Reliever Ranks – 4/16

Welcome back to the newest 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 MLB teams will play Saturday, and there are no days off until Monday for NYY, TOR, MIA, DET, KCR, SEA, TEX, and STL.
• A.J. Puk and Kirby Snead were placed on the restricted list, causing Oakland to recall Zach Logue and Ryan Castellani.

 

• San Diego Padres Luis García was activated from the 10-day IL.
• Chicago Cubs Keegan Thompson served a suspended game on Friday. He will still be unavailable on Saturday.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

 

• The Dodgers bullpen only needed two arms to claim victory over Cincinnati. Tyler Anderson piggybacked off Tony Gonsolin, who only went four innings again. This could be a trend as the season progresses. Anderson scattered two hits over his four innings and only allowed one run while striking out four. The stellar outing earned him the W. Closer Craig Kimbrel threw a scoreless frame on 13 pitches.
• The Reds threw four backend bullpen arms at the Dodgers and found success. Jeff Hoffman, Dauri Moreta, Alexis Diaz, and Ryan Hendrix kept the opposition quiet for the final four innings as they allowed no runs. The good news, this means all the primary bullpen arms are well-rested for the weekend.

 

• After starter Marco Gonzales gave Houston problems through seven innings, Yohan Ramirez fired a quick and clean eighth inning on only six pitches. Not allowing any doubt, Matt Koch made his season debut and shut the door on the Astros while striking out a batter.
• The Astros bullpen imploded last night by allowing seven earned runs over nearly four innings. Bryan Abreu and Pedro Báez were having issues throwing strikes, and Ronel Blanco gave up a two-run blast. However, it’s a quick turnaround tomorrow between the two teams.

 

• After hurling a clean seventh inning, Atlanta’s Darren O’Day was credited with the win. Additionally, Tyler Matzek followed by striking out one in a scoreless frame. Side note for Matzek, the slider was down over 350 RPM. Finally, Kenley Jansen made it look easy by striking out two batters. Nine of his 11 pitchers went for strikes earning him an impressive 73% CSW.
• Padres’ starter MacKenzie Gore went deeper than expected before getting pulled in the sixth. Newly-reinstated Luis García closed out the sixth in quick fashion. Robert Suarez and Dinelson Lamet were able to keep Atlanta off the scoreboard in a little over two innings. However, Pierce Johnson showed he is human by giving up four hits and three earned runs in less than an inning of work.

 

• Nick Wittgren allowed a leadoff single and hit Tyrone Taylor with a pitch before inducing a flyball to scathe too much damage in the seventh inning. Next, Andre Pallante was called upon to finish the final two frames and preserve the W for Miles Mikolas‘ 6.2 inning masterpiece. Pallante wasn’t perfect but did the job as the Cardinals claimed victory.
• Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta got rocked and only lasted three innings. The team turned to former starter José Ureña for bulk relief. His three innings game with a pair of earned runs, and the game was firmly out of hand by the sixth inning. Hoby Milner stabilized the ship through two innings after, but Brent Suter allowed two earned runs and didn’t record a single out. To preserve bullpen arms, infielder Mike Brosseau closed out the ninth inning.

 

• For nearly six innings, starter Tarik Skubal looked electric and shut down Kansas City. However, the offense couldn’t scratch any runs on the scoreboard until the seventh inning, making the W vulture Jacob Barnes. Following Barnes, Joe Jiménez threw a one-hit, two K inning of scoreless ball to pick up his first hold. Up by one run, the Tigers handed the ball to Michael Fulmer since Gregory Soto had pitched back-to-back games. Fulmer’s scoreless inning earned him the save.
• Royal’s starter Brad Keller looked equally impressive through seven innings. Josh Staumont and Scott Barlow finally found work as neither had pitched since Monday. Look for both to see more action soon as neither threw more than ten pitches.

 

• Texas elected to try a bullpen game by using Matt Bush as an opener. He and Albert Abreu were OK, as they only allowed two runs through the first three innings. But Kolby Allard got lit up hard. Leaving entirely too much over the plate, the Angels bashed a pair of HRs and threw a five-spot on the board. A bright spot of the evening for Texas was Spencer Patton’s two-innings of shutdown baseball as he dropped his ERA under two.
• While there was a lot of scoring between the Rangers and Angels, in the end, it was close. Austin Warren collected the relief win on 1.1 innings of work. But the workhorses of the bullpen were in full force. Aaron Loup and Ryan Tepera earned their third hold on a little more than three innings of no-run pitching before Raisel Iglesias struck out two. The appearance earned Iglesias his second save of the season.

