Addison Reed in trouble in Arizona

July 9, 2014

Arizona Diamondbacks — Addison Reed blew his fifth save of the year — and third in his last six tries — on Tuesday night. Before Marcell Ozuna’s go-ahead home run, Reed was one strike away from cementing a victory in Vidal Nuño’s Arizona debut. Kirk Gibson, who might have a soft spot for go-ahead home runs, has remained firm in his support for Reed, but he has quality alternatives in sidearmer Brad Ziegler, Evan Marshall, and rookie Matt Stites. With the D-Backs currently sporting the worst record in baseball, another blown save might force the manager’s hand. Reed has allowed a run in 17 relief appearances and 11 save situations, each of which leads MLB.

Hierarchy remains: Reed | Ziegler | Marshall.
Addison Reed to Hot Seat.

Tampa Bay Rays — After using each of the three other members of the Tampa closer committee in turn, Joe Maddon has now called on Jake McGee in three straight save situations. McGee didn’t make it easy on Tuesday, giving up two runs in the ninth, but he got out of trouble in the end. It’s still a committee until mad genius Joe Maddon says otherwise, but McGee remains the best guy to own.

Hierarchy remains: McGee | Balfour | Peralta.

Atlanta Braves — In the week since David Carpenter was activated from the disabled list, he made precisely zero appearances, while Luis Avilan and Jordan Walden took care of the eighth inning in front of Craig Kimbrel. When Carpenter finally pitched again on Tuesday night, it was with the Braves trailing 6-0, and he gave up five hits and two runs over two line drive-heavy innings. Although the appearance raised Carpenter’s 2014 WHIP to 1.79 — percentage points higher than the 1.78 ERA he boasted in last year’s breakout season — part of the reason is a whopping .462 BABIP this year. Whether Carpenter is hurting or just unlucky, Atlanta seems likely to let him figure things out in lower-leverage spots for the time being. Shea Simmons would likely be next in line for saves behind Kimbrel and Walden.

Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Walden | Simmons.

Chicago Cubs — Hector Rondon was the hard-luck loser in the second Cubs loss on Tuesday, victim of a misplayed pop fly and a broken-bat slice down the line. In other Cubs news, Kyuji Fujikawa and his $4 million salary made his first rehab appearance on Sunday, striking out one in a clean inning for the rookie-league Cubs of Mesa, Arizona. He has a shot at late-inning relevance later this season.

Hierarchy remains: Rondon | Ramirez | Strop.

St. Louis Cardinals — In stressing the importance of getting Trevor Rosenthal regular rest, Mike Matheny noted that All-Star Pat Neshek is the team’s backup closer, while Jason Motte — who gave up four runs in a Sunday appearance — will continue to be used outside any “designated role.”

Updated hierarchy: Rosenthal | Neshek | Motte.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Pat Neshek/Jason Motte, St. Louis Cardinals — Rosenthal threw 27 pitches on Tuesday and was used heavily over the weekend. Since backup closer Neshek has pitched in four of five games, Matheny may go to Motte for a save after all.
2. Joel Peralta/Grant Balfour, Tampa Bay Rays — Jake McGee needed 26 pitches to get his last save, and the Tampa committee system is still in effect.

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.

Edward Mujica still trusted, somehow, in Boston

June 18, 2014

Boston Red Sox — With Koji Uehara and Andrew Miller unavailable after heavy recent use, John Farrell elected to keep Junichi Tazawa in a set-up role and go to Edward Mujica, who hadn’t pitched in six days, for the vulture save. After the game, Farrell explained that he would ideally like to go to Mujica on nights when Uehara is unavailable, so although recent usage and statistics don’t support it, we’ve got to put Mujica back in the hierarchy. In non-hierarchy news, Burke Badenhop has now pitched 30.1 straight innings without surrendering an earned run.

Updated hierarchy: Uehara | Miller | Mujica.

St. Louis Cardinals — Trevor Rosenthal was given a second straight night off, and the Cardinals went with Jason Motte with a four-run lead in the ninth. But after Motte gave up a home run and a ground-rule double, Pat Neshek got three straight outs to nail down the victory. Although we still believe Motte would close if Rosenthal went down with an injury, Neshek is making a strong case as well.

Hierarchy remains: Rosenthal | Motte | Neshek.

Atlanta Braves — After a period of very heavy use (59 pitches in three days), David Carpenter was placed on the disabled list Tuesday with a strained right biceps. Jordan Walden will take on a bigger role in Carpenter’s absence.

Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Simmons | Walden.

Los Angeles Dodgers — With solid performances over the past three weeks, Brian Wilson has earned his job back, supplanting Brandon League as next in line behind Kenley Jansen.

Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Wilson | League.

Philadelphia Phillies — Jacob Diekman and his 100 MPH fastball have been seeing some high-leverage innings lately, including Tuesday’s eighth. Although Antonio Bastardo would probably be the next choice for saves in the Philly bullpen, Diekman and Ken Giles could play larger roles as the season progresses.

Updated hierarchy: Papelbon | Bastardo | Diekman.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. A.J. Ramos, Miami Marlins — Steve Cishek threw 23 pitches Tuesday on his third straight day of work.

