2018 AL Central Preview

February 26, 2018

Chicago White Sox – The White Sox have a few different options for closer to start the season.  Veteran closer Joakim Soria was signed this offseason and would be happy to accept the job.  Juan Minaya finished last year as the closer, including converting all six of his save chances in September.  Nate Jones was stellar in 2016, but missed most of last season with injuries.  Jones says that he will be ready for opening day, and should challenge for the role if healthy.  We think Soria gets the first shot at closing, but one long shot to keep an eye out for is Thyago Vieira, who can touch 102 with his fastball.

Starting 2018 hierarchy: Soria | Minaya | Jones.
Holds candidates: Minaya, Jones, Luis Avilan.

Cleveland Indians – The Indians will bring back closer Cody Allen and ace reliever Andrew Miller in 2018.  However, they lost Brian Shaw, who was a workhorse out of the bullpen last year, and Joe Smith, who was a key contributor after he was acquired midseason.  The Indians re-signed Dan Otero and he could step into the seventh-inning role.  Lefty Tyler Olson should also see time in the later innings, after he posted a 0.00 ERA in 30 games last year for the Tribe.  

Starting 2018 hierarchy: Allen | Miller | Otero.
Holds candidates: Miller, Otero, Olson.

Detroit Tigers — Shane Greene finished last year as the closer and it’s his job to lose heading into spring training.  Behind Greene, the Tigers have a lot of question marks.  Alex Wilson should fill a role in the back end of the bullpen, but he is also fighting for a spot in the rotation this spring.   Lefty Daniel Stumpf joins Greene and Wilson as established members of the bullpen, but Joe Jimenez is more exciting from a fantasy perspective.  Jimenez has stellar numbers in Triple-A, and although he struggled in the majors last year, he is hoping his off-season work will pay off this year.  

Starting 2018 hierarchy: Greene | Wilson | Stumpf.
Holds candidates: Wilson, Stumpf.

Kansas City Royals – The Royals’ bullpen, which was a major strength during their World Series runs, will be a big question mark going into 2018.  Kelvin Herrera started 2017 as closer, but finished the year with the highest ERA of his career and was removed from the role late in the season.  Still, Herrera is probably the best bet to start 2018 as the closer after the Royals lost Mike Minor and Joakim Soria in the off-season — if Herrera doesn’t get traded.  Brandon Maurer will also be an option to close after recording 22 saves last year between the Padres and Royals.  Don’t let the save numbers fool you on Maurer, though; he finished last year with an ERA over 6.50 — it was over 8 in his 26 games with the Royals.  Wily Peralta will be a guy to keep an eye on as the Royals could try to convert him from a starter into a late-inning guy like they did with Wade Davis and Luke Hochevar.

Starting 2018 hierarchy: Herrera | Maurer | Peralta.
Holds candidates: Maurer, Peralta.

Minnesota Twins — The Twins have revamped their bullpen for 2018.  Fernando Rodney is the closer, while Addison Reed will fill an important role at the back end of the bullpen.  Trevor Hildenberger pitched well for the Twins last year, and he should split seventh-inning duties with newly acquired lefty Zach Duke.

Starting 2018 hierarchy: Rodney | Reed | Hildenberger.
Holds candidates: Reed, Hildenberg, Zach Duke.

Kelvin Herrera struggles, likely behind Joakim Soria in Royals’ closer race

July 7, 2016

Kansas City Royals — There wasn’t a save chance for KC on Wednesday, but it’s noteworthy that Kelvin Herrera came out for the eighth in a tie game. Herrera struck out the side, but also allowed two runs on three hits to take the loss. This only strengthens our belief that Ned Yost will give Joakim Soria the first shot to close.

Hierarchy remains: *Soria | Herrera | Hochevar.
* = closer-by-committee

Philadelphia Phillies — Edubray Ramos has pitched in three straight close seventh innings, including a Wednesday appearance with a tied score. As Philly’s closer of the future, his role could continue to grow in the second half of the season — especially if the team trades Jeanmar Gomez before he hits arbitration. For his part, David Hernandez has allowed 13 earned runs over his last nine appearances (9.2 IP).

Updated hierarchy: Gomez | Neris | Ramos.

