After a difficult latter half of May, Felipe Vazquez seemed to get himself in the clear with some effective performances to begin this month. Vazquez’ first three games in June resulted in 3.1 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. That brief string of encouraging outings was snapped on Wednesday, as he nearly frittered away the three-run lead the Pirates gave him to start off the ninth inning against the Diamondbacks. Jon Jay’s two-out, bases-loaded single cut the lead to one run, and the tying run — represented by Deven Marrero — was just 90 feet from home. After an intentional walk to Paul Goldschmidt, Vazquez escaped the inning by striking out Jake Lamb.
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Gabe Kapler has cast a wide net for the Phillies’ closer committee, using four different relievers to start off a final inning in a save situation since removing Hector Neris as the full-time closer. Neris, who has been a part of that mix, flubbed the one high-leverage situation he has had over the last three weeks. Luis Garcia has been entrusted with several high-stakes situations lately, but it may be hard for Kapler to trust him as a setup reliever, much less as a closer, going forward. Garcia has allowed six runs over his last three innings, and in each of the Phillies’ last two games, he has bequeathed a save opportunity onto a teammate after making a mess in the ninth inning.

On Sunday, Garcia gave way to Tommy Hunter after allowing a single and a double against the Brewers, but he got into more serious trouble in Tuesday’s series opener against the Rockies. Garcia started off the ninth inning with a comfortable 5-1 lead, but he allowed four consecutive singles before handing a bases-loaded, no-out save situation over to Seranthony Dominguez. The Rockies continued to go station-to-station against Dominguez, as Chris Iannetta singled in Gerardo Parra to cut the lead to 5-3. DJ LeMahieu’s sacrifice fly shaved off another run, but Dominguez retired Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado for his third save.
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• As Al mentioned yesterday, Zach Britton was activated from the DL yesterday. While he won’t see save chances right away, at his best he’s the best reliever in the bunch and if he’s healthy in the ninth it only helps his trade value. The Orioles are a cool 25 games back in the division and as Al also mentioned, the other relievers will certainly be on the block as well. It’s hard to construct a closer grid with so much turmoil between a returning ace closer, relievers closer to saves but likely on the move (Brad Brach, Darren O’Day) and relievers possibly further from saves today but closer in the 2nd half in Mychal Givens and Richard Bleier. It’s worth mentioning that the Orioles only have 13 saves all season and while saves are saves, there likely won’t be many going around in Baltimore after the dust settles whether it’s Mychal Givens, Richard Bleier, or someone like Brad Brach who isn’t moved.

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Happy Zach Britton Day! The Orioles are planning to activate their once-and-future closer on Monday, though not surprisingly, he will likely be eased into the closer’s role. It’s also not a shock that, according to a report from the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles may deal Britton, along with Brad Brach and Darren O’Day, prior to the trade deadline. If all three are dealt, perhaps current setup relievers Mychal Givens and Richard Bleier could get save chances later in the season. The Sun report also cites Tanner Scott as having received more work in high-leverage situations prior to his getting optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday, so he could be a late-season candidate for saves or holds as well.
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After notching his 12th save of the year yesterday, Cody Allen had an outing to forget against the Tigers on Saturday. Entering a tie game in the bottom of the 12th inning, Allen was able to generate two quick outs on five pitches – striking out Leonys Martin and getting Nick Castellanos to ground out. The next hitter was Miguel Cabrera, who quickly was down 0-2 on a couple of curveballs before lacing a two-out single off the first fastball he saw. Jeimer Candelario would end the game on a 2-0 fastball up in the zone that he deposited to right field for a two-run walk-off jack.

