Julian Merryweather’s left hip is irritated

April 14, 2021

Toronto Blue Jays — Julian Merryweather was forced to leave Tuesday’s game with left hip irritation after throwing just two pitches to close out the eighth. It’s unclear how much time Merryweather will miss, if any. Jordan Romano, whose eighth-inning struggles led to Merryweather’s entry into the game, and Rafael Dolis will be the next men up, especially with David Phelps also getting hurt yesterday.

Hierarchy remains: *Merryweather | Romano | Dolis.
* = closer-by-committee

Oakland A’s — Lou Trivino earned his first save since 2018 on Tuesday, though he was in line for a save on Monday as well before the A’s tacked on two runs in the ninth. Trivino seems like the top option for saves at this point, though Diekman will still be deployed in the ninth if matchups dictate it.

Updated hierarchy: *Trivino | Diekman | Petit.
* = closer-by-committee

Cleveland Indians – James Karinchak followed Shane Bieber’s nine-inning gem by securing his first save of the season with a 1-2-3 10th inning. Emmanuel Clase had pitched on consecutive days, and even though he had only thrown 20 pitches in that time, Terry Francona took advantage of being able to rest Clase and be confident in throwing Karinchak out there, even if he makes you hold your breath a little bit.

Hierarchy remains: *Clase | Karinchak | Wittgren.
* = closer-by-committee

Kansas City Royals – Another Royals reliever hit the IL this week, as Josh Staumont landed on the list with an undisclosed injury. That should mean even more high-leverage looks for Kyle Zimmer as well as the return of Wade Davis to the Royals hierarchy.

Updated hierarchy: *Holland | Zimmer | Davis.
* = closer-by-committee

Seattle Mariners – If you read yesterday’s Vulture Save Watch, you would have known that Kendall Graveman had a chance to pick up a save during the Mariners-Orioles doubleheader. Sure enough, Graveman closed out an extra-inning win in game one of the twin bill after Rafael Montero gave up a one-run lead in the previous frame.

Hierarchy remains: Montero | Graveman | Steckenrider.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Adam Ottavino (BOS)/Taylor Rogers (MIN) – The Red Sox and Twins have a doubleheader today.
2. Kyle Zimmer (KC) – Greg Holland threw 32 pitches on Tuesday.

Tomorrow
1. Aaron Bummer (CHW) – If Liam Hendriks pitches today, that would be two straight and three of four.
2. Kyle Crick/Chris Stratton (PIT) – If Richard Rodriguez pitches today, that’d be his third straight outing. Crick has gone in two of three, so a lengthy appearance on Wednesday may mean he sits on Thursday as well.
3. Kendall Graveman (SEA) – Rafael Montero enters Wednesday’s game having pitched in three of four.

A busy Opening Day across Major League Baseball

April 2, 2021

St. Louis Cardinals – Is Alex Reyes the closer? Let’s look at the evidence. Reyes pitched the ninth with a five-run lead, allowing a hit and a walk with a strikeout in a scoreless inning to secure the win. Before the game. beat writer Derrick Goold says he believes Reyes is the team’s closer to open the season, even if the Cardinals won’t publicly say that. This could make sense if they hope to ease Jordan Hicks back into the role slowly. Let’s adjust the hierarchy accordingly, for now.

Updated hierarchy: *Reyes | Gallegos | Hicks.
* = closer-by-committee

Oakland A’s — Closer Trevor Rosenthal was placed on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. Expect Jake Diekman to take over as closer in the interim, with Sergio Romo another possible option. Yusmeiro Petit and Lou Trivino should move into the seventh inning.

Updated hierarchy: Diekman | Romo | Petit.

Cleveland Indians – James Karinchak looked a little shaky in his first outing of 2021. He tossed a scoreless eighth inning with his team trailing, but threw just nine of his 17 pitches for strikes. Emmanuel Clase was seen warming in the bullpen in the event Cleveland took the lead in the ninth. Also, earlier this week, manager Terry Francona said he spoke to Karinchak, Clase and Nick Wittgren about bullpen roles, saying he would “keep workloads pretty even,” which could indicate a committee, at least to start the campaign.

