Joe Maddon rewards the chivalrous Grant Balfour

July 2, 2014

Tampa Bay Rays — Oh, Joe Maddon. No one was surprised to see him call on Jake McGee to face the Yankees’ 2-3-4 hitters in a one-run eighth. A few people were surprised when he summoned Grant Balfour to nail down the save with the same score in the ninth. But everyone was surprised when Maddon revealed his reasoning in a postgame statement and tweet: he was rewarding Balfour for the good “karma” he sensed as the embattled reliever walked his octogenarian Aussie grandmother through the lobby of the team hotel. Some Rays fans called the move brave, but honestly, with the way the Yankees have been hitting lately, Granny B could have taken the mound herself.

Hierarchy remains: McGee | Balfour | Peralta.

Atlanta Braves — After two successful rehab outings for AAA Gwinnett, an optimistic David Carpenter will be activated from the disabled list on Wednesday. His return should displace Shae Simmons and Luis Avilan.

Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Walden | Carpenter.

Toronto Blue Jays — While Sergio Santos has been overlooked in high-leverage spots, Aaron Loup has resurfaced as a top option, albeit one who hit the only batter he faced in the eighth on Tuesday. This is probably all academic, as Brett Cecil has only one more rehab outing planned for Buffalo before he joins the Jays on Thursday in Oakland. In his first Bisons appearance on Monday, Cecil gave up the tying home run to Syracuse in the eighth, and came off as a little insensitive to his temporary teammates. Hope he bought dinner at Dinosaur.

Updated hierarchy: Janssen | McGowan | Loup.

Los Angeles Angels — Joe Smith earned two saves in one day — the first coming in a five-run game he entered with the bases loaded and nobody out — on a mere 13 pitches. No vulture save watch for this guy!

Hierarchy remains: Smith | Grilli | Jepsen.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Edward Mujica, Boston Red Sox — Koji Uehara threw 20 pitches and blew the save on Tuesday, his third day of work in the last four.
2. Jordan Walden/David Carpenter, Atlanta Braves — Craig Kimbrel has pitched in four of five. If the Braves are ready to toss Carpenter back into the fire right away, he could get the vulture save call.
3. Neil Ramirez/Pedro Strop, Chicago Cubs — Hector Rondon has pitched in three of the last four games; perhaps tomorrow we will learn if Pedro Strop has truly surpassed Neil Ramirez in the Cubs pen.

Ernesto Frieri, Jason Grilli on verge of losing their jobs

June 20, 2014

Pittsburgh Pirates – Jason Grilli blew his fourth save of the season on Thursday. Four blown saves — and an accompanying 4.34 ERA — isn’t exactly horrendous, but it’s obviously not what you want to see out of your closer, especially when your bullpen has been stellar otherwise. So after the game, Clint Hurdle wasn’t exactly giving Grilli a ringing endorsement, and Mark Melancon might be on the verge of a promotion.

Hierarchy remains: Grilli | Melancon | Watson.
Jason Grilli to Hot Seat.

Detroit Tigers – Before Thursday’s game, Joe Nathan adjusted his arm slot, and proceeded to strike out all three hitters he faced. Might that be all it takes for the once-dominant closer to return to his old self?

Hierarchy remains: Nathan | Chamberlain | Alburquerque.

Los Angeles Angels – A baffling 10th inning in Cleveland saw the Angels take a 2-run lead and then summon youngster Cam Bedrosian while Ernesto Frieri stood idle in the bullpen. Bedrosian struggled and allowed three base runners (jeez, who would’ve expected a guy with a 10.13 ERA to struggle?!?!), before Mike Scioscia finally went to his closer, but Frieri would only be able to retire David Murphy before allowing a walk off grand slam to Nick Swisher. We’ve said previously that Scioscia’s recent decision to limit Frieri’s save chances seemed unnecessarily harsh, and Thursday’s usage just seemed cruel — like he wanted the righty to fail. But either way, after the game, Frieri was pissed and Scioscia offered no real explanation for using Bedrosian (whose ERA is now 14.29, by the way). Frieri is still probably the best Angel reliever to own, but with the way he’s been treated, we wouldn’t be surprised if Joe Smith got the next save chance.

Hierarchy remains: Frieri | Smith | Jepsen.

Toronto Blue Jays – We might now have an explanation for why Brett Cecil went from one of the best relievers in baseball over the first month into a kinda-crappy situational lefty in recent weeks: he’s been trying to pitch through a groin injury. That effort is now over, as Cecil was placed on the DL on Thursday. Look for Sergio Santos — just back from his own DL stint — and Dustin McGowan to get save chances on nights when Casey Janssen is unavailable.

Updated hierarchy: Janssen | McGowan | Santos.

Tampa Bay Rays – The best thing Grant Balfour has going for him is a manager hellbent on getting him back to the 9th inning.  But he’s also put together a modest line since being demoted two weeks ago (4.2 IPs, 1 ER, 3 H, 5 Ks, and 1 BB), and for a guy who spent much of the year with a 6+ ERA and more walks than strikeouts, this constitutes tremendous progress.  Last night, he got the 9th inning in a 5-run game (pitching behind Joel Peralta, who got the 8th), and struck out the side.

Updated hierarchy: McGee | Balfour | Peralta.

Oakland Athletics – Sean Doolittle, he of the most ridiculous K/BB ratio since 1900, got the night off Thursday after pitching in two games in a row. Righty Dan Otero picked up the save in his place.

Updated hierarchy: Doolittle | Gregerson | Otero.

New York Yankees – With most of New York’s top relievers needing a night off, Adam Warren picked up a 2-out save on Thursday.