Cleveland committee gets murkier; Jeurys Familia poised to seize closer role

May 12, 2014

Cleveland Indians – Marc Rzepczynski was struggling in the 8th inning, so Cody Allen came on to clean up the mess, but the de facto leader of Cleveland’s closer by committee struggled to throw a strike, ultimately hitting a batter and allowing a base hit and sacrifice fly before escaping the inning. With Allen having thrown 22 pitches, the 9th went to Bryan Shaw, who pitched a clean frame for the save. It’s hard to know what would have happened if Scrabble hadn’t needed the 8th inning bailout — had he gotten through the 8th, it might’ve been Allen who got the save opp. Regardless, managers tend not to mess with formulas they’ve had success with, so Shaw’s spotless outing inches him into the lead for saves in Cleveland. We suspect Allen could still get 9th inning chances while John Axford sorts himself out, though Francona’s tendency to summon him in high-leverage spots, regardless of the inning, might end up hurting his value.

Hierarchy change: Shaw | Allen | Atchison.

Toronto Blue Jays – Casey Janssen was activated from the disabled list on the same day that former fill-in closer Sergio Santos hit the DL. Janssen should resume closing immediately.

Hierarchy change: Janssen | Cecil | Delabar.

New York Mets – On the heels of another strong outing by Jeurys Familia, manager Terry Collins is getting close to giving the young righty the keys to the 9th inning, saying after Sunday’s game that “he’s real close” to winning the job from a struggling Kyle Farnsworth. This assertion comes as a bit of a surprise, as Collins has had a tendency to value experience in the 9th inning, especially this year, when he gave Jose Valverde, Farnsworth, and Daisuke Matsuzaka chances in the 9th inning before allowing either Familia or Gonzalez Germen a crack at closing. But for Familia, at least, that appears to be changing.

Hierarchy change: Farnsworth | Familia | Matsuzaka.

Atlanta Braves – David Carpenter pitched a clean 9th inning for the Braves on Sunday, earning his second save of the season. As mentioned in the Vulture Save Watch, Craig Kimbrel had thrown 43 pitches over the previous two days and got the night off.

Hierarchy remains: Kimbrel | Carpenter | Varvaro.

Milwaukee Brewers – Will Smith picked up his 10th hold of the season on Sunday, pitching a clean 8th inning ahead of Francisco Rodriguez. We at Closer Monkey are excited about Smith’s ascension, as it gives us the ability to make more terrible jokes about his name.

Hierarchy change: Rodriguez | Smith | Kintzler.

Los Angeles Dodgers – Kenley Jansen allowed 5 baserunners to reach in the 10th inning on Sunday, and after 3 of them scored, saddling him with the loss, his ERA climbed to 4.58. Once considered a top closer in the game, Jansen has had a rough go of it so far this year, and with Chris Perez doing fine work in the 8th inning, the hard-throwing righty has reasons to be concerned about his job.

Kenley Jansen to Hot Seat.

San Francisco Giants – Jean Machi picked up a 10th inning save on Sunday after Sergio Romo had already pitched. Romo blew the save in the 9th, but it was his first blown save in 13 chances, and his job is not in jeopardy.

Hierarchy remains: Romo | Casilla | Lopez.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Anthony Bass, Houston Astros – Chad Qualls has been more effective as of late, but Anthony Bass could get a 9th inning chance at any time.

Chapman back as closer, Joe Smith picks up save

May 11, 2014

Cincinnati Reds — The Reds officially activated Aroldis Chapman from the disabled list before yesterday’s game, and manager Bryan Price has said that he won’t hesitate to go to Chapman in a save opportunity.

Hierarchy change: Chapman | Broxton | LeCure.

Los Angeles Angels — Joe Smith picked up the save yesterday, but he made it interesting.  Smith came on with two men on  and nobody out in the 9th inning, with the Angels up four runs.  He gave up a couple run-scoring singles before finally getting Adam Lind to ground into a double play to end the inning.  We think Frieri will get the bulk of the save chances, but Smith could still see some saves from time to time.

Hierarchy remains: Frieri | Smith | Kohn.

Chicago White Sox — The White Sox have called up Frank Francisco.  Francisco was dominating Triple-A, having allowed 0 runs with 12 Ks in 8 innings.  Lindstrom has been solid as the closer recently, and it’s not clear how the White Sox will use Francisco immediately, but he could start seeing high-leverage situations if he can continue to pitch as well as he did in Charlotte.

Hierarchy remains: Lindstrom | Belisario | Webb.

Atlanta Braves – The Braves have placed Jordan Walden on the DL with a strained hamstring.  David Carpenter should take over Walden’s set-up role, while Anthony Varvaro could see more time in the later innings.

Hierarchy change: Kimbrel | Carpenter | Varvaro.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. David Carpenter, Atlanta Braves – Craig Kimbrel has pitched in 2 straight, throwing a total of 43 pitches.
2. Zach Britton/Darren O’Day,  Baltimore Orioles – Tommy Hunter has appeared in two straight days and four of the last five.
3. Aaron Loup, Toronto Blue Jays – Cecil got the last save chance so the Blue Jays could turn to Loup for the next save opportunity.
4. Anthony Bass, Houston Astros – Bass blew the save yesterday so it would likely be Qualls’s turn today but you never know with the Astros.