Yankees take 3-game losing streak into matchup against the Braves
New York Yankees (53-44, second in the AL East) vs. Atlanta Braves (43-53, fourth in the NL East)
Atlanta; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Yankees: Will Warren (6-5, 4.63 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 112 strikeouts); Braves: Joey Wentz (2-1, 6.32 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, 34 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Yankees -128, Braves +107; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The New York Yankees aim to end a three-game slide with a win over the Atlanta Braves.
Atlanta has a 25-22 record in home games and a 43-53 record overall. The Braves have a 36-18 record in games when they record eight or more hits.
New York is 23-25 on the road and 53-44 overall. The Yankees have a 34-12 record in games when they scored at least five runs.
Saturday's game is the second time these teams meet this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Matt Olson has 24 doubles and 17 home runs for the Braves. Austin Riley is 13 for 41 with five doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.
Aaron Judge leads the Yankees with a .354 batting average, and has 24 doubles, two triples, 35 home runs, 69 walks and 81 RBIs. Cody Bellinger is 15 for 39 with four home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Braves: 4-6, .242 batting average, 4.79 ERA, outscored by three runs
Yankees: 5-5, .267 batting average, 5.11 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs
INJURIES: Braves: Austin Riley: 10-Day IL (abdomen), Spencer Schwellenbach: 60-Day IL (elbow), Chris Sale: 60-Day IL (rib), AJ Smith-Shawver: 60-Day IL (calf/elbow), Reynaldo Lopez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Joe Jimenez: 60-Day IL (knee)
Yankees: Max Fried: day-to-day (finger), Mark Leiter Jr.: 15-Day IL (fubular), Clarke Schmidt: 15-Day IL (forearm), Fernando Cruz: 15-Day IL (oblique), Ryan Yarbrough: 15-Day IL (oblique), Oswaldo Cabrera: 60-Day IL (ankle), Yerry De Los Santos: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jake Cousins: 60-Day IL (elbow), Gerrit Cole: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Gil: 60-Day IL (back)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Post trade deadline, what team has the best bullpen in baseball?
Deciding how good a player really is one of those enterprises that happens equally often in barrooms and front offices, with just the same amount of agreement by all involved. But when it comes to bullpens, it's even more difficult to pin down a player's true talent. Relievers give us the smallest bits of production by which we could judge them, and yet those looks come in moments that are incredibly important to the outcome of the game. Advertisement For example, ask Yankees fans right now, and you might not get the sense that their team's bullpen is any good. And yeah, going into Tuesday's games, Yankee relievers had an ERA over five and were the second-worst unit in baseball over the last seven days. Woof. That can't really be the right way to figure this out, though. 'What have you done for me lately?' is a fine question for a fan to ask, particularly when they are reacting to a poor run of play, but the Angels 'pen is not twice as good as the Yankees 'pen simply because they have been that good over the last seven days. Looking backwards has its limits, but let's at least acknowledge that some of these bullpens have changed a ton since the trade deadline, and that seven days is not enough data to determine which bullpens are the best. Here are three bullpens that are candidates for the best in baseball, with their five best relievers listed, and their full-season numbers. These 'pens stocked up at the deadline and they are loaded when you look at them this way. First, let's start with the Yankees. Four guys who were primary closers for their teams in the past calendar year, two of whom sit in the high-90s with their fastballs, and pretty much all of them have nasty stuff. Of course, their collective ERA would look a lot better if it wasn't dragged down by a 5 in the Devin Williams' column, so it's always worth wondering what's happened to the Yankees' big offseason acquisition. It's possible the answer is not much — his stuff, command and fastball velocities are all in-line with his norms, and those are generally predictive. But with a season this bad it's probably worth pointing out that he's throwing the changeup as slowly as he's ever thrown it, and with more drop than ever, and it's being hit harder than ever. Maybe throwing that thing harder is the answer. Advertisement You can look to David Bednar to see how a small problem can rob