Jeurys Familia won’t be a Met much longer

July 21, 2018

New York Mets — Robert Gsellman picked up a two-inning save against the Yankees on Friday night, as Jeurys Familia was held out of the game because a trade was close to finalized. Oakland is the most likely landing spot for Familia if the two sides can complete the deal. While trade negotiations can always fall apart, this move seems imminent, and you should grab Gsellman right now if he is available. Don’t be surprised when an alert hits later today that Familia has been traded.

Hierarchy remains: Familia | Gsellman | Swarzak.

Cleveland Indians — Terry Francona indicated that after the trade to acquire Brad Hand, Cleveland will still use Cody Allen as the primary closer, but that matchups will determine who gets the ball on any given night. During Friday’s game, Hand was brought on to protect a three-run lead with one out and one on in the 7th, and he did his best Andrew Miller impression by immediately allowing a homer. Hand got out of the inning and stuck around for a single out in the 8th before the other new acquisition, Adam Cimber, finished up the frame for his first hold with Cleveland. After Allen blew the save in the 9th, Zach McAllister was next for Cleveland and gave up three straight singles before recording three straight outs for a self-imposed Houdini. Eventually, Dan Otero pitched a perfect 11th for his first save of the year. Despite all the fireworks, we believe that Francona will stick with his plan of using Allen as the closer most of the time while Hand will be used in high-leverage spots whenever the matchups are best, which may include the 9th.

Hierarchy remains: Allen | Hand | Ramirez.

Atlanta Braves — A.J. Minter pitched a perfect 9th on Friday to pick up his fifth save of the year. Minter has the last three saves for the Braves, and is close to kicking the asterisk of the Atlanta committee. Dan Winkler has still been effective, but has mostly seen the 8th inning in recent weeks. The Braves have not announced a timeline for Arodys Vizcaino’s return, making Minter the best option for saves in the near future.

Hierarchy remains: *Minter | Winkler | Carle.
* = closer-by-committee

Miami Marlins — Kyle Barraclough was out due to illness, so the Marlins turned to Javy Guerra to start the 9th inning with a five-run lead. He got an out, but left the bases loaded for Drew Steckenrider, who gave up a bases-clearing triple followed by a sac fly to make it a one-run game. Adam Conley then came in and shut the door for his first career save. Barraclough may be unavailable tonight as well and has been mentioned as a potential trade target, but as you can see in our trade deadline article, it will take a high price to pull Barraclough from the Marlins.

Hierarchy remains: Barraclough | Steckenrider | Ziegler.

Colorado Rockies — Adam Ottavino got the last out of the 8th inning and stuck around for the 9th to record his third save of the year. Wade Davis was recovering from an illness and had been sent back to the hotel prior to the game. Bud Black did not indicate how serious the illness was, so we expect Davis to be day-to-day going forward.

Hierarchy remains: Davis | Ottavino | McGee.

Kansas City Royals – With a four-run lead going into the 9th, the Royals brought out Wily Peralta to finish the game. Peralta stuggled, loading the bases before giving up back-to-back RBI groundouts. He then gave way to Brandon Maurer, who walked in another run but got a flyout to end the game and earn his first save of the year. Peralta had looked like he was ready to take the closer’s role for good, but we’ll see how the Royals proceed after last night’s struggles.

Hierarchy remains: *Peralta | McCarthy | Maurer.
* = closer-by-committee

Toronto Blue Jays – Tyler Clippard blew another save last night, giving up three runs thanks to two homers in the 9th. Ryan Tepera struck out the only batter he faced to get out of the inning with the score tied, and the Blue Jays won in extra innings. This is Clippard’s second straight blown save and and sixth of the year. With Seung Hwan Oh and Tepera both pitching well, it is hard to see how Clippard gets another save opportunity. However, we’ve said that in the past and he was still out there last night.

