Roberto Osuna to get MRI, Craig Kimbrel on the hot seat

August 2, 2020

Houston Astros — Roberto Osuna left yesterday’s game with an injury and is headed back to Houston for an MRI. The Astros also placed Chris Devenski on the IL. Ryan Pressly pitched the 8th inning yesterday and although it wasn’t a great outing and he seemed to be dealing with a figure issue, Pressly should take over as closer if Osuna misses an extended period of time.

Updated hierarchy: Osuna | Pressly | Taylor.

Chicago Cubs – Kyle Ryan started the 9th inning with the Cubs up 4, but after he gave up a two-run homer and a double, Rowan Wick got the call.  Wick gave up an RBI groundout to cut the lead to one but he was able to finish off the Cubs’ win for his first save of the season.  Jeremy Jeffress had another solid outing, as he entered the 7th inning with the bases loaded and two outs and was able to get out of the jam before coming back out for a scoreless 8th.  Closer Craig Kimbrel has struggled in both his appearances this season and manager David Ross would not commit to Kimbrel getting the next save chance.  Jeffress is a good speculative add at this point in case Kimbrel can’t get back on track.

Hierarchy remains: Kimbrel | Jeffress | Wick.

New York Yankees — The Yankees rested their top bullpen arms on Saturday and that left David Hale to close out of the final two innings of a 5-2 victory for the save.  

Hierarchy remains: Britton | Ottavino | Green.

Minnesota Twins — Tyler Clippard will serve as an opener for the Twins on Sunday.  Cody Stashak struck out a pair in a scoreless 8th inning hold ahead of Taylor Rogers on Saturday and we will slide him into Clippard’s hierarchy spot.

Updated hierarchy: Rogers | Romo | Stashak.

Los Angeles Angels — Hansel Robles’ nightmare start to the season continued on Saturday.  Robles gave up three runs in a blown save and now has given up 9 runs in 4 appearances.  The entire Angels’ bullpen has been struggling, but Felix Pena threw two scoreless innings ahead of Robles yesterday and that is enough to earn him a spot on the hierarchy.

Updates hierarchy: Robles | Buttrey | Pena.

Chicago White Sox — Codi Heuer got the last out of the 8th and then after the Whie Sox added 4 more runs in the top of the 9th, he finished off the game for the save.

Hierarchy remains: Colome | Bummer | Marshall.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Ryan Pressly – Roberto Osuna is getting an MRI
2. Ty Buttrey – Hansel Robles has pitched in two of three, including a blown save yesterday
3. Sergio Romo – Taylor Rogers has pitched in two straight and three of four.

Monday
1. Drew Pomeranz – If Kirby Yates pitches Sunday, it will be two of three, including a 28 pitch outing on Friday.
2. Jake Diekman – Today would be two straight for Liam Hendriks and the A’s might be cautious with their closer early in the season

Nick Burdi earns first save after Kyle Crick lands on IL

July 29, 2020

Pittsburgh Pirates – Pittsburgh placed Kyle Crick on the 10-day IL on Tuesday, which paved the way for Nick Burdi to record his first career save that night. Burdi will be the favorite for save chances going forward, but Derek Shelton said on Monday that he will be careful with Burdi’s usage because of Burdi’s injury history. Richard Rodriguez and Michael Feliz are the most likely candidates to see the ninth inning if Burdi is unavailable. Keep an eye on JT Brubaker as well, who struck out four Cardinals over two innings in his MLB debut on Sunday. 

Updated hierarchy: *Burdi | Rodriguez | Feliz.
* = closer-by-committee

Minnesota Twins — Taylor Rogers hasn’t pitched yet this season and fantasy owners were justifiably concerned when Sergio Romo picked up the save in a 6-3 win on Tuesday. After the game, Rocco Baldelli explained that Romo was already up and hot when the Cardinals added a run in the eighth inning to create the save situation. We’ll just have to wait and see when Rogers finally makes his first appearance of 2020.

Hierarchy remains: Rogers | Romo | Clippard.