Updated hierarchy: *Karinchak | Clase | Wittgren
* = closer-by-committee

San Diego Padres – While “club sources” hinted that Emilio Pagan would likely be the closer to start the year, manager Jayce Tingler seemed to indicate something very different Thursday. Pagan pitched the seventh inning in a tie game and Drew Pomeranz went into the game with a one-run lead in the eighth inning, leaving Mark Melancon with a clean save chance, which he converted with a seven-pitch ninth inning. Pagan’s appearance suggests he’ll still see high-leverage looks, but perhaps as a relief ace type and not necessarily as the save-getter. After the game, manager Jayce Tingler said as much, citing who would pitch the seventh inning as the most important bullpen decision he made. He added, “You may see some different combinations (in the ninth inning).” We’ll slide Melancon to the top for now, and because of the relative uncertainty, let’s put a committee tag on this until we see Melancon (or someone else) take hold of the closer role. 

Updated hierarchy: *Melancon | Pagan | Pomeranz.
* = closer-by-committee

Tampa Bay Rays — Diego Castillo was given the first save chance of the season for the Rays and he converted with two strikeouts. Ryan Thompson pitched the seventh and Pete Fairbanks pitched the eighth ahead of Castillo. It’d be nice if it always worked this way, wouldn’t it? But it won’t. We’ll move Castillo to the front, for now, but expect Fairbanks to get his share of chances, too.

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

Kansas City Royals – In a wild Opening Day tilt with the Texas Rangers, Greg Holland was called into the game with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and KC clinging to a 13-9 lead. He stayed on to pitch the ninth after the Royals tacked on a run but ran into trouble, allowing a single, two walks and throwing a wild pitch. Wade Davis of all people came on to strike out Nick Solak and Nate Lowe to close things out to earn his first save with the Royals since 2016. Holland is likely the closer, but an old Royal (Davis) finding form in his return to KC wouldn’t be all that surprising. Remember Holland last year?

Hierarchy remains: Holland | Barlow | Staumont.

Toronto Blue Jays — In a tie game on the road, the Blue Jays went with Tyler Chatwood, David Phelps, Rafael Dolis and Jordan Romano through nine innings. When the Jays took the lead in the 10th, Julian Merryweather did the honors, striking out the side for his first save. Romano was used in a traditional spot for a closer, but we’ll monitor Merryweather as his outing was terrific and he touches 99 mph with his fastball.

Hierarchy remains: *Romano | Dolis | Phelps.
* = closer-by-committee

Pittsburgh Pirates – Richard Rodriguez looked impressive Thursday in nailing down his first save, walking one and striking out two. David Bednar, who turned heads in spring training, pitched nicely in a seventh-inning appearance, striking out two in a scoreless frame. Kyle Crick, meanwhile, was unavailable as he is on paternity leave and will be away from the team to start the year.

Hierarchy remains: *Rodriguez | Crick | Stratton.
* = closer-by-committee

Baltimore Orioles — Opening Day was rained out for the Orioles. When the season starts Friday, they’ll be without committeeman Shawn Armstrong, who is on paternity leave.

Hierarchy remains: *Scott | Armstrong | Fry.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Chad Green – Aroldis Chapman is still serving his suspension. The Yankees seemed to indicate they will use a committee approach when Chapman is unavailable, but Green remains the top choice in our eyes.

Kirby Yates out for the year; Jose Leclerc to begin season on IL

March 24, 2021

San Diego Padres – Emilio Pagan might well be the Padres closer when the season begins, beat writer Kevin Acee recently reported. Pagan pitched with an injury last year but is healthy this spring and has experience closing. Manager Jayce Tingler has admitted he would prefer one guy get the job “in an ideal world,” and many within the organization say they assume Pagan will be that guy, Acee reported. Couple that with the fact that Drew Pomeranz is dealing with tightness and inflammation in his arm, and we’re looking at a shuffled hierarchy.