a full season from a reliever and yet not change their career trajectory too much. Bednar didn't have a great Yankees debut, but he's a big stuff pitcher who made a couple small adjustments to get his curveball command back. He can be a great closer for them, but he's given up more homers away from Pittsburgh so far in his career and if that becomes an issue, Camilo Doval has the kind of stuff that will stay in the ballpark (though he might give up more hits). Tim Hill's peripherals don't scream sustainability, but he's so funky that he's kind of the Tyler Rogers of this crew. And Luke Weaver's stuff is down, but with a changeup like he has, he can get lefties out almost easier than righties. This is a good bullpen, even if it does have some warts. Now, let's move cross-town to the Mets. They had one of the best closers in the game and then they added one of the other best closers in the game in Ryan Helsley, and then they added the funkiest submariner in baseball in Tyler Rogers. According to the Stuff+ leaderboard, which looks at the physical characteristics of a pitch, they added two of the three best relievers in baseball at the deadline. Is there a weakness? Maybe. This group has a 95 Location+, meaning they have worse-than-average command, even among the reliever population. Edwin Díaz can get a wild hair up his nose, Helsley has the odd struggle with the strike zone, and Gregory Soto has improved over the years, but still has a mediocre walk rate. But if a team takes too many pitches against the Mets, they might just bring in Rogers, who has the best walk rate among qualified relievers in baseball this year. This a great 'pen with lots of different looks, which seems important come playoff time. The Padres made arguably the biggest deadline splash in trading for Mason Miller. Let's now dive into their 'pen. They took the No. 1 reliever in terms of 100+ mph fastballs and added him to a 'pen with the 10th-place guy, so you know this 'pen will do well by stuff metrics. They have the highest strikeout rate of these three bullpens, and the second-lowest walk rate, and strikeout-minus-walk rate is one of the best predictors of future pitching success. Advertisement Is there anything wrong with Miller? While Williams with the Yankees has a seen a large downturn in strikeout rate, Miller is still striking out nearly 40 percent of the batters he sees, with more velocity this year than last though, and a better shape on his fastball. His inflated ERA compared to last year might carry a relatively simple explanation: ERA is not predictive, and he's doing everything else well, and if there's anything he can do to be better, it's to cut down on waste fastballs. He's nearly doubled his rate from last year, and those pitches are easy to take. Well, relatively easy to take. He still sits 101 mph. Add him to what might have been the best bullpen in baseball before the deadline, and you've got your presumptive answer on the titular question. But hold on. We're still looking backwards, to some degree — we are trying to look backwards at predictive numbers, but we are still looking backwards. The best way to sum up the true talent of a player is actually to look at their projections and look forward. After all, if we're asking how good a player is right now we are really asking how good he'll be the next time out. And projections weigh all the different stats we are looking at and try to make the best sense of them in terms of weighing the most predictive elements of their stat lines, so that's another reason to use them. Using the OOPSY projections on FanGraphs that incorporate all the stats we've seen above, and only for the top five relievers, so that we compare only the 'A' bullpens, here are the best bullpens in baseball going forward, sorted by ERA. Gotta love a good surprise result. The Mariners have elite relievers in Andrés Muñoz and Matt Brash, some underrated ones in Gabe Speier and Caleb Ferguson, but that's only part of why the end up ranked first by projected ERA. Of course some part of it is the park, as they play in the No. 1 pitchers' park in baseball, according to Statcast park factors. Wins Above Replacement has its flaws, particularly for pitchers, but it does account for this sort of thing. So once you consider park factors and look at the projected WAR category, you're probably circling the Mets or Padres for the best bullpen in baseball despite this ranking by projected ERA. And fans in Philadelphia (1.3 projected WAR) and Houston (1.2) can enter the chat if they'd like. But all this is in the end is a fun way to waste time until the next game. Then we'll find out which bullpen really shuts them down, and which one melts down and loses the game. And then we can start arguing all over again. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Here in 2025, and after four World Series titles, it's time to name our All-Quarter-Century Red Sox team
