Minor may make major change next season

September 29, 2017

Kansas City Royals — De facto closer Mike Minor plans on training in the offseason as if he’ll be a starting pitcher next year. He’s open to remaining in the bullpen, but he wants to have a key role either way.

Hierarchy remains: *Minor | Soria | Herrera.
* = closer-by-committee

New York Mets – A.J. Ramos is listed as day-to-day with biceps tendinitis, but with so few games left in the season and the Mets out of contention, Ramos is probably done for the year.

Updated hierarchy: *Familia | Blevins | Sewald.
* = closer-by-committee

Atlanta Braves – Rex Brothers put Giancarlo Stanton on the brink of what would be an historic number: 60. Brothers allowed Stanton’s second homer of Thursday’s game, giving him 59 home runs this season. Sixty would bring him on par with Babe Ruth and Roger Maris (and technically Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds). Sure, this is barely an update about Brothers, but with so little drama in bullpens across the league, we thought we’d take time to admire some history on the other side of the diamond.

Hierarchy remains: Vizcaino | Ramirez | Freeman.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Brandon Kintzler – Remember Kintzler’s quest for 30 saves? He picked up his 29th last week, and with three games to go, he may get to his mark. Sean Doolittle blew the save Thursday (but got the win), while Kintzler pitched the seventh inning, so perhaps the 30-save milestone isn’t quite on Dusty Baker’s radar. Or is it…

Tomorrow
1. Brandon Kintzler – See above.
2. Chris Hatcher – Blake Treinen, Hatcher and Liam Hendriks have each pitched in two straight. If Treinen pitches again Friday, whoever has the most rest may be in line for a vulture save Saturday or Sunday.
3. Daniel Stumpf – Shane Greene has pitched in two straight. Stumpf and Drew VerHagen have gone in three straight. If Greene goes Friday and the other two get rest, Stumpf or VerHagen could snatch a vulture save over the weekend.

Shane Greene closing after Justin Wilson trade; Jim Johnson moved to committee

July 31, 2017

Atlanta Braves – Jim Johnson has lost his position at the top of the Atlanta bullpen, and will now share duties with a handful of other relievers. Arodys Vizcaino is the best reliever to own right now, as he would’ve gotten the save chance last night, had the Braves taken the lead. (Johnson was used in a tie game in the 8th.) Rex Brothers, who closed for a spell in Colorado earlier in his career, could also get a look when matchups are right.

Updated hierarchy: *Vizcaino | Johnson | Brothers.
* = closer-by-committee

Minnesota Twins – Taylor Rogers had another bad outing yesterday, and has now allowed runs in five straight appearances. This is huge fantasy news, as the lefty had seemed like a lock to take over in the event of a Brandon Kintzler trade. But now, our money is on veteran Matt Belisle, who has been one of the only consisent arms in the Twins bullpen as of late. Check out our Trade Deadline Preview for relievers like Belisle who are worth adding before 4 p.m. today.

Updated hierarchy: Kintzler | Belisle | Rogers.

St. Louis Cardinals – Trevor Rosenthal bagged his sixth save of the season last night, and has been an absolute hoss lately. In his last 11.2 innings: 4 hits, 1 BB, 1 ER, 19 Ks. Between those numbers, and the fact that he’s gotten the last two save chances, we’ll kick his asterisk. Welcome back to the 9th, Trevor.

Updated hierarchy: Rosenthal | Oh | Cecil.

Chicago White Sox – Jake Petricka and Tyler Clippard had solid outings yesterday in a tie game, which is probably enough to cement them as the top two relievers in the White Sox bullpen right now. We’ll move Petricka up to right behind Clippard in the committee; keep an eye on Greg Infante and Juan Minaya to also pitch in.

Updated hierarchy: *Clippard | Petricka | Minaya.
* = closer-by-committee

Detroit Tigers – The Tigers shipped Justin Wilson to the Cubs on Sunday night, pending a medical review. Shane Greene should be the first choice for saves now in Detroit, with Bruce Rondon and Alex Wilson behind him.