Updated hierarchy: Pagan | Melancon | Pomeranz.

Toronto Blue Jays – Kirby Yates is likely headed for Tommy John surgery, meaning the recent signing will miss the 2021 season. When asked today if he’d be ready to step into the closer role, Jordan Romano said, “I don’t need a set inning. I kind of like it when they spring it on me. Seventh, eighth, ninth — whatever they ask me to do, I’ll be ready.” For what it’s worth, manager Charlie Montoyo won’t name a closer, saying, “It could be anybody, any day.” Great. Well, we think Romano leads a group that also includes Rafael Dolis and offseason acquisitions David Phelps (5 IP, 10 Ks, 0 ER in the spring) and Tyler Chatwood (7 IP , 5 Ks, 0 ER in the spring).

Updated hierarchy: *Romano | Dolis | Phelps.
* = closer-by-committee

Texas Rangers – Jose Leclerc will begin the season on the injured list with right elbow soreness and will miss an extended amount of time. With David Hernandez set to begin the season on the 60-day IL, and Brett Martin and Joely Rodriguez likely to open the season on the injured list, who is left? The Rangers seem likely to lean on a non-roster invitee like Matt Bush or Ian Kennedy to compete for saves in a committee to start the year, though Chris Woodward said he’d like to hone in on one closer about a month into the season. Bush has looked “phenomenal” this spring, according to GM Chris Young, so we’ll give him the nod in this very messy and avoidable (if you can) bullpen.

Updated hierarchy: *Bush | Kennedy | Sborz 
* = closer-by-committee

Philadelphia Phillies – Jose Alvarado is 50 pounds (!) lighter than he was last year, has been touching 100 mph this spring and throws his sinker incredibly hard and with a lot of movement. Now, he might be in the saves conversation, according to Jayson Stark and others. Alvarado is a lefty, but he’s joined by two other lefties in the bullpen, so his handedness won’t be working against him. Let’s get him in the hierarchy and call this committee until there’s more clarity. 

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

Houston Astros – Pedro Baez is back with the team after a COVID-19 diagnosis but might not be ready for Opening Day. Enoli Paredes has been throwing 97-99 mph this spring and could get some late-inning looks behind Ryan Pressly until Baez is ready. 

Updated hierarchy: Pressly | Smith | Paredes

Tiered List of Top Relievers for Holds Leagues

March 12, 2021

The addition of the 3 batter rule made holds a little harder to come by last season and took a lot of value out of one-out specialists. Unsurprisingly, this left the top holds list filled with high leverage setup men stuck behind a high-end closer. There also is some value to be found in managers who turn the keys of a close game over to the bullpen early. One final note, this list is about holds, so players who have a good chance of ascending to the closer’s role take a bit of a hit here.

Tier 1.    
1. Devin Williams – MIL

Devin Williams is on his own level as a holds candidate. Elite stuff, but stuck behind perhaps the best closer in the game. Nobody else has that combination this year, so if your league values holds highly, Williams should be a priority target.

Tier 2
2.       Aaron Bummer – CHW
3.       Dellin Betances – NYM
4.       Tanner Rainey — WAS
5.       Adam Ottavino – BOS
6.       Andrew Miller – STL
7.       Chad Green – NYY
8.       Jordan Hicks – STL
9.       Tyler Duffey – MIN
10.   Nick Wittgren – CLE
11.   Blake Treinen – LAD
12.   Jake Diekman – OAK

Tier 2 has a mix of solid pitchers who aren’t likely to close (Rainey, Bummer, Duffy) and elite pitchers who may find eventually find themselves closing (Ottavino, Treinen, Betances). This tier has plenty of opportunity for value in leagues that combine saves and holds into a single category, as these pitchers have a good chance to rack up some of both.