Hierarchy remains: *Oh | Tepera | Clippard.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Robert Gsellman/Anthony Swarzak — Jeurys Familia should be traded today, and Gsellman threw 44 pitches last night.
2. Drew Steckenrider — Kyle Barraclough is still recovering from an illness and may need another day off.
3. Adam Ottavino/Jake McGee — The same is true of Wade Davis. Ottavino threw 27 pitches last night, so he may get a breather as well.

Sunday:
1. Brad Hand — Cody Allen threw 28 pitches last night so another long outing could mean he gets Sunday off.

Luke Gregerson confirmed as Astros closer

March 31, 2015

Houston Astros – Luke Gregerson will close for the Astros to start the season, manager AJ Hinch said this afternoon. Gregerson was the frontrunner for the job after signing a 3-year, $18.5 million contract with the Astros in the offseason, and solidified his status with a strong spring. Chad Qualls and Pat Neshek also had excellent springs, and will fill the 7th and 8th innings. It isn’t apparent who would fill in on nights when Gregerson is unavailable, but we’ll give the edge to Qualls, who closed last season.

Hierarchy remains: Gregerson | Qualls | Neshek.

Chicago White Sox – Jake Petricka has been battling forearm and elbow soreness for the past week and will open the season on the disabled list. Petricka was the heavy favorite to set up for David Robertson (who was battling a sore forearm himself earlier this spring), and the White Sox may have to mix and match until his return. Zach Putnam has had an awful spring, though he’s come around as of late; given his brief experience in the closer role, we’ll move him to first in line by default. Javy Guerra and Zach Duke will likely see their roles increase as well.

Updated hierarchy: Robertson | Putnam | Guerra.

Washington Nationals – The injury bug has been buzzing around the Nats clubhouse all spring, and their top two relievers have gotten bit. Drew Storen left a game yesterday after popping a blister on his foot. He doesn’t expect to miss any regular season time, but Casey Janssen might — the set-up man has been battling shoulder tendonitis. Craig Stammen stands to inherit 8th inning duties if Janssen is out.

Hierarchy remains: Storen | Janssen | Stammen.

Los Angeles Dodgers – We’re continuing to look for some clarity in the Los Angeles bullpen, but it seems more and more likely that Don Mattingly will head into the regular season with a closer-by-committee. The two leading candidates for the job, Joel Peralta (5.68 ERA in 6.1 spring IPs) and Chris Hatcher (7.36 ERA in 7.1 IPs) have done little to distinguish themselves; meanwhile, once-darkhorse Sergio Santos had a rough outing the other day and saw his own spring ERA jump to 4.70. Santos is still an interesting candidate, as he’s got the past experience and is consistently missing bats (10 Ks in 7.2 IPs). But given his contract status, he’s not even a lock to make the team. Those in deep leagues or leagues with holds may want to look at the only reliever who has been dominant for the Dodgers this spring: lefty Paco Rodriguez (9.1 IPs, 0.00 ERA, 0.32 WHIP, 12 Ks, 0 BBs). Given J.P. Howell’s pedestrian spring (6.2 IPs, 8.10 ERA), Rodriguez could jump him as the go-to lefty in the Dodgers pen, and potentially snag an occasional save when matchups are right.

Hierarchy remains: Peralta* | Hatcher | Santos.
*closer-by-committee

K-Rod moves into 10th on all-time saves list

September 28, 2014

Milwaukee Brewers – Francisco Rodriguez pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his 44th save of the season.  It was also K-Rod’s 348th career save, which moves him into 10th place all-time.

Hierarchy remains: Rodriguez | Broxton | Smith.

Chicago White Sox — Javy Guerra picked up his first save of the season last night.  Jake Petricka started the 9th inning, but left with a lower back injury.  Guerra was able to come on and get the last three outs for a White Sox win on a night when they honored retiring Paul Konerko.

Hierarchy remains: Petricka | Putnam | Guerra.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Zach Putnam/Javy Guerra, Chicago White Sox – Jake Petricka left yesterday’s game with a back injury.
2. Danny Farquhar, Seattle Mariners – Fernando Rodney has pitched in three straight.

