Noe Ramirez gets the 8th inning in Boston

September 21, 2015

Boston Red Sox – Noe Ramirez picked up his second hold of the season on Sunday, pitching the 8th ahead of Robbie Ross. Consider him a candidate for another hold or two in the season’s final weeks.

Updated hierarchy: Ross | Ramirez | Machi.

Kansas City Royals – Danny Duffy picked up a four-inning save in Sunday’s blowout; he does not factor in to the Royals usual late-inning plans.

Hierarchy remains: Holland | Davis | Herrera.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Noe Ramirez/Jean Machi, Boston Red Sox – Robbie Ross has pitched in back to back games.
2. Joakim Soria, Pittsburgh Pirates – Mark Melancon and Tony Watson have pitched in back to back games.

Strop records save, Bruce Rondon keeps giving up runs

September 20, 2015

Chicago Cubs — Pedro Strop recorded the save yesterday after regular closer Hector Rondon got tossed for hitting the first batter in the ninth inning.  Travis Wood ended up getting the start with Joe Maddon only using members of his bullpen for the game.  We expect Wood to see more time in the later innings during normal games, but another guy to keep an eye on is Neil Ramirez, who returned from the DL on Thursday and pitched a scoreless inning.

Hierarchy remains: Rondon | Strop | Wood.

Detroit Tigers — The Tigers went to Bruce Rondon in the eighth inning last night to try and protect a one run lead, and he couldn’t do it.  Rondon gave up a run for the fourth time in his last five appearances, and his ERA is up to 6.00 on the season.  Manager Brad Ausmus said not to “read anything into” Rondon being used in the eighth.  The Tigers aren’t going anywhere this season so they want to try and give Rondon every opportunity to show what he can do over the last part of the season.  However, he is making it tough to keep sending him out there, even in a lost season, and Alex Wilson could see some saves in the future.

Hierarchy remains: Rondon | Wilson | Hardy.

Boston Red Sox – Robbie Ross picked up his third save of the season yesterday.  Ross has now recorded all three of Boston’s save in the month of September and, despite allowing two runs in his most recent outing, he is close to shedding the committee label.

Hierarchy remains: *Ross | Machi | Ogando.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Edwin Jackson, Atlanta Braves – Arodys Vizcaino has pitched in two straight, throwing a total of 46 pitches.
2.  Nate Jones, Chicago White Sox – David Robertson has pitched in two of the last three games, and has thrown 48 pitches and given up five runs during those outings.

Robbie Ross tightening grip on Red Sox closer position

September 14, 2015

Boston Red Sox – Amidst the back-and-forth and general ineffectiveness of the two pitchers jockeying for the Red Sox closer role the past month (Junichi Tazawa and Jean Machi), the best pitcher in the Boston bullpen was actually lefty Robbie Ross. Last week, Torey Lovullo indicated for the first time that he was considering using Ross in the closer role, and last night, Ross finally picked up his first save. He’s not dominant by any means, but he has a healthy K/BB ratio of 31/8 over his past 27 outings and has posted an ERA around 3 every month since June.

Hierarchy remains: *Ross | Tazawa | Machi.
* = closer-by-committee

New York Mets – With Jeurys Familia and Tyler Clippard getting the night off, Addison Reed picked up his first save since June 15, pitching a scoreless 10th inning. Reed has now pitched eight scoreless innings as a Met.

Hierarchy remains: Familia | Clippard | Reed.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Luis Garcia, Philadelphia Phillies – Ken Giles has pitched 2.1 innings over the past two games, throwing 44 pitches.
2. Addison Reed, New York Mets – Jeurys Familia and Tyler Clippard both got Sunday off, but with both having been used heavily in the past week — and with the Mets now 9.5 games clear of the Nationals in the NL East — a second day off for their two most prominent relievers might be in the cards.
3. Chris Hatcher, Los Angeles Dodgers – Kenley Jansen has pitched in back to back games, including a shaky, 33-pitch effort last night.
4. Joe Smith/Trevor Gott, Los Angeles Angels – Huston Street and Joe Smith have both pitched in three straight, though Smith could probably go again tonight since he hasn’t thrown many pitches. If not, Trevor Gott is the best bet for a vulture save.

