Bullpen Depth Charts: Relievers To Stream — 4/12

Welcome back to our Relievers to Stream for Wins and Saves series! This will bring you up-to-date bullpen depth charts every morning for the day’s games and makes for a great tool for those of you looking to stream saves or wins. This series runs seven days a week, so be sure to check in every morning to get your daily bullpen fix!

Notes

Schedule notes:

• The Astros and Athletics were off on Sunday and have fresh bullpens going into Monday’s action. In addition, the Mets, Marlins, Angels, and Blue Jays all had their games postponed and did not use any bullpen pitchers on Sunday.
• The Dodgers and Rockies are off today.
• There aren’t too many interesting bulk reliever picks today. The pitcher who I’d say is least likely to go five innings is Huascar Ynoa. Despite his success last time out, he was pulled after just 68 pitches. It’s unclear if the Braves will be willing to throw Sean Newcomb again after he threw 32 pitches on Saturday, but he’s been extremely effective so far and would have a solid chance at a vulture win. Robbie Ray and Triston McKenzie are making their first starts of the season and could be limited, but are doing so against tough matchups, making any bulk reliever that would follow them less interesting.

• The most interesting thing from the Red Sox pen in this game was another appearance from dark horse closer candidate Hirokazu Sawamura. He delivered a scoreless inning and a third, but generated just one whiff on 18 pitches and walked another batter, bringing his total to four in four and a third innings compared to just three strikeouts.
• Mac Sceroler had turned some heads with his impressive first appearance against the Yankees, but those heads have probably turned back after he allowed five hits and three earned runs in just one inning Sunday against the Red Sox.

• The Pirates went up early in this game and never looked back. None of the relievers used by the Cubs have much fantasy value.
• Kyle Crick and David Bednar, two late-inning hopefuls in the Pirates pen, got work and looked good on Sunday. Crick barely pitched in 2020, but, when he did, his fastball velocity was way down. It’s good to see him improve even if it’s not to 2019 levels yet. Bednar’s ten fastballs averages over 98 mph, quite a bit more than usual, so he must have been feeling good. Despite the good performance, he’s been hit hard so far this year and has some work to do to become a late-inning guy for the Pirates.

• The Tigers turned to José Cisnero in the seventh and Gregory Soto in the eighth to try to keep the game within reach. Cisnero retired the first three batters he faced and was sent back out for the eighth for what would have been his second straight multi-inning outing. However, a walk, a pair of hits, and some defensive mistakes later, he had two earned runs to his name and Soto needed to come in and clean up the mess. Soto ended up striking out the side, but not before some wildness of his own; a walk and a wild pitch. Cisnero could be interesting if the Tigers continue to try to make him a multi-inning reliever. Soto is intriguing with the strikeouts, but his lack of control makes him a bit of a reliever cherry bomb. I’m still not convinced he’s the full-time ninth inning guy.
• Emmanuel Clase got his second save of the series allowing a hit and a walk, but recording a strikeout and a double play. Not quite as clean and pretty as last time, but he got the job done. We saw Nick Wittgren in the seventh and James Karinchak in the eighth. Those two might continue to have their roles shift around, but it seems like Clase is the ninth inning guy for now.

• Despite the eventual four-run victory for the Yankees, this was a close one throughout and the Yankees used their top guys. Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extras. He’s throwing harder than he has since 2017. Interestingly, newly activated Albert Abreu was called upon in the bottom of the 10th to seal the game. It was one-run away from a save situation, so it’s hard to tell if Chapman would have been back out there if it was a one-run or two-run game. All the same, Abreu put up a perfect inning, striking out two. His fastball touched 99 and his slider induced three whiffs on just seven pitches. I’m certainly intrigued. We haven’t seen much of him since he was a middling starter toiling away in AA. Could he be a dark horse holds candidate with Zack Britton out?
• Ryan Thompson was called upon in the eighth with Diego Castillo warming up for what would have been another save opportunity. Thompson couldn’t bridge the gap, but it Castillo still came in and got five outs without giving up a run. The Rays bullpen has been surprisingly consistent at the back so far. Perhaps it’s all the injuries, but Castillo seems to be the clear guy they go to at the end of games for now.