Updated hierarchy: Greene | Rondon | A. Wilson.

Chicago Cubs – The Cubs bolstered their bullpen Sunday night when they acquired Justin Wilson from the Tigers, pending a medical review. Wilson should become the primary setup man, with Koji Uehara and C.J. Edwards still in the mix for holds.

Updated hierarchy: Davis | Wilson | Uehara.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Luis Garcia – Hector Neris has pitched three innings over the last two days. Garcia has also gone back to back but is better rested.
2. Brad Brach – Zach Britton has pitched in two straight; we’re not sure if he’s going three in a row yet.

Tomorrow
1. Juan Minaya/Greg Infante – If Tyler Clippard and/or Jake Petricka go today, it’ll be three straight.
2. Brad Brach – See above. If Britton does pitch again tonight, he’ll be off tomorrow.

Kirby Yates records save, Melancon to begin rehab

July 30, 2017

San Diego Padres — With Brad Hand unavailable yesterday after pitching three games in a row, Kirby Yates recorded his first save of the season.  Phil Maton pitched the eighth inning, so it would appear that Yates is the first choice to close if Hand is dealt.

Updated hierarchy: *Hand | Yates | Maton.
* = closer-by-committee

Chicago White Sox — The White Sox used Tyler Clippard in the seventh inning yesterday with the game tied.  That would typically be enough to remove a guy as the head of a committee, but Clippard threw a scoreless inning, so we will leave him there for now.  Jake Petricka started the eighth inning, and got a couple quick outs before giving up a walk and a hit.  Recently called up lefty Aaron Bummer got the last out of the eighth and the first two outs of the ninth, but left with a couple men on and ended up with the loss.  Gregory Infante relieved Bummer and promptly hit the first two batters he faced to load the bases and and force in the go-ahead run. Basically the White Sox used a lot of relievers and none of them stood out, so we figured we would list the details and hope that one of our loyal followers knew what the heck is going to happen in the White Sox bullpen moving forward.  Any thoughts?

Hierarchy remains: *Clippard | Minaya | Petricka.
* = closer-by-committee

Atlanta Braves — Jim Johnson blew his eighth save of the season on Saturday.  Johnson has been bad for a while now, but manager Brian Snitker is not ready to make a change.  Snitker mentioned Arodys Vizcaino and Rex Brothers as other options to close if he did make a change.  Brothers has not been great since coming back at the end of June, but we will move him to 2nd in line based on Snitker’s comments.  Vizcaino still seems to be the guy to own if/when the Braves finally decide to make a change.

Updated hierarchy: Johnson | Vizcaino | Brothers.

San Francisco Giants — Mark Melancon will begin a rehab assignment today in Sacramento.  Melancon will need a few rehab appearances, but when he is ready to return to the majors, it will be as closer.

Hierarchy remains: Dyson | Strickland | Kontos.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Pedro Baez – Kenley Jansen has pitched in two straight, three of four, and five of seven.
2. Joe Smith – Roberto Osuna has pitched in two of three, including a 27 pitch blown save yesterday.

Monday
1. Andrew Miller/Brian Shaw – Cody Allen has pitched in two of three.  Miller threw 30 pitches yesterday so if he and Allen both pitch today, that could leave Shaw for Monday.
2. Delin Betances – Aroldis Chapman has pitched in two of three, including a two inning effort on Thursday.

Bud Norris is restoring order to the Angels’ bullpen

July 6, 2017

Los Angeles Angels — Miracle of miracles, the Angels actually had a low-drama save, courtesy of Bud Norris. One more and we jettison the asterisk. Meanwhile, Huston Street’s twingy groin will put him back on the disabled list until the season restarts on July 14.

Hierarchy remains: *Norris | Hernandez | Bedrosian.
* = closer-by-committee

Texas Rangers — Jeff Banister confirmed that Texas will be using a three-man committee to close: Jose Leclerc, Alex Claudio, and Matt Bush. Ernesto Frieri was recently designated for assignment to make room for Jeremy Jeffress.