Related : As further circumstantial evidence that time seems to be accelerating, the century already is a quarter complete — more than that if you count 2000 rather than 2001 as its start, which we do here, since that's when we celebrated the century's turn while exhaling about Y2K. Advertisement With that it mind, it seemed a fitting time to put together our All-Quarter-Century Red Sox team. A few rules : We used Wins Above Replacement as a major factor, but not always the deciding factor, since sentiment and nostalgia must be at play here. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Also, our roster is 25 players, with everyone in their appropriate role. You'll see what that means. Many of the choices were easy. A couple are worthy of serious debate. One I left up to you. And every player selected won a World Series with the Red Sox. Sure couldn't have said that last century. The squad: Catcher: Jason Varitek Who else? The stoic captain of the 2004 and 2007 champs is the only player ever to catch four no-hitters, and few Red Sox have ever had a higher approval rating. From 2000 until his retirement after the 2011 season, he provided 22.3 Wins Above Replacement, more than three times the Red Sox' second-most productive catcher of this century, Christian Vazquez (6.9 WAR). Also, Varitek is the all-time leader in the wildly undervalued sabermetric stat MARETM — Making A-Rod Eat The Mitt. Advertisement Catcher Jason Varitek had a lot of memorable moments with the Red Sox, but none more memorable than when he got into Yankees star Alex Rodriguez's face. Barry Chin/The Boston Globe First base: Kevin Youkilis A.k.a. the Greek God of Walks, or, more colloquially, YOOOOOOOOOOUK! He spent plenty of time at both infield corners for the Red Sox during his 2004-12 run, playing 464 games at third base and 613 at first. His greatest successes came while playing the less hot of those corners. He won a Gold Glove at first base in 2007, finished third in the American League MVP voting in '08 and sixth in '09, and averaged 5.7 WAR per season from 2007-10. Second base: Dustin Pedroia Dare you to tell him someone else is the pick. Actually, based on sentiment, there is no other choice, and based on analytics, he's the easiest call in this exercise. The 2007 AL Rookie of the Year (and World Series scourge of Jeff Francis) and '08 MVP (when he had 54 doubles, 213 hits, and 118 runs), four-time All-Star, and annual Heart Of It All accounted for 51.8 WAR during his 14 full or partial seasons with the Red Sox. Among players who played at least 40 percent of their games at second base, Mark Bellhorn is a very distant second at 4.1 WAR. Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia was the 2007 AL Rookie of the Year and '08 MVP, and a four-time All-Star. Davis, Jim Globe Staff Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts This might seem a tough call for someone who has spent many words here over the years arguing with great effectiveness that Nomar Was Better Than Jeter*. (*from 1997-2003. Then the world turned cruel). But it's not, you see, because this is a vote for stability over mercurial excellence. Nomar Garciaparra did have spectacular seasons after the turn of the century. He hit .372 to win his second straight batting title in 2000, with 7.4 WAR, and after a wrist injury wiped out his 2001 season, he came back perhaps stronger than we recall in 2002 (6.8 WAR) and '03 (6.1). I trust you know what happened in 2004. Bogaerts, who tallied 34.6 WAR to Garciaparra's 20.8 with the Sox this century, was a picture of poise and professionalism in Boston while contributing to the 2013 World Series victory as a 20-year-old kid and the '18 championship as one of the core stars of the most dominant Red Sox team ever. Advertisement Third base: Gonna leave this one up to you, friendly reader. Welp, the analytics claim the choice is easy: Rafael Devers, whose 24.8 WAR more than doubles runner-up Mike Lowell (10.6). But no one within 100 miles or so of the 617 area code wants to go with Devers after his shenanigans this season, and hey, by the way, here's a fun fact: The Red Sox and Giants with Devers this season: 53 wins, 62 losses. The Red Sox and Giants without Devers this season: 68 wins, 46 losses. Makes you think, right? So if you remain Devers-averse, and I presume you do, take your pick at third base among the steady Lowell (Alex Bregman reminds me of him a lot), Mariano-slayer Bill Mueller, one awesome year of Adrian Beltre, or anyone but Pablo