• Rafael Montero picked up his second save of the year retiring all three batters in order on nine pitches. It wasn’t the most dominant outing from Montero, but he faced two extremely hot hitters in Nelson Cruz and Byron Buxton, so getting them out at all is an accomplishment.
• Alex Colomé earned his second blown save of the year and gave up a run for the second straight day allowing a three-run homer to Kyle Seager in the top of the ninth.  Colomé definitely earned this blown save as he allowed batted balls of 99.9, 101.5, 105.4, and 105.7 mph on just 17 pitches. Despite the Twins’ deep bullpen, it’s probably still too early to press the panic button on Colomé. Speaking of deep bullpens, Hansel Robles put up another solid, scoreless frame and earned his third hold of the year. He seems to have worked his way into a late-inning role on a good team and should be a good source of holds the rest of the year.

• Kyle Zimmer got his first save of his career after Greg Holland got six outs to get the Royals to extras. We saw Josh Staumont in the seventh of a tie game, but then saw Jesse Hahn in the eighth inning when the Royals were up one. This seems to confirm the pecking order that we have on the depth chart below, but I’d expect more movement throughout the year. Holland is unlikely to put a stranglehold on the job and the Royals will eventually be looking to get younger.
• Liam Hendriks blew the save in the ninth inning, allowing a leadoff solo homer to Carlos Santana. It’s not been the most inspiring start for Hendriks, but I don’t see any reason to be worried. Michael Kopech got more work as a long reliever and delivered two-and-a-third scoreless innings with three strikeouts. That puts him at 6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, and 11 Ks on the year. Kopech will be really interesting to watch when he eventually enters the White Sox rotation.

• Another day, another scoreless inning for J.P. Feyereisen although he got hit pretty hard in this one. Brad Boxberger also got the eighth inning when it was still a four-run game. He could get some holds and even become an eighth inning guy if Devin Williams hits the IL.
• There was another Jordan Hicks sighting, but it wasn’t great despite the two punchouts. His sinker averaged 98.8 mph which, for him, is a bit low and registered just a 19% CSW on 16 pitches. He’s still very much working his way back into form and not a threat for the ninth inning role yet.

• Mark Melancon now leads the majors outright with five saves in five chances. He’s not been flashy, but he’s been effective at surpressing hard contact and seems to have the ninth inning on lock especially since it seems the Padres are avoiding using Drew Pomeranz on back-to-back days.
• Ian Kennedy was tasked with keeping the deficit at one in the top of the ninth and failed to do so, giving up three hits including a home run to Manny Machado. Deploy anyone from the Rangers bullpen at your own risk.

• The Rockies fell behind early and none of their top arms were used. Robert Stephenson’s fastball velocity is up. I don’t really think anyone should care, though.
• Submariner Tyler Rogers continued to effectively limit hard contact. While Jake McGee seems to have a firm hold on the ninth for now, Rogers will certainly get holds and could get a look in the ninth ahead if McGee falters especially with Reyes Moronta hitting the IL.

• The Diamondbacks went up early and were never threatened in this game. Neither arm used for the Reds has fantasy relevance. I guess it’s worth noting Cam Bedrosian had six swinging strikes in 31 pitches. I guess.
• Rookie Matt Peacock was the only reliever used by the Diamondbacks. Despite some early success not allowing an earned run in his first five innings, I don’t foresee much from Peacock.

• A second home run allowed in two appearances from Tanner Rainey. He threw his slider six times and got three swinging strikes. That’s good! His 12 fastballs clocked in at just 95.0 mph on average (down from 96.6 mph last year) and registered just a 17% CSW with one of them being hit out of the park. That’s bad. If he wanted to challenge Brad Hand for the closer spot, this isn’t how to do it. Speaking of Hand, we got our first look at him in a Nationals uniform. His seven fastballs averaged 92.8 mph, better even than his 2019 average. It’s a super small sample size, obviously, but an encouraging first sign.
• Kenley Jansen recorded his second save of the year, striking out two on just eight pitches. Look at what he can still do with a few days of rest! Corey Knebel and Blake Treinen were used as the bridge to get to Jansen, but there will continue to be save opportunities falling through to them since the Dodgers will likely want to limit Jansen’s workload.

• The Phillies revamped bullpen was on full display last night allowing just one hit and one walk in four innings of work. Connor Brogdon, Sam Coonrod, José Alvarado, and Hector Neris worked the sixth through the ninth innings in that order with only Coonrod allowing a solo homer to Ronald Acuña and with how hot he’s been, how can you be upset with that. This feels like a game the 2020 Phillies would not have won.
• Will Smith picked up his second loss of the year after allowing a leadoff double to Alec Bohm who came around to score in controversial fashion. Smith has now allowed runs in three of his five appearances so far this year including both times he was asked to pitch in back-to-back games. Smith is still the top reliever in Atlanta, but look for him to be given a day or two off after this one.