Bullpen Depth Charts: Relievers To Stream — 4/14

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:

• All 30 teams were in action yesterday with doubleheaders between the Orioles and Mariners and the Phillies and the Mets. Both those games featured relievers stealing wins and setup guys seeing save opportunities.
• There are 15 games on the slate today, with the Twins and the Red Sox playing a doubleheader. The Athletics and the Diamondbacks sit out on a scheduled day off.

• There is a strong slate of established veteran starters scheduled to pitch today, so the pool of long relief opportunities is shallow. The best bet likely comes in the Rays matchup with the Rangers, where Josh Fleming is primed to start for the Rays against Kohei Arihara of the Rangers. Fleming only went six innings once in his seven starts in 2020, so the Rays bullpen is likely to factor into the decision. Arihara has struggled across his two starts so far this year, but the Texas bullpen isn’t an attractive prospect. Joe Musgrove may not go too deep into the matchup with the Pirates after his heroics last time out. Although, you could argue there is as much chance as another no-hitter against the hapless Pirates. Tyler Mahle has also failed to go past five innings in his two (stellar) starts. Sal Romano is in line for a long relief appearance after Tejay Antone and Cam Bedrosian both threw extensively in the last few days.
• The young duo of Nick Neidert of the Marlins and Justin Dunn of the Mariners have struggled mightily so far this term and face difficult matchups in Atlanta and Baltimore, respectively. The Marlins bullpen is still a moving jigsaw puzzle, but the standout is Yimi Garcia, who has registered a hold, win, and a save in his last three appearances. He didn’t pitch yesterday and is good value for a start today. The intriguing Ljay Newsome of the Mariners could piggyback Dunn too and is a sneaky option for a win.

• Mariners closer Rafael Montero blew a save but picked up a win in the first of the two games against the Orioles. Montero gave up back-to-back hits, a double to Ryan Mountcastle and a groundball single to DJ Stewart, in the bottom of the 7th. Kendall Graveman was the beneficiary, notching the save in extras thanks to a clean inning. Adam Plutko blew a save in long relief for the Orioles in game two, opening the door for closer César Valdez to come in and vulture the win. Valdez now has two saves and two wins in just 5 appearances this year.
• The Mets and the Phillies also involved late-innings drama in game one. Closer Edwin Diaz pitched a faultless 7th inning in a non-save situation, as did three-win setup man Connor Brogdon for the Phillies. Trevor May gave up a run in extras but nabbed the win after Phillies closer Hector Neris fell apart in the bottom of the 8th inning, giving up three singles and a walk to pick up the loss.

• The A’s have now won 5-of-6 after a nightmare start to the season in which they lost closer Trevor Rosenthal for an extended period. Questions around who may get the look may have been answered after Lou Trivino was given the ball in the 9th inning to close out the game against the Diamondbacks in an impressive fashion. Trivino is only 19% rostered in Yahoo! leagues and is a must-add on the waiver wire.
• James Karinchak was also given his first save opportunity for Cleveland and came through with aplomb against the dangerous White Sox lineup. After a sensational 9 innings from Shane Bieber, Karinchak threw 9 of his 16 pitches for strikes. This doesn’t stamp any authority on save chances for Karinchak, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

• The Red Sox go into a doubleheader today after rolling out their high-leverage bullpen last night to roll over the Twins. Adam Ottavino picked up his first win of the season, and Matt Barnes recorded the save. Randy Dobnak was credited with his second loss of the season despite giving up just one earned run in three innings of relief.
• Nabil Crismatt of the Padres was forced into pitching 5 innings of relief due to Blake Snell failing to get out of the first inning against the Pirates. Crismatt gave up 8 hits and didn’t look great as the Padres slumped to an 8-4 loss. Luckily the Padres are blessed with a mass of pitching quality, so this start shouldn’t impact the bullpen significantly.

• Julian Merryweather gave cause for concern yesterday as he left his appearance against the Yankees with a hip injury in the 8th inning. The surprise of the season so far for Toronto, Merryweather has been a popular pick-up in leagues over the past week. If he is to miss time, Jordan Romano and Rafael Dolis are immediate replacements for save opportunities. Tim Mayza is another name to watch after coming in for Merryweather after his injury.