San Diego Padres — With the Padres leading the Giants by two runs in the ninth inning, Jayce Tingler turned to Drew Pomeranz, not Kirby Yates, to close out the game, which Pomeranz did by striking out the side on 14 pitches. Yates last pitched on Sunday, taking the loss in his second straight outing. Tingler confirmed after Tuesday’s game that he simply wanted to give Yates an extra day of rest. We’ll move Pomeranz ahead of Emilio Pagan, who worked the eighth inning on Tuesday.

Updated hierarchy: Yates | Pomeranz | Pagan.

Washington Nationals – Sean Doolittle hasn’t had the most promising start to the 2020 season. He got the final two outs of the seventh inning on Tuesday night to keep the Nationals within two runs, but his velocity continues to be an issue. If Daniel Hudson is available in your league, it may be worth adding him. Tanner Rainey is also someone to watch, as he has not allowed a hit in all three appearances, while Will Harris’ shaky start to 2020 continued on Tuesday.

Hierarchy remains: Doolittle | Hudson | Harris.

St. Louis Cardinals — Giovanny Gallegos made his season debut on Tuesday, retiring both hitters he faced on just six pitches. The Cardinals also said they intend to keep Kwang Hyun Kim in the closer role for now.

Hierarchy remains: Kim | Miller | Gallegos.

Tampa Bay Rays — Oliver Drake picked up his second straight save with his second consecutive 1-2-3 inning on Tuesday night. Nick Anderson entered a 5-1 game in the seventh and allowed an inherited runner to score before getting the Rays out of a jam, while Chaz Roe earned an eighth-inning hold. The Rays should continue turning to Drake in the ninth inning until he falters.

Hierarchy remains: *Drake | Anderson | Alvarado.
* = closer-by-committee

Cleveland Indians – Cleveland’s three hierarchy members – James Karinchak, Nick Wittgren and Brad Hand – pitched the final three innings, in that order, in a 4-3 victory in game one of a doubleheader. That opened the door in game two for Cam Hill to collect his first career save in just his second big-league appearance.

Hierarchy remains: Hand | Wittgren | Karinchak.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Daniel Hudson – Sean Doolittle has pitched in two of the last three games and has struggled.
2. Richard Rodriguez/Michael Feliz – Derek Shelton has said that he wants to be careful with Nick Burdi, who pitched last night.
3. Kevin Ginkel – Archie Bradley has gone in two of the last three, throwing 40 pitches. The Diamondbacks do not have an off day Thursday.
4. Buck Farmer – Joe Jimenez has pitched in three of four, though he only threw eight pitches last night.

Tomorrow
1. Kevin Ginkel – If Archie Bradley makes an appearance today, that will be two straight and three of four.
2. Buck Farmer – If Joe Jimenez pitches today, that will be two straight and four of five.

Marlins could have a new closer in September

August 25, 2019

Miami Marlins – The Marlins, who haven’t recorded a save since July 24th, could have a new closer in September.  Their opening day starter Jose Urena will likely be used as closer when he returns from the IL.   Urena throws hard and could do well in the closer’s role, but don’t expect many saves out of a team who hasn’t converted one in over a month.

Hierarchy remains: *Garcia | Quijada | Stanek.
* = closer-by-committee

Toronto Blue Jays – Derek Law picked up a five out save last night.  Ken Giles is expected to rejoin the team on Sunday after the birth of his son but his time away has confirmed that Law is certainly the handcuff at this point.

Hierarchy remains: Giles | Law | Shafer.

Houston Astros — Roberto Osuna got a much needed day off on Saturday after pitching in five of the previous six days and Will Harris converted the vulture save chance.  Harris should continue to see save chances when Osuna is unavailable.  

Hierarchy remains: Osuna | Harris | Rondon.

Cleveland Indians – Brad Hand converted his second straight save chance yesterday with a scoreless ninth inning.  Meanwhile in the minor leagues, perhaps the Indians’ closer of the future, James Karinchak, is striking out batters at a ridiculous rate.  Fantasy owners will want to keep an eye on Karinchak in the future.

Hierarchy remains: Hand | Wittgren | Goody.

Minnesota Twins — Taylor Rogers retired all five batters that he faced, including three strikeouts, to close out a Twins 8-5 victory yesterday.  Rogers has now recorded the last two saves for the Twins after Sergio Romo got the prior two saves.  This will likely continue as a committee through the rest of the season with Rogers getting a few more save chances that Romo. 

