Aroldis Chapman finally gets a save

July 21, 2021

New York Yankees — It had been a month since Aroldis Chapman had earned a save, but despite allowing a solo homer to Andrew McCutchen, the struggling reliever stuck out Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins and Didi Gregorius to convert his first save opportunity since that disastrous outing against the Mets on July 4. Not only did Chapman get the save, but his velocity was great, particularly in the final two at-bats of the night. In other news, Jonathan Loaisiga is back with the team and could return this weekend while Darren O’Day will have season-ending surgery.

Hierarchy remains: Chapman | Green | Britton.

Detroit Tigers — The Tigers have opened the second half of the season on a five-game win streak, with Gregory Soto earning a pair of saves in that stretch, including his ninth of the year on Tuesday. Soto has the team’s last three saves and if he locks down the next one he should lose the asterisk.

Hierarchy remains: *Soto | Cisnero | Funkhouser.
* = closer-by-committee

Cincinnati Reds – The Reds continued to deploy their relievers in the toughest spots on Tuesday, as Brad Brach entered the seventh with two runners on and pitched out of the jam. That set the stage for Heath Hembree to get the eighth with the Mets’ 4-5-6 hitters due up. Hembree gave up a run but kept the Reds in front to allow Amir Garrett to come on and work around a leadoff walk to pick up his seventh save of the season. Hembree had consistently been getting the ninth inning prior to Tuesday and should still be the favorite for save chances, but we’ll keep an eye on this to see if the asterisk needs to return.

Hierarchy remains: Hembree | Brach | Garrett.

Kansas City Royals — After Scott Barlow maintained a 5-2 lead against the Brewers’ 3-4-5-6 hitters in the eighth inning, Greg Holland shut the door in the ninth to pick up the Royals’ first save since July 4. Barlow remains the most likely Royals reliever to collect a save, but as we saw on Tuesday, he may pitch earlier depending on matchups.

Hierarchy remains: *Barlow | Holland | Staumont.
* = closer-by-committee

San Francisco Giants – With two lefties due up in the eighth, the Giants went to Jake McGee in that spot to protect a one-run lead, leaving the ninth for Tyler Rogers. The reliable righty was unusually awful, however, as he wasn’t close to the strike zone in a pair of walks before he allowed the game-winning home run. The good news for any Rogers owners is that Gabe Kapler won’t hesitate to get Rogers back on the mound.

Hierarchy remains: *McGee | Rogers | Leone.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Brad Brach/Sean Doolittle (CIN) – All three members of the Reds hierarchy have gone in two straight and three of four, but Brach has thrown significantly fewer pitches than Heath Hembree and Amir Garrett.
2. Tyler Rogers (SF) – Gabe Kapler said he wants to get Rogers back out on the mound, and that may be for a save chance tonight since Jake McGee has gone in two straight.
3. Giovanny Gallegos/Andrew Miller (STL) – Alex Reyes has gone in three of four, including a 30-pitch blown save (snapping his 24-save streak to start his career) last night. Giovanny Gallegos, Genesis Cabrera and Ryan Helsley have also gone in three of four, but Gallegos only tossed nine pitches last night. If you’re desperate you can take a shot on a guy like Andrew Miller.
4. Pete Fairbanks (TB) – Diego Castillo has gone in two straight.

Tomorrow
1. Chad Green/Zack Britton (NYY) – If Aroldis Chapman pitches today that’s two straight and three of four, which would also be true of Green and Britton.
2. Tyler Rogers (SF) – As mentioned above, Jake McGee has pitched in two straight heading into Wednesday.

Ranger Suarez could be the new closer for the Phillies

July 4, 2021

Philadelphia Phillies — With the Phillies up two runs heading into the 9th inning, manager Joe Girardi called on Ranger Suarez to try and close out the game.  Suarez responded with a clean inning to earn his first career save.  Girardi said that Jose Alvarado was available but he went with Suarez instead because he felt better about Suarez facing the heart of the Padres order in Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth, and Manny Machado.  Jose Alvarado has really struggled recently so Suarez’s perfect inning last night against a tough lineup jumps him straight to the top of this committee.