Sandoval, really. Advertisement Chad Finn's all-quarter-century Red Sox lineup, with room for readers to decide on their own third baseman. John Hancock/Globe Staff Left field: Manny Ramirez Seventeen years — yep, it's been that long — after he was traded to the Dodgers, I still miss watching him hit, and I will even beyond the day his 2007 playoff home run off Angels closer Francisco 'K-Rod' Rodriguez finally lands. Center field: Johnny Damon Yeah, yeah, he left to sign with the Yankees after the 2005 season, and helped them win their most recent World Series in '09. (Wow, it's been awhile.) Call him a traitor if you must, but nothing he could have done — or ultimately did — in the Bronx could come close in relevance to his two-homer, seven-RBI all-timer of a clutch performance in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. His time in New York was temporary. His time here is forever. Johnny Damon had two home runs and seven RBIs in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees. Jim Davis/Globe Staff Right field: Mookie Betts Betts's 42.5 WAR is third among Red Sox hitters this century, trailing only David Ortiz (52.5) and Pedroia (51.8). But they were each here for 14 seasons. Betts was here for just six, averaging more than 7 WAR per season, including a staggering 10.7 in his 2018 MVP season, when he hit .346 with 32 homers. Somehow, he's in his sixth season with the Dodgers, and anyone who wants to come out of the woodwork to say his tough 2025 season validates the Sox' foolish decision to trade him can go chew gravel. Designated hitter: David Ortiz 'He is the greatest clutch hitter you, your dad, your granddad, and in all likelihood, your unborn children will ever see. He's Big Papi, larger than life, bigger than the biggest moments.' I wrote that in June 2005, and 20 years, countless highlights, and one Hall of Fame induction later, all I'd change is including your wife, mom, and grandmother, as well. Advertisement Starting pitcher: Pedro Martinez As we said in the '80s: No duh. His 2000 season stands as one of the greatest in baseball history: 18 wins, 6 losses, a 1.74 ERA (in the juiced-hitter era, when the league average was 4.91), 284 strikeouts in 217 innings, and 11.7 WAR, the most by a starting pitcher this century. Following the greatest pitcher I've ever seen in the rotation: Jon Lester (29.9 WAR), Josh Beckett (22.3), Curt Schilling (17.7), and Chris Sale (17.0). Closer: Keith Foulke Jonathan Papelbon actually has the most WAR among Sox closers since 2000, and he closed out the 2007 World Series with style. But Foulke got many of the most tense and toughest outs in Red Sox history during the 2004 postseason. He's the choice. And I'm keeping Koji Uehara on this roster to get it to 25 players, and because he induced the least stress of any closer the Red Sox have ever had. Keith Foulke closed out the Curse-breaking 2004 World Series for the Red Sox. Jim Davis/Globe Staff Others to fill out our 25-man roster: Lefthanded setup man: Hideki Okajima. Righthanded setup man: Mike Timlin. Utilityman: Brock Holt. Player you want fielding the last out of a playoff series: Pokey Reese. Backup outfielder: Gabe Kapler. Pinch runner: Dave Roberts. Stole a base of some magnitude once, I've been told. Designated inspirational speechmaker: Kevin Millar, for the Don't Let Us Win Tonight schtick that proved prescient, and then legendary. Designated series-clinching pitcher and team goof: Derek Lowe. Pitcher who always has his spikes on just in case: Tim Wakefield. Because there's no point in having this team without Wake. Advertisement Chad Finn can be reached at
NBC Sports
6 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Fantasy Baseball Closer Report: Yankees continue search for late-inning consistency
In this week's Closer Report, we examine more of the fallout from the trade deadline, including changes in the Yankees' bullpen, Kyle Finnegan stepping up in Detroit, and Phil Maton seizing an opportunity in Texas. That and more as we review the last week in saves. Josh Hader - Houston Astros Andrés Muñoz - Seattle Mariners Edwin Díaz - New York Mets No save chances for Hader this week. He made a pair of scoreless appearances in non-save situations, giving him a 2.13 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, and a 76/15 K/BB ratio across 50 2/3 innings while converting 28 saves. Meanwhile, Muñoz is up to 26 saves after converting two this week. He gave up a run before closing out the game against the White Sox on Wednesday. The 26-year-old right-hander holds a 1.43 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and a 56/21 K/BB ratio across 44 innings. It wasn't the best week for Mets relievers, as Díaz, Ryan