Hierarchy remains: *Rogers | Romo | Dyson.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Nick Wittgren – Brad Hand has pitched in two straight and three of four.
2. Matt Barnes – Brandon Workman has pitched in three of the past four, throwing a total of 61 pitches.

Monday
1. Shane Greene – If Mark Melancon pitches on Sunday, it will be his third appearance in four days.

Brandon Kintzler is back but the Cubs are still blowing saves

August 17, 2019

Chicago Cubs — The Cubs activated Brandon Kintzler from the IL yesterday, and after Kyle Ryan faced the first two batters in the ninth, Kintzler came on to finish the game. After getting one out he walked three straight batters, one intentionally, to give up the lead before giving up a walk-off single. Craig Kimbrel can’t return fast enough; he was eligible yesterday, but the Cubs are still weighing a possible rehab assignment for the big-money acquisition. After back-to-back blown saves from their patchwork bullpen, the Cubs may activate Kimbrel today.

Updated hierarchy: *Strop | Kintzler | Phelps.
* = closer-by-committee

Minnesota Twins — With Minnesota holding a one-run lead, Taylor Rogers took the eighth inning to face the lefty-loaded heart of the Rangers lineup. He gave up a couple hits, but got out unscathed, which left the ninth inning to Sergio Romo. Romo shut the door for his 3rd save as a Twin. This is certainly a committee, and Rogers arguably got the harder assignment yesterday, but both Rogers and Romo will continue to see save opportunities going forward. Yesterday shows that Rocco Baldelli won’t be afraid to play matchups in the final two innings.

Hierarchy remains: *Rogers | Romo | Dyson.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Dodgers — Julio Urias came in to protect a two-run lead in the seventh inning. He then stuck around for the final two frames after the Dodgers extended the lead to five to earn his fourth save of the year. Urias sees some longer relief appearances, but the Dodgers are not afraid to use him in higher-leverage spots. 

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Kelly | Baez.

San Francisco Giants — Will Smith came in to protect a two-run lead in the 10th inning, but blew the save after giving up a pair of solo homers. When the Giants retook the lead in the 11th, Smith came on try again, but ran out of gas after his 35th pitch, leaving the last out for Trevor Gott. Gott induced a groundout to earn his first career save. Gott normally doesn’t feature in the late innings for San Francisco. 

Hierarchy remains: Smith | Watson | Moronta.

Cincinnati Reds — The Reds were on the receiving end of a 13-4 beatdown yesterday, but one silver lining was the second relief appearance of Jose Peraza. Peraza is nominally a second baseman, but pitched a clean ninth inning, throwing 11 straight curveballs according to pitchf/x. This follows his other scoreless appearance, getting a single out in cleanup duty after the Pirates-Reds brawl on July 30. Despite Peraza’s dominance as an emergency option, he is blocked by fellow second baseman Kyle Farmer, who also sports a 0.00 ERA on the year. 

Hierarchy remains: Iglesias | Lorenzen | Garrett | Farmer/Peraza.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today:
1. Craig Kimbrel – If Kimbrel is activated today, he is the most likely option for a save from the Cubs. Brandon Kintzler threw 28 pitches last night.
2. Buck Farmer – Joe Jimenez has pitched in two of the last three, including a 29-pitch outing last night.
3. Scott Barlow – Ian Kennedy has also pitched in two of three, throwing a total of 38 pitches.
4. Adam Ottavino – Aroldis Chapman has pitched in four of six while Zach Britton has pitched in three of the last five. 
5. Tony Watson – Will Smith threw 35 pitches last night.

Sunday:
1. Yoan Lopez – Archie Bradley is the best-rested option for today, but if he pitches it will be back-to-back and three of four. 
2. Bryan Shaw – Today would be two straight and three of four for Scott Oberg
3. Seth Lugo – Today would be three in a row for Edwin Diaz. 

