Reliever Ranks – 9/28

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

 

• Every team was in action on Tuesday.
• The case will be the same on Wednesday as 15 games will be played.
• Ten teams have a scheduled day off Thursday (ARI, STL, PIT, CIN, WAS, NYM, ATL, HOU, TOR, NYY). The remaining 20 teams will play straight through the regular season without another off day, pending inclement weather.

 

• The Colorado Rockies placed Carlos Estévez on the COVID-IL. Alex Colomé will be added to the chart as a holds option and Dinelson Lamet will be promoted to the setup role.

 

 

TBR 6 – CLE 5

• In this extra-inning affair, the Rays emptied the arm barn. Eight different relievers combined to cover seven innings. Garrett Cleavinger and Pete Fairbanks were the only arms to go undecided. Holds went to JT Chargois (third hold), Colin Poche (23rd hold), and Brooks Raley (25th hold). Jason Adam was tagged with his fourth blown save in the eighth, forcing the need for free baseball. Javy Guerra took home his second win when the offense took the lead in the top of the 11th and Calvin Faucher locked down his first career save in the bottom half. Fairbanks used 18 pitches in his inning of work and could be turned to again today if needed.
• The Cleveland bullpen was perfect until the 11th. Enyel De Los Santos, Nick Sandlin, Emmanuel Clase, and James Karinchak combined for four perfect frames before Trevor Stephan allowed two runs (one earned) in the 11th and was saddled with his fifth loss. Clase tossed just eight pitches and will be good to go again today.

 

CIN 1 – PIT 4

• Besides Buck Farmer allowing three runs in the seventh, the Reds’ pitching staff was very solid. Hunter Strickland’s scoreless eighth wasn’t enough to offset the disaster by Farmer that resulted in his second loss.
• The top three Pittsburgh arms shortened the game. Wil Crowe tossed two scoreless innings to earn his sixth win. Duane Underwood Jr. set up in the eighth with a perfect inning for his 11th hold. In the ninth, David Bednar secured his first save since returning from the IL. It was his 18th of the season and he should be available today after throwing 18 pitches.

 

KCR 3 – DET 4

• The Royals’ bullpen wasn’t at its best. Dylan Coleman was the first arm to appear and he surrendered three runs and blew his third save before needing Carlos Hernández’s help to finish the inning. Scott Barlow pitched a perfect ninth prior to Anthony Misiewicz allowing Harold Castro to walk it off in the 10th. Barlow needed 12 pitches to get through his appearance and will be in line for any save chances today.
• Five Tigers relievers combined for lights-out relief work. Jason Foley, Angel De Jesus, Daniel Norris, and José Cisnero were scoreless in regulation. Alex Lange earned his sixth win for his scoreless 10th upon the walk-off.

 

ATL 8 – WSN 2

• The Atlanta starter couldn’t survive five frames, so the arm barn made up for it. Collin McHugh earned his third win and keyed 4.1 straight innings of flawless pitching. A.J. Minter, Jesse Chavez, and Tyler Matzek contributed an inning apiece.
• Nothing particularly notable occurred on the Washington side of bullpen usage. Jordan Weems, Mason Thompson, Erasmo Ramírez, and Andres Machado covered the final four frames of the ballgame. Both Weems and Thompson permitted runs. Since I mentioned Machado’s name on the 15th episode of the In The Pen Podcast, the right-hander has pitched to a 1.56 ERA (17.1 IP) in spite of a 5.18 xFIP and a 12/10 K/BB.

 

NYY 5 – TOR 2

• Only one arm was needed out of the Bronx bullpen. Lou Trivino recorded the final five outs of the game to secure his 11th save and first since joining the Yankees at the deadline. In his time as a Yankee, he owns a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings.
• Zach Pop, David Phelps, and Anthony Bass covered the final 3.2 innings for the Blue Jays. Bass has pitched to a 1.71 ERA (21 IP) since being acquired from the Marlins at the deadline.

 

BAL 9 – BOS 13

• In the highest-scoring affair of the day, the Orioles pitching staff was crushed. Not only did the starter surrender seven runs but Joey Krehbiel and Jake Reed combined to allow six more immediately after. The former was tagged with his fifth loss. The rest of the game was much easier to watch as DL Hall, Bryan Baker, Cionel Pérez, and Dillon Tate went unscored upon for five frames.
• Despite giving up two runs, Matt Strahm earned his fourth win across five outs. Zack Kelly, John Schreiber, Ryan Brasier, and Matt Barnes went on to pitch the next four frames as Schreiber was the only one to allow a run. Barnes needed 23 pitches for his inning and may need a rest today after a slightly heavy workload.

 

MIA 6 – NYM 4

• Decisions were handed out to all of the members of the Miami pitching staff that appeared on Tuesday. Huascar Brazoban and Richard Bleier locked down holds, their third and sixth respectively. Bleier was charged with three balks in the very odd outing. Dylan Floro struck out the side in the ninth to secure his eighth save. He needed 14 pitches to do so and could be back on the mound again today.
• In a losing effort, the Mets still utilized some of their top arms. Both Trevor Williams and David Peterson pitched two innings apiece. Tylor Megill pitched the eighth to complete the starter-turned-reliever trifecta. Edwin Díaz made an appearance in the ninth, most likely in an effort to keep him loose as he hadn’t pitched since September 20th. He wasn’t overused and his 19 pitches won’t be enough to hold him out of action today.

