The Twins turn to Fernando Abad and Brandon Kintzler

May 26, 2016

Minnesota Twins — With all that’s gone wrong for the Twins this season, it’s been easy to overlook how bad their bullpen has gotten. Glen Perkins is on the 60-day DL and Kevin Jepsen has made his home on the hot seat, but now Trevor May’s recent struggles have led Paul Molitor to demote him from the setup role, in favor of journeyman lefty Fernando Abad and the oft-injured Brandon Kintzler. We can’t give up on May just yet, though; his high K rate (33 in 22.2 IP) and favorable xFIP suggest that this is mostly a run of bad luck. Abad’s success this year gets him in the hierarchy, but we’ll keep a close eye on Minnesota’s bullpen use going forward — provided they can get the lead.

Updated hierarchy: Jepsen | Abad | May.

Colorado Rockies — Jason Motte is back from the disabled list, but taking his place will be Boone Logan (strained shoulder). Walt Weiss intends to ease Motte back into things, so for now, Miguel Castro moves to second in line.

Updated hierarchy: McGee | Estevez | Castro.

Texas Rangers — Shawn Tolleson didn’t do himself any favors on Wednesday, giving up two singles and a home run in a brief eighth-inning appearance. The outing didn’t really hurt the team — Texas was up seven when Tolleson came in — but it won’t get him any closer to regaining his old job.

Hierarchy remains: Dyson | Diekman | Bush.

Los Angeles Dodgers — Louis Coleman has holds in his last three appearances and appears to have moved ahead of Chris Hatcher in the Dodgers’ hierarchy.

Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Baez | Coleman.

Pittsburgh Pirates — Bullpen completists and holds connoisseurs should know that Tony Watson went on paternity leave Wednesday, and could be out until Saturday.

Hierarchy remains: Melancon | Watson | Feliz.

Milwaukee Brewers — The top three options in the Brewers bullpen had already pitched, so Carlos Torres wound up with the 13th-inning save Wednesday night. As always, the first person to contact us with proof that they owned and started Torres yesterday gets a free year of Closer Monkey Premium (full text emails)!!

Hierarchy remains: Jeffress | Thornburg | Blazek.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Tyler Thornburg/Carlos Torres, Milwaukee Brewers — Jeremy Jeffress has thrown in two straight, including a two-inning outing last night. Thornburg is the most rested option in the hierarchy, but if the whole triumvirate needs rest, we could always see Torres again.
2. Ken Giles, Houston Astros — Luke Gregerson has thrown 43 pitches over two straight days of work.

Kevin Jepsen gets a vote of confidence

April 30, 2016

Minnesota Twins — Injured Glen Perkins has kept busy flipping off photographers, hawking pretzels, and pranking Phil Hughes, but evidently hasn’t been cleared to throw baseballs yet. Kevin Jepsen has been mediocre thus far, but Paul Molitor is vowing to stick with him. Trevor May lurks.

Hierarchy remains: Jepsen | May | Fien.

Los Angeles Dodgers — From last Friday to yesterday, Chris Hatcher made four appearances, yielding eight runs and 11 baserunners over three innings. Pedro Baez earned three holds over the same time period, and we have to believe he’d be the choice if Kenley Jansen needs a break.

Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Baez | Hatcher.

Baltimore Orioles — Brad Brach gave up the tying run in the seventh, then earned the win when the Orioles came back in the bottom of the inning. Both Brach and Mychal Givens have been pitching well, but Buck Showalter routinely goes to Givens first, and Brach has allowed half as many baserunners while pitching a few more innings.

Updated hierarchy: Britton | O’Day | Brach.

Colorado Rockies — Jason Motte had a good bullpen session on Friday in his rehabilitation from a sore shoulder, and will travel with the team on its upcoming road trip. There’s still no target date for his return, however.

Hierarchy remains: McGee | Qualls | Logan.

New York Yankees — When Aroldis Chapman returns from his domestic violence suspension on May 9, he will do so as an American citizen.

Hierarchy remains: Miller | Betances | Shreve.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. David Phelps, Miami Marlins — Up six in the ninth, Jose Urena gave away Adam Conley’s no-hitter, then allowed three runs on a series of hits. A.J. Ramos was summoned for a cheap save, but he made it interesting by walking the bases loaded before striking out the would-be winning run. He’s now pitched in two straight and five of six (86 pitches).
2. Bryan Shaw, Cleveland Indians — Cody Allen was called on in the tenth to escape a bases-loaded jam, but when he came back out for the eleventh, he gave up a walk-off home run. He’s now pitched on three of the last four days (58 pitches).
3. Nate Jones, Chicago White Sox — David Robertson remains on bereavement leave.

