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 30 MLB teams play today and tomorrow, meaning primary bullpen arms might see added usage through the weekend. However, LAA, CHW, KCR, STL, ARI, MIA, MIN, BAL, NYY, TOR, ATL, NYM, SEA, HOU, TBR, and OAK don’t get a day off on Monday.
- The Giants placed Dominic Leone on the 10-day IL and purchased the contract of Mauricio Llovera.
- Arizona placed closer Mark Melancon on the COVID IL and recalled Caleb Smith. The team also purchased the contract of former-closer Kenyan Middleton while optioning Tyler Holton. Moving into the ninth inning role will likely be Ian Kennedy.
- Baltimore moved Alexander Wells to the 10-day IL and pushed long-reliever Mike Baumann to the minors. The team promoted Kyle Bradish, but he started Friday’s game.
- Boston optioned Tyler Danish to make room for Tanner Houck, who was on the restricted list. Additionally, they reinstated Kutter Crawford and optioned John Schreiber.
- The White Sox optioned Kyle Crick and activated Ryan Burr from the 10-day IL.
Yesterday’s Performances
- Robert Suarez danced around the strike zone as he tossed two scoreless innings. Only 11 of his 21 pitches were thrown for strikes, but the job still got done. The team tried to preserve Taylor Rogers since he had pitched back-t0-back nights, but Craig Stammen allowed two hits and was pulled. Rogers shut the door to collect his eighth save but will be unavailable for tonight’s action. Next in line should be Luis García.
- Let’s face it, outside of David Bednar, Chris Stratton, and Wil Crowe, the Pirates bullpen isn’t all that appealing. Heck, even Dillon Peters didn’t make it into the game. Instead, Heath Hembree, Aaron Fletcher, and Sam Howard came in, allowing an earned run. The final six outs were recorded by Beau Sulser, who walked three but didn’t allow a player to cross home plate. The bullpen will look for redemption tonight.
- The Marlins inserted Tanner Scott and Cody Poteet to get them through eight innings. The pair combined only to allow one base runner while striking out four batters. With an 8-3 lead in the top of the ninth, the team tried to get Shawn Armstrong some work, but his outing was a disaster(0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER). Not wanting the game to slip away, Anthony Bender was called to the mound, and he completed his fifth save of the season, the third in the last four games.
- Seattle went down early and elected to save its primary arms. Instead, we got a chance to see recent call-ups Wyatt Mills and Penn Murfee. Each tossed two scoreless innings of work. Matthew Festa was also getting a couple of innings, and he is a slider-first RP with a 94/95 mph four-seam fastball. However, he didn’t fare so well as he coughed up two earned runs but didn’t strike out four batters.
- The Chicago Cubs went down early and elected not to use any primary bullpen arms. Instead, the ball was handed to Daniel Norris and Sean Newcomb since they hadn’t pitched in over five days. Outside of a nearly perfect inning from Mark Leiter Jr., the bullpen was a disaster and allowed five earned runs in less than four innings.
- Milwaukee had a similar mindset and finished the final three innings with Hoby Milner, Jandel Gustave, and Jake Cousins. The trio allowed one early run in the seventh but kept the Chicago offense off the board in an 11-3 routing.
- Tanner Houck piggybacked three innings and collected his second win of the season. After coming off the restricted list, he showed signs of rust by walking three batters and allowing two hits. In the eighth inning(!!!), Jake Diekman was flawless as he notched his seventh hold. Hansel Robles entered the ninth inning, but he allowed an earned run(Ryan Mountcastle HR) and was yanked because Rougned Odor was up to bat. Southpaw Matt Strahm was inserted, but RHB Chris Owings was brought to the plate after a switcheroo. Strahm ended the theatrics with a nine-pitch out for his first save.
- The Orioles bullpen was all Keegan Akin, who bulked 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball and only allowed one hit. After not pitching for several days, Jorge López entered for a one-out appearance, and he’ll be available for tonight’s closer duties.
- After six innings, Houston had put ten runs on the board, but Toronto was still within shouting distance. So, the Astros still put higher-leverage RPs in, but Phil Maton was disappointing in a two-run inning. However, the ball was turned over to Ryne Stanek(1.0 IP, 2 K) and Héctor Neris(1.0 IP, 3 K). The pair shut down any hopes of the Blue Jay’s comeback.
- On the other side, since Yusei Kikuchi failed to make it out of the third inning, Toronto emptied the bullpen. However, most were lesser-known RP. Except for Julian Merryweather, who struck out three in 1.2 innings of work. All the primary RP arms will be rested and available for Saturday action.
- The Twins needed only needed one RP after Dylan Bundy. Making his lone appearance was Danny Coulombe for two scoreless innings. Expect to see usage from Jhoan Duran tonight since he hasn’t pitched since last Sunday(4/24).
- Like the Twins, the Rays didn’t dip into their bullpen arms either. Phoenix Sanders threw strikes(15-of-26) over his two scoreless innings, and Javy Guerra didn’t disappoint as he kept the scoreboard clean in the seventh inning.
