Reliever Ranks – 10/1

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

 

• With only five days left in the regular season, there are no more off days.
• All 30 teams play Saturday, including a doubleheader between the Phillies and Nationals, who were rained out the day before.
• Also, be on the lookout for weather implications as effects from Hurricane Ian are already factoring into games.

 

• The Boston Red Sox placed Kaleb Ort on the Restricted List as the team heads to Toronto. No corresponding bullpen move was made, but it’s a quick two-game series, and Ort could be activated the following Monday.
• The Oakland Athletics activated Adam Oller from the 15-day IL and designated Collin Wiles. Oller slides back into this long reliever role but hasn’t been effective as he posts a 6.04 ERA with a 37:44 K/BB ratio over 73.1 innings pitched.

 

• Bullpens are getting pushed at this point in the season, but the following relievers pitched on back-to-back days and might be unavailable: Liam Hendriks (CHW), Kendall Graveman (CHW), Aaron Bummer (CHW), Jimmy Lambert (CHW), and Brad Keller (KCR).

 

 

BAL 2 – NYY 1

• Even on short rest, Jordan Lyles hurled seven solid innings and left the last two innings to the bullpen. Félix Bautista pitched the 8th inning rather than the 9th because the top of New York’s order was up. After walking Aaron Judge, he left the inning with two Ks and no runs. Finally, DL Hall made quick work in the 9th inning to collect his first career save.
• Starter Domingo Germán gave up both Baltimore runs. Although, it was not a good sign for Zack Britton as he walked his only batter faced and exited with an injury. Ron Marinaccio, Aroldis Chapman, and Scott Effross completed the final 3.2 innings and kept the scoreboard empty.

 

OAK 1 – SEA 2

• Oakland’s bullpen was cruising, with Austin Pruitt, A.J. Puk, and Tyler Cyr shutting down Seattle from the 6th through the 8th inning. However, in the bottom of the 9th inning, Domingo Acevedo could not keep the ball in the yard against Cal Raleigh.
• On the Mariners’ side, Logan Gilbert shoved for eight innings before handing the ball to Matt Brash. Since it was tied, Brash earned the win while striking out two batters in his lone inning.

 

CIN 1 – CHC 6

• Graham Ashcraft struggled to locate pitches and surrendered six runs (five ER) in a shortened 2.2 innings of work. Connor Overton came in, closed down the 3rd inning, and never left the game. When his night was completed, he hurled 5.1 innings with only a pair of hits, one walk, and three Ks. Most importantly, no runs were allowed.
• The Chicago Cubs got seven innings from Adrian Sampson, whose only mistake was an HR in the 2nd inning. Additionally, he ran his pitch count to 97 and left with Erich Uelmen replacing him with a scoreless inning. Finally, the 9th inning belonged to Rowan Wick, who struck out Donovan Solano to end the game.

 

PHI 5 – WSN 1

• After six innings from Bailey Falter, Zach Eflin made his sixth appearance in September out of the pen. He didn’t fare so well as two singles allowed a run to score. However, he did strike out a pair of batters and earned his second hold. In the 8th inning, José Alvarado was dealing as he struck out two on only 14 pitches (ten strikes). Two 9th inning runs pushed the lead to four, and Seranthony Domínguez didn’t get the save but completed his inning with no runs.
• Jordan Weems and Steve Cishek struck out five batters while only allowing one base runner in three innings. However, in the 9th inning, Mason Thompson allowed four of the first five batters to reach base and surrendered two earned runs.

 

BOS 0 – TOR 9

• Nick Pivetta started the game by allowing runs in the first three innings before settling down. The first player out of the pen was Tyler Danish, who struggled. His first four batters went HR, single, single, then HR. However, Boston stuck with him, and that was all the damage he allowed. Franklin German grabbed the final inning, but a pair of hits allowed Toronto to bump the run total to nine.
• Things went completely the opposite for Toronto as Alek Manoah shut things down for six innings, then turned it over to Yusei Kikuchi. He struck out five of his 11 batters’ faces and earned a multi-inning save.

 

KCR 3 – CLE 6

• Brady Singer was left in for an inning too long, as back-t0-back singles were accompanied by a José Ramírez three-run HR in the 6th inning. After more mayhem, six earned runs were tacked onto his stat line. However, the bullpen performed up to standards by placing zeros on the scoreboard for the final 2.1 innings. Carlos Hernández, Amir Garrett, and Brad Keller were the arms utilized.
• Cleveland went a different route as Cody Morris made a two-inning appearance in the 7th and 8th inning. Then, as we’ve seen 40 times this season, Emmanuel Clase struck out a pair to earn the save. Additionally, Morris is now operating out of the pen and could be an excellent option to vulture wins and pickup holds as he did in this one.

 

MIN 7 – DET 0

• After six shutout innings from Joe Ryan, Emilio Pagán labored through his lone inning. Although it was a scoreless appearance, he put a pair of men on base and chucked 30 pitches. Jovani Moran closed things down quietly with a couple of Ks in the final two scoreless innings.
• Detroit’s bullpen was not very strong in this one. Miguel Diaz and Matt Vest gave up three combined earned runs in the 6th and 7th inning. Then, Andrew Chafin scattered three hits in his lone inning while allowing an earned run. Down by seven runs late, Kody Clemens (position player) pitched the final frame.

