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
- Eight teams had the day off Thursday (CLE, MIN, HOU, SEA, TEX, MIA, STL, and ARI), giving their bullpens some added rest going into the weekend.
- 14 teams have a built-in rest day coming up on Monday and so may feel the ability to be more aggressive with their high leverage bullpen options through the weekend: SD, LAD, COL, STL, CIN, CHC, ATL, OAK, HOU, MIN, KC, DET, CWS, BOS
Transaction and Injury Notes
- Tampa Bay placed Pete Fairbanks on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation, sent Nick Anderson on a rehab assignment to AAA-Durham, and traded Diego Castillo to Seattle for JT Chargois and third baseman Austin Shenton.
- Washington traded Brad Hand to Toronto for catcher Riley Adams, while activating Tanner Rainey from the 10-day injured list and placing Daniel Hudson and Austin Voth on the Covid-IL, before reportedly traded Hudson to the San Diego.
- New York Yankees sent Wandy Peralta on a rehab assignment to AAA-Somerset.
- Texas traded Joely Rodriguez and outfielder Joey Gallo to the New York Yankees for prospects Ezequiel Duran, Glenn Otto, Josh Smith, and Trevor Hauver.
- San Francisco activated Aaron Sanchez from the 60-day injured list and reportedly put him in their bullpen.
- Chicago Cubs recalled Trevor Megill from AAA-Iowa and traded Ryan Tepera to the Chicago White Sox for Bailey Horn.
- Colorado recalled Jose Mujica from AAA-Albuquerque.
- Boston designated Brandon Workman for assignment.
Yesterday’s Performances
With a flurry of trades involving high leverage bullpen pieces made yesterday, we can simply speculate on the new hierarchies being created across the league. Bear with us as we try to make our best-educated guesses on how they will all shake out.
- Diego Castillo appears to be the new strong man in Seattle after the departure of clubhouse favorite Kendall Graveman, though there’s no guarantee Paul Sewald and even Drew Steckenrider won’t continue to see some time in the ninth (there’s also no guarantee Sewald and Steckenrider aren’t moved by end of the day today).
- Nick Anderson may actually find a way to nab his old closer role in Tampa once he returns from his rehab assignments, but for now, let’s throw a dart—it landed on Andrew Kittredge, who has looked the best of the remaining Tampa bullpen arms, giving up just one earned run through 11.1 IP in July.
- The Jays made it apparent at the beginning of the season that they preferred to use Jordan Romano in high leverage positions, just not always at the end of games, and so Brad Hand should be expected to move into the closer position for Toronto. This also could turn into a lefty-righty matchup committee quickly, so we’ll keep a tight eye on the situation through the weekend. Don’t go dropping Romano from your saves-only fantasy rosters just yet.
- Craig Kimbrel is still the closer for the Cubs, for now, but keep an eye out for Rowan Wick who is currently on a rehab assignment at AAA-Iowa and could slide back into the role he had for a portion of last season once he returns.
Here’s how the actual bullpen performances turned out on Thursday…
- Kyle Finnegan struck out two as he finished off the Phillies in perfect fashion on his way to record his first career save, closing out the first game of their Washington’s doubleheader on Thursday. Finnegan has seemingly put himself in the drivers’ seat to take over the closer role for the Nationals after the trade of Brad Hand. Tanner Rainey returned from the IL but blew a save opportunity of his own upon his return in the second game of the doubleheader, allowing the first three batters he faced to reach base and allowing three runs to score, two of which were inherited runners and were ultimately credited to Wander Suero, who still walked away with a hold.
- The Phillies bullpen was spared in game one after Zach Wheeler went the full seven innings, but they were forced to use seven pitchers through eight innings in the second game, with Ranger Suárez taking home the win after striking out two and pitching around two hits and a walk in the final inning.
- Will Smith, the pitcher, picked up his 21st save of the season after allowing just one hit and striking out one in his scoreless ninth inning appearance for Atlanta.
- Both Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee pitched perfect innings of relief for the Giants on Thursday. Rogers came in for the eighth and struck out all three batters, while McGee dispensed of all three batters he faced in the ninth by way of his defense. Both pitchers should be available Friday if needed.
- Mike Mayers pitched a perfect final inning for the Angels in their 5-0 loss to the Athletics on Thursday. Joe Maddon mentioned that Mayers would not be used in high leverage situations for a time being to get himself right again, so don’t expect Mayers to be thrust into a closer position if there’s a shake-up in Anaheim later today.
- Mark Melancon keeps getting saves for the Padres, recording his 32nd of the year on Thursday. The outing marks his second in the past three days, but Melancon should be available through the weekend if needed, especially with San Diego having two built-in rest days scheduled next week.
Bullpen Depth Charts