Helsley, and Tyler Rogers all took a loss. Díaz had given up an unearned run in the tenth inning against the Giants on Friday before bouncing back with a scoreless inning against the Guardians on Monday. The 31-year-old right-hander has posted a 1.41 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and a 67/17 K/BB ratio across 44 2/3 innings. Aroldis Chapman - Boston Red Sox Jhoan Duran - Philadelphia Phillies Trevor Megill - Milwaukee Brewers Robert Suarez - San Diego Padres Chapman continues his stellar season with two more saves this week, giving him 21 to go with a 1.21 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, and a 65/13 K/BB ratio across 44 2/3 innings. In Philadelphia, Duran made two perfect appearances to convert a pair of saves for his new team to give him 18 on the year. With Duran giving the Phillies a lockdown closer, Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm shift to setup roles. Megill made two appearances this week, picking up a pair of saves against the Braves. Shelby Miller, acquired from the Diamondbacks at the trade deadline, struck out the side in his first rehab outing and should slot into a setup role next to Abner Uribe once he's activated from the injured list. Suarez continues to work as the Padres' closer following their acquisition of Mason Miller from the Athletics at the trade deadline. Suarez made three scoreless appearances, picking up two saves and a win this week. Meanwhile, Miller has slotted into a setup role behind Suarez. He was charged with a blown save on Tuesday, giving up a game-tying homer in the eighth inning against the Diamondbacks. Still, he remains the clear next in line. Suarez got the day off Wednesday after pitching in three of the last five days. Miller stepped in against Arizona, bouncing back with three strikeouts for the save. Daniel Palencia - Chicago Cubs Emilio Pagán - Cincinnati Reds Randy Rodríguez - San Francisco Giants Kenley Jansen - Los Angeles Angels Pete Fairbanks - Tampa Bay Rays Cade Smith - Cleveland Guardians Jeff Hoffman - Toronto Blue Jays David Bednar/Camilo Doval/Devin Williams - New York Yankees Kyle Finnegan - Detroit Tigers Carlos Estévez - Kansas City Royals Jojo Romero - St. Louis Cardinals Dennis Santana - Pittsburgh Pirates Palencia converted a save with a scoreless inning against the Orioles on Friday. He then gave up a run to blow a save chance against Baltimore on Sunday before falling in line for a win, breaking a 12-outing scoreless streak. The 25-year-old right-hander is up to 15 saves with a 1.73 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and a 44/11 K/BB ratio across 41 1/3 innings. Elsewhere in the NL Central, Pagán gave up two runs before holding on for a save Friday against the Braves, then struck out two batters in a clean inning against the Cubs on Monday for his 24th save of the season to go with a 2.98 ERA over 48 1/3 frames. After picking up his first save as the Giants' primary closer on Friday against the Mets, Rodríguez blew a save and took the loss against the Pirates on Monday. He bounced back with a clean inning on Wednesday for his third save. The 25-year-old right-hander should be a steady saves option with upside through the rest of the season with a 1.51 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and a 64/11 K/BB ratio across 47 2/3 innings. Jansen picked up a win with a scoreless inning against the White Sox on Sunday before tossing a scoreless inning in a non-save situation against the Rays. Meanwhile, Fairbanks struck out six batters over three perfect innings of work this week, picking up his 19th save against the Angels on Wednesday. Griffin Jax allowed one run on a walk and a hit in his first outing with the Rays before recording holds with scoreless appearances on Tuesday and Wednesday. Smith had an excellent week at the top of the Cleveland bullpen, picking up two wins and a save with three scoreless appearances. The 26-year-old right-hander has converted four saves on the season with a 2.86 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and a 70/18 K/BB ratio across 50 1/3 innings. With Smith unavailable on Wednesday, Hunter Gaddis stepped in for a save against the Mets. Hoffman struck out two batters in a clean inning against the Royals on Saturday for a save before pitching a scoreless inning in a non-save situation on Sunday. The 32-year-old right-hander has posted a 4.56 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and a 64/11 K/BB ratio across 47 1/3 innings. However, his underlying skills suggest he's pitched much better than his surface stats indicate, with a 3.56 xERA. It's been another rough stretch for Williams in New York. He's given up runs in each of his last four