Bullpen Depth Charts: Relievers To Stream — 5/7

 

Roster moves:

• Minnesota Twins optioned Lewis Thorpe and recalled Devin Smeltzer who should see innings out of the bullpen to start.
• Detroit Tigers placed Derek Holland on the 10-day injured list and recalled Kyle Funkhouser in his place.

 

• Philadelphia Phillies placed JoJo Romero on the 10-day injured list and recalled lefty Ranger Suarez to take his place in the bullpen.
• David Phelps was placed on the 10-day IL by the Blue Jays with a right lat strain.

 

• Los Angeles Angels activated Felix Pena from the IL but placed Chris Rodriguez on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.
• Joe Kelly returned from the IL for the Dodgers, while Scott Alexander was placed on the 10-day IL with left shoulder inflammation.

 

Yesterday’s performances:

• With closer Matt Barnes resting up from his back-to-back performances, it was Adam Ottavino getting the call in the 9th inning for Boston on Thursday, recording his first save of the season. The outing marked Ottavino’s third straight outing, and fourth in the past five days. The majority of the Boston bullpen has thrown more than their fair share of pitches in the past few days, and while Barnes should be back out for a save opportunity on Friday, we may see Hirokazu Sawamura directly setting him up in the 8th.
• Ryan Pressly pitched around three hits and a run through his two innings of work to net his fifth save of the season Thursday. Pressly needed 32 pitches to get through his pair of innings and should see some rest tonight, giving Ryne Stanek the late-game opportunity as long as he’s ready to go after his 26 pitch performance on Wednesday. There’s a non-zero chance someone like Kent Emanuel or Brandon Bielak gets the coveted 3-inning save to end the game, just to give the rest of the high leverage pieces of the Houston bullpen an extra day.

 

• Zack Wheeler gave the Phillies’ bullpen a day off as he went the distance, pitching a 3-hit complete game. Read about his performance in the SP Roundup, but note that Hector Neris has now had three days off since his 40-pitch outing Monday and should be back in the 9th inning if a save opportunity arises Friday.
• Taylor Rogers came out to the mound in the 8th inning for the Twins with the score tied at three apiece and the Rangers’ 3-4-5 hitters due up. Rogers struck out the side, then came back out for the 9th and after striking out Andy Ibanez for good measure was replaced by Tyler Duffey. Rogers only threw 15 pitches but has now been called upon in three of the past four days. Most of the top-end bullpen options in Minnesota have seen extra usages in the past few days, setting up a possible Alex Colomé sighting in the late innings if he feels rested from his 32-pitch outing Wednesday. More likely, however, the Twins may turn to recently recalled Devin Smetzler to eat up some innings late in the game.

 

• With Ian Kennedy collecting saves in each of the previous two days, and four of the past five, it was Josh Sborz who finished out the extra-inning affair for the Rangers on Thursday. With Joely Rodríguez also going in back-to-back outings and Sborz not having pitched since Sunday, it made sense to see the 27-year-old get his first career save in this one, as he struck out two in his perfect inning of work.
• Edwin Díaz pitched around two hits as he finished out the Mets’ three-run victory over the Cardinals, collecting his fourth save of the year. Though this was Diaz’s first outing since Sunday, he did need 24 pitches to get through the inning and may see an extra rest day Friday after battling back tightness earlier in the week. Trevor May has been used in two straight days, setting up a possible Jeurys Familia sighting in the final innings Friday.

 

• James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase each picked up an extra strikeout in their non-save situations for Cleveland. While Clase hadn’t pitched since Monday, it was slightly surprising to see Karinchak being used with a four-run lead when he had pitched three of the previous four days. With his 24-pitch outing Thursday, Karinchak should see some time off this weekend.
• Brad Hand, who hadn’t previously pitched since April 30th, needed just nine pitches to finish a clean 9th inning for the Nationals. Unfortunately, as has been the case for most of Hand’s outings this year, it came in a non-save situation as Will Smith took home the save on the other side of the ball for Atlanta, his seventh of the year. In his nine appearances, Hand has yet to allow an earned run this season but only has three saves to call his own.

 

• Yimi García recorded his fifth save of the season, allowing one hit and collecting one strikeout. Garcia, who had also not pitched since April 30th, needed 16 pitches to get through this inning, but should still get the ball in the 9th on Friday, especially with the rest of the back end of the Miami bullpen being used in two of the past three days.

 

 

Bullpen Depth Charts

 

 

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