Welcome back to the latest edition of our Reliever Ranks series! This will bring you up-to-date bullpen depth charts every morning for the day’s games and makes for an excellent tool for those looking to stream saves or wins. This series runs seven days a week, so check in every morning to get your daily bullpen fix!
Notes
Transaction and Schedule Notes
- All 30 teams took the field on Saturday and they’ll all be in action again on Sunday.
- The Cubs activated Brandon Hughes from the 15-day IL. He could factor into the ninth inning with Michael Fulmer having not locked up the role, but it will be difficult as he’s the only left-hander in that pen.
- Ryan Thompson was placed on the 15-day IL by the Rays with a right lat strain. Trevor Kelley was recalled from the minors, but Calvin Faucher will be the one to replace him on the chart.
Yesterday’s Performances
MIN 1 – NYY 6
- Two high-upside arms pitched for the Twins. Jovani Moran got five outs without surrendering a hit and Jorge Alcala allowed two runs across two innings. The latter’s stuff is diminished from previous seasons, so the hype has died down, but the former still maintains some of the excitement that accompanied his debut.
- Only Michael King was needed out of the Bronx bullpen. The right-hander secured the final eight outs, narrowly missing out on a three-inning save. He let just two runners reach base and he seems to be back to performing at the level he was in the first half of 2022 when he was a pickup in almost every format. He may not get saves, but his ability to pitch multiple frames with elite ratios and a solid amount of strikeouts makes him appealing for just about any fantasy situation.
SFG 6 – DET 7
- The SF bullpen jumped into action in the seventh as John Brebbia closed out the inning for the starter. However, he gave up three straight baserunners to start the eighth and was replaced by Sean Hjelle who allowed two inherited runners to score. That sequence netted Brebbia his third hold and Hjelle his first blown save. The seven-footer was able to escape the inning without any damage to his own line, setting up Tyler Rogers to pitch a clean ninth, pushing the game to extras. Rogers stayed on and kept the zombie runner on base in the 10th, but his twin brother didn’t fare as well in the 11th. The southpaw Taylor Rogers gave up a walk-off single to the first batter he faced, Miguel Cabrera, and was saddled with his second loss. It’s been a disaster of a season thus far for the big off-season acquisition as he’s now sporting an 18.90 ERA across six appearances and his fastball is down almost two miles per hour.
- The Tigers’ bullpen was surprisingly lights out as they pitched seven innings while allowing just one hit to give their team the chance to mount a comeback. Tyler Holton covered the majority of the relief work, pitching a trio of scoreless innings in his Detroit debut. To close out regulation, Trey Wingenter and Alex Lange put up two more zeroes. The latter has pitched in three of the past four days, but the rest of the bullpen is just as taxed, so don’t count him out for a save on Sunday. The 10th was pitched exceptionally by Jason Foley, and Chasen Shreve vultured his first win with a hitless 11th prior to the walk-off.
BAL 6 – CHW 7
- We had another extra-inning game turn into a walk-off. We also witnessed other similarities from the previous game. The first reliever, Danny Coulombe, finished an inning for the starter but then got into trouble after being extended into the next inning. Despite earning a hold, his second, the next arm, Bryan Baker, was tagged with his first blown save after allowing an inherited runner to score. The final five outs of regulation were secured by Cionel Pérez and Yennier Cano, but that momentum didn’t carry over into extras. The latter was impressive, earning whiffs on five of his 11 pitches. Logan Gillaspie came in to secure a newfound lead but failed to do so, giving up a game-tying double to Yasmani Grandal before rookie Oscar Colás called game with a walk-off single.
- The White Sox bullpen wasn’t perfect, but they were good enough to aid their team in its victory. Keynan Middleton and Aaron Bummer shared the sixth, with the former surrendering a run. Kendall Graveman did the same in the seventh, but the trend ended there as Tanner Banks and Reynaldo López posted scoreless innings to close out regulation. López was on fire, pumping upper-90s heaters and inducing five whiffs on just 15 pitches. He has now pitched on back-to-back days, so we could see Graveman get a save on Sunday, though he did throw 33 pitches, meaning Bummer could be another likely option. Despite allowing the zombie runner to score, Jimmy Lambert picked up his first win thanks to the walk-off in the bottom half of the 10th.
PIT 6 – STL 3
- The theme of Saturday was extra-inning affairs and this NL Central matchup stuck to the script. The Pirates took home the victory thanks to a dominant bullpen performance. Rob Zastryzny and Robert Stephenson shared the seventh, with the former surrendering a run. Rob Z still sits nearly four mph higher on his heater this year. Colin Holderman continued his strong year with a perfect, two-K eighth before David Bednar closed out regulation with a flawless ninth. He wound up earning his second win as the offense grabbed the lead in the first half-inning of extras. Dauri Moreta was utilized to close things out in the tenth. He got the job done and secured the second save of his career in the process.