Updated hierarchy: *Suarez | Alvarado | Bradley.
* = closer-by-committee

Kansas City Royals — We mentioned yesterday that Scott Barlow was likely to get the next save chance for the Royals and sure enough, after Greg Holland allowed a run in the 8th to make it a save chance, Barlow came out for the 9th.  He pitched a scoreless inning to pick up his fourth save of the season.  Barlow was recently named the Royals pitcher of the month for June and has a chance to run away with this job.

Hierarchy remains: *Barlow | Holland | Staumont.
* = closer-by-committee

Cincinnati Reds —  As the Vulture Save Watch predicted, Brad Brach and Amir Garrett got the day off yesterday and that left Heath Hembree for the 9th inning.  Hembree struck out a pair in a scoreless inning for his third save of the season and second in two nights.  We still think Brach is the best option out of the Reds’ bullpen right now but if Hembree gets the next save chance, we will likely make a move since it’s not always a team’s best reliever who gets the ninth inning and this could be one of those situations.

Updated hierarchy: *Brach | Hembree | Garrett.
* = closer-by-committee

San Francisco Giants – Jake McGee pitched a perfect inning yesterday to record his 16th save of the season.  McGee has recorded the last three saves for the Giants and Tyler Rogers has gotten the 8th inning ahead of McGee in each of those saves.  We are not ready to remove the asterisk quite yet, but McGee has 11 straight scoreless appearances to go with those three straight saves and seems to be settling into the closer’s role as he did at the beginning of the season when he recorded the Giants first six saves.

Hierarchy remains: *McGee | Rogers | Leone.
* = closer-by-committee

Toronto Blue Jays — Adam Cimber got the win yesterday as he got the last out of the 6th inning with the game tied.  Cimber ended up with a scoreless inning of work in the Blue Jays win ahead of Tim Mayza and closer Jordan Romano and the recently acquired reliever should continue to see time in the later innings.

Updated hierarchy: Romano | Mayza | Cimber.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Jake Diekman (OAK) – Lou Trivino has pitched in two straight and three of four.
2. Carlos Estevez (COL) – Daniel Bard has pitched in three of four and four of six.
3. Brooks Raley/Christian Javier (HOU) – Ryan Pressly has pitched in three straight while Ryne Stanek has gone in two straight.
4. Josh Staumont (KC) – Scott Barlow has pitched in three straight and Greg Holland has gone in two straight.
5. Mike Mayers (LAA) – Raisel Iglesias has pitched in back-to-back games and three of the last four.
6. Chad Green/Jonathan Loaisiga (NYY) — The Yankees have a doubleheader . . .
7. Seth Lugo (NYM) — . . . against the Mets.
8. Jose Alvarado (PHI) – Ranger Suarez has pitched in two straight, including 1.2 innings on Friday.

Monday
1. Emmanuel Clase (CLE) – James Karinchak threw 37 pitches yesterday so if he pitches again on Sunday, he will likely get Monday off.
2. Blake Treinen (LAD) – If Kenley Jansen pitches on Sunday, it will be back-to-back and the Dodgers have been cautious with Jansen’s usage this season so he likely wouldn’t pitch in three straight.

Greg Holland and Jake McGee jump to the top of their committees

June 19, 2021

Kansas City Royals — After the Royals had the day off on Thursday, they used Scott Barlow in the 8th and then turned to Greg Holland for the 9th inning on Friday. Holland converted the save for his 4th of the year. This save comes right after he gave up 3 runs and took the loss pitching in the 7th inning on Wednesday, so to see him get this save chance, especially with a rested Josh Staumont, was surprising. Staumont has yet to pitch with a lead since returning from the IL, mostly because the Royals have lost 10 of their last 12, but he’s had a small dip in velocity since the injury as well. Based on last night’s usage, we will shift Holland back to the top of the committee, but Staumont isn’t worth dropping just yet.