Sam Dyson, Jose Alvarado return from the IL

August 14, 2019

Minnesota Twins – The Twins activated Sam Dyson from the IL on Tuesday and immediately sent him into a high-leverage spot. Dyson responded with a perfect eighth inning ahead of Sergio Romo, who closed out a 7-5 win since Taylor Rogers was unavailable. Rogers has struggled when pitching a second consecutive day, so it’s likely that Romo sees some more frequent save chances going forward as the Twins try and manage Rogers’ workload.

Updated hierarchy: *Rogers | Romo | Dyson.
* = closer-by-committee

Tampa Bay Rays – Jose Alvarado returned from the IL on Tuesday and immediately saw some high-leverage work, getting the ball in the eighth inning with his team ahead by three. It wasn’t the easiest inning for Alvarado, who committed one of two Rays errors in the frame and allowed one run. He did get two outs, however, and had good velocity on his fastball. Kevin Cash said before the game that he will likely slot Alvarado into high-leverage situations, and that’s exactly what happened. We’ll update our hierarchy accordingly, with Diego Castillo, Nick Anderson, Chaz Roe and Colin Poche also expected to be in the mix for holds and save chances at any given moment.

Updated hierarchy: *Pagan | Alvarado | Castillo.
* = closer-by-committee

Boston Red Sox — Prior to Tuesday’s game, Alex Cora said that Nathan Eovaldi was likely to start Wednesday’s game and that he will build up to eventually rejoin the starting rotation. Of course, that was only if Eovaldi didn’t pitch in relief on Tuesday, and sure enough it was Eovaldi who pitched the Sox out of an eighth-inning jam (on just six pitches) to preserve a one-run lead that Brandon Workman blew in the following frame. That led to Andrew Cashner, whose terrible pitching is the reason Eovaldi is moving back to the rotation in the first place, to pick up his first career save in the 10th inning. Cashner’s save opportunity was by chance – he was going to pitch the 10th anyway – but the bigger story is Eovaldi’s usage. He will be available out of the bullpen today, but his time on our hierarchy is done for now.

Updated hierarchy: Workman | Barnes | Taylor.

Washington Nationals – We predicted that Sean Doolittle would get a night off on Tuesday, but it was Daniel Hudson who picked up a four-out save, not Fernando Rodney. In fact, Rodney didn’t even pitch in last night’s 3-1 win; it was Hunter Strickland and Wander Suero who got the ball to Hudson. We’ll move Hudson into Rodney’s spot in the hierarchy based on last night, but with all the new relievers pitching well since arriving in Washington, Dave Martinez can be flexible on when to deploy his top arms in the late innings. Don’t be too surprised to see Rodney back in a high-leverage spot soon.

Updated hierarchy: Doolittle | Hudson | Strickland.

Atlanta Braves – Mark Melancon locked down his second save of the season, pitching the first 1-2-3 inning by a Braves reliever in a save situation since July 15. Luke Jackson completed a clean seventh inning to maintain a 5-1 lead, but Shane Greene’s struggles continued and he gave up two more runs in the eighth to create the save situation. Greene has allowed 13 hits and seven earned runs in 4.1 innings with the Braves. We’ll see how much longer Brian Snitker keeps running him out there with a lead.

Hierarchy remains: *Melancon | Jackson | Greene.
* = closer-by-committee

San Diego Padres — Craig Stammen has struggled lately, having allowed a run in each of his last three appearances. That includes one run in the sixth inning last night, which was unearned because of a throwing error Stammen himself committed. If Kirby Yates is unavailable, it makes sense to let potential future closer Andres Munoz have a crack at the ninth inning over Stammen.

Updated hierarchy: Yates | Munoz | Stammen.

Toronto Blue Jays – Ken Giles looks like he will avoid another IL stint after he walked one and struck out another to record a save yesterday. The Jays should continue to be careful with Giles’ workload, but it’s a good sign that he was able to pitch without any issue last night.

Hierarchy remains: Giles | Law | Shafer.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Tony Watson – Will Smith threw 37 pitches last night and has appeared in three of the last four days.
2. Jose Quijada – Don’t rely on Marlins’ relievers for saves. Now that we got that out of the way, Jarlin Garcia has pitched in three of the last four days.
3. Derek Law – The Jays may not want to throw Ken Giles out there on consecutive days.