Carlos Estevez pitching well, Joe Smith blows save

May 22, 2016

Colorado Rockies — Carlos Estevez pitched the eighth inning of a tie game last night and ended up getting the win after the Rockies scored four runs in the top of the ninth.  Estevez now has a win and five holds in his last six appearances.  In other Rockies’ bullpen news, Miguel Castro was activated from the DL a few days ago and could work his way back onto the hierarchy shortly.

Updated hierarchy: McGee | Estevez | Logan.

Los Angeles Angels — Last night, Joe Smith blew his first save since Huston Street went on the DL, as he gave up a three-run homer to Matt Wieters on his birthday.   Street threw a bullpen on Friday and is scheduled to throw a simulated inning on Monday.  He is targeting a return in late May or early June.

Hierarchy remains: Smith | Salas | Mahle.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Kelvin Herrera, Kansas City Royals – Wade Davis has pitched in two straight and three of the past four.
2. Neftali Feliz, Pittsburgh Pirates – Mark Melancon and Tony Watson have both pitched in back-to-back games
3. Ross Ohlendorf, Cincinnati Reds – Tony Cingrani came on in the 7th inning a few nights ago and gave up the lead so Ohlendorf could get the next change in the 9th inning.

Jake Barrett scores a save in Arizona

May 21, 2016

Arizona Diamondbacks – It didn’t appear like a save situation was going to arise in Arizona on Friday with the Diamondbacks up 11-2 over the Cardinals. However, Evan Marshall’s struggles in the 9th paved the way for Jake Barrett to record his first career save. Barrett does not factor into Arizona’s normal late-inning plans.

Hierarchy remains: Ziegler | Hudson | Clippard.

Tampa Bay Rays — Enny Romero pitched the 8th for Tampa on Friday and picked up his first hold since April 25. Entering Friday, opponents were batting just .098 against him, which is the lowest among MLB relievers. We’ll keep an eye out to see if he continues to get high-leverage work for the Rays.

Hierarchy remains: Colome | Cedeno | Ramirez.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Shawn Kelley, Washington Nationals — Jonathan Papelbon has thrown in two straight games

Joe Biagini (who?) earns a Blue Jays save over Drew Storen

May 20, 2016

Toronto Blue Jays — Rule 5 pick (and aspiring comedian) Joe Biagini picked up his first career save with a clean eleventh inning against the Twins. Closer Roberto Osuna had pitched two scoreless frames earlier in a tie game. Nowhere to be found was Drew Storen, who has an 8.36 ERA and has pitched in four straight losses, including 13-2 and 12-2 blowouts this week. Biagini, meanwhile, has allowed just 1 earned run in 15.1 innings this season. With six walks, his control is a bit of a concern, but Biagini clearly has earned John Gibbons’s trust in the early going.

Updated hierarchy: Osuna | Biagini | Storen.

Milwaukee Brewers — Jeremy Jeffress got the day off Thursday, opening the door for setup man Tyler Thornburg. He labored a bit in the ninth inning (2 walks, 30 pitches), but managed to retire the side for his first career save.

Hierarchy remains: Jeffress | Thornburg | Blazek.

Los Angeles Angels — Greg Mahle is consistently getting late-inning work for the Angels, often (like on Thursday) coming in for fellow lefthander Jose Alvarez. We’ll swap the two at the end of the Los Angeles hierarchy.

Updated hierarchy: Smith | Salas | Mahle.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Kirby Yates, New York Yankees — Joe Girardi steadfastly tries to avoid using his big three on three straight days; if he follows that policy in a Friday night save situation, we think it will be the impressive Kirby Yates (19 K in 15.1 innings) who gets the call.
2. Joe Biagini/Drew Storen, Toronto Blue Jays — As we mentioned, Osuna tossed two innings (22 pitches) and might be unavailable Friday night. In that case, Gibbons could go back to Biagini or return to Storen, who has two saves this year.

Sam Dyson takes over in Texas

May 19, 2016

Texas Rangers – After an outing that saw his ERA climb to over 9.00, Shawn Tolleson will get some time off from closing. Sam Dyson is the best bet for saves going forward, and Jake Diekman could see chances if the matchups are right. Another player to keep an eye on is Matt Bush, who has been electric since being called up from the minors.

Updated hierarchy: Dyson | Diekman | Bush.

Cincinnati Reds – The fire continues to burn in the Cincinnati bullpen. This time it was Tony Cingrani giving up a two-run homer to blow the save in the bottom of the 9th. The Reds’ bullpen is historically bad, and after heavy use in the first three games of this series, could use an easy day. Cingrani has seen the bulk of the save opportunities, but he is the only left-hander in the Reds bullpen, and this is still a committee. Ross Ohlendorf is the best right-handed option, but until somebody starts to run away with this job, you can expect us to continue to keep a close eye on this bullpen.

Hierarchy remains: *Cingrani | Ohlendorf | Wood.
* = closer-by-committee

Cleveland Indians – The Indians benefitted from more failures in the Cincinnati bullpen on Wednesday, but it took 12 innings for them to lock up the win. Dan Otero picked up his first save of the year after the regulars for the Tribe had already pitched, but he doesn’t normally feature in the back end of Cleveland’s bullpen.

Hierarchy remains: Allen | Shaw | McAllister.

Chicago Cubs – When the Cubs took the lead in the top of the 13th, Joe Maddon decided to play matchups to protect a one-run lead. This allowed lefty Clayton Richard to get the last out of the game and pick up the first save of his career. Richard played quarterback at Michigan before switching to baseball and has filled a LOOGY role for the Cubs this year, but he does not normally see many save or hold opportunities.

Hierarchy remains: Rondon | Strop | Grimm.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Blake Wood/Ross Ohlendorf, Cincinnati Reds  – Tony Cingrani has thrown 59 pitches over the past two days, while Ross Ohlendorf has also appeared in back-to-back games, throwing 25 pitches.
2. Darren O’Day, Baltimore Orioles – Zach Britton threw 28 pitches in a five-out save yesterday and may get the afternoon off.
3. Justin Grimm, Chicago Cubs – Both Hector Rondon and Pedro Strop threw 30 pitches yesterday.
4. Bryan Shaw, Cleveland Indians  – Cody Allen has thrown 45 pitches over the past two days.