Relievers to Stream for Wins and Saves – 9/24

The final week is upon us. Be sure to get your saves—you never know which category is going to be the one you win (or lose) by one to decide a matchup. Save situations are a bit of a mess at this point, but they really have been all year. Find out who could get you a save or a win out of the pen for today and check back tomorrow to begin padding those stats in a new week.

Notes

• Thursday is the final chance for many teams to sneak in an off day, and as such, eight teams are out of action.
• Félix Peña got the save for the Angels on Wednesday, in lieu of new closer Mike Mayers.  Mayers had back-to-back 20-pitch appearances coming into Wednesday, but appeared anyway in the bottom of the 8th to face the 9-1-2-3 hitters and allowed a walk before getting out of the inning.  He then stayed in to allow a leadoff single in the 9th to Eric Hosmer before being lifted for Peña.  It seems Mayers is the guy the Angels want facing the cream of the opposing lineup so he still looks to be at the top of the depth chart, but his usage here isn’t great news when it comes to the save tally.

• Cleveland closer Brad Hand landed a W after James Karinchak blew the lead in the 8th.  Hand needed just 13 pitches for the 9th and had Tuesday off, but he has thrown on three of four days, so something to keep an eye on.
• In Pittsburgh, Richard Rodríguez has worked consecutive days and needed 24 pitches yesterday, so he may get Friday off.  Nik Turley is the freshest late-inning arm, having thrown just 10 pitches Wednesday and having had Tuesday off.

• Sergio Romo picked up an emergency save for the Twins after Caleb Thielbar began to lose hold of a 7-3 lead on the Tigers. Romo was presumably called upon to match handedness with Miguel Cabrera, but he served up a three-run homer to him anyway before getting the final out in the Twins’ victory. Romo and Taylor Rogers both have two saves this month now, so neither seems to have an exclusive job at the moment.
• The closer situation in San Francisco is also still muddled as Tyler Rogers and Tony Watson picked up holds in the 7th and 8th respectively before giving way to Sam Selman after the lead was extended to five runs.  Watson and Rogers have both thrown two games in a row, so Sam Conrood is the freshest arm and looks to be the favorite for the next save.