Jake Petricka hits the hot seat

August 27, 2014

Chicago White Sox — Jake Petricka blew his second straight save on Tuesday, and the last five batters he’s faced have scratched out two doubles, two home runs, and an intentional walk. There are three other guys in the White Sox bullpen who have at least three saves this year, so Petricka can’t afford too many more nights like this.

Hierarchy remains: Petricka | Putnam | Lindstrom.
Jake Petricka to Hot Seat.

Chicago Cubs — While Kyuji Fujikawa is being used sparingly as he builds arm strength, Neil Ramirez has picked up where he left off as a dominant late-inning option. He struck out the side in the seventh on Tuesday night before turning things over to Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon.

Updated hierarchy: Rondon | Strop | Ramirez.

Detroit Tigers — Joakim Soria is still working his way back from an oblique injury and could return sometime next week. In the meantime, the Tigers put in a revocable waiver claim on Astros closer Chad Qualls, although it’s unlikely to amount to anything. If you were wondering about Jim Johnson, stop. Even after a clean 1.2-inning outing on Sunday, his WHIP remains over 2.

Hierarchy remains: Nathan | Chamberlain | Alburquerque.

Oakland A’s — Something to keep in mind when thinking about the Oakland committee is that Eric O’Flaherty has yet to pitch in back-to-back games all year. Luke Gregerson spared him the chance tonight by giving up a three-run homer in an eventual 4-2 loss.

Hierarchy remains: O’Flaherty | Cook | Gregerson.

San Diego Padres — Kevin Quackenbush struck out the side in the eighth against Milwaukee, and Kato Kaelin wept.

Hierarchy remains: Benoit | Quackenbush | Thayer.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Ken Giles, Philadelphia Phillies — Jonathan Papelbon earned a quick nine-pitch save on Tuesday, but it was his fourth outing in five days (58 pitches).
2. Brett Cecil/Aaron Loup, Toronto Blue Jays — Casey Janssen pitched one clean inning and the start of a rotten one last night, his third day of work in the last four (57 pitches). Cecil threw 15 fewer pitches than Loup on Tuesday.

Jonathan Broxton might be worth an add

August 20, 2014

Cincinnati Reds — It’s time to worry about Aroldis Chapman. The fireballing righthander is day-to-day with an “achy” shoulder, which we learned about after Chapman walked all four men he faced on Sunday. Jonathan Broxton would be the beneficiary of any extended rest for the closer, and with the team’s playoff hopes dwindling by the day, there is little to be gained by pushing their star to pitch through pain. In other news, Jumbo Diaz has moved ahead of Sam LeCure to enter our hierarchy for the first time, and J.J. Hoover picked up his tenth loss of the year, tying the team record for relievers.

Updated hierarchy: Chapman | Broxton | Diaz.

Detroit Tigers — Almost a week after Joe Nathan made an obscene gesture at Detroit fans, he struggled again in a save situation, giving up a run on two hits and a walk. Nathan’s seat remains boiling lava hot.

Hierarchy remains: Nathan | Chamberlain | Alburquerque.

Tampa Bay Rays — Lately it has seemed that Grant Balfour pitches only when the Rays are losing. Though that wasn’t the case when he entered the game on Tuesday night, it certainly was when he left, three runs and no outs later. Of Balfour’s 14 pitches, only two were strikes — and one of those was lined for a hard-luck triple. Grant’s struggles (he leads all relievers in walks) make Joel Peralta relevant again, if only by default.

Updated hierarchy: McGee | Boxberger | Peralta.

New York Yankees — The Yankees have had to cobble things together at almost every position, but the bullpen had remained a strength — until recently. Aside from the still-otherworldly Dellin Betances, no Yankee reliever has pitched well since the All-Star break. After a lights-out April and May, Adam Warren has struggled recently, and he saw more than a week go by between his last two outings. Shawn Kelley’s stats aren’t much better, but he seems to be the reliever that Joe Girardi trusts most in the seventh these days.

Updated hierarchy: Robertson | Betances | Kelley.

Toronto Blue Jays — John Gibbons just keeps going to Dustin McGowan early these days, summoning him in the fourth last night. Brett Cecil has a narrow edge over top prospect Aaron Sanchez right now.

Updated hierarchy: Janssen | Loup | Cecil.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Dellin Betances/Shawn Kelley, New York Yankees — David Robertson has pitched on three of the last four days, and he threw 20 pitches while picking up the loss on Tuesday. Betances has pitched in each of those games too, but he had an easier time last night. Kelley is better rested still.
2. Kevin Jepsen, Los Angeles Angels — Both Huston Street and Joe Smith have pitched in four of the last five games. Jepsen got a vulture save Monday and might earn a second today.
3. Brad Boxberger, Tampa Bay Rays — Jake McGee threw 35 pitches on Tuesday.
4. Kevin Quackenbush, San Diego Padres — Joaquin Benoit’s shoulder troubles continued on Tuesday, so we’ll keep Quack here until we hear different.

Neshek picks up save, Chapman’s historic streak ends

August 16, 2014

St. Louis Cardinals – Trevor Rosenthal was given the night off yesterday after throwing 24 pitches in an adventurous save on Thursday.  Pat Neshek recorded his 4th save of the season and should continue to see any save chances when Rosenthal is unavailable.

Hierarchy Remains: Rosenthal | Neshek | Siegrist.