Updated hierarchy: *Holland | Staumont | Barlow.
* = closer-by-committee

San Francisco Giants – The Giants committee keeps spinning, with Tyler Rogers taking the 8th inning and Jake McGee getting the 9th. McGee converted for his 14th save on the year. This is the second time this week that Rogers has pitched the 8th ahead of McGee, and in his other appearance, he picked up the clear save himself. It seems like McGee has edged ahead of Rogers in the committee, but they are both likely candidates for saves on any given night. In other news, Dominic Leone pitched a clean 7th inning ahead of them for his 3rd hold of the year and has only given up 1 run in June. That is enough to jump into second in line for the Giants.

Updated hierarchy: *McGee | Rogers | Leone.
* = closer-by-committee

Minnesota Twins — Taylor Rogers took the 8th inning and Hansel Robles got the 9th in a tie game. This left the save opportunity to Tyler Duffey when the Twins took the lead in the 10th. This is pretty much how you would expect the twins to use their pitchers in a tie game. 

Hierarchy remains: *Robles | Rogers | Duffey.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Carlos Estevez (COL) – Daniel Bard has pitched in back to back and 4 of 5. Estevez has also gone in 3 of 4, but his only pitch last night resulted in a double play. 
2. Josh Staumont (KC) – Greg Holland has pitched in 3 of 4, while Josh Staumont did not pitch in last night’s game. 
3. Seth Lugo (NYM) – Edwin Diaz has thrown in 2 of 3 and 3 of 5, including 20 pitches last night. 

Sunday
1. Cole Sulser/Hunter Harvey (BAL) – Today would be back to back and 3 of 4 for Paul Fry… 
2. Jake Diekman (OAK) – … and Lou Trivino … 
3. Kyle Crick (PIT) – … and Richard Rodriguez…
4. Josh Sborz (TEX) – …and Ian Kennedy…
5. Kyle Finnegan/Tanner Rainey (WAS) – … and Brad Hand and Tanner Rainey. 

Drew Steckenrider grabs a save; Michael Fulmer returns from the IL

June 15, 2021

Tampa Bay Rays – Peter Fairbanks got the 9th inning for the Rays on Monday, collecting his second save in four days. As a result, we’re moving him up a slot in this committee, thus basically guaranteeing JP Feyereisen gets the next save chance.

Updated hierarchy: *Castillo | Fairbanks | Feyereisen.
* = closer-by-committee

Boston Red Sox – Josh Taylor pitched the 8th inning ahead of Matt Barnes on Monday, earning his 8th save of the year. He seems to have recently surpassed Darwinzon Hernandez as the go-to late inning lefty, though Barnes and Adam Ottavino remain the clear 1-2 punch in this pen.

Updated hierarchy: Barnes | Ottavino | Taylor.

Detroit Tigers – Michael Fulmer returned from the IL to pitch a scoreless 8th inning. It’s probably safe to assume he will work his way back into high-leverage spots pretty quickly.

Updated hierarchy: *Cisnero | Soto | Fulmer.
* = closer-by-committee

Oakland A’s – While Bob Melvin talked earlier in the season about giving Jake Diekman save chances, he hasn’t done so since May 26; Lou Trivino has gotten all five saves since then. We’ll remove the asterisk for now.

Updated hierarchy: Trivino | Diekman | Petit.

San Francisco Giants – Jake McGee got the save on Monday for the Giants after Tyler Rogers pitched the 8th. By all indications, this continues to be a committee; since the start of May, both players have gotten 6 saves.

Hierarchy remains: *Rogers | McGee | Littell.
* = closer-by-committee

Seattle Mariners – We love it when old hierarchy mainstays disappear for awhile and then randomly return elsewhere, so we were thrilled to see Drew Steckenrider on Monday night, picking up his first save since September of 2018. Kendall Graveman had gone two straight and Rafael Montero’s last outing was pretty rugged, so this probably isn’t more than a moonlighting gig for Steck, but he has been quite good this year, posting a 2.59 ERA over 24.1 innings thus far. We’ll watch to see if this turns into something more significant. At the very least, he’s increasing his trade value.