- There were flames coming out of the St. Louis bullpen, but that might’ve been a problem because you can’t put out a fire with more fire. Ryan Helsley and Jordan Hicks accounted for the five fastest pitches across the league, with the former topping out at 102.4 mph and the latter at 101.3 mph. Helsley didn’t allow any of his own runs, but he did force home an inherited runner and was tagged with his second blown save. He also tossed 27 pitches and could once again cede ninth-inning duties to Giovanny Gallegos on Sunday. Hicks was tagged with his first loss after serving up a go-ahead bomb to Andrew McCutchen in the 10th. Elsewhere in St. Louis, Chris Stratton permitted a run across six outs while Génesis Cabrera helped Hicks close out the 10th.
TBR 2 – TOR 5
- Only the Rays would turn to three different relievers for eight, six, and 10 outs apiece with the final arm being considered the bulk reliever. Calvin Faucher acted as the opener, Trevor Kelley as the transition arm, and Josh Fleming as the bulk reliever. Kelley was tagged with his first loss. After 13 straight wins, the Rays have now dropped two in a row.
- Jordan Romano continues to cement himself as one of the best closers in baseball. With his sixth save on Saturday, he maintained his hold of the league lead in the category. He worked around three hits thanks to a slider that induced six whiffs across 17 pitches. He’s thrown on back-t0-back days and in three of the past four and could see a rest day on Sunday. Erik Swanson would be the first man up to fill in, but he pitched on Friday and tossed a hitless inning on Saturday, during which he nabbed his AL-leading sixth hold. That makes Yimi García your best option for a vulture save out of Toronto. The only other reliever to pitch was Adam Cimber, as he gave up a run while continuing his year-long tradition of lobbing sub-85 mph heaters (if you can even call them that).
CLE 6 – WSN 4
- The Guardians exhibited the effectiveness of the back end of their bullpen. Eli Morgan and Enyel De Los Santos did their jobs as setup men across the sixth and seventh frames as they each earned their first hold of the season. In the eighth, James Karinchak struck out the side for his fifth hold. As usual, in the ninth, Emmanuel Clase set the Nats down in order to secure his fifth save. That’s now back-to-back days for both Karinchak and Clase, so we could see Trevor Stephan get the call in the ninth on Sunday.
- Nothing actionable out of the Washington arm barn as Erasmo Ramírez got seven outs while giving up just one hit, Anthony Banda secured just one out, and Thaddeus Ward surrendered a run across five outs. We haven’t seen Kyle Finnegan since last Monday, so he may get a maintenance appearance on Sunday.
MIL 3 – SDP 10
- Low-leverage arms pitched for Milwaukee. Joel Payamps tossed a scoreless sixth, Hoby Milner served up Jake Cronenworth’s second dinger in the seventh, and Gus Varland and Javy Guerra split the eighth.
- With the big offensive day, the Padres gave some low-leverage maintenance work to their arm barn after the starter exited in the fourth. Steven Wilson vultured his first win with four outs across the fourth and fifth. Holds were handed out to Brent Honeywell Jr. (second hold) and Luis Garcia (fifth hold) for their work across the sixth and seventh. With the lead increasing in the later innings, Tim Hill and Domingo Tapia covered the final two frames.
NYM 3 – OAK 2
- Turning to their four best arms to shorten the game, the Mets previewed the hierarchy we’re likely to see throughout the season. Drew Smith vultured his first win with four outs across the sixth and seventh before Brooks Raley secured his NL-leading sixth hold. Adam Ottavino set up for the closer, grabbing his second hold with a hitless eighth. In the ninth, David Robertson locked down his third save with a scoreless frame.
- On the opposite side, the A’s also turned to their best arms, but it didn’t result in a comeback. Trevor May began his turnaround with a scoreless seventh, Zach Jackson continued his dominance with a perfect eighth, and Dany Jiménez got some work in with a flawless ninth.
LAA 7 – BOS 9
- The Angels couldn’t keep up with the Red Sox offensively, and thus, the bullpen didn’t have much impact on the game. Matt Moore tossed two scoreless frames and Carlos Estévez earned his first hold with a perfect seventh. It was weird to see the presumed closer used in this situation, leading me to believe that he’s more of a high-leverage option than the clear-cut closer. Ryan Tepera threw away their hard work by giving up three runs (one earned) in the eighth, requiring the help of Tucker Davidson to close out the frame.