Cleveland Indians — It’s been seven weeks since we talked to you about the Cleveland bullpen, but Zach McAllister has forced our hand. The righty started on Saturday after a 19-inning affair and got shelled by Toronto; on Wednesday, he came in for the seventh down six runs and gave up four more. Jeff Mansihp Manship (2.13 ERA, five holds) and Dan Otero (1.36 ERA, 8.45 K/9) are each pitching better than McAllister — and adding Otero gives the Indians the most anagrammable hierarchy in the league.

Updated hierarchy: Lonely Cad | Brash Yawn | Neat Odor.

Houston Astros — It wasn’t pretty for Luke Gregerson (1 ER, 3 BB), but he managed to grab the vulture save we foretold for him.

Hierarchy remains: Harris | Gregerson | Giles.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Neftali Feliz/Arquimedes Caminero, Pittsburgh Pirates — Mark Melancon has pitched in two straight and five of the last six. Feliz and Tony Watson have each gone in four of five, so maybe Clint Hurdle will give Arquimedes a place to stand.
2. Pedro Baez, Los Angeles Dodgers — Baez’s usage has been weird lately, but he was the only reliever the Dodgers didn’t use in their 14-inning game on Wednesday. Kenley Jansen and Joe Blanton have each been used in three of four.
3. Shawn Kelley, Washington Nationals — Ordinarily this would be a stretch, but Jonathan Papelbon just came back from the DL and has pitched in two of the last three.

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.

Pat Venditte makes his major league debut; Fernando Rodney falls again

June 6, 2015

Seattle Mariners — When Friday’s game stayed scoreless into the ninth, all-star coach Lloyd McClendon turned to the ultimate offensive catalyst — Fernando Rodney, who gave up the go-ahead home run. Apparently enamored with Rodney’s “man muscles,” the manager has steadfastly refused to consider replacing him with Carson Smith, but after this latest failure, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a change announced before Saturday’s game.

Hierarchy remains: Rodney | Smith | Wilhemsen.

Oakland Athletics — A four-run meltdown on Thursday was enough to get a struggling Dan Otero demoted to Triple-A; replacing him on the 25-man roster was the ambidextrous Pat Venditte, who rushed to Boston in time to pitch two scoreless innings in a loss, retiring batters with each hand. Sure, he’s probably not really second in line for the A’s, but whom would you prefer? Long man Drew Pomeranz? Eric O’Flaherty (10.13 ERA)? Fernando Abad (more earned runs than strikeouts)? Fernando Rodriguez (is Fernando Rodriguez)? Sean Doolittle isn’t coming through that door anytime soon, and Ryan Cook is in Nashville with Otero. For today, at least, P. ‘Ditte ain’t . . . goin’ nowhere.

Updated hierarchy: Clippard | Scribner | Venditte.

Tampa Bay Rays — Kevin Cash wanted to give Brad Boxberger another day off after his 32-pitch outing on Wednesday, so Kevin Jepsen got the call for a second straight night. He gave up a leadoff triple, but wriggled out of trouble impressively to pick up his third save.

Hierarchy remains: Boxberger | Jepsen | McGee.

Toronto Blue Jays — We haven’t repeated much of the endless Rafael Soriano speculation this season, but with Toronto general manager Alex Anthopolous admitting the team is interested, there’s a very real chance Soriano could be relevant again soon.

Hierarchy remains: Cecil | Osuna | Loup.

Texas Rangers — Shawn Tolleson’s success in the closer role will allow the Rangers to bring Neftali Feliz back slowly, with several minor league rehab outings planned.

Hierarchy remains: Tolleson | Kela | Ohlendorf.

New York Yankees — Andrew Miller needed a second day of rest after throwing 21 pitches on Tuesday and 35 on Wednesday, and with New York up seven through eight, it looked like that wouldn’t be a problem. But then LA put eight straight men on base to start the ninth: five by Esmil Rogers and three by Dellin Betances. After a visit from Joe Girardi, Betances managed to stop the Angels’ rally just in time, earning his second save of the season and saving Miller for another day.

Hierarchy remains: Miller | Betances | Shreve.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Matt Barnes, Boston Red Sox — Koji Uehara has pitched on two straight days and three out of the last four. Junichi Tazawa has gone in three straight, so we’re betting on Barnes.
2. Tony Watson/Jared Hughes, Pittsburgh Pirates — Mark Melancon has pitched on four of the last five days. Watson threw 22 pitches on Friday, so the team might give Hughes or Arquimedes Caminero a shot.
3. Carson Smith, Seattle Mariners — It would make a lot of sense.