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With Jeurys Familia landing on the disabled list due to shoulder soreness, the Mets will need a new closer going forward. Of course, this takes into account the team has lost 12 of its last 14 contests and the bullpen owns a 7.22 ERA with nine losses within this rough stretch. Fantasy owners should look to Robert Gsellman who recorded the last save for New York last Sunday. Gsellman’s worked in high leverage this year with five holds and two saves under his belt along with winning five games. Over his last 17.2 innings, Gsellman’s held opponents to four runs for a tidy 2.04 ERA and his ability to get left handed hitters out could translate to success in the role. Add in starting pitcher eligibility in some formats as a sweetener along with reports the Mets will not rush Familia back until he’s ready and hope Gsellman can continue to be fantasy relevant as the anchorman in the Mets bullpen going forward. For those in deeper leagues, taking a flier on Anthony Swarzak also makes sense as he rounds into form back from stint on the disabled list.

Owning Shane Greene can be frustrating. He’s held on to the closer role in Detroit, although tenuously at times, for 15 saves this season. On the other hand, he’s also lost three games and blown three saves due to his propensity to give up home runs (six in 30.1 innings). Last night, Greene allowed two hits, three earned runs and a walk after entering a tied game. He has converted his last five save chances in a row but seems to be working on borrowed time as the Tigers could trade him to a contender as the deadline approaches. With this in mind, Greene should continue his role in the ninth inning but Joe Jimenez is steadily closing the gap. Jimenez notched his first save last Sunday, has the superior strikeout to walk ratio, better ratios in ERA and WHIP through an increase in his swinging strike percentage while reducing hard contact this year. Those looking to stash for saves should roster Jimenez sooner rather than later in an effort to save in FAAB bids. Read the rest of this entry »

In the Astros’ series finale against the Mariners on Wednesday, we saw Hector Rondon get the save, even though incumbent closer Ken Giles had not pitched in three days. The Astros did not have a save situation in Thursday night’s opener against the Rangers, but with a four-run lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, they had the next-closest thing. Rondon was likely available after having thrown 20 pitches the night before, but A.J. Hinch went with Giles in the final frame. As has been his wont, Giles had some difficulties in a non-save situation, allowing a run on a pair of doubles, but it was more than good enough for the Astros to walk away with a 5-2 win.
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In Wednesday’s Bullpen Report, I chronicled the apparent changing of the guard that occurred for the White Sox’s closer situation over the course of their Tuesday doubleheader with the Twins. On Wednesday, that transition was made complete.

The White Sox held a 5-2 lead heading into the eighth inning against the Twins, and Nate Jones — who had clearly been the team’s closer just a day-and-a-half earlier — was brought in. He dispensed with his three batters quickly, but despite needing only 13 pitches, it was Joakim Soria who came out for the ninth inning. Soria, who recorded the save in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader, yielded only a Brian Dozier single en route to his sixth save of the season.
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The White Sox’s doubleheader against the Twins on Tuesday served as a closer drama with two acts. In the first game, the Sox crusied into the bottom of the eighth inning with a 2-0 lead, and they were on the verge of something they hadn’t had since May 22 — a ninth-inning save situation. Nate Jones, who recorded the team’s last save in that game from 15 days ago, was brought in for the eighth inning to face the Twins’ 8-9-1 portion of the batting order. He retired Ehire Adrianza and Mitch Garver at the bottom of the order, but leadoff hitter Brian Dozier reached on a single. After walking Eddie Rosario, Jones allowed Miguel Sano to cut the lead to one run with an RBI single. Then Eduardo Escobar snatched the lead away with a three-run homer.
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• Justin Anderson received the last save opportunity for the Angels on Sunday, walking three batters but nonetheless securing the save. Blake Parker had pitched in the previous days so the speculation was he was still in the lead for saves and that remained true with Parker getting the call last night, pitching a scoreless ninth for his 4th save on the year. Parker walked and struck out a batter and now has a 2.86 ERA, 3.36 FIP, and 3.43 SIERA, which is good stuff considering how his season started.  Parker’s SwStr% of 11.5% is behind his impressive 13.8% last year and his 28.9% GB% is far below last year’s mark of 47% which should cause some apprehension for anyone thinking he will run away with this, especially with Mike Scioscia at the helm.  The Angels are currently 4 games back in the Wild Card, and if they are in the race in late July it’s possible an outsider will be brought in but among his peers in the pen in LA, Parker looks to be in the lead.

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