Koji Uehara out for the season, Jean Machi best bet to close

August 11, 2015

Boston Red Sox – While initial x-rays were negative on Koji Uehara’s injured right wrist, a follow-up CT scan revealed that the 40 year-old Red Sox closer had suffered a non-displaced fracture and has been declared out for the rest of the season. Uehara was struck on the wrist by an Ian Kinsler line drive on Friday night. As mentioned yesterday, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe expects Machi to be the team’s primary closer.

Hierarchy remains: *Machi | Tazawa | Ross.

Chicago White Sox – Nate Jones continues to impress in Chicago. The flame-throwing right-hander pitched 1.2 innings to close out the game for Chris Sale last night. Jones was given plenty of breathing room, but we expect him to get work in higher leverage spots in the near future.

Updated hierarchy: Robertson | Duke | Jones.

San Diego Padres – Shawn Kelley struck out three in one inning of work against the Reds in a tight ballgame last night. With the scoreless outing, Kelley lowered his ERA to 2.85 on the year. His recent usage — and Brandon Maurer’s recent struggles — suggests that Pat Murphy will rely on him in the late innings and put him in position to add to his holds total.

Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Benoit | Kelley.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Bruce Rondon, Detroit Tigers – Alex Wilson has been dealing with shoulder soreness.
2. Junichi Tazawa, Boston Red Sox – Jean Machi has the best chance at the first save opportunity in Boston, but Tazawa could also get a look.
3. Darren O’Day, Baltimore Orioles – Zach Britton threw 36 pitches in a 1.2 inning save last night.

Jean Machi and Junichi Tazawa to close with Uehara going to DL

August 10, 2015

Boston Red Sox — As we feared initially, Koji Uehara is headed to the disabled list with his right wrist injury. Expect Jean Machi and Junichi Tazawa to pick up the save chances in his absence.

EDIT: Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe expects Machi to be the team’s primary closer, perhaps due to front office concerns about overusing Tazawa in what has become a lost season.

Updated hierarchy: *Machi | Tazawa | Ross.

Edward Mujica on verge of losing job; Jim Johnson gets demolished

August 10, 2015

Oakland A’s – Edward Mujica’s time as closer for the A’s may have already come to an end. Staked to a 2-run lead against the Astros, Mujica threw 10 pitches, allowing two singles and a go-ahead 3-run home run. The A’s bailed him out by rallying in the bottom half of the inning, but Bob Melvin implied after the game that someone else might get the next save chance. At the very least, Mujica is now in a committee, and Drew Pomeranz or Fernando Rodriguez could end up the full-time stopper in the near future.

Updated hierarchy: *Mujica | Pomeranz | Rodriguez.
* = closer-by-committee

Colorado Rockies – John Axford finished off the 7th inning of a tie game, and then stayed on to pitch the 8th, ultimately earning the win when the Rockies pushed a couple runs across against Drew Storen. In a bullpen as shaky as this, that’s good enough for a place on the hierarchy — Axford moves back ahead of Rafael Betancourt, who coughed up the lead in the 6th.

Updated hierarchy: Kahnle | Miller | Axford.

Tampa Bay Rays – Jake McGee picked up his 6th save of the year on Sunday, as Brad Boxberger got the night off after pitching in five of the previous seven games. McGee continues to have tremendous value in holds leagues and is only a Boxberger misstep or two away from full time closer role.

Hierarchy remains: Boxberger | McGee | Geltz.

Los Angeles Dodgers – Jim Johnson was already off to a very rocky start to his Dodgers career, and that was before Sunday night’s historically bad outing. After a shellacking like that, it’s hard to picture Don Mattingly giving Johnson any more high-leverage chances for a good while. The only two Dodgers middle relievers who have been doing their jobs as of late are Pedro Baez and Juan Nicasio, and we’ll slot them in to the hierarchy for the time being.

Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Baez | Nicasio.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Jeanmar Gomez, Philadelphia Phillies – Ken Giles has pitched in three straight.

Bruce Rondon records save while Jean Machi could see saves for Red Sox

August 9, 2015

Detroit Tigers – Bruce Rondon struck out two batters in the 9th inning last night to protect a one run lead and get his first save of the season.  Alex Wilson was unavailable due to right shoulder fatigue, and will be kept out of Sunday’s game as well.  Manager Brad Ausmus said he would have gone with Wilson if he was available, but he left it open for the future.  Wilson’s injury, as well as Rondon’s performance, will be worth monitoring to determine who ends up seeing the most save chances the rest of the season.

Hierarchy remains: *Wilson | Rondon | Alburquerque.
* = closer-by-committee.

Boston Red Sox — Junichi Tazawa entered the game in the 7th inning last night with the Red Sox up one, but was unable to hold on to the lead.  He gave up a two-run homer to Victor Martinez and recorded a blown save for the third straight outing.  Jean Machi has been mentioned as a possible closer while Uehara is unavailable and with Tazawa’s struggles, he looks to be first in line for saves.

