Bullpen Depth Charts: Relievers To Stream — 5/17

Welcome back to Relievers to Stream for Wins and Saves! 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 following teams have a scheduled day off on Monday: BOS, TB, TOR, BAL, KC, OAK, HOU, MIA, PHI, PIT, MIL, STL.
• The CLE @ LAA game represents your best chance to vulture a win today. My pick is Jaime Barria.

 

Injuries and Transactions

 

• The Astros activated Enoli Paredes from the 10-day IL. This is a bullpen that has been stretched thin with injuries, so Paredes likely immediately slots into the holds conversation.
• The Tigers sent Alex Lange back to Toledo. Despite the potential, he’ll have some time to work more on his approach in the minors before trying to make a run at the closer’s spot in Detroit.
• Alec Mills was placed on the 10-day IL by the Cubs. This allows Keegan Thompson to move into the long relief/emergency starter role who is probably only slightly more interesting than Mills in that capacity.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

 

• Tyler Rogers picked up his fourth save for the Giants working around a hit batsman. Rogers is unscored upon in eight appearances in May and has allowed just one run in his last 17 appearances. Despite this, Jake McGee had worked each of the previous two days and was clearly just not available for this game. This isn’t the sign that he’s lost the job, however, that sign could be coming very soon.
• David Bednar allowed a pair of runs increasing his ERA on the year to 3.31. His K:BB ratio and Statcast numbers indicate a potentially effective second half closer for the Pirates if both Kyle Crick and Richard Rodriguez are moved at the deadline.

 

• The Yankees bullpen had to get 15 outs after starter Jordan Montgomery was taken out before the fourth inning. Long relievers Luis Cessa and Michael King were both used, but with ace Gerrit Cole on the mound Monday, they don’t expect to need much from the middle of their bullpen.
• Bruce Zimmermann was extremely effective following an opener, so look to see if he follows an opener again in future appearances. Tanner Scott earned his eighth hold and Paul Fry earned his sixth as the bullpen held off the Yankees in the final innings.

 

• The Phillies asked their bullpen for 20 outs after starter Chase Anderson recorded just four. Both David Hale and Ranger Suárez are likely unavailable on Tuesday as well after the team’s scheduled day off Monday.
• Jordan Romano was removed from the game with two outs in the top of the ninth earning him a hold instead of a save. Maybe they just did it out of an abundance of caution, but the trainer did come out and talk to him earlier that inning, so they may have noticed something going on, too. Romano remained for a couple of batters after the trainer came out, so it doesn’t seem to be serious, but keep an eye out for injury updates. He’s also gone three out of the past four days, so they could choose to hold him out on Tuesday as well after their scheduled day off Monday.

 

• Raisel Iglesias worked the bottom of the eighth with his team down one and ended up sneaking in a win when the Angels put up two runs in the top of the ninth. Mike Mayers came on and recorded his second save of the year. Iglesias hadn’t pitched since the previous Monday, so this likely started as just an opportunity to get him some work. It’s encouraging to see him put up a zero in a non-save situation and that gives him four straight scoreless outings.
• Matt Barnes took the loss after allowing a two-run home run to Shohei Ohtani in the top of the ninth. He was called upon to help out a slightly wild Adam Ottavino to record the final out of the eighth and, while Barnes was able to finish out the eighth and earn Ottavino a hold, he wasn’t able to secure himself the save in the ninth and earned his first blown save of the year.

 

• The Cubs needed just one low-leverage inning from their bullpen after Kyle Hendricks took full advantage of a tasty matchup with the Tigers.
• Joe Jimenez continues to work his way back from an injury that caused him to miss about a month and delivered his first scoreless outing of the season in four attempts. His fastball was sitting 94 in this one, better than earlier in the year, but still not as good as the last time he was a successful reliever in 2019. The Tigers would love to see his fastball sitting 95 again and that could put him in the conversation for some holds and even saves if he gets that velocity back. In the meantime, fantasy owners need not pay much attention.

 

• Edwin Díaz got some low-leverage work in the bottom of the eighth against the Rays. He hadn’t pitched since the previous Sunday and was noticeably rusty with his slider as he left a couple of hangers up in the zone that got taken advantage of. It’s best not to judge any reliever on what they do after a week on the shelf.
• Diego Castillo got his first work coming off his short IL stint and worked the sixth inning allowing one hit, a home run. Despite the homer, he looked fairly sharp otherwise. He went three for nine on whiffs with his slider and his sinker was sitting 96 again after dipping down earlier in the year. It seems the time off served him well and I’d deploy him normally on your teams.

 

• Joely Rodríguez had a rough go of it on Sunday allowing four runs on four hits and a walk. The Astros are a hot offense right now, so I guess that provides some consolation, but this was not luck-driven. Even the two outs he secured were loud.
• Enoli Paredes returned from the IL and immediately worked the ninth inning albeit in a non-save situation. He threw 11 of his 14 pitches for strikes and struck out two; an overall sharp performance. He’s going to be in the holds conversation for the Astros now with the Astros injuries and coming off a strong 2020, so the only question is: Can you trust him?

