Bullpen Depth Charts: Relievers To Stream — 5/14

 

Injuries and Transactions

 

• Josh Lindblom returned from the IL for the Brewers and manager Craig Counsel said Lindblom would be joining the bullpen.
• Diego Castillo is expected to be activated from the IL for the Rays on Friday.

 

• Jesse Hahn has started a rehab assignment for the Royals.
• Daniel Ponce de Leon has started a rehab assignment for the Cardinals.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

 

• Gabe Kapler made good on his word to give Tyler Rogers a few more save opportunities, as Rogers converted his third of the year on Thursday against the Pirates. Jake McGee pitched a combined 29 pitches between his back-to-back outings Monday and Tuesday and was probably given the benefit of an extra day’s rest.
• Chris Martin pitched a clean seventh inning as he made his return to the Brave’s bullpen, recording his first hold of the year in the process. Unfortunately, the same positive remarks couldn’t be said about A.J. Minter or Will Smith’s outing. Minter blew a save opportunity in the 8th, allowing the Blue Jays to tie the game at four apiece, while Smith allowed the hits to keep on coming in the 9th, allowing five hits and the aforementioned four runs to score in the 9th inning.

 

• Jordan Romano struck out the side during his clean 9th inning for the Blue Jays. Unfortunately for fantasy managers, the Blue Jays scored four runs in the top of the inning, placing the save opportunity out of reach for Romano in this one.
• Daniel Hudson collected his fifth hold of the season, collecting the final two outs of the 8th inning while holding the two inherited runners on base. With Brad Hand’s recent struggles, Hudson is worth a speculative add as he’s been producing at the back end of the Nationals’ bullpen as of late and obviously has been trusted with the closer role in Washington in the past.

 

• As Alexander Chase suggested in yesterday’s column, Michael Fulmer was used to close out the game for the Tigers, relieving Gregory Soto in the 9th to record the final two outs and his second save of the season. Soto was called upon for the third straight day after collecting a win and a save in the previous two games. Two hits, a walk, and two runs later it was apparent Soto may have been running on fumes, and Fulmer was called upon to retire the next two batters to end the game. One shouldn’t expect to see Soto back out there on Friday and though Fulmer has been used on back-to-back days, only threw a combined 18 pitches between the two outings.
• Alex Reyes pitched around a walk and a hit to collect his 11th save of the season for the Cardinals. With the three strikeouts he collected Thursday, Reyes now has 27 K’s through 20 innings of work but that is paired with his 17 walks. Luckily, those walks have yet to come back to bite him as he’s only allowed one earned run and zero home runs on the season.

 

• Liam Hendriks needed just 19 pitches to record the final five outs for the White Sox on his way to his seventh save of the season Thursday. Hendriks was brought in with one out in the 8th inning after Jose Ruiz gave up a solo shot to Max Kepler, bringing the game within one run. Ruiz, Garrett Crochet, and Matt Foster each recorded a hold in this tight matchup.
• Garrett Whitlock picked up the coveted three-inning save as he recorded the final nine outs for the Red Sox as they beat the Athletics 8-1 Thursday. Whitlock hadn’t pitched since last Friday and after throwing 59 pitches in this one we shouldn’t expect to see him back on the mound for a few days.

 

• Both Texas-based closers Ryan Pressly and Ian Kennedy saw time on the mound in non-save situations Friday, helping their teams push the game into extra innings. Both should be good to go Friday, especially Kennedy who only threw six pitches Thursday night and hadn’t pitched previously since Saturday.
• After Zach Plesac’s eight-inning performance gave the Cleveland bullpen some needed rest, Emmanuel Clase came in to close out the game for Thursday night. Clase induced two straight flyouts, but then went on to load the bases on three straight walks. With James Karinchak throwing 41 pitches between his two recent outings, Bryan Shaw was called upon to get the final out. Shaw needed just 4 pitches to get Luis Torrens to strike out and end the threat, recording his first save of the year. Clase has seen action on the mound in the two previous days, so he may have just been pushed further than necessary. Don’t expect to see him out there Friday.

 

Bullpen Depth Charts

 

 

Photo by Kent Kanouse/Flickr | Adapted by Justin Redler (@reldernitsuj on Twitter)