outings that include two blown saves. Manager Aaron Boone has indicated that he'll likely cycle through relievers in the ninth inning, opting for a committee approach for now. Had Williams been able to get one more out in the eighth inning on Tuesday, Boone stated he'd have likely gone to Bednar to attempt a four-out save. Instead, Bednar was used for a five-out save Wednesday against the Rangers. He worked around two walks and a hit, striking out five for his 18th save. The 30-year-old right-hander has had the most success of anyone the Yankees can deploy for saves, posting a 2.55 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and a 59/12 K/BB ratio across 42 1/3 innings. Finnegan has locked down two saves for the Tigers since he was acquired from the Nationals at the trade deadline. It appears Detroit is going with the 33-year-old veteran right-hander for most save opportunities, shifting Will Vest to a high-leverage setup role. Vest does have the better skills and could still get occasional save chances, but it makes sense to give Finnegan clean innings to work with. Estévez gave up two runs in a non-save situation against the Blue Jays on Sunday, then tossed a clean inning against the Red Sox on Wednesday. The 32-year-old right-hander has converted 28 saves with a 2.59 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and a 40/17 K/BB ratio across 48 2/3 innings. While he's gotten the job done, it's come with scary underlying numbers, including a 3.77 FIP and 4.99 xFIP. Romero locked down his first two saves of the season, taking a hold of the closer role in St. Louis following the trade of Ryan Helsley to the Mets. The 28-year-old left-hander may not get every save opportunity, as he pitched the eighth and earned a win on Wednesday. Still, he should lead the team in save chances over the final stretch. Romero has been solid all season, posting a 2.09 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and a 37/17 K/BB ratio across 38 2/3 innings. Santana's first week without Bednar in town did not go great. He surrendered five runs to blow the lead and take the loss in the ninth inning against the Rockies on Friday, then blew a save and took the loss with two runs allowed against the Giants on Wednesday. The 29-year-old right-hander should still have some leash on the closer role given his overall success this season, but keep an eye on setup man Isaac Mattson down the stretch. Raisel Iglesias - Atlanta Braves Phil Maton/Robert Garcia - Texas Rangers Blake Treinen/Alex Vesia/Ben Casparius - Los Angeles Dodgers Ronny Henriquez/Calvin Faucher - Miami Marlins Iglesias made two scoreless appearances against the Reds, picking up two saves to bring his total to 14 to go with a 4.53 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and a 50/10 K/BB ratio across 45 2/3 innings. We may be seeing a change in Texas. Garcia was charged with two blown saves this week, then surrendered the lead to the Yankees in the seventh inning on Wednesday. Maton, acquired from the Cardinals at the trade deadline, stepped in for a save on Tuesday against New York and may be the best man for the job through the rest of the season. The 32-year-old right-hander is having an outstanding year, posting a 2.18 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and a 51/16 K/BB ratio across 41 1/3 innings. Tanner Scott threw a bullpen session on Tuesday as he's progressing through his rehab process from an elbow injury. His next step may soon be a minor league rehab assignment. Meanwhile, the Dodgers continue to utilize a committee approach in the ninth inning, with Ben Casparius picking up a save this week. It's been a committee pretty much all season in Miami. Faucher picked up his team-leading 11th save on Saturday against the Yankees. Henriquez has had the best season in the Marlins bullpen, converting six saves with a 2.85 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and a 74/22 K/BB ratio across 53 2/3 innings. Justin Topa/Cole Sands - Minnesota Twins Kendall Graveman/Kyle Backhus - Arizona Diamondbacks Corbin Martin/Keegan Akin - Baltimore Orioles Sean Newcomb - Athletics Jose Ferrer - Washington Nationals Grant Taylor - Chicago White Sox Victor Vodnik - Colorado Rockies Sands was a popular add last week as the speculative closer in Minnesota following the trade deadline. However, it was always unlikely the Twins would hand the job to one reliever through the rest of the season. It was Topa who got the team's first save chance on Tuesday against the Tigers. And in Arizona, yet another closer goes down as Kevin Ginkel hit the 15-day injured list with a sprained right shoulder. Like with most situations in this tier, saves just aren't worth chasing here.