Hierarchy remains: Robertson | Betances | Warren.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Joe Smith, Los Angeles Angels – This is a committee now; see above.

Aaron Loup earning a more defined role in Toronto bullpen

June 2, 2014

Toronto Blue Jays – Up by four runs in the 9th inning, the Blue Jays went to Aaron Loup, who pitched a clean inning to close the game out.  Loup’s role has been difficult to define for much of the past season and a half — at various times, he’s been everything from the long man to the backup closer.  But over the past few weeks, the Jays have been using him more often as a 1-inning guy, and have been going to him in some key late inning spots.  Expect him to split the 8th inning with fellow lefty Brett Cecil going forward.

Updated hierarchy: Janssen | Cecil | Loup.

Atlanta Braves – With both Craig Kimbrel and David Carpenter unavailable, the Braves went to rookie Shae Simmons in the 9th inning. Simmons, who was just called up two days ago (much to his own surprise), allowed three base runners but nailed down his first career save.

Hierarchy remains: Kimbrel | Carpenter | Varvaro.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Antonio Bastardo, Philadelphia Phillies – Jonathan Papelbon has pitched in three straight.
2. Adam Warren, New York Yankees – David Robertson has pitched in back to back games, throwing 54 pitches.
3. Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh Pirates – Jason Grilli has pitched in three of four and four of six, throwing 74 pitches in that span. Given his recent return, Mark Melancon might get the save opp tonight.

Belisario blows save and moves to hot seat

May 25, 2014

Chicago White Sox — Ronald Belisario blew the save yesterday by allowing three runs in the 9th and now has given up at least 1 run in all three of his save chances.  Manager Robin Ventura never committed to Belisario as closer after Lindstrom’s injury and will likely consider other options after yesterday.  Daniel Webb or Jake Petricka could see the next save opportunity if Ventura wants to make a change.

Ronald Belisario to Hot Seat

Pittsburgh Pirates — We mentioned in the Vulture Save Watch yesterday that the Pirates might want to ease Jason Grilli back from his injury and that was the case yesterday as Grilli was unavailable.  Mark Melancon recorded the save, and lowered his ERA under 2 in the process.  Manager Clint Hurdle didn’t insert Grilli immediately into the closer’s role last year when he came back from injury, and even though Grilli got the save on Friday, Melancon could still see some save opportunities for the time being.

Hierarchy Remains: Grilli | Melancon | Watson

Toronto Blue Jays – Brett Cecil picked up his third save of the season yesterday as closer Casey Janssen was given the day off.

Hierarchy Remains: Janssen | Cecil | Delabar

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Adam Warren, New York Yankees – David Robertson has pitched in 2 straight and 3 of the last 4.
2. Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh Pirates – Jason Grilli is back but the Pirates could still use Melancon to close games while they ease Grilli back from his injury. 
3. Darren O’Day, Baltimore Orioles – O’Day could still get the call in the 9th inning over Britton if the match-ups are right

J.J. Putz hits the DL; Aroldis Chapman not cut out for Triple-A

May 7, 2014

Arizona Diamondbacks – J.J. Putz has been moved to the disabled list due to the dreaded forearm tightness. Oliver Perez and Joe Thatcher should see their roles expand in his absence.

Hierarchy change: Reed | Ziegler | Perez.

Los Angeles Angels — Ernesto Frieri enraged the insane Twitter user contingent of the Angel fan base by giving up his sixth home run in 14 1/3 innings to lose to the Yankees. Meanwhile, Joe Smith has been battling tightness in his right side. It’s hard out here for Mike Scioscia.

Hierarchy remains: Frieri | Smith | Kohn.

Oakland A’s — Down a run late, the Athletics went to Sean Doolittle, Luke Gregerson, and then Jim Johnson, in what appeared to be another attempt to ease Johnson back into the closer’s role. That process may have been derailed after Johnson surrendered four runs (three earned) in 2/3 of an inning. No hierarchy change.

Hierarchy remains: Gregerson | Johnson | Doolittle.

Cincinnati Reds — The Norfolk Tides had Aroldis Chapman’s number on Tuesday afternoon, picking up five runs in just 2/3 of an inning. Chapman was a botched double play away from escaping the inning at 1-0, however, and he could rejoin the Reds this weekend.

Hierarchy remains: Broxton | LeCure | Marshall.

Toronto Blue Jays — With Brett Cecil resting, John Gibbons used lefty Aaron Loup for a two-out save against lefties Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Matchups are likely to continue to dictate Toronto save situations until the return of Casey Janssen, possibly early next week.

Hierarchy remains: Cecil | Delabar | Loup.

Boston Red Sox — Edward Mujica’s right oblique felt fine after a Tuesday bullpen session, and he’s likely to avoid the disabled list.

Hierarchy remains: Uehara | Tazawa | Mujica.

Cleveland Indians — After eight weeks, we finally have a reason to talk about the Indians’ bullpen: Bryan Shaw’s vulture save last night, in lieu of the tired John Axford.

Hierarchy remains: Axford | Allen | Shaw.

Chicago White Sox — Frank Francisco’s stats so far at AAA Charlotte: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 K. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Hierarchy remains: Lindstrom | Belisario | Webb.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Joaquin Benoit, San Diego Padres — Huston Street has pitched in three straight games.
2. Michael Kohn, Los Angeles Angels — Ernesto Frieri has pitched on four of the last five days, and Joe Smith is day-to-day.
3. Wade Davis, Kansas City Royals — Greg Holland’s pitch count has been low, but he has worked in three straight games.
4. Fernando Abad/Sean Doolittle, Oakland Athletics — The A’s have a doubleheader on Wednesday, and both Luke Gregerson and Jim Johnson have been worked heavily.