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
- Weather made an already limited slate of games even thinner with Cleveland and Texas having their Monday scheduled game rescheduled to a double header on Tuesday. Only ten teams saw action on Monday (NYM, SD, TOR, KC, SEA, HOU, ARZ, CIN, BOS, LAA)
- Just eight teams have a scheduled off day this coming Thursday (TOR, DET, HOU, SEA, TEX, NYM, CHC, SD
- The Minnesota Twins reinstated multiple members of the bullpen from the restricted list after returning home from their trip across the northern border. Emilio Pagán, Trevor Megill, and Caleb Thielbar were all returned to their active roster and should be available on Tuesday, while Ian Hamilton and Jharel Cotton were sent down to the minors to make room.
Yesterday’s Performances
NYM 11 – SD 5
- Though technically they did play, the New York Mets‘ bullpen was basically gifted an extra day of rest after Carlos Carrasco was able to eat up seven innings and their offense was able to put the game away in the final two innings. Joely Rodríguez and Drew Smith recorded the final six outs of essentially garbage time, though they found a way to make things somewhat interesting by allowing three runs to score off a combined two hits and a walk in the final two innings.
- The Padres leaned on Steve Wilson to stop the bleeding in the middle of the game and he provided much needed relief with three nearly perfect innings, needing just 39 pitches in the process. Craig Stammen essentially put the game out of reach with four earned runs off five hits across his time on the mound in the eighth and ninth innings.
TOR 8 – KC 0
- Kansas City may have been blown out in this one, but it didn’t come off the performance of their bullpen. Jose Cuas, Joel Payamps, and Albert Abreu mopped things up int he final three innings, giving up a combined four hits, three walks, and just one of the team’s eight runs allowed on the night.
- By the time Toronto had to tap into their bullpen, their offense had already put up six runs, giving them a pretty confident cushion to work with. Julian Merryweather, Garrett Richards, Trent Thornton, and Matt Gage kept things rolling through the second half of the game with four innings of one-hit ball, striking out four and walking only one. None of the four relievers used needed more than 14 pitches to get through their portion of the night, so expect them all to be available as early as Tuesday if needed.
ARZ 0 – CIN 7
- Even without the scheduled day off, the Reds’ bullpen was provided with an extra day of rest thanks mostly to the seven inning outing from starter Hunter Greene and in part due to Mother Nature raining out the final two innings.
- Arizona’s bullpen was also mostly spared, with Taylor Widener being the only call made after Madison Bumgarner went five innings. Widener recorded the final five outs for the Diamondbacks, but giving up three runs off four hits and a walk in the process.
BOS 1 – LAA 0
- The Red Sox were also gifted a day off for the bullpen thanks to the complete game gem from starter Michael Wacha. All options should be available on Tuesday.
- In a tight game, Jimmy Herget and Andrew Wantz were Joe Maddon’s choice to keep the game within striking distance and they performed as tasked, providing three innings of scoreless baseball. Their performance not only gave the Angels a chance in their game, but also provided Raisel Iglesias much needed rest after throwing 27 pitches on Sunday.
SEA 7 – HOU 4
- Finally, a save to report on. Diego Castillo recorded his third save of the season after being the four reliever out of the Seattle bullpen. With Paul Sewald pitching in three of the previous four days, it’s not too surprising to see Castillo get the call, even after throwing 14 pitches of his own on Sunday. The rest of the Seattle ‘pen provided the support needed, with Penn Murfee, Ryan Borucki, and Sergio Romo each recording a hold thanks to their scoreless appearances, bridging Robbie Ray to Castillo.
- The Astros’ bullpen was the busiest of the day after Cristian Javier could only muster up three and two thirds to start things off. Six relievers were tasked to finish off the remainder of the game, but in what was ultimately a losing effort, none of them would walk away with any hardware beyond a combined seven strikeouts across five and a third innings of work. Though none of the six relievers crossed the 16 pitch count mark, Héctor Neris, Ryne Stanek, and Phil Maton were used for the second straight day and should be given a day of rest on Tuesday.
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 5/26: Ranking the Top 100 Relievers for Holds
Closing Time 5/31: Ranking the Top 40 Closers
Top 100 Relievers for Save+Hold Leagues: 5/27
Photos by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Doug Carlin (@Bdougals on Twitter)