Cincinnati Reds – Aroldis Chapman picked up his 26th save of the season last night.  However, it was a little bittersweet as Chapman failed to record a strikeout for the first time in almost a year.  Chapman’s record 49 straight games with a strikeout as a reliever beat the previous record by ten games.  Chances are he will start a new streak in his next appearance.

Hierarchy remains: Chapman | Broxton | LeCure.

Pittsburgh Pirates – Recently acquired John Axford had a solid debut for his new team, as he pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.  Axford has good strikeout numbers this season, but the walks have really hurt him.  If he can limit his walks he should work his way into some high leverage spots for the Pirates, but that is a big if.

Hierarchy remains: Melancon | Watson | Hughes.

Toronto Blue Jays – Dustin McGowan was summoned in the 5th inning yesterday with the Blue Jays getting blown out.  McGowan’s usage has been a little all over the place recently and it appears that Aaron Loup, and potentially even Brett Cecil, have surpassed him on the Blue Jays bullpen hiearchy.

Updated hierarchy: Janssen | Loup | McGowan.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Jeurys Familia, New York Mets – Jenrry Mejia has pitched in two straight and have been battling a number of injuries.
2. Drew Storen, Washington Nationals – Rafael Soriano and Tyler Clippard have both appeared in three straight games.

Kevin Quackenbush could be San Diego’s next closer

July 23, 2014

San Diego Padres — 25-year-old Kevin Quackenbush had six saves in six attempts at El Paso earlier this year, and so far in the big leagues, he’s put up a sub-1.00 WHIP and averaged more than a strikeout per inning. Recent comments from Bud Black suggest that if Joaquin Benoit ends up being traded, “Quack” will inherit the ninth.

Updated hierarchy: Benoit | Quackenbush | Thayer.

San Francisco Giants — It took Tim Lincecum only 1,532 innings to earn his first career save, but we’re sure he has other talents. Lincecum’s only previous regular-season relief appearance came on April 2, 2008 — when he was held back until the fourth inning to avoid an expected rain delay. The Giants couldn’t spell Tim’s name right in a celebratory tweet they later deleted, but they did correctly point out that he’s the first player since Sandy Koufax to earn a save in the same season that he pitched a no-hitter.

Hierarchy remains: Casilla | Romo | Affeldt.

Toronto Blue Jays — For the second straight appearance, Casey Janssen entered in a non-save ninth and allowed enough runs to allow a wingman to earn a vulture save. Tonight it was Brett Cecil’s turn, since Aaron Loup and Dustin McGowan had already appeared. If Janssen’s ineffectiveness can be traced to his recent illness, he’d be better off resting than hooking up pals at the expense of his ERA.

Hierarchy remains: Janssen | McGowan | Loup.

Baltimore Orioles — Zach Britton looked dominant on Tuesday night, and he has earned his last three saves with a miserly 25 combined pitches.

Hierarchy remains: Britton | O’Day | Hunter.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Aaron Loup, Toronto Blue Jays — Casey Janssen threw 24 pitches on Tuesday and has been struggling with an illness. Dustin McGowan, although next in line, threw 28 pitches of his own.
2. A.J. Ramos, Miami Marlins — Steve Cishek and Bryan Morris have each pitched in three straight games.
3. Dellin Betances, New York Yankees — David Robertson threw 32 pitches in two innings on Tuesday.

Jake Petricka neck and neck with Zach Putnam for saves in Chicago

July 7, 2014

Cincinnati Reds – Aroldis Chapman tweaked a hamstring at some point leading up to Sunday’s game, so Jonathan Broxton got the save for the Reds. Bryan Price expects Chapman to be back in short order.

Hierarchy remains: Chapman | Broxton | LeCure.

Texas Rangers – After throwing two scoreless innings in his return to the bigs on Friday, Neftali Feliz was solid again on Sunday, pitching the 8th inning of a losing effort. Due to his past experience in the role, he’ll likely be on the short list for save chances if Joakim Soria gets hurt or traded.

Updated hierarchy: Soria | Frasor | Feliz.

Chicago White Sox – Robin Ventura has said that he’s going to wait for someone to emerge in the White Sox closer by committee, and on Sunday, Jake Petricka did an awful lot of emerging. Mixing in a 98 mph fastball, struck out two hitters in two perfect innings, picking up his third save of the year. It’s hard to know what to make of this appearance, as Zach Putnam was unavailable and Javy Guerra was warming up in the 9th inning. Additionally, Petricka’s ratios are still kind of terrible (48.2 IPs, 36 Ks, 24 BBs). But Sunday’s outing stretched his scoreless streak to 12 consecutive innings, and he’s now neck and neck with Putnam for save chances in Chicago.

Hierarchy remains: Putnam | Petricka | Guerra.

Toronto Blue Jays – Brett Cecil returned from the DL over the weekend, logging two scoreless appearances in the Blue Jays’ series with Oakland. He should supplant Aaron Loup as the go-to lefty in the late innings for Toronto; on Sunday, Loup came on in the 6th inning of a losing effort.

Updated hierarchy: Janssen | McGowan | Cecil.

San Francisco Giants – After his second save in two days, Bruce Bochy named Santiago Casilla the new full-time closer. Sergio Romo got knocked around again yesterday, so Jeremy Affeldt is still the handcuff for now, but he’s not likely to get saves unless Casilla is overworked.

Hierarchy remains: Casilla | Affeldt | Romo.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Darren O’Day, Baltimore Orioles – Zach Britton has pitched in back to back games and five of six.
2. Andrew Miller/Edward Mujica, Boston Red Sox – Koji Uehara has pitched in back to back games, including a 2-inning appearance on Sunday.