Robbie Ross rising in Boston; Bruce Rondon stinks again

September 9, 2015

Boston Red Sox — Jean Machi actually pitched well for the Sox on Tuesday, but it happened to be in the sixth inning of a 1-1 game. He induced a double play to get out of a jam, and in a bullpen in which, save for Junichi Tazawa in the 8th, there are “no set roles,” it seems logical that you would use any pitcher in any important spot, no matter the inning. Manager Torey Lovullo reiterated that he will “mix and match,” but Robbie Ross Jr pitched a clean ninth at home to keep the game tied, and he may be the best pitcher right now in the Sox bullpen. We’ll put Ross at the top of the committee, with Machi right behind him. Next save chance is up for grabs.

Updated hierarchy: *Ross | Machi | Tazawa.
* = closer-by-committee

Detroit Tigers – So much for dropping that asterisk. Bruce Rondon struggled again, and this time was unable to protect a one-run lead and convert the save. After the 13-inning affair, manager Brad Ausmus admitted that Rondon has struggled over his last couple of outings, but didn’t want to “pontificate on the rest of the year.” The asterisk will stay off for now, but Rondon needs to turn it around in a hurry if he wants to keep seeing save chances.

Hierarchy remains: Rondon | Wilson | Hardy.

Texas Rangers – Keone Kela made his first appearance since feeling discomfort in his elbow last week, and he struck out two in a perfect eighth inning to keep Texas ahead by two. Manager Jeff Banister said after the game that they will see how Kela is on Wednesday, but if he continues to pitch like that, it will be hard to keep him out very much as the Rangers battle for a playoff spot.

Updated hierarchy: Tolleson | Kela | Dyson.

Chicago Cubs — Fernando Rodney has allowed just two hits and one run in five appearances since being traded to the Cubs, including a 1-2-3 eighth inning on Tuesday to preserve an 8-5 lead. Joe Maddon appears to have the magic touch that has turned Rodney into a reliable reliever for a likely playoff team.

Updated hierarchy: Rondon | Strop | Rodney.

San Diego Padres — The Padres bullpen has battled injuries of late, with both Shawn Kelley and Joaquin Benoit dealing with problems. Benoit (back spasms) and Kelley (forearm) were both unavailable on Tuesday, which led to Kevin Quackenbush picking up an eighth-inning hold. Quackenbush isn’t supposed to be part of the late-inning plans, but may get more looks if Benoit and Kelley are still nursing their respective injuries. Benoit is day-to-day and the Padres hope to know more about Kelley on Wednesday after he played catch before Tuesday’s game.

Updated hierarchy: Kimbrel | Benoit | Quackenbush.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Jim Johnson, Los Angeles Dodgers – Kenley Jansen has pitched in four out of five games and will most likely be unavailable Wednesday.
2. Jean Machi, Boston Red Sox – Even though Robbie Ross is at the top of the committee, the ninth inning in Boston is up for grabs.
3. Alex Wilson, Detroit Tigers – Bruce Rondon has thrown 50 pitches over back-to-back rough outings.
4. Sergio Romo, San Francisco Giants – Santiago Casilla has appeared in three of the last four games.

Jean Machi struggles again

September 5, 2015

Boston Red Sox — After retiring the first two batters with a five-run lead in the ninth, Jean Machi decided to make things interesting. Single, homer, single, double: suddenly the lead was two and the Sox were stuck calling on lefty Robbie Ross, Jr., who struck out Ryan Howard on three pitches for his first career save. Whether Torey Lovullo sticks with Machi or not, you shouldn’t. The three saves he’ll earn this month (best-case) aren’t worth the eight runs he’ll give up.

Hierarchy remains: Machi | Tazawa | Ogando.

Oakland A’s — With Oakland down one in the ninth, Drew Pomeranz gave up a two-run home run. His struggles make it somewhat more likely that Sean Doolittle will get a chance to reclaim the closer role before the year is up.

Hierarchy remains: *Doolittle | Pomeranz | Venditte.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Junichi Tazawa, Boston Red Sox — We’ve seen enough Jean Machi.
2. Logan Kensing, Seattle Mariners — Tom Wilhelmsen has pitched in three of four (42 pitches), and Carson Smith has also been used a lot.
3. Casey Janssen, Washington Nationals — Jonathan Papelbon pitched two innings last night (27 pitches). Drew Storen has been worked even harder.
4. Edwin Jackson, Atlanta Braves — Arodys Vizcaino threw 28 pitches in a five-out appearance on Friday.