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
- Nine games on tap for Monday (including a doubleheader) which means fourteen teams have the day off. They are: TB, NYY, BAL, CHW, CLE, OAK, TEX, MIA, STL, PIT, SF, LAD, SD, and ARI
- In terms of win vulture opportunities, the second game of the Mets-Braves doubleheader will feature starters who won’t be expected to go five innings, meaning that middle relievers on both sides have a bit of extra value due to the possibility of a win. Spencer Howard is also going for the Phillies in a nice matchup against the Nationals but isn’t expected to go five innings. Connor Brogdon threw two innings after him last time, hasn’t pitched since Wednesday, and sports a 2.60 ERA since June 1st. Might be a good time to take a chance on him.
Transaction and Injury Notes
- Collin McHugh hit the IL with arm fatigue and was replaced on the Rays roster by Ryan Sherriff.
- The Dodgers activated Jimmy Nelson from the IL.
- Our first reliever trade of the year has T.J. Zeuch moving from Toronto to St. Louis. For now, it’s less of a hot stove and more of a hot plate in the reliever trade market.
Yesterday’s Performances
- Daniel Hudson picked up a hold, his 13th of the season, but Brad Hand couldn’t hang on for the save and was saddled with his fourth blown save and fourth loss of the year. The Nats were swept in the weekend series and fell to eight games under .500 which could be the last straw to turn them into sellers this year. Both Hudson and Hand could be on the move.
- Cole Sulser earned his third win of the year after being brought on to get out of a jam in the top of the ninth. If you’re in a league where you must have an Orioles pitcher, he’s not bad. Otherwise, there are probably more opportunities to work with in other bullpens.
- Atlanta only needed one inning from Chris Martin after a second straight masterful start from former top prospect Touki Toussaint.
- Ranger Suárez got the quickest save of his career on Sunday. He was brought on for just the final out and recorded a four-pitch strikeout to earn the save. It had been looking like Héctor Neris was gaining ground on Suarez, but Neris’ implosion on Wednesday seems to have solidified Suárez’s position as closer. Don’t expect dominance the rest of the way, but Suárez has value if he’s the clear-cut closer in Philadelphia.
- We saw many of St. Louis’ top arms, but only Giovanny Gallegos was rewarded with a hold, his 16th of the season. Alex Reyes recorded a full inning of work with no walks for the first time in seven appearances.
- We saw Jeff Hoffman come out of the bullpen for the first time this season and he looked pretty good. He mainly relied on his fastball but generated eight swinging strikes on 36 pitches (22%) along with three strikeouts in two innings of work. I was advocating for Hoffman being in the bullpen from the beginning of the season, but injuries forced him to work in the rotation, then miss time himself. I honestly believe he could fill a similar role to Tejay Antone if he sticks in the bullpen in the second half.
- The Rays went with Matt Wisler in the bottom of the eighth with a 2-1 lead instead of their more typical eighth inning options. Wisler wasn’t up to the task today and gave up two runs to earn his fourth loss and third blown save. Expect the Rays to go with one of Pete Fairbanks, Jeffrey Springs, or Andrew Kittredge next time.
- James Karinchak earned his seventh win of the year while Emmanuel Clase nabbed his twelfth save, his first successful conversion since June 16th. Clase, who normally throws about 75% cutters, threw 11 sliders out of his 14 pitches in this one and got five swinging strikes. This may have been a matchup thing, but he may also be tinkering with his pitch mix to work through his recent struggle. All the same, it’s good to see him provide a clean inning and a save.
- Ryan Borucki took the blown save and Jacob Barnes took the loss as each allowed a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Blue Jays bullpen hasn’t been terrible this year, but they also haven’t been a strength. Even in SOLDS leagues, the only guy worth looking hard at is Jordan Romano.
- Lots of stats racked up in the Mets bullpen on Sunday. Seth Lugo picked up his third win of the year, holds were earned by Jeurys Familia, Trevor May, and Aaron Loup, and Edwin Díaz notched his 21st save of the season. Díaz had been struggling in July, but he had his slider working in this one and struck out the side.
- Austin Adams had a rare implosion allowing four runs to the Marlins. When you’re basically a one-pitch pitcher, it can be a problem if that one pitch isn’t on and that’s exactly what happened here.
- Every other day seems like a bullpen game for the Marlins anymore, but this one seemed to go exactly according to plan. Seven different pitchers saw work including Anthony Bender who earned his second win and Anthony Bass who earned his 11th hold.