- Waiting to deploy the back end of the relief corps until the lead was secured, the Red Sox used Kaleb Ort and Richard Bleier to pitch the fifth and sixth. In the seventh, John Schreiber struck out two before Ryan Brasier vultured his first win with a scoreless eighth. Kenley Jansen took the mound in the ninth, securing his fourth save of the season and the 395th of his illustrious career. Jansen has appeared on consecutive days, so the ninth could be Chris Martin’s on Sunday.
PHI 0 – CIN 13
- It was a complete and utter blowout for the Reds, so neither side used bullpen arms of consequence. The Phillies turned to Andrew Bellatti and McKinley Moore across the third, fourth, and fifth frames as they combined to give up five runs. Andrew Vasquez and Gregory Soto were able to maintain the score for a pair of frames before manager Rob Thomson turned to position player Josh Harrison for the ninth. He increased the run differential by a mark of five.
- The Reds called upon just Buck Farmer for a perfect seventh and Casey Legumina for two scoreless frames. It was the latter’s MLB debut. He featured mid-90s four-seamers nearly 80% of the time with a few sweepers and changeups mixed in.
ATL 9 – KCR 3
- The game looked headed for a tightly-contested finish until the Braves put up four runs in the eighth. Jesse Chavez earned his fifth hold by completing the starter’s sixth and Dylan Lee got his fourth hold with a perfect seventh. I don’t expect either to lead the team in that category for much longer. Then Nick Anderson and Kirby Yates got some work in.
- The Royals were prepared for a tight game as they deployed Scott Barlow in the ninth despite the big deficit. Ryan Yarbrough was the one to incite the loss as he gave up four runs in the eighth and needed the help of Carlos Hernández to finish it off. Don’t take Hernández off your watch list yet, he’s still pumping gas.
ARI 2 – MIA 3
- Scott McGough continued to disappoint as he gave up two runs while only getting one out and was saddled with his second loss and second blown save. It’s going to take a long stretch of success for him to be considered for the ninth inning again. Andrew Chafin did his best to work out of the jam, but the lead was blown. Miguel Castro worked a perfect ninth and he’s the likely candidate to be the right-handed platoon paired with Chafin for closing duties.
- The newfound late lead afforded…Tanner Scott the shot at the save? I guess A.J. Puk was resting after pitching two of the past three days, so don’t go worrying about his hold on the closer role. Prior to Scott, Huascar Brazoban picked up his first hold with a perfect eighth, Andrew Nardi vultured his first win, and Matt Barnes gave up a run.
TEX 2 – HOU 8
- After the starter exited early with an injury, Cole Ragans was forced into action in the third. He covered the next four frames, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out three. He still displayed his increased velocity, but it didn’t lead to good whiff or CSW numbers. Ian Kennedy then came aboard to make a fool of himself, surrendering five runs (four earned) before turning the ball over to Josh Sborz for the final five outs.
- The Houston pen was much more effective as Bryan Abreu tossed a scoreless eighth and Rafael Montero put up a zero in the ninth. We haven’t seen Ryan Pressly since last Tuesday, so a maintenance inning could be in store for him on Sunday.
CHC 1 – LAD 2
- The Cubs pitched great all day. The starter pitched five scoreless. Mark Leiter Jr. earned his third hold by striking out the side in the sixth, inducing four whiffs on just 11 splitters. Keegan Thompson even tossed two hitless frames. However, with just one more out to get, Michael Fulmer gave up a two-run, walk-off single to David Peralta. I guess you can’t blame him for following the Jackie Robinson Day script, but it’s a tough look with his main competition (Brandon Hughes) returning to the Major League roster. Fulmer now has one loss and two blown saves on his ledger.
- Shelby Miller was the lucky recipient of his first victory after the walk-off. He was preceded by scoreless outings from Alex Vesia, Yency Almonte, and Caleb Ferguson.
COL 2 – SEA 9
- The Mariners led by four after four and by eight after six, so it was clear we wouldn’t be seeing a lot of notable bullpen action. However, the Rockies took this as an opportunity to get closer Pierce Johnson some work in after he hadn’t seen a mound since last Tuesday. They also let Brent Suter surrender four unearned runs and Connor Seabold earn three of his four outs via the strikeout.
- Conversely, the Mariners rested all but Penn Murfee and Diego Castillo. The former got five outs while striking out four and the latter pitched a hitless ninth. Murfee’s slider was effective on Saturday, inducing seven whiffs on just 19 pitches.
Bullpen Depth Charts
Also, if you’re looking for a detailed list or ranking of RPs, check out Rick Graham’s weekly pieces:
The Hold Up: Ranking the Top 100 Relievers for Holds Every Thursday