Tier 3
13.   Pete Fairbanks – TB
14.   Taylor Rogers – MIN
15.   Tyler Rogers – SF
16.   Sean Doolittle – CIN
17.   Diego Castillo – TB
18.   Daniel Hudson – WAS
19.   Reyes Maronta – SF
20.   Keone Kela – SD
21.   Matt Wisler – SF

Tier 3 is a lot of pitchers who are reliable inning eaters, but who may not have the stuff or the job stability to move further up this list. Here you’ll find veterans who still have something left in the tank (Tony Watson, Sean Doolittle, Daniel Hudson) and players who are on teams that hand out a lot of hold opportunities (Tampa Bay, San Francisco).

Tier 4
22.   Pedro Baez – HOU
23.   Dan Winkler – CHC
24.   Rafael Dolis -TOR
25.   Tony Watson – PHI
26.   Hansel Robles – MIN
27.   Scott Barlow – KC
28.   Drew Pomeranz – SD
29.   Chris Martin – ATL
30.   Hector Neris – PHI

Tier 4 is home to players who don’t have a lot of upside, but who should turn in reliable enough performances to get holds when they are available. While most of these players don’t have much of a chance to close, they should be in the late-inning mix for the entirety of the season. 

Many vulture saves possible in the final weekend of the season

September 25, 2020

Toronto Blue Jays — Rafael Dolis returned from injury Thursday to record four outs and collect his fifth save. Anthony Bass faced the 2-3-4 hitters in the eighth inning, so we’re likely looking at a committee involving those two this weekend. Bass and Dolis could be competing to see not only who handles the closer’s role in the playoffs but next season as well, with impending free agent Ken Giles likely missing all of 2021 after Tommy John surgery. 

Hierarchy remains: *Bass | Dolis | Cole.
* = closer-by-committee

Kansas City Royals — Greg Holland was unavailable Thursday night with a right oblique injury that he suffered while warming up. He will be further evaluated. In his stead, Jake Newberry recorded the final four outs for his first save. Scott Barlow and Jesse Hahn pitched earlier in the game. With nothing to play for, Holland could be shut down for the year, so Barlow or Hahn may be attractive vulture save candidates this weekend.

Hierarchy remains: Holland | Barlow | Hahn.

Chicago White Sox — Aaron Bummer was activated from the injured list Thursday and should slot in behind Alex Colome for the regular season’s final few games. Colome (back spasms) is expected to be available if needed this weekend, but don’t be surprised if Bummer steals a save chance. 

Updated hierarchy: Colome | Bummer | Heuer.

Colorado Rockies – Jairo Diaz picked up his fourth save of the season Thursday, but only because Daniel Bard and Mychal Givens had already pitched. Bard threw 2.2 innings to earn the win. Diaz (8.05 ERA) hadn’t pitched in a Rockies win since Aug. 26, suggesting he’s far away from the ninth-inning job, especially with only a few days to go in the season.

Hierarchy remains: Bard | Givens | Almonte.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH:
Today
1. James Karinchak – Brad Hand has gone in four of five. 
2. Justin Wilson – Edwin Diaz threw 21 pitches Thursday and has gone in three of four.
3. Felix Pena – Even though the Angels were off Thursday, Mike Mayers might need another day off after his recent workload. He has pitched in three of four and four of six, throwing a total of 6.2 innings and 95 pitches.
4. Nik Turley – Richard Rodriguez has gone in four of six.
5. Aaron Bummer – Alex Colome is dealing with back spasms and might be saved for the playoffs.
6. Scott Barlow – Greg Holland is also dealing with an injury. 
7. Mychal Givens/Yency Almonte – Daniel Bard threw 27 pitches over 2.2 innings Thursday and might need a day off. Mychal Givens threw 21 pitches Thursday and has gone in two of three, so perhaps the more rested Yency Almonte would get a look.  
8. Brad Boxberger – Brandon Kintzler was well-rested entering Thursday, but tossed 29 pitches over two innings and might need a break. 

Tomorrow
1. Tyler Rogers – If Tony Watson goes Friday, that will be three of four for him.
2. Aaron Bummer – See above.
3. Scott Barlow – See above.
4. Mychal Givens – If Daniel Bard goes again today, he’ll likely need Saturday off.
5. Brad Boxberger – Ditto for Brandon Kintzler.