- The Yankees bullpen had a rough series against the Red Sox and this time it was Jonathan Loaisiga’s turn to get roughed up. He had allowed four runs since May 21st, a span of 23.2 innings, but allowed four runs in just four batters in this one. He has been so good this year and there’s no reason to not trust him next week.
- Brandon Workman stole his first win of the year and Matt Barnes notched his 21st save. Barnes continues to be a model of consistency. He has yet to post an ERA over 3 in any given month.
- The Tigers gave up four runs in the first inning and never sniffed the lead after that. None of the relievers used are fantasy-relevant.
- Kansas City needed just one inning after a triumphant return to the majors from Daniel Lynch. They had a big lead and, therefore, didn’t need to use their top relievers.
- Spencer Patton continued his impressive season logging two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. He has a 24:4 K:BB ratio in 16.1 IP on the year and could have value down the stretch if a competitor decides to relieve the Rangers of one Ian Kennedy.
- Ryan Pressly logged save number 18 and Cristian Javier notched a two-inning hold. Fantasy managers have likely been frustrated with Pressly at times during the year as he’s gone at least 10 days between save opportunities on no less than three occasions, but he’s done absolutely everything he could with the opportunities he’s gotten. He’s one of four relievers with at least six saves in July.
- Steve Cishek earned his 13th hold of the year, but the Angels added some insurance runs which took them out of a save situation.
- What an up and down season for Alex Colomé. His month-by-month ERAs are 8.31, 1.74, 5.59, and 2.35. Who knows what he’ll do in August! Twins fans are likely not eager to find out.
- The Diamondbacks game had a similar structure to the Royals-Tigers game. Arizona went down multiple runs early and never mounted much of a resistance leading to them resting their top relievers.
- Craig Kimbrel logged save number 23 after Dillon Maples struggled to close out the game. This can happen from time to time for Maples. You can see the volatility reflected in his seventeen walks, six hit batsmen, and four wild pitches in his 25.2 innings of work this year. Underneath it, there’s a really dominant pitcher and it doesn’t hurt having arguably the most dominant closer in the bigs this year to bail him out on his wild days.
- Chasen Shreve continues to find success against the odds. A K:BB ratio of 18:14 and an xERA over 4 generally means bad news, but he now has an ERA of an even 2.00 on the year. Who knows what this bullpen will look like at this time next week.
- Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee got work in this non-save situation. Both were coming off multiple days without work in a row and they have a scheduled day off on Monday, so this was an opportunity to keep them loose and game-ready while closing out a game.
- Carlos Estévez took the loss after allowing an eighth-inning homer to Will Smith that gave the Dodgers a one-run lead. There was a time when he looked like a solid handcuff to Daniel Bard should the latter be traded, but he sports a 6.75 ERA in 20 innings since the beginning of June.
- Some people were talking earlier in the week about the Dodgers’ bullpen being the weakness of the team, but after three and two-thirds scoreless innings on Saturday, they delivered five more scoreless innings on Sunday. Phil Bickford nabbed the win and Joe Kelly secured his first save with Kenley Jansen unavailable due to workload concerns.
- The A’s used a couple of their top relievers, including Jake Diekman, to try to keep the game close in the late innings. They got the job done, delivering four scoreless innings, but the offense couldn’t manage a comeback.
- Both Kendall Graveman and Paul Sewald had each worked the past two games, so it fell to Drew Steckenrider to finish the game on Sunday. He did so, earning his third save of the year. Steckenrider has been lights out this year and is certainly in the conversation for consistent saves if Graveman gets moved. He allowed three runs in his very first outing of the year and has a 1.45 ERA in his 33 appearances since.
- Liam Hendriks picked up a six-out save for his 24th of the year striking out three along the way. Hendriks threw a 100.5 mph fastball in this one and I can’t recall ever seeing him throw one faster. He’s gotten some extra rest recently and it’s apparently done him well. Coming into Sunday, he had worked just two innings since July 11th not counting the All-Star game. For that reason, July has likely seemed a little disappointing to fantasy managers, but look for Hendriks to come down the stretch with a vengeance as the White Sox power towards the playoffs.
- This felt like a playoff game and the Brewers treated it as such sending out two of their top relievers, Jake Cousins and Brad Boxberger, to keep the deficit at two. It was interesting to not see Josh Hader even get a maintenance inning here. He hasn’t worked since July 17th and has just five appearances in the entire month of July. The Brewers have been increasingly stingy with his workload and, after having Hader throw fewer than 20 innings in the shortened season, perhaps see the need to give him an elongated midseason break to ensure he’s fresh for their playoff run.
Bullpen Depth Charts