White Sox may be returning to closer committee

August 28, 2014

Chicago White Sox — One day after Jake Petricka’s second straight blown save sent him to the Hot Seat, Robin Ventura tried to squeeze a two-inning save out of Javy Guerra. When Guerra hit a batter with his 33rd pitch, putting two men on with two out, it was Zach Putnam summoned for the one-out, three-pitch save. Ventura didn’t say much after the game — the link to his postgame news conference almost immediately sent viewers to a test pattern — but earlier Wednesday, he put his struggling bullpen on notice that results will be required of anyone expecting to return next year. We won’t elevate Putnam or anyone else to the top spot without more info, but we will give Petricka his closer committee asterisk back. If Ventura does make a change, we expect the chances to be split among Putnam, Guerra, Petricka, and Matt Lindstrom, in that pecking order.

Updated hierarchy: Petricka | Putnam | Guerra.

Oakland A’s — Eric O’Flaherty gave up a solo home run, but earned his first career save on Wednesday. He remains atop the Oakland closer committee. Ryan Cook was used in the sixth and seventh; Dan Otero pitched in the seventh and eighth.

Hierarchy remains: O’Flaherty | Cook | Gregerson.

Milwaukee Brewers — Although Jeremy Jeffress struggled in the seventh last night, the former top prospect has been getting a lot of high-leverage looks for the Brewers lately. He’s moved ahead of Brandon Kintzler, whose strikeout rate is alarmingly low (4.36 K/9).

Updated hierarchy: Rodriguez | Smith | Jeffress.

Houston Astros — Chad Qualls learned on Wednesday afternoon that he would be staying in Houston; unfortunately, he blew the save that night with another awful outing against Oakland. The A’s have been responsible for three of Qualls’s four blown saves and 11 of his 18 earned runs. In non-Oakland games, Qualls has a 1.52 ERA.

Hierarchy remains: Qualls | Fields | Sipp.

Toronto Blue Jays — Chalk another one up for the Vulture Save Watch. We thought it would be Brett Cecil if the Jays needed a save on Wednesday night, and sure enough, he got the last out of the eighth, then came back out and struck out the side in an impressive ninth.

Hierarchy remains: Janssen | Loup | Cecil.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Luke Gregerson, Oakland A’s — Eric O’Flaherty got the save on Wednesday and hasn’t been used on back-to-back days since May 2013. Because he threw only eight pitches, now might be the time to take the leap — but if it isn’t, Luke Gregerson is the best A’s reliever who didn’t pitch yesterday.

Benoit to close after Street is traded to Angels, Putnam picks up save

July 19, 2014

San Diego Padres — Huston Street has been traded to the Angels and set-up man Joaquin Benoit will assume the 9th inning duties.  It sounds like the Padres will use a number of different guys in the set-up role, with Dale Thayer, Kevin Quakenbush and Nick Vincent, when he returns from injury, being mentioned.

Updated hierarchy: Benoit | Thayer | Quakenbush.

Chicago White Sox — Zach Putnam got the first save opportunity coming out of the All-Star break and converted for his third save of the season.  It’s hard to read too much into one game, especially with the way Robin Ventura has been using his relievers recently, but it looks like we are back to Putnam and Petricka sharing the closing duties for now.

Updated hierarchy: Petricka | Putnam | Guerra.

Los Angeles Angels — The Angels acquired former Padre closer Huston Street late Friday night, and he is expected to immediately bump Joe Smith back to a setup role.

Updated hierarchy: Street | Smith | Jepsen.

Miami Marlins — Kevin Gregg has been placed on the DL with right elbow inflammation.  The Marlins activated A.J. Ramos from the DL and he should split time with Bryan Morris in the 7th and 8th innings.

Updated hierarchy: Cishek | Morris | Ramos.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Zach Putnam, Chicago White Sox – The White Sox are still going with a committee so it could be Putnam or Petricka on any given night.
2. Grant Balfour/Brad Boxberger, Tampa Bay Rays – Jake McGee has been pitching great and getting most of the save opportunities, which means it’s a perfect time for Joe Maddon to try somebody else in his committee.