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.

Koji Uehara is tougher than you are, will be day-to-day after line drive to wrist

August 8, 2015

Boston Red Sox — As we told you last night, Koji Uehara took a line drive off his right arm at the end of Friday’s game and appeared to be in serious pain. Postgame X-rays, however, showed no break, and Uehara was half-jokingly promising to be back by Sunday, as he explained that he considered his “whole body to be the glove.” Consider Koji day-to-day at this point, with Junichi Tazawa sliding into the closer role until Uehara can pitch again.

Updated hierarchy: Uehara | Tazawa | Ross.

Minnesota Twins – With Trevor May adapting well to the bullpen, Paul Molitor told the media that the rookie will be the team’s primary setup guy going forward.

Updated hierarchy: Perkins | May | Jepsen.

Colorado Rockies — Tommy Kahnle continues to look like the best bet for saves going forward for the Rockies; he picked up the first one of his career to celebrate his 26th birthday on Friday night.

Hierarchy remains: *Kahnle | Miller | Betancourt.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Dodgers — Jim Johnson pitched a clean ninth in a tie game, but when he came back out for the tenth, he loaded the bases without getting anyone out on his way to taking the loss. He’s now appeared in three games for the Dodgers, and has given up at least one earned run in each. How long can the Dodgers keep trusting him in tight spots?

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Johnson | Baez.

Chicago White Sox — For the first time since April 2014, Nate Jones appeared in a major league game, notching two strikeouts in a perfect inning. Jones was hitting 100 MPH during his rehab appearances, and could challenge for a high-leverage role almost immediately.

Hierarchy remains: Robertson | Duke | Petricka.

St. Louis Cardinals — For the second time this year, Carlos Villanueva grabbed a three-inning save for the Cards.

Hierarchy remains: Rosenthal | Siegrist | Broxton.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Junichi Tazawa, Boston Red Sox  — As noted above, Koji will need at least one day off.
2. Tyler Clippard, New York Mets — Jeurys Familia has appeared in the last three games (over four days).
3. Pedro Strop, Chicago Cubs — Hector Rondon got five outs for Friday’s save and has pitched on two straight days (37 pitches).
4. Kirby Yates, Tampa Bay Rays — All right, this one’s a stretch, buuuutttt Brad Boxberger and Jake McGee each struggled last night, and each have pitched on four of the last six days. Steve Geltz has been worked even harder lately, so if Kevin Cash thinks outside the Box, he might well call on Yates.

Junichi Tazawa will close after Koji Uehara injury

August 7, 2015

Boston Red Sox – On the last pitch of the night, Koji Uehara was drilled in the right arm by a line drive and was walked off the field by a trainer. He still converted the save, as he was able to make the play at first, but given how much pain he was in, he’s likely to miss some time, meaning Junichi Tazawa will likely handle the closer role until Uehara is healthy again.

UPDATE: Uehara reportedly does not have a broken bone. Continue to check back for updates.

Updated hierarchy: Tazawa | Ross | Ogando.

Jonathan Broxton impressing in St. Louis; Will Harris grabs a save

August 7, 2015

St. Louis Cardinals — Normally, managers tend to avoid using relief pitchers with ERAs north of 5.00. But they also tend to use pitchers with that invaluable “closing experience,” no matter how well (or poorly) they’re pitching. Jonathan Broxton fits into both categories, and he’s been used in high-leverage situations since he joined the first-place Cardinals before the trade deadline. Broxton picked up his first hold with St. Louis on Thursday, entering the game with a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning. Earlier this week, he pitched in the seventh and eighth of two separate tie games, a sign that he has quickly earned the trust of manager Mike Matheny.

Updated hierarchy: Rosenthal | Siegrist | Broxton.

Houston Astros — After Luke Gregerson choked with a two-run lead in the ninth, Will Harris came in and picked up his first career save in the tenth — even though Pat Neshek and Josh Fields were each available. Harris has a 1.28 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP and, given Gregerson’s fairly average numbers, it’ll be worth keeping an eye on how Harris is used going forward.

Hierarchy remains: Gregerson | Neshek | Fields.

Atlanta Braves — Congratulations are in order for Arodys Vizcaino, who picked up his first career save Thursday. Armed with a 0.71 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, Vizcaino will get the bulk of the Braves’ save chances for the rest of the season.

Hierarchy remains: Vizcaino | McKirahan | Aardsma.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Kevin Siegrist, St. Louis Cardinals — We know Trevor Rosenthal is a horse, but every stallion in the stable needs its rest. If that’s the case for Rosenthal, who threw 21 pitches yesterday after throwing 16 on Wednesday, then Siegrist would likely get the call Friday night.
2. Bruce Rondon, Detroit Tigers — While Alex Wilson appears to be the choice in Detroit, the situation is still a bit in flux. Keep an eye on Rondon in an otherwise weak bullpen.