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 Dodgers and Cubs played a doubleheader yesterday, as did the Giant and Rockies after their games were postponed on Monday. The Mets and Cardinals matchup was postponed due to inclement weather yesterday, so they will make that game up today as part of a doubleheader.
- Today’s slate features all 30 teams, with a number of pitchers being touted for spot starts. Johan Oviedo will start for the Cardinals in the 2nd game of the doubleheader against the Mets, who will look to deploy Miguel Castro as an opener before turning to Jordan Yamamoto in long relief.
- Ryan Yarbrough should follow opener Andrew Kittredge again for the Rays, who face Shohei Ohtani on the mound for the Angels. Max Fried returns from the injured list for the Braves, and after missing two weeks with a hamstring strain, he could be set for a short outing. Look to Josh Tomlin to potentially vulture a win out of the bullpen.
- Although not recommended to stream for a win, long relievers Lewis Thorpe for the Twins and Hyeon-Jong Yang for the Rangers are slated to start today also.
Roster moves:
- José Alvarado will return from his suspension for the Phillies today, who also called up young swingman Enyel De Los Santos from their alternate site.
- Young Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks was placed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation – not a good sign for Hicks, who had Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery in 2019.
- Cubs reliever Dan Winkler, who had only just come off the injured list associated with COVID-19, is back on it with triceps tendinitis. Kohl Stewart and Keegan Thompson have been called up for the doubleheader against the Dodgers.
- A favorite for saves and holds for the Diamondbacks before his injury, Joakim Soria was activated from the injured list and will immediately see high-leverage work alongside current closer Stefan Crichton.
- The same can be said for Nationals reliever Will Harris, who will make his season debut after returning from surgery in March to address a blood clot in his right arm. He should be in the mix to see saves and holds from the off in Washington.
- Veteran Rays reliever Collin McHugh was also activated from the injured list after missing almost two weeks with back tightness. He replaces Michael Wacha, who hits the injured list with a hamstring problem.
Yesterday’s performances:
- There were only 5 recorded saves from the 16 games yesterday, with Rangers closer Ian Kennedy notching his 8th save of the year to move into second place behind Mark Melancon on the MLB saves leaderboard. Kennedy entered the game in extra innings after the Texans put up 3 runs in the top of the 10th. Kennedy gave up a hit to the first batter he faced but forced Willians Astudillo into a double play to end the game.
- Despite recording an 18-pitch save the day before, it was the Twins’ Taylor Rogers who again got the nod to close out the game against the Rangers with a 2-run lead. Willie Calhoun homered on a 2-0 count, and Josh Donaldson made an error at third base to make things dicey before a sacrifice bunt, and sacrifice fly tied the game and charged the blown save to Rogers. He is still the main for saves for Rocco Baldelli, however.
- Matt Barnes can do no wrong for the Red Sox right now – entering the game in the top of the 8th with 1 out and the bases loaded, Barnes forced Miguel Cabrera to ground into a double play to end the inning before returning in the 9th to pitch a 1-2-3 inning and pick up his 8th save of the season. Barnes was MLB’s reliever of the month in April, and he is continuing his fine form into May.
- Another solid option for saves right now is Pirates closer Richard Rodriguez, who threw 9 of his 14 pitches for strikes in a clean 9th inning against the dangerous Padres lineup to record his 5th save of the year. Remarkably, the 31-year-old righty has now made 23 consecutive scoreless outings dating back to last season.
- As predicted by my colleague Kyle Frank yesterday, it was indeed Phillies setup man Sam Coonrod who successfully converted the save opportunity yesterday after both Hector Neris and José Alvarado were unavailable to pitch. It was Conrood’s 2nd save of the season, and he is a useful bench stash in deeper leagues as the Phillies late-innings hierarchy is far from set in stone.
- The A’s keep winning tight games against elite opposition, which means both Jake Diekman and Lou Trivino have benefitted from multiple save opportunities in the past few days. After piggybacking each other for holds and saves on Sunday and Monday, neither were fresh enough to come on and close out the game against the Blue Jays after Cole Irvin’s phenomenal performance over 8 innings. Bob Melvin called for his tried and trusted win-stealer, Yusmeiro Petit, who pitched a clean 9th inning to move the A’s up to 19-12, the best record in baseball.
- Mariners closer Rafael Montero benefitted from Kyle Lewis‘ 3-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning to record the win against the Orioles. Interestingly, Kendall Graveman, who had seen save opportunities recently, was first on in relief of Justin Dunn in this one. Former Angels reliever Keynan Middleton was called upon in the 9th but departed early with an injury. Robert Dugger finished the game in a non-save situation.
- Presumptive Royals closer Josh Staumont gave up two walks, two hits, and a 2-run homer to Josh Naylor to take the loss against Cleveland. The Royals have defied expectations this season, but the high-leverage roles in the bullpen are far from ironed out. Staumont is likely to see more opportunities; however, veterans Greg Holland and Wade Davis lurk in the wings. Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel’s hot streak is also over after he blew his first save of the season against the Dodgers in the first game of the doubleheader. Max Muncy took him deep in the top of the 7th.
Bullpen Depth Charts
Green = long/bulk reliever expected to pitch after starter
Yellow = closer pitched previous day or twice in three days
Red = closer has pitched back to back days and likely is off
Photo by Kent Kanouse/Flickr | Adapted by Justin Redler (@reldernitsuj on Twitter)