Blue Jays seem content with committee until Osuna’s return

July 23, 2018

Toronto Blue Jays – Tyler Clippard picked up his 7th save of the season on Sunday afternoon, bouncing back from an atrocious outing on Friday. Ryan Tepera and Seung-Hwan Oh had pitched in the previous two games, and Tepera remains atop this committee for now, but the Blue Jays — perhaps with an eye on increasing trade value — seem content on giving multiple players opportunities in the 9th until Roberto Osuna’s return.

Updated hierarchy: *Tepera | Clippard | Oh.
* = closer-by-committee

Los Angeles Dodgers – After three rough starts to begin in major league career, 22-year-old Caleb Ferguson has thrived in long relief for the Dodgers. Since being moved to the bullpen, he’s allowed just 2 ER in 16 innings, and has struck out 20 hitters against just 2 walks. Yesterday, he picked up his second save of the season with three scoreless innings.

Hierarchy remains: Jansen | Goeddel | Alexander.

Kansas City Royals – Sunday brought another save for Wily Peralta, and he should be in the clear for all future opportunities, so long as he’s rested. We’re removing his asterisk. Also, if you like high-risk holds, sidearmer Tim Hill has a 5.59 ERA but has gotten 8th inning holds each of the past two nights.

Updated hierarchy: Peralta | Maurer | McCarthy.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Drew Steckenrider/Adam Conley – Kyle Barraclough has pitched two straight including a disastrous, 40-pitch outing last night, and should be off today.
2. Brandon Maurer – Wily Peralta has pitched in three straight.

Tomorrow
1. Ryan Madson – Kelvin Herrera threw 1.2 innings last night. He should be fine today, but we’d bet he gets Tuesday off if he goes again tonight.

Ryan Tepera is back to closing for the Blue Jays and Zach Britton could be on the move soon

July 22, 2018

Toronto Blue Jays – Ryan Tepera pitched a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts for his seventh save of the season.  Seung Hwan Oh pitched a perfect eighth inning ahead of Tepera, and the Blue Jays seem content to use Oh in a set-up role.  We will move Tepera back to the head of the hierarchy, and he should see the bulk of the save opportunities until Roberta Osuna is eligible to return on August 5th.

Updated hierarchy: *Tepera | Oh | Clippard.
* = closer-by-committee

Baltimore Orioles – Zach Britton threw a scoreless inning for the Orioles yesterday, but he could be pitching for somebody else soon.  The Orioles want to get a deal done this weekend or early next week.  The Astros, Cubs, and Dodgers are among the teams interested in Britton.  Brad Brach would likely take over as closer if Britton is dealt, but Brach is also a trade candidate and the Orioles could turn to Mychal Givens or Tanner Scott if both are traded.

Hierarchy remains: Britton | Brach | Givens.

New York Yankees – Aroldis Chapman had a tough outing on Saturday as he faced five batters and recorded zero outs.  16 of his 19 pitches were balls, including his last 11.  Chasen Shreve came on with the bases loaded and nobody out and got a double play and groundout to record his first save of the season.  Chapman has been battling tendinitis in his knee, but it’s hard to know if that had any impact on his performance yesterday.

Hierarchy remains: Chapman | Betances | Robertson.

Kansas City Royals – Wily Peralta bounced back last night with a perfect inning for the save.  Peralta is three for three in save chances and is close to kicking the asterisk.

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

Cleveland Indians — If you checked the Indians box score this morning, you may have been surprised to see Cody Allen threw 0.1 innings in the seventh inning of an eventual 16-3 blowout win.  We aren’t reading too much into this as manager Terry Francona said Allen needed to work on some things with his mechanics.  Despite Allen’s high ERA, Friday night was only his second blown save of the season and it also ended a streak of 15 consecutive saves converted.  We expect Francona to stay true to his word to use Allen as the primary closer but it will be worth monitoring if he continues to struggle with giving up home runs.

Hierarchy remains: Allen | Hand | Ramirez.

New York Mets — After an evening of speculation on Friday, Jeurys Familia was officially traded to Oakland Saturday afternoon. Mickey Callaway said that he’ll prefer to use a committee as opposed to one main closer. Robert Gsellman should be the leader of a pack that includes Anthony Swarzak and Seth Lugo.

