May 31, 2016
Cincinnati Reds – Pitching in the bottom of the ninth up six runs, Tony Cingrani gave back three to the Rockies before getting yanked out of the game in favor of J.C. Ramirez. Ramirez stopped the bleeding, earning his first career save in the process. While the Reds’ bullpen continues to be a mess, we don’t expect Ramirez to play a significant role in the late innings. That said, we would not be surprised if this latest blow-up increases Ross Ohlendorf’s chances to get saves going forward.
Hierarchy remains: *Cingrani | Ohlendorf | Wood.
Texas Rangers – Cesar Ramos earned his first save of the season the hard way, pitching three innings of relief to save the win for Derek Holland. It was a nice box score surprise for Ramos, but that’s it.
Hierarchy remains: Dyson | Diekman | Bush.
Toronto Blue Jays – With Roberto Osuna on the shelf, John Gibbons used a combination of Aaron Loup and Drew Storen to finish off the Yankees in the ninth inning, with Storen picking up the Vulture Save. We have not been too bullish on Storen lately given his struggles and the rumors that he is on the trading block, but his usage last night may force us to reconsider.
Hierarchy remains: Osuna | Floyd | Biagini.
Tampa Bay Rays – The Rays activated Brad Boxberger from the disabled list yesterday and will ease him back in to the closer role. Kevin Cash insisted there would be no closer controversy despite Alex Colome’s success, so we’ll place Boxberger straight into the closer spot, with the understanding that he might pitch the 8th inning a couple of times before he gets a save chance.
Updated hierarchy: Boxberger | Colome | Cedeno.
Los Angeles Angels – Huston Street also returned from the DL yesterday, and while he wasn’t needed immediately (Jhoulys Chacin threw a complete game), he, too, should return to closing rather quickly, if not right away.
Updated hierarchy: Street | Smith | Salas.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Addison Reed, New York Mets – Jeurys Familia has pitched in back to back games and three of four, throwing 67 pitches in that span. Reed has appeared in the same three games, but has had a much lighter workload.