 

NYM 2 – ATL 5

• Jacob deGrom lost in this game as he surrendered three in six innings. He then handed the ball over to Tylor Megill. However, it didn’t help as he allowed three hits and two earned runs before failing to complete an inning. Trevor May ended Megill’s inning with a strikeout to the only batter he faced on the evening. In the 8th inning, Joely Rodríguez notched a scoreless frame.
• On Atlanta’s side, Max Fried didn’t strike out many (three Ks) but didn’t allow any runs. The trend continued with Collin McHugh and Raisel Iglesias keeping this at zero through seven innings. A.J. Minter couldn’t keep it up and was touched for an earned run via the long ball. Up by three in the 9th inning, Kenley Jansen did his thing (put a few men on base but escaped) to earn his 38th save.

 

TBR 7 – HOU 3

• Tampa Bay Rays solidified a spot in the postseason on the back of a seven-inning gem from Drew Rasmussen. Javy Guerra and Colin Poche were the only bullpen arms utilized, with Poche surrounding a 9th inning run on a pair of hits.
• It was an unexpected performance from Framber Valdez, who left the game midway in the 5th inning after giving up six earned runs. Ryne Stanek finished off the 6th inning with one punchout. Phil Maton struck out four in his two innings, but a Taylor Walls HR put the game further out of reach. Finally, Héctor Neris tossed 25 pitches (15 strikes) to complete the 9th inning.

 

MIA 0 – MIL 1

• Sandy Alcantara was magnificent, trying to pile up his stats for the Cy Young voters, and Miami didn’t need any relievers.
• Corbin Burnes started on par with Alcantara and went eight solid innings too. But up by a run in the 9th calls for the closer, and Devin Williams notched save #15. However, it was shaky as he put three men on base (two walks, one hit).

 

PIT 1 – STL 2

• Pittsburgh got six solid innings from Johan Oviedo and stuck with two lower-leverage arms. Duane Underwood Jr. and Yohan Ramirez completed the final two frames without allowing any runs.
• On the other side, the St. Louis bullpen was stout. Andre Pallante and Giovanny Gallegos earned holds, keeping things scoreless for two innings. With a one-run lead, Ryan Helsley issued a one-out walk before striking out Bryan Reynolds and inducing a Miguel Andújar popout. Helsley’s performance earned his 19th save.

 

TEX 1 – LAA 4

• Always a shame when the starting pitcher takes a quality start for a loss, but that’s how Glenn Otto’s night went. Taylor Hearn tossed two innings after Otto, but he couldn’t keep LA off the scoreboard in the 8th inning.
• Reid Detmers sat nine batters down via strike three calls in six innings. Andrew Wantz grabbed his seventh hold by striking out three of his own in 1.1 innings of work. After Wantz was pulled in the 8th inning, José Quijada notched hold #11 by striking out two. Recently, Quijada has been dealing and carrying a 55% K-rate and .105 batting average against over the previous two weeks. Finally, Jimmy Herget struck out two batters on his way to save #9. All in all, Angel’s arms struck out a whopping 16 Rangers.

 

CHW 3 – SDP 1

• Chicago emptied the bullpen for the second time in as many nights. Joe Kelly, Kendall Graveman, Aaron Bummer, and Jimmy Lambert earned holds and limited base runners to completely shut down the Padres’ offense. Finally, Liam Hendriks came on in the 9th to strike out a pair and collect save #35.
• Yu Darvish gets tarnished with the loss, but the bullpen was lights out. Luis Garcia, Robert Suarez, and Nick Martinez struck out four batters and didn’t allow anyone on the base paths to complete the final three innings.

 

COL 1 – LAD 10

• Chad Kuhl left the game before the 4th inning ended after giving up six earned runs. Additionally, things didn’t get any better as Jake Bird allowed three more earned runs in his 1.2 innings. However, give Colorado some credit for not sticking a random position player on the mound. Instead, Alex Colomé and Ty Blach finished the final three frames in a blowout loss.
• With the offensive onslaught early, Kershaw could throw strikes and sit comfortably for his six innings. Yency Almonte and David Price found work in the 7th and 8th inning. Both mowed down batters, and we eventually got Hanser Alberto in the 9th inning. It was his 10th appearance on the season, and he carries a 4.09 ERA with one strikeout.

 

ARI 4 – SFG 10

• I am genuinely sorry if you were expecting good things from Merrill Kelly for your championship week. He surrendered eight earned runs in 4.2 innings, and the game was never close. After a poor appearance (1.1 IP, two ER) from Sean Poppen, Ian Kennedy settled things down for an inning and struck out a batter. Eventually, Taylor Widener found work in the 9th.
• The Giants got a manageable performance from Alex Cobb, who left after giving up four earned through five innings. However, with a big enough lead, he notched his 7th win. Next, Thomas Szapucki K’d two in his only inning, and Alex Young hurled two innings of scoreless ball. Finally, Yunior Marte issued a leadoff walk before ending any hopes of a miraculous finally from Arizona.

 

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

Closing Time: Ranking the Top 30 Closers

Top 100 Relievers for Save+Hold Leagues

 

Photos by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Doug Carlin (@Bdougals on Twitter)