Updated hierarchy: Uehara | Machi | Tazawa.

Oakland A’s — Edward Muijca worked a perfect 9th inning yesterday for his first save with the A’s.  Injured closer Sean Doolittle pitched a scoreless inning on a rehab assignment on Friday.  He is expected to pitch another inning today and could be back in the next couple weeks.

Hierarchy remains: Mujica | Pomeranz | Rodriguez.

Colorado Rockies — Manager Walt Weiss was impressed by Tommy Kahnle’s first save and said he wants him pitching in the ninth inning more often.  We will remove the asterisk for now and hope we don’t jinx him like we seemingly did for Carson Smith when we removed his asterisk.

Hierarchy remains: Kahnle | Miller | Betancourt.

Chicago Cubs – Justin Grimm got the last out of the 9th yesterday to pick up his third save of the season.  The Cubs entered the 9th inning with a 5 run lead but James Russell and Jason Motte combined to give up three runs on four hits while only recording two outs.  Grimm entered the game with the tying-run at the plate and was able to record a ground out to end the game.

Hierarchy remains: Rondon | Strop | Hunter.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Bruce Rondon, Detroit Tigers – Alex Wilson will be held out of Sunday’s game to rest his shoulder
2. Jean Machi, Boston Red Sox – After Tazawa’s rough outing yesterday, Machi would like get the call if Uehara is still unavailable.
3. Drew Pomeranz, Oakland A’s – Edward Mujica has pitched in three of the past four days.
4. Tony Watson/Jared Hughes, Pittsburgh Pirates – Melancon, Soria, and Watson have all pitched in two straight and three of the last four.  Watson has thrown the fewest pitches over that time (including only six yesterday) so he could be available. If the Pirates choose to give all three guys a rest, Hughes could get the call.
5. Kirby Yates, Tampa Bay Rays – Boxberger, McGee, and Geltz all pitched yesterday and have all pitched in five of the last seven days.  Kirby Yates could get a shot if all three are unavailable on Sunday.

Hot Seat: August 8, 2015

Teams at the top are desperate for wins. Those near the bottom are assessing what they’ve got. That means short leashes everywhere, and the return of the Hot Seat column. Note that these rankings are in order of current job security.

Hottest – In a committee, or on the verge of losing their job right now

30. Alex Wilson (cuff: Bruce Rondon)
29. Tommy Kahnle (cuff: Justin Miller)

-Wilson hasn’t allowed a run since the trade of Joakim Soria, but has very low strikeout rates and a resurgent Bruce Rondon behind him. Tommy Kahnle has been good lately and just picked up his first save at the top of a Colorado committee, but he could lose his chance to run with the job if his next outing is poor.

 

Hot – Closers who could be in danger after their next blown save

28. Edward Mujica (cuff: Drew Pomeranz)
27. Carson Smith (cuff: Fernando Rodney/Tom Wilhelmsen)
26. Santiago Casilla (cuff: Sergio Romo)
25. Brad Boxberger (cuff: Jake McGee)

-Boxberger and Casilla are coming off rough outings, while Carson Smith has been wildly inconsistent lately. Edward Mujica is also on a short leash, having just taken over the job.

 

Warmish – Two blown saves in a row and these players might be in trouble

24. Arodys Vizcaino
23. Luke Gregerson
22. Greg Holland
21. Glen Perkins

-Vizcaino has been great thus far, but is only a week into the gig. Gregerson and Holland have been mostly good this season, but often don’t look like the best pitcher in the bullpen. Perkins has had a rough stretch.

 

Cool – These players would have to blow 3 consecutive saves for their jobs to be in jeopardy

20. Francisco Rodriguez
19. Brad Ziegler
18. Koji Uehara
17. Roberto Osuna
16. Hector Rondon
15. AJ Ramos
14. Jeurys Familia
13. David Robertson
12. Kenley Jansen
11. Cody Allen
10. Huston Street
9. Ken Giles
8. Mark Melancon
7. Trevor Rosenthal
6. Jonathan Papelbon

-The majority of stoppers fall in this category for now, and though these players span 15 spots in the rankings, there isn’t a tremendous difference between any of the guys. They’re all pretty good and they’re all pretty secure for the time being. Papelbon might be in the Sub-zero category, but he’s got fan favorite Drew Storen pitching the 8th ahead of him, which might mean some added pressure.

 

Sub-zero – These players would have to blow 4+ consecutive saves for their jobs to be in jeopardy

5. Shawn Tolleson
4. Craig Kimbrel
3. Zach Britton
2. Andrew Miller
1. Aroldis Chapman

-Tolleson has been fine, but he’s not quite on the level with the other four — he’s mainly in this tier because he has very little competition in the Texas bullpen.