Reliever Ranks – 8/19

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

 

• Eleven baseball games were played yesterday with no doubleheaders. Thus eight teams were out of action and got to rest their bullpens, including CLE, DET, MIN, LAA, SEA, MIA, PHI, and CIN.
• All 30 teams play today, weather permitting. The Mariners have yet to announce a starter and may turn to the recently demoted Chris Flexen to give them some innings.
• The Mets and Phillies play a doubleheader tomorrow. Starters haven’t been announced for either team yet. Both may dip into the minors to pull a starter up, but the bullpens figure to be busy either way. Keep an eye on the schedules and the bullpen usage from tonight’s game to identify possible vulture candidates.

 

• The Rangers activated Matt Moore from the paternity/bereavement/family medical emergency list yesterday. We slotted back in as a solid holds option, removing Brett Martin from the hierarchy. Texas optioned John King to clear a roster spot.
• Dustin May is expected to be activated tomorrow and start for the Dodgers. He’ll likely be on a pitch count, so the bullpen could be busy for Los Angeles. Keep an eye on who throws tonight, as it will affect availability for tomorrow.
• A day after the Royals reinstated Joel Payamps from the bereavement list, they designated him for assignment. As such, we removed him from the bulk reliever role in the chart, replacing him with Carlos Hernández.
• Matt Strahm is supposed to be activated from the IL by the Red Sox today. Assuming this transaction occurs, he’ll slide back in as an option for holds.

 

 

 

STL 13 – COL 0

• The Cardinals’ bullpen didn’t have to work too hard after Adam Wainwright gave them seven shutout innings and left with a 13-0 lead. Génesis Cabrera and Chris Stratton drew the short strays and had to cover the final two innings, which both did with minimal effort. Apparently, no position players were available.
• The Rockies pen, on the other hand, had to work hard after Antonio Senzatela left with a sprained knee in the second inning. Senzatela wasn’t exactly dominating prior to the injury and was ultimately charged with five earned runs. The last came with his replacement, Austin Gomber, on the mound. Gomber pitched two and 1/3 innings and gave up another five runs, reminding Cardinals fans that they should have no regrets about trading him in a package for Nolan Arenado. Robert Stephenson handled the fifth and sixth, allowing two more runs to score. Last up was Jake Bird, who fared the best of the Rockies’ pitchers on the day by only allowing one run to score in his two innings.

 

TEX 10 – OAK 3

• Dane Dunning went six innings and left the bullpen with an 8-2 lead to protect. They fared pretty well, with only Brett Martin allowing a run. New papa Matt Moore and José Leclerc threw a scoreless inning apiece.
• Zack Logue watched his ERA balloon after being charged with seven earned runs over four and 1/3 innings. The final straw came on a three-run homer by Nathaniel Lowe in the fifth. Domingo Tapia succeeded Logue and managed to give up only one more run over two and 2/3 innings. Austin Pruitt was summoned to mop up in the eighth but had issues, allowing two more Rangers to score in this very lopsided contest.

 

HOU 21 – CHW 5

• Luis Garcia didn’t pitch great for the Astros, but he didn’t need to as his offense spotted him ten runs. He left after five up 10-3 and turned the game over to the bullpen, which allowed two more Chisox to score over the final four innings. Four pitchers threw an inning each, including Phil Maton, Will Smith, Bryan Abreu, and Rafael Montero – who must have needed some exercise. Maton and Smith allowed a run each while Abreu managed to strike out the side.
• Lucas Giolito must have been informed that yesterday’s theme was blowouts as he contributed to the lopsided scores of the day. He lasted only three innings before mercifully being replaced by Vince Velasquez after allowing seven runs to plate. Velasquez tried to match Giolito by giving up another five runs in his three innings. Not to be outdone, José Ruiz took over in the seventh and allowed five more runs to come in over two innings of work. Tony LaRussa had seen enough from his bullpen and trotted super-sub Josh Harrison out to handle the ninth. He got three outs – after allowing four more runs to score. Come on, Astros, lighten up!

 

MIL 5 – LAD 3

• Corbin Burnes started the sixth with a 5-0 lead but left the inning with two outs, three runs in, and a runner on third. Brad Boxberger coaxed a strikeout out of Chris Taylor to end the inning, and the back end of the Brewers bullpen did the rest. Taylor Rogers and Matt Bush covered the seventh and eighth without issue, and thus both earned holds. Devin Williams did his thing in the ninth, striking out the side for his eighth save.
• Dodgers’ starter Andrew Heaney had issues with the long ball, allowing three home runs. Andrew McCutchen, who had two of them, was no doubt sorry to see him leave the game in the fifth. LA’s bullpen did their best by not allowing another run to score, but the offense couldn’t complete the comeback. Working for the Dodgers were Reyes Moronta, David Price, Phil Bickford, and Alex Vesia.

