing towards this job being Hector Rondon’s to lose. On Tuesday, Rondon was ready to come in for the save when the Astros offense decided to get home run happy and blow the game open in the 8th, and last night AJ Hinch once again turned to Rondon to close out a 1 run game. Rondon did allow a hit, but struck out the other 3 batters he faced, giving him 38 K’s in 30 IPs so far this season. Hinch will probably still opt for other relievers on occasion, but we’ll consider removing Rondon’s asterisk in the near future.

Hierarchy remains: *Rondon | Giles | Devenski.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Trevor Hildenberger – Fernando Rodney threw 35 pitches in a blown save last night.

Tomorrow
1. Joe Kelly/Matt Barnes – If Craig Kimbrel or Joe Kelly go tonight, it’ll be three straight.
2. Lou Trivino – If Blake Treinen goes tonight, it’ll be back to back and four of five.
3. Alex Colome/James Pazos – If Edwin Diaz or Alex Colome go tonight, it’ll be four of five.

So Wily Peralta is maybe worth owning?

June 28, 2018

Chicago Cubs — As expected, Brandon Morrow was activated from the disabled list and should immediately return to closing for the Cubs. Removing his pants, however, should probably become a committee job.

Updated hierarchy: Morrow | Cishek | Strop.

New York Mets — Jeurys Familia earned a five-out save on Tuesday, but fell short on Wednesday, giving up three singles and a walk before Anthony Swarzak came in and allowed all three inherited runners to score. Sell Familia now on the strength of his name before he gets traded and winds up pitching the eighth.

Hierarchy remains: Familia | Swarzak | Gsellman.

Kansas City Royals — Break up the Royals! After a 2-16 start to June, KC has won three of its last six, with the last two victories saved by wily Wily Peralta. A longtime Brewer, Peralta was summoned to shut down his old team after Tim Hill turned a four-run lead into a one-run lead without retiring a batter. Peralta’s velocity is up and his slider is, um, also up, but we’ve seen stranger relief renaissances before. Maybe the Royals are onto something here?

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

Oakland A’s — Blake Treinen got Wednesday off after some heavy recent use and — as we predicted — Lou Trivino earned his second save of the season.

Hierarchy remains: Treinen | Trivino | Buchter.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. James Pazos — Both Edwin Diaz and Alex Colome have pitched in three straight.
2. Josh Fields — Kenley Jansen has pitched in three of four.
3. Tommy Hunter — Seranthony Dominguez got a two-inning save on Wednesday night.
4. Archie Bradley — Brad Boxberger has gone in three of four (23 pitches last night).

Friday:
1. Jared Hughes — Raisel Iglesias has pitched in two straight and three of four.
2. Brad Brach — Zach Britton has pitched in two out of three, including a blown save last night.