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
- A storm system on the east coast managed to cause major trouble: both games in New York were postponed, and Nationals-Reds was suspended. Mets-Rockies and Yankees-Blue Jays are both slated for traditional doubleheaders today, and the Nats will pick up in the bottom of the fourth.
- Today marks a relatively full Thursday slate with only four teams in the league — Boston, Minnesota, Houston, and Atlanta — taking the day off. With the doubleheaders, there’s still a “full” 15-game slate.
- Blue Jays pitching prospect Alek Manoah was slated to debut yesterday against the Yankees before the rainout and is now the projected starter for the first game of the doubleheader in the Bronx. As Benjamin Haller noted yesterday, Manoah has put in exactly six innings of work in each of his starts this year in AAA, so he’s not expected to be pulled early for pitch-count reasons, especially on a doubleheader day where his team will already be expecting to rely extensively on the bullpen.
- The Rays’ Ryan Weathers is slated for a start, but he hasn’t pitched more than four innings in any of his last five appearances. In a soft matchup against the Brewers, Padres bullpen arms could be in line for extra work, and potentially the win. Nabil Crismatt is the long reliever who will be best rested in that bullpen.
Injuries and Transactions
- Tanner Rainey is due to be activated from the COVID-19 IL today and should slide back into the middle-relief picture for the Nationals. The to-be-resumed game could complicate or delay news about whose place on the roster he’ll take, though.
- Baltimore’s Dillon Tate is expected to re-join the bullpen after a stint on the injured list with a hamstring strain.
Yesterday’s Performances
- The Rays’ J.P. Feyereisen blew a save chance with his new club by giving up a solo shot to Andrew Benintendi before pitching a clean 10th to pick up the win. This was his second save opportunity since being traded and the fourth consecutive day that Diego Castillo hasn’t pitched. The early days this year of Castillo being the traditional closer are but a faint memory at this point, but it’s worth watching whether Feyereisen can play his way into a role that features even just half the chances for Tampa Bay.
- On a night where Detroit and Cleveland combined for just seven hits, Gregory Soto shut the door to record his fifth save of the year. He faced the 4-5-6 hitters in the order after Michael Fulmer finished the 8th inning by striking out José Ramírez. Fulmer is now up to a 23% strikeout rate, the best of his career, albeit the first in a late-inning relief role.
- Hansel Robles picked up his third save of the year for the Twins despite giving up two doubles to the heart of the Orioles’ order. There’s still the possibility the closer job isn’t fully his — Taylor Rogers threw 26 pitches yesterday and was likely being held out for emergency use only — and he has now given up an earned run in two of his last three starts. Robles should be off tomorrow after going on back-to-back nights.
- Follow a blowup partial eighth inning from Yusmeiro Petit, Oakland closer Jake Diekman needed 30 pitches to pick up the four-out save, his sixth on the year. Consider him doubtful for tonight, leaving Lou Trevino in line to get any save chances.
- Raisel Iglesias was also called upon starting in the eighth inning to clean up a mess created by his teammates, pulling off the four-out save in just 17 pitches, striking out three. He would not have had the opportunity to pick up his eighth save were it not for a five-run eighth inning for the Rangers, who roughed up both Tony Watson and Mike Mayers.
- Houston’s Bryan Abreu picked up his first big-league save of his career in a scoreless outing against the Dodgers, though he walked two batters in the process. Presumptive closer Ryan Pressly was unavailable with neck stiffness, which is the larger story here. Be sure to watch his health over the next few days and into the weekend — he now hasn’t pitched in three days.
- Yimi García returned to action after four nights off to pick up his ninth save of the year, striking out two. The Marlins’ bullpen was busy last night after Nick Neidert only pitched four innings, but only winning pitcher Ross Detweiler went on back-to-back nights, leaving everyone else (including García) likely available for tomorrow.
- Craig Kimbrel continued his strong run to start the year, striking out two to pick up his 11th save of the year. Having gone back-to-back and in three of the last four, he’s almost certainly resting today. Andrew Chafin is also potentially unavailable, so Ryan Tepera could be in line for a save in the Cubs’ series finale in Pittsburg.
- Mark Melancon did what he seemingly does every other night, recorded his league-leading 17th save for the Padres. This one came thanks to poor baserunning from Keston Hiura, who attempted to score standing up from third on a ground ball but was foiled by a throw home from Jake Cronenworth. Melancon’s ability to induce weak contact looks more than real so far this season — 51.2% of batters have finished their plate appearances against his with sub-95 mph contact, putting him in the 90th percentile by that mark.
- The Giants’ Tyler Rogers picked up his sixth save of the season, but not without some drama — he allowed three singles to his first four batters before striking out Ketel Marte and then inducing a groundball to Eduardo Escobar to escape without giving up the one-run lead he was given. After a 27-pitch night, he could be off tomorrow, putting Jake McGee back in the closer role for a night.
Bullpen Depth Charts