Hierarchy remains: *Leclerc | Claudio | Bush.
* = closer-by-committee

Atlanta Braves — Arodys Vizcaino strained the index finger on his throwing hand and will require a stint on the DL. The Braves don’t expect the injury to be serious, but it’s at least a slight blow to his status as a second-half save sleeper. Sam Freeman, one of three lefties in the Atlanta bullpen, should see more work in the late innings through the All-Star break. Jason Motte and Rex Brothers are also hanging around for the Braves.

Updated hierarchy: Johnson | Ramirez | Freeman.

New York Yankees — Dellin Betances’s ERA has octupled in the past two weeks, which will happen when you’re walking guys at a rate of 23 per nine innings. Wednesday’s debacle saw him walk the bases loaded against Toronto’s 7-8-9 hitters, strike out Jose Bautista, get squeezed on a 2-2 curve, and then walk in the eventual winning run. Repeated collapses from the Yankees’ bullpen have been a huge factor in their wretched 6-16 stretch.

Hierarchy remains: Chapman | Betances | Green.

Baltimore Orioles — Zach Britton got a low-leverage seventh to help him shake off some rust.

Hierarchy remains: Britton | Brach | O’Day.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. David Phelps — The top three for Miami have all pitched in three out of four, but Phelps needed only five pitches on Wednesday.
2. Brad Brach — Zach Britton may not be ready to go back-to-back yet.

Friday:
1. Juan Nicasio — Felipe Rivero has pitched in two straight games; so has Nicasio, but he’s thrown fewer pitches.
2. Ryan Tepera — Roberto Osuna has gone in two straight.
3. Trevor Rosenthal — So has Seung Hwan Oh.
4. Pedro Baez — And Kenley Jansen.
5. Jake McGee — If Greg Holland pitches Thursday, it will be his third game in four days.
6. Taylor Rogers — The same is true of Brandon Kintzler.

Weekly Hot Seat Update: April 10, 2015

April 10, 2015

After elbow injuries to Joe Nathan and Jenrry Mejia and the recent demotion of Brett Cecil, three of the shakiest closers in the game have already been replaced. Who starts the season on the hot seat? And who stands to benefit if they falter?

5. Miguel Castro
Koji Uehara‘s impending return means that we didn’t even consider Edward Mujica for this spot. Instead it goes to the putative head of the brand-new Toronto closer committee: 20-year-old future starter Castro, whose right elbow (and its single tendon) was expected to start the season at Class A Dunedin. Castro’s rapid rise makes for a great story, but if he falters, it’ll be simple for the Jays to try out fellow youngster Roberto Osuna or return to Cecil.

4. LaTroy Hawkins
The 42-year-old already has his first blown save of the season, and PECOTA predicts that he’ll give up almost as many runs this year (36) as he earns strikeouts (43). Not exactly a recipe to lower a manager’s blood pressure. Walt Weiss can turn to Adam Ottavino, John Axford, or (when he gets back to the majors) perpetual “closer of the future” Rex Brothers.

3. Jason Grilli
Stepping into Craig Kimbrel’s golden cleats is the 38-year-old Grilli, who has an extensive history of injuries, and an apparently revitalized Jim Johnson lurking behind him. The Braves will give him the first shot at the job, but they’ll move on in a hurry if he performs like he did last season in Pittsburgh.

2. Dellin Betances
Betances, one of the breakout stars of 2014, struggled all through spring training, and hasn’t been much better now that the games count. Although the righty seems to have regained his missing velocity, control problems continue to plague him. He’s already in a platoon situation with lefty Andrew Miller, who’s a real threat to take the job and make it his own.

1. Chris Hatcher
Converted catcher Hatcher got the Dodgers’ first save of the year, but he might not be in line for too many more after getting blasted in a tied ninth inning on Tuesday. Joel Peralta, Hatcher’s main competition for the job in Kenley Jansen‘s absence, may have had a rough 2014, but he’s posted a consistently above-average WHIP and K rate over the last five years — and his first two outings so far this year have been scoreless, earning him a win and a save.