Updated hierarchy: *Graveman | Montero | Steckenrider.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Dodgers – Converted starter Jimmy Nelson has found a new home in the Los Angeles bullpen. So far this season, he’s posted 36 Ks in 21.2 innings — his best strikeout rate ever by a very wide margin — to go along with a 2.08 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. He got the 8th inning ahead of Kenley Jansen last night and could see more high-leverage work if his success continues.

Updated hierarchy: Jansen | Treinen | Nelson.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Tanner Rainey – Brad Hand has pitched 3 innings over the last three days, and Kyle Finnegan has thrown 60 pitches over the same span, so both could be down today.
2. Yusmeiro Petit – Lou Trivino and Jake Diekman have both pitched back to back and three of four, so they both could be down today.
3. Jimmy Nelson – Kenley Jansen and Blake Treinen has gone back to back.

Tomorrow
1. Miguel Castro/Seth Lugo – If Edwin Diaz goes today, it’ll be back to back and four of five.

It was Keynan Middleton’s turn for a save on Sunday

May 31, 2021

Seattle Mariners — Keynan Middleton only needed five pitches to earn his fifth save of the year on Sunday. This comes a day after Rafael Montero picked up his seventh save of the year and two days after Erik Swanson picked up his first. It’s safe to say that this is as pure a committee as you can find, and all this without Kendall Graveman, who is still in quarantine for at least the next few days. 

Hierarchy remains: *Montero | Middleton | Misiewicz.
* = closer-by-committee

Arizona Diamondbacks – After the Diamondbacks scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 9-2 lead, they gave the ball to Riley Smith in the seventh. He never gave it up, scattering four hits over the next three months to earn his first career save. Smith has mostly been used in long relief for Arizona this year and doesn’t usually factor into the Diamondbacks’ late inning plans. 

Hierarchy remains: Crichton | Ginkel | Soria.

San Francisco Giants — With the entire hierarchy rested, the Giants turned to Jake McGee for the ninth inning of a three-run game on Sunday. He didn’t have the smoothest performance, giving up two runs (one earned), but he got the job done for his 12th save of the year and first since May 18. McGee’s underlying numbers aren’t great when compared to Tyler Rogers. Despite this, McGee does keep getting high-leverage work and remains firmly in the mix for saves going forward.

Hierarchy remains: *Rogers | McGee | Littell.
* = closer-by-committee

Cincinnati Reds — Tejay Antone finally rewarded fantasy owners with a save on Sunday. With the tying run on deck in a 5-1 game, Antone recorded the final out of the eighth inning and then stayed in for a 1-2-3 ninth to record his third save of the season. Antone remains the Reds’ best reliever, it’s just a matter of where in the game David Bell needs to use him.

Hierarchy remains: *Antone | Sims | Hembree.
* = closer-by-committee

Kansas City Royals — Greg Holland converted the Royals’ first save chance since Josh Staumont landed on the IL. Kyle Zimmer (1.1 IP) and Scott Barlow (1.2 IP) each earned a hold to get the Royals to the ninth inning.

Hierarchy remains: *Holland | Barlow | Zimmer.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Aaron Bummer/Garret Crochet (CHW) — Liam Hendriks has thrown 43 pitches over the last two days and three games, and the White Sox have a doubleheader today.
2. Lucas Sims/Heath Hembree (CIN) — Tejay Antone has also worked the last two days, while Lucas Sims threw 18 pitches Sunday.
3. James Karinchak/Bryan Shaw (CLE) — For the second straight day, Cleveland has a doubleheader.
4. Gregory Soto (DET) – Michael Fulmer has pitched in two of three, throwing 44 pitches in that span. 
5. Scott Barlow/Kyle Zimmer (KC) — Greg Holland has pitched back-to-back days. Barlow and Zimmer both had long outings yesterday as well, so any save today may go to any of the three.
6. Mike Mayers/Tony Watson (LAA) — Raisel Iglesias has thrown back-to-back games as well.
7. J.P. Feyereisen (TB) — Same goes for Diego Castillo.
8. Kyle Crick (PIT) — Richard Rodriguez threw 35 pitches yesterday.

Tuesday:
1. James Karinchak/Bryan Shaw (CLE) — If Emmanuel Clase pitches either game of today’s doubleheader, that will be two straight days of work.