 

• Jake Diekman entered the game in the eighth to face the bottom of the Twins order and was promptly knocked around to the tune of a double, a home run, and a single before being pulled. Lou Trivino recorded the final four outs of the game and earned a win when the Athletics retook the lead in the top of the ninth. Diekman has now allowed runs in three of his past five outings while Trivino has recorded four straight scoreless outings. Still, closing responsibilities are likely going to be split for the foreseeable future here. Neither looks likely to run away with the job.
• Taylor Rogers took a tough luck loss allowing an unearned run after an error on Josh Donaldson which would have recorded the second out of the ninth at second and a wild pitch that allowed the runner to score on a strikeout. I can’t really blame Rogers here. He’s struggled recently allowing runs in four out of his five appearances in May, but the Twins as a whole are really struggling, so he’s not necessarily losing his spot in the bullpen. We did see Hansel Robles pick up a save, but I don’t think I’d call Robles the closer just yet. Rogers will still get work.

 

• After both Josh Staumont and Scott Barlow worked back-to-back days, the Royals trotted out Wade Davis to attempt to convert a save against the White Sox and it went about as well as expected. He allowed three hits, hit a batter, and threw a game-ending wild pitch. The only two outs he recorded were on a sacrifice bunt and a play at the plate. Neither he nor Greg Holland is doing much to oust Staumont and Barlow from their respective roles.
• Aaron Bummer was charged with the blown save after allowing a pair of inherited runners to score in the top of the seventh, but he shut the door in the eighth and paved the way for the White Sox to win it in the bottom of the ninth. That’s 0 ER, 11 Ks, and 1 BB in the last 10 innings of work for Bummer. He should be a solid source of holds and is the clear next in line if something happens to Liam Hendriks.

 

• The Braves were down big in the middle innings and only used one of their top arms, Luke Jackson, after a big seventh inning rally got them back in the ball game.
• Oh no, J.P. Feyereisen! Four earned runs while facing only five batters is easily the worst outing of his young career. He’s been used a ton recently and just didn’t have his command in this one, throwing just 10 of his 24 pitches for strikes. Devin Williams picked up his sixth hold and Josh Hader got his ninth save, but they both surrendered a run and worked through some trouble. I still believe that Williams will be looked upon as an elite eighth inning option at the end of the year.

 

• Tejay Antone earned his second save of the year working around a pair of hits. A lot of fantasy owners are probably hoping that is is a sign that Antone is going to be moved into a more consistent ninth inning role, but I don’t think it is. Lucas Sims was unavailable for this game and Amir Garrett had just been re-activated and was used in a lower-leverage role in the sixth. Despite his performance, I still think Antone is a fireman who will only get an occasional save.
• The Rockies bullpen imploded again giving them 10 bullpen losses as a team, second-worst in the NL. I don’t trust a single guy out there.

 

• Daniel Hudson and Brad Hand worked the eighth and ninth respectively allowing just one baserunner and striking out four. Hand’s walk rate is still a bit elevated, but his velocity continued to be encouraging as he sat at 93 in this one. Advanced metrics like Hudson a bit better, but Hand should be a fine, mid-range closer the rest of the way.
• Stefan Crichton picked up the loss allowing four hits and three runs in an inning of work. This is another very messy bullpen situation that I want no part of going forward.

 

• Emmanuel Clase worked around two walks to deliver a scoreless eighth inning. Cleveland was down one but were unable to come back in the ninth. That’s six walks in the last three outings for Clase as his walk rate continues to climb dangerously high. Definitely something to keep an eye on.
• Kendall Graveman notched his fifth save of the season after Rafael Montero was used in a lower leverage role in the sixth inning. Montero’s usage has been all over the place this year and this is another one that has me scratching my head. Is he getting some opportunities to test things in lower leverage roles? Graveman’s usage and performance has been much more consistent.

 

• Yimi García earned his seventh save of the year against a tough Dodgers offense. He’s not been used much in May as the Marlins offense has cooled down, but he’s three-for-three in save opportunities in May with six punchouts and no runs allowed in four innings.
• It was a bullpen day for the Dodgers and they ended up using six different pitchers. It was good to see Joe Kelly work on back-to-back days and deliver scoreless innings in both after coming off the IL rusty. He seems back up to speed and should be in the holds conversation for the Dodgers going forward. Don’t let Mitch White’s ERA fool you. It comes with seven unearned runs and an xERA of 4.78.

 

• Mark Melancon picked up his league-leading fourteenth save of the season and is now on pace for 55 on the season. Can we start using pace stats yet? Yeah, yeah, OK, wait until Memorial Day. Still, 14-14 in save opportunities is very impressive. In other news, Dinelson Lamet picked up his first win of the season….. as a reliever. He still wasn’t extremely sharp, though. He has a chance to let it rip more and try to regain some of his lost velocity in the bullpen to try to find some of that 2020 magic. It’s pretty impossible for us to know whether that will happen without knowing more about the extent of his injury. This is a watchlist situation for me.
• Alex Reyes continues to get away with it. He walked two more batters and sports a walk rate of 21.3% on the year. He had a stretch at the end of April and beginning of May where he reigned things in AND was getting more whiffs. However, he now has 9 walks and 14 strikeouts in 8.2 May innings and got just two whiffs on 27 pitches in this outing. I no longer fear him having a major meltdown and I think he’ll be a fine, middle-of-the-road closer moving forward. But everyone knows not to expect a sub-2 ERA here, right?