Arodys Vizcaino and Kevin Jepsen get on the board

April 16, 2016

Atlanta Braves — Arodys Vizcaino certainly made it interesting — loading the bases in the eighth and allowing two more baserunners in the ninth — but at the end of the day, he had his first save and the Braves their first win in ten tries.

Hierarchy remains: *Vizcaino | Grilli | Johnson.
* = closer-by-committee

Minnesota Twins — Kevin Jepsen pitched well to earn a save in the Twins’ first victory of the season. After getting a second opinion on his shoulder injury, Glen Perkins has said he expects to return from the DL when he regains eligibility on April 26. Even Minnesota’s more conservative estimates have him returning in early May.

Hierarchy remains: Jepsen | May | Fien.

San Francisco Giants — It’s the DL for Sergio Romo, again, for another elbow injury. Hunter Strickland should move into the eighth, and lefty Josh Osich is probably the best-situated of the remaining Giants hurlers. Replacing Romo on the roster was young Derek Law, who did his dad one better by making it into his first game, then striking out the side.

Updated hierarchy: Casilla | Strickland | Osich.

Chicago White Sox — Chris Sale pitched a complete game shutout on Friday night, but Jake Petricka was ready to come in if Sale had needed help. We expected David Robertson to get the day off, but Petricka — who has always had control issues — was a bit of a surprise. He’s not in the hierarchy now, but we’ll keep an eye on it.

Hierarchy remains: Robertson | Jones | Albers.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Jason Grilli, Atlanta Braves — Arodys Vizcaino needed 35 pitches for Friday’s rocky four-out save, and he also threw 16 on Thursday. Grilli hasn’t pitched in days.
2. Jim Henderson, New York Mets — Jeurys Familia has pitched on four of the last five (and five of the last seven) days, and Addison Reed threw 20 pitches last night.

Perkins to the DL; Giles’s struggles continue

April 14, 2016

Minnesota Twins – The Twins placed Glen Perkins on the 15-day disabled list yesterday. Perkins, whose velocity has been down all year, will be replaced by Kevin Jepsen, who did a serviceable job with the role last season. When Perkins returns — which will be longer than 15 days — he’ll have to rebound from a start that produced a 9.00 ERA and a blown save in two outings.

Updated hierarchy: Jepsen | May | Fien.

Houston Astros — Ken Giles has had a nightmare start to the season, which wasn’t helped on Wednesday when he took the loss after giving up a two-run shot in the 8th inning. Manager A.J. Hinch backed Giles after the game, saying that he was throwing hard and made good pitches, but we have yet to see Giles turn a corner on his rough start to the season. Meanwhile, Luke Gregerson still has a 0.00 ERA to go with his two saves this year, so Giles may need more than just a return to form in order to get back in the closer mix.

Hierarchy remains: Gregerson | Giles | Neshek.

San Francisco Giants – Sergio Romo was unavailable last night and is headed back to San Francisco for tests on his elbow. Manager Bruce Bochy is hopeful that this is just precautionary and that Romo does not have a serious injury, but if the Giants are ahead late on Thursday and perhaps this weekend against the Dodgers, expect Hunter Strickland to get the 8th inning.

Hierarchy remains: Casilla | Romo | Strickland.

Kansas City Royals – As predicted in the Vulture Save Watch, Wade Davis was unavailable after a 33-pitch outing last night. Joakim Soria got the call in the 9th inning, and needed only five pitches to record his first save of the year and his first save for the Royals since his days as the “Mexicutioner.” Davis has been battling a bit of dead arm, but he says that is normal for this part of the year, and he should be ready to go when needed.

Hierarchy remains: Davis | Soria | Herrera.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Bryan Shaw, Cleveland Indians – Cody Allen has pitched in two straight games.
2. Dalier Hinojosa, Philadelphia Phillies – Both Jeanmar Gomez and David Hernandez have pitched in back-to-back games, with Gomez throwing in four of the last five days.
3. Kevin Siegrist, St. Louis Cardinals – Trevor Rosenthal struggled through a 33-pitch outing on Wednesday and may get a day off.