- The Mets bullpen was lights out! Drew Smith, Joely Rodríguez, and Seth Lugo combined for three innings of hitless relief. Sure, they walked three, but the trio each collected a hold. Additionally, speaking of lights out, Edwin Diaz was filthy(1.0 IP, 3 K, 55% CSW). His slider found four whiffs on ten pitches, and the four-seam fastball had two whiffs on three pitches. Diaz earned his fourth save of the season.
- After an Aaron Nola six-inning performance, the Phillies only needed two innings from Nick Nelson. In Nelson’s 40 pitch performance, he pounded the strike zone often as 24 went for strikes. He scattered three hits and a walk but managed to keep the scoreboard empty,
- It was a bullpen game for the Angels. They needed a spot start from long-reliever Jimmy Herget (3.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K, 1 ER). So, we saw a bevy of arms from the pen. Austin Warren vultured the win in a two-inning appearance after Herget. The usual suspects were the following: Archie Bradley, Aaron Loup, and Ryan Tepera. Each collected a hold as they didn’t allow an earned run. Lastly, making his fourth save appearance in five days was Raisel Iglesias. He’ll need a breather and likely get tonight off. In his place will be a complete dice roll since the entire bullpen has been over-worked.
- None of the primary arms were used for the White Sox, and Matt Foster got more work as he appeared in his third game in four days. So, expect to see some of the high-leverage arms on the bump today.
- Atlanta’s Tyler Matzek notched a one-out hold in the seventh inning as four of his six pitches were strikes. Following him, Will Smith allowed one earned run(Corey Seager HR). Finally, Kenley Jansen picked up his sixth save of the season to close down the game. That makes eight consecutive scoreless outings for Jansen.
- Texas tried an opener, Garrett Richards, but he wasn’t effective(1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 ER). Next, SP Spencer Howard had issues of his own and failed to make it past two innings while allowing many baserunners and one earned run. The team leaned heavily on Kolby Allard, Albert Abreu, and Brock Burke, needing innings. The trio worked the final six innings as the Rangers looked past this game.
- As mentioned in the earlier notes, Arizona is without Mark Melancon. Friday night is a good indicator that Ian Kennedy is the presumed closer since they turned to him in the ninth, even with a four-run lead. On an otherwise quiet night, Noé Ramirez and Luis Frías picked up holds.
- For St Louis, the primary bullpen arms were kept out of Friday’s fun. Instead, the Cards offered up a bevy of middle relievers. The most significant component was Nick Wittgren, who tossed a clean ninth inning. This was Wittgrens third appearance in four days, and he’ll likely get rest tonight.
- The Rockies had this game pretty much in hand by the seventh inning. With a score of 9-1, they elected to give Alex Colomé some work in the eighth inning (1.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 K). Before Colomé, Jhoulys Chacín notched his second hold on the season. Finally, with the game practically over, Ashton Goudeau finished the game out in an unsavory manner (1.0 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 ER).
- The implosion of Phillip Diehl led the story for the Reds bullpen. He allowed five hits and two walks which led to a four-run output. Luis Cessa coughed up a run before Diehl, and Jeff Hoffman struck out a pair in his 1.1 innings of work. However, the good news is all the primary bullpen arms are rested and ready for tonight.
- In a squeaker, Cleveland took down Oakland after a four-run seventh inning. Up by only one run, the Guardians finished the game with their two best RPs. Trevor Stephan was flawless in two innings, and Emmanuel Clase’s scoreless inning earned him a save. We should expect a heavy dosage of this pairing anytime Cleveland has a late lead.
- For Oakland, two performances stand out. Domingo Acevedo struggled as he allowed two earned runs. He left too many pitches over the plate and paid the price. Josh Naylor took him deep. Also, A.J. Puk performed by striking out four in two innings. His slider picked up five whiffs on nine swings, and the four-seam fastball received three whiffs on six swings. VERY NICE!
- The Dodgers won their 13th game on the back of Tyler Anderson’s five-inning start, and included in the pitching success was the bullpen. Evan Phillips, Phil Bickford, Brusdar Graterol, and Reyes Moronta combined for four scoreless innings. Additionally, they only allowed one baserunner while striking out four. It was a tranquil night for Detroit bats.
- As equally impressive of a showing, Detroit’s bullpen only allowed three hits over the final 5.2 innings. Will Vest, Andrew Chafin, and Alex Lange only allowed two base runners. Notably, Vest struck out four batters as well. Gregory Soto and Michael Fulmer will undoubtedly be active tonight.
- The Yankees used Jonathan Loáisiga and Chad Green on back-to-back nights. This would have been an excellent spot to rest these two since they were up by ten runs. We should expect both out for tonight’s action and expect them to use Clay Holmes in any high-leverage spot.
- Washington and San Francisco elected to use lower-leverage and long relievers on the night. We should expect to see the primaries like Camilo Doval, Jake McGee, Kyle Finnegan, and Tanner Rainey when they resume action tonight since none of them have pitched since Wednesday(4/27).
Photos by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Doug Carlin (@Bdougals on Twitter)