 

• In a low-scoring affair, the White Sox only used three RPs to win this one. Aaron Bummer and Kendall Graveman earned holds, but Bummer looked shaky. He danced around three hits but allowed one run. Up by only one, it was Liam Hendriks time! Hurling eight strikes over 11 pitches, he made quick and quiet work of the Rays.
• The Rays decided to deploy the slider-heavy duo of Brooks Raley and Matt Wisler. Of the 27 pitches thrown between them, 18 were sliders. It did the job and kept runs off the board. Jason Adams threw a clean inning with two Ks as well.

 

• Seven strong innings from Carlos Rodón made life easier on the Giants bullpen, and Tyler Rogers threw another clean frame on eight total pitches back from paternity leave. Lastly, it appears Camilo Doval is the closer. His scoreless ninth inning gives him a second save of the season and puts Jake McGee unquestionably behind him.
• The Guardians decided everyone gets to play today. They pitched six RPs from the sixth inning and on. Outside of an unearned two-run frame from Anthony Castro, they were stout. Trevor Stephan, Anthony Gose, Bryan Shaw, Sam Hentges, and Konnor Pilkington combined for three innings of scoreless baseball. It may not have been pretty, but it got the job done and preserved the primary bullpen arms.

 

• After last night, Toronto won their fifth game of the season, and Adam Cimber has been the recipient of three of them. Cimber struck out three batters over his 1.2 innings of scoreless ball. Next, Yimi García pitched another scoreless frame and was credited with a hold. Lastly, Jordan Romano continued his scoreless streak to collect his fifth save on the season.
• Oakland’s bullpen was decimated, and the team had to turn to less known pitchers. Let’s face it, outside of Lou Trivino, Dany Jiménez, and Domingo Acevedo, you would really be avoiding this pen.

 

• Until very recently, the Yankees bullpen has been unreal. However, Aroldis Chapman has completely lost control in the past few days and kept walking batters. The yips must be contagious because Clarke Schmidt put three on via the walk. In total, the bullpen walked eight Orioles. Chapman will be unavailable on Saturday, and should a save opportunity arrive, maybe they will look to Chad Green or Clay Holmes since both didn’t pitch on Friday.
• Baltimore elected to throw closer Jorge López in the eighth inning in a tied game.  He shut the door by sitting down Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson, and Joey Gallo in order. After Bryan Baker and Cionel Pérez kept the game scoreless for two more innings, unlikely hero Joey Krehbiel earned the W.

 

• The Nationals scored early and often, and this made starter Erick Fedde’s job easier as he pitched five strong innings. A trio of Sean Doolittle, Austin Voth, and Paolo Espino combined to allow one baserunner and four Ks over the final four innings. Thanks to them, we should see extended work for the primary bullpen arms for Washington: Steve Cishek, Kyle Finnegan, and Tanner Rainey.
• For the Pirates, starter Mitch Keller struggled with command, and long reliever Miguel Yajure was summoned to make a three-inning appearance. He didn’t fare much better and allowed three earned runs while walking two and only striking out one. Since the team was down by seven late in the game, they let Heath Hembree and Aaron Fletcher get some work. Expect a heavy dose of David Bednar and Chris Stratton soon.

 

• Jhoan Duran had not pitched since Monday, so the team inserted him in the seventh and eighth inning. Duran was struck out four in his two innings but allowed three earned runs. Then, Emilio Pagán locked up the ninth with a pair of Ks. The Twins bullpen comes with a lot of question marks about usage. The staff still likes Duran to close, but it’s a murky situation.
• Similar to the Twins, Boston has its question marks. Matt Barnes coughed up two earned runs while finally making his way back to the ninth inning, working his way back from a minor injury. Barnes labored through 27 pitches and will likely be unavailable for Saturday. Jake Diekman or Hansel Robles would be in like for any save opportunities.

 

• Rockies closer Daniel Bard notched his third save in an ugly appearance. But that’s somewhat expected from a Colorado closer. Speaking of rocky performance, Carlos Estévez walked three batters and allowed a hit, but zero runs crossed the plate-talk about fortunate. Alex Colomé and Tyler Kinley picked up holds on scoreless innings, with Ty Blach culturing a win.
• The Cubs are starting Mark Leiter Jr. on Saturday and needed to preserve arms. Scott Effross and Daniel Norris finished the game with three scoreless innings. Additionally, Corbin Martin labored through an inning and allowed a solo shot. Expect a heavy dose of Jesse Chavez or Michael Rucker today.

 

• The Marlins and Phillies game was fairly uneventful between the bullpens. Miami got work for Richard Bleier, albeit four total pitches. And the Phillies got an inning of work for Andrew Bellatti and Jeurys Familia. Neither bullpen factored into the decision of the game, and we should see all primary bullpen arms ready for Saturday action.
• Similarly, the Mets and Diamondback game have very little bullpen implications. Mets reliever Chasen Shreve struck out all three of his batters using a splitter/four-seam fastball approach. With the game seemingly out of sight, the D-backs elected to pitch Caleb Smith for the final nine outs. He allowed five runs but preserved the bullpen.