Updated hierarchy: *Gsellman | Swarzak | Lugo.
* = closer-by-committee

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Kevin McCarthy – Wily Peralta has pitched in two straight, including a 35 pitch outing on Friday.

Monday
1. Brad Hand – If Cody Allen pitches on Sunday, that will be three in a row.

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.

Ryan Tepera returns; Bud Norris misses game with undisclosed injury

July 16, 2018

Toronto Blue Jays – Ryan Tepera returned from the disabled list yesterday, and pitched a scoreless 7th inning with the Jays trailing by three. There’s not much to read into here, usage-wise, since it was the day before the All Star Break and Tepera was just getting some work in, but he was getting the lion’s share of save chances before he got hurt, so we’ll place him in the middle of the committee right now, and potentially move him up as usage dictates. This bullpen is highly unsettled, though, and any of the top three guys could be used for saves after the break.

Updated hierarchy: *Oh | Tepera | Clippard.
* = closer-by-committee

Baltimore Orioles – Here’s a guy to watch as the Orioles continue to shop all of their veteran relievers: Paul Fry. Yesterday, Fry got his first big league hold, firing a perfect 1.2 innings ahead of Zach Britton. A 6-foot-tall lefty, Fry always had good strikeout numbers in the minors, but struggled with his control. He seems to have figured something out, though, having started his major league career with 10 strikeouts and 0 walks in his first 9 innings (1.00 ERA, 0.78 WHIP). Look for him to contribute in the second half, especially as other Baltimore relievers start getting dealt.

Hierarchy remains: Britton | Brach | Givens.

St. Louis Cardinals – With Bud Norris getting a day off with some sort of injury concern, Jordan Hicks picked up his second save of the season. He allowed a run, but remains the clear handcuff in case Norris’s injury is more serious than it seems.

Hierarchy remains: Norris | Hicks | Tuivailala.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Steve Mandanda – Just a hunch that the Marseille keeper might be in line for more Les Bleus saves after this nonsense from Hugo Lloris.

Arodys Vizcaino returns to DL while Tyler Clippard blows save

July 15, 2018

Atlanta Braves — The Braves tried to be careful with Arodys Vizcaino by giving him at least two days off in between each of his three appearances since returning from the DL in early July.  However, it didn’t matter as the Braves placed Vizcaino back on the DL after he was unable to get loose before the game on Saturday.  The Braves hope it is only inflammation in his pitching shoulder, but this is certainly not good news for Vizcaino.  We think this will be a committee with Dan Winkler and A.J. Minter, but since Minter has already gotten two saves in July, he could have a chance of becoming the primary closer.

Updated hierarchy: *Minter | Winkler | Carle.
* = closer-by-committee

St. Louis Cardinals — Jordan Hicks has had kind of a rough week off the mound after an article came out about how closer Bud Norris has been mercilessly riding him.  Hicks has since said that he knows Norris is only trying to help him become a better player, but it’s fair to wonder if the off-field issues led to his poor performance on Saturday.  The 21-year old came on in the 7th inning to protect a one-run lead but took the loss after allowing four earned runs and only recording one out.  In other St. Louis Cardinals news, manager Mike Matheny was fired after the game.  We will see if this change impacts the bullpen usage at all moving forward.

Hierarchy remains: Norris | Hicks | Tuivailala.

Toronto Blue Jays – The Blue Jays went with Tyler Clippard yesterday to protect a one-run lead in the ninth inning, but he couldn’t get the job done.  Clippard gave up doubles to the first two batters he faced but was able to get the next three batters out to keep the game tied.  Clippard now has two blown saves in the ninth inning, which is as many as the rest of the Blue Jays’ relievers combined.  Seung Hwan Oh will likely see the next save chance and could establish himself as the primary closer until Roberto Osuna is eligible to return in three weeks.

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

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Jake McGee – Wade Davis and Adam Ottavino have both pitched in three straight.
2. Eric Goeddel – Kenley Jansen has pitched in three of four, throwing a total of 57 pitches.
3. Richard Rodriguez – Felipe Vazquez has pitched in three of four, including both games of the doubleheader yesterday.  Kyle Crick and Edgar Santana have both pitched in two straight and three of four.  Richard Rodriguez got a big out yesterday and could get the call in the Pirates’ overworked bullpen.

Monday
1. Jose Cano – Jose helped his son Robinson win the Home Run Derby, but then he held Yasiel Puig to zero homers a few years later.