 

CHC 3 – BAL 2

• Adrian Sampson earned his first win of 2022 after throwing five and 2/3 shutout innings. Sean Newcomb, Erich Uelmen, and Brandon Hughes followed. Newcomb and Uelmen picked up holds, though Newcomb did allow two runs to score (one earned). Hughes notched his first save of the season with Rowan Wick unavailable after throwing in back-to-back games. Hughes has now gone in three of four but only threw ten pitches yesterday. Uelmen is almost certainly out today after throwing on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
• Spenser Watkins deserved a better fate after going five and 2/3 innings and allowing only one run off a dinger by Willson Contreras. Joey Krehbiel picked up for him and was doing fine until the eighth when Rafael Ortega led off the inning with another homer. One out later, Contreras hit his second of the game, and Krehbiel was sad. Bryan Baker got the last out of the eighth and threw a scoreless ninth, but the rally caps weren’t working for the Orioles in this one.

 

ARI 5 – SF 0

• The underrated Zac Gallen picked up his ninth win of the season after shutting the Giants out over seven and 1/3 innings. Noé Ramirez got the final two outs of the eighth, and Kevin Ginkel tossed a 1-2-3 ninth.
• Logan Webb was charged with five runs, but only three were earned. Webb might have completed the fifth, but a fielding error by Joc Pederson got things going for the D’backs, and he couldn’t recover. Thomas Szapucki finished the inning and two more before turning it over to Zack Littell, who covered the final two innings without incident.

 

PIT 8 – BOS 3

• JT Brubaker dominated the Red Sox, allowing no runs, no walks, and only two hits over seven innings. Zach Thompson came on in the eighth and promptly blew the shutout, allowing a run and leaving the bases loaded for Manny Bañuelos. Banuelos let one of the inherited runners score but otherwise escaped the inning without further damage. Colin Holderman retired the side in order in the ninth.
• Boston let starter Josh Winckowski go five innings, but it may have been one too many as a 4-0 deficit became 6-0 when Bryan Reynolds homered off him. Austin Davis took over in the sixth and pitched the final three frames, allowing two more runs to score in the sixth. If there’s a silver lining, the Boston pen should be good to go tonight except for Davis.

 

TOR 9 – NYY 2

• José Berríos went to 9-5 after holding the Yankees to two runs (one earned) over six and 2/3 innings. Anthony Bass got the last out of the seventh and was followed by the recently demoted Yusei Kikuchi, who pitched a scoreless eighth. Jordan Romano came on in the ninth despite the huge lead as he hadn’t pitched since Saturday. As he only threw ten pitches, he should be fine for tonight.
• Frankie Montas is struggling to make a good impression on his new team. The second inning was especially brutal for him Thursday, highlighted by a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. three-run shot. Montas left after six, down 6-2, and Albert Abreu let the game get away (with some help from an error by DJ LeMahieu). Three more runs (two earned) came across in the seventh, leaving the Bombers with an uphill climb. Lucas Luetge held his ground, holding the Jays scoreless over the final two innings, but the offense couldn’t muster.

 

TBR 7 – KCR 1

• Luis Patiño made a triumphant return to the majors, picking up the win after holding the Royals scoreless for five and 2/3 innings. Colin Poche picked him up and earned a hold before the Rays pulled away in the bottom of the seventh. With a big lead, Kevin Cash turned to Shawn Armstrong to get the final eight outs. He only allowed two hits, but one of them was a solo shot by Michael Massey, which broke up the shutout.
• Max Castillo pitched well for the Royals, only allowing one run over five innings. Amir Garrett got the next four outs without allowing a hit, then gave way to Brad Keller. Then the wheels fell off. Keller was smacked around in his 2/3 of an inning of work, allowing six hits and five runs. The Rays greeted him with six straight hits before he recorded the final two outs of the inning. Josh Staumont pitched the eighth and wasn’t sharp either, though he held the scoring to a Christian Bethancourt home run.

 

ATL 3 – NYM 2

• Max Fried out-dueled Jacob DeGrom, going seven innings and allowing two runs for the win. A.J. Minter and Raisel Iglesias combined to cover the eighth, and both earned holds for their efforts. Kenley Jansen closed the Mets down in the ninth for his 28th save of 2022.
• DeGrom left with two outs in the seventh after a Francisco Lindor single. Seth Lugo got the last out of the inning, and Mychal Givens struck out the side in the ninth. It should be a fun race between these two teams in September.

 

WSN 3 – SDP 1 

• Anibel Sanchez gave the Nats five innings of one-run ball before giving way to the bullpen. Jake McGee, Hunter Harvey, Víctor Arano, and Carl Edwards Jr. combined to keep the Friars off the board until the ninth when Kyle Finnegan closed it out for the save. Edwards earned the win as the Nationals took the lead in the top half of the ninth.
• Yu Darvish was cruising, heading into the ninth inning. He’d only allowed three hits and one run off an Ildemaro Vargas homer, but after allowing two hits with one out, he departed in favor of Josh Hader. Hader hit Luke Voit with a pitch to load the bases, then walked in the go-ahead run. A sacrifice fly later, and the Padres were down 3-1. Luke Voit and CJ Abrams rejoiced.

 

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)