Team |
Set Up |
Shut Down |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Brad Ziegler | Addison Reed |
| Atlanta Braves | Jim Johnson | Jason Grilli |
| Baltimore Orioles | Darren O’Day | Zach Britton |
| Boston Red Sox | Junichi Tazawa | Koji Uehara |
| Chicago Cubs | Pedro Strop | Hector Rondon |
| Cincinnati Reds | Tony Cingrani | Aroldis Chapman |
| Cleveland Indians | Bryan Shaw | Cody Allen |
| Colorado Rockies | Rafael Betancourt | John Axford (!) |
| Chicago White Sox | Jake Petricka | David Robertson |
| Detroit Tigers | Al Alburquerque | Joakim Soria |
| Houston Astros | Chad Qualls | Luke Gregerson |
| Kansas City Royals | Kelvin Herrera | Wade Davis (!) |
| Los Angeles Angels | Joe Smith | Houston Street |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Chris Hatcher | Yimi Garcia (!) |
| Miami Marlins | A.J. Ramos | Steve Chisek |
| Milwaukee Brewers | Jonathan Broxton | Francisco Rodriguez |
| Minnesota Twins | Caleb Thielbar | Glen Perkins |
| New York Mets | Carlos Torres | Jeurys Familia |
| New York Yankees | Dellin Betances | Andrew Miller |
| Oakland Athletics | Evan Scribner | Tyler Clippard (!) |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Ken Giles | Jonathan Papelbon |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Tony Watson | Mark Melancon |
| San Diego Padres | Joaquin Benoit | Craig Kimbrel |
| Seattle Mariners | Danny Farquhar | Fernando Rodney |
| San Francisco Giants | Sergio Romo | Santiago Casilla |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Jordan Walden | Trevor Rosenthal |
| Tampa Bay Rays | Ernesto Frieri | Brad Boxberger |
| Texas Rangers | Shawn Tolleson | Neftali Feliz |
| Toronto Blue Jays | Roberto Osuna | Brett Cecil (!) |
| Washington Nationals | Aaron Barrett | Drew Storen |
(!) Indicates a player with a high chance of losing the closer job.
Some quick notes for the Set Up & Shut Down report May 1st:
I’ts no secret Mark Melancon has lost a few ticks on his fastball but he is still getting the job done (converting 5 of 6 saves) and I don’t want to place a warning by his name until he shows me a reason to.
John Axford is filling in for the injured Adam Ottavino and notched a save on Monday against the Diamondbacks. The position is not guaranteed to Ottavino by no means so if Axford continues to throw up zeroes, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him hold down the closer role once Ottavino returns
Brett Cecil is once again the closer for the Blue Jays and he collected a save against the Red Sox on Tuesday. Cecil is on thin ice but the options in the bullpen are limited at the moment and Aaron Sanchez will not be placed back into the bullpen until a replacement can be found for his spot in the rotation.
The Dodgers are opting for a closer by committee role until Jansen returns from the DL.
Houston Street picked up his 9th save against the Athletic on Thursday night. It was a shaky outing giving up an earned run on 3 hits and 1 walk on 26 pitches. Street just couldn’t keep the ball down and he paid for it but it didn’t result in a loss. The 9th save ties him with Joakim Soria for the A.L. league lead in saves.
Main Photo