 

PHI 1 – CHC 2

• In the lowest-scoring matchup of the day, the Phillies went home defeated despite an impressive pitching performance. The bullpen allowed only one run (charged to Connor Brogdon), but that was enough to saddle them with a loss. It was Brogdon’s second loss. Chris Devenski pitched a perfect eighth.
• The Cubs needed only Brandon Hughes and Manuel Rodríguez to secure the victory. Hughes was credited with his seventh hold following his scoreless eighth and Rodríguez locked down his third save as a result of his perfect ninth.

 

CHW 0 – MIN 4

• The lack of offense reduced the impact of the impressive Chicago arm barn performance. Not only did Aaron Bummer toss a perfect sixth, but Vince Velasquez followed with two perfect frames during which he struck out five of the six batters he faced. Closer Liam Hendriks hasn’t appeared since September 20th.
• The Twins executed a shutout thanks to the help of Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran. The latter fired the third-fastest pitch of the day – a 103.8 mph four-seam fastball, his fastest tracked pitch of the season. He should be good to go again today after firing 15 bullets.

 

STL 6 – MIL 2

• The Cardinals received enough help from their arm barn to record the victory. Andre Pallante allowed a run in the seventh, but Ryan Helsley was lights out on his way to shutting down the game. He struck out four across a pair of hitless innings. The right-hander recorded the fastest pitch of the season when he unleashed a 104.2 mph four-seamer that topped his previous fastest pitch. He utilized 25 pitches and may need a break today. Look for Giovanny Gallegos to get a shot at the ninth if that is the case.
• With the starter unable to survive four frames, the relief corps was forced to step up. Brent Suter, Trevor Gott, Hoby Milner, Taylor Rogers, and Peter Strzelecki covered the final 5.2 innings of the ballgame to make up for it. Suter and Gott combined to permit three runs while the rest of the staff was unscored upon. Closer Devin Williams may need a maintenance inning considering the fact he hasn’t pitched since Friday.

 

ARI 2 – HOU 10

• It wasn’t the best day for the Arizona pitching staff. Taylor Widener and Caleb Smith were the only arms to put up zeroes in the box score. Ian Kennedy surrendered four runs coming via a trio of long balls in the sixth. Luis Frias pitched the eight, permitting a couple more runs on a Jeremy Peña dinger.
• The Astros turned to a couple of lesser-known arms to close out their win. Hunter Brown pitched the eighth and Phil Maton allowed a run while pitching the ninth.

 

OAK 3 – LAA 4

• It only took one run allowed by the arm barn to put the A’s in the L column. Tyler Cyr secured two outs but A.J. Puk surrendered a run and was tagged with his third loss. Austin Pruitt secured the final out of the ninth for Oakland.
• The Angels’ arm barn got the job done. Andrew Wantz got five outs between the sixth and seventh. Ryan Tepera and Jimmy Herget covered the final two frames. The former was credited with his fifth win and the latter secured his seventh save. Herget used 14 pitches in his outing and should get the save opportunity again today.

 

LAD 3 – SDP 4

• The Dodgers were unable to hold off the Padres in extras. Evan Phillips, Caleb Ferguson, Chris Martin, and Tommy Kahnle covered regulation. Ferguson was the only one to allow a run and it was unearned. Craig Kimbrel was saddled with his seventh loss when he permitted a walk-off walk. Phillips tossed 13 pitches during his scoreless appearance and will be used again today if necessary.
• It took extra innings, but the Padres were able to hold on for the victory. It was partially Nick Martinez’s fault that the 10th was even needed because he surrendered two runs in the sixth. He got his seventh hold anyway because Robert Suarez was the one to watch those runners cross home and took his third blown save as a result. Luis García pitched a scoreless eighth before a second blown save was rewarded to Josh Hader (his fourth) when he allowed an unearned run in the ninth. Pierce Johnson was awarded his first win for his scoreless 10th prior to the walk-off. 20 pitches left Hader’s arm, but in a matchup with the division leader, he will probably be turned to again if a save situation arises today.

 

TEX 5 – SEA 0

• A bullpen game shutout is exactly what we like to see in the Reliever Ranks. Jésus Tinoco opened with a pair of hitless frames. He was followed by 3.2 innings from Tyson Miller who induced seven whiffs and a 29% CSW across 66 pitches en route to his first career win. Dennis Santana and Matt Moore earned holds, their 19th and 14th respectively before Jonathan Hernández and José Leclerc pitched an inning apiece to close out the game. Leclerc used 29 pitches and may need Joe Barlow to cover the ninth today.
• The effort by the Seattle bullpen was thwarted by the lack of scoring by their offense. Matthew Boyd and Diego Castillo combined to allow three runs while Penn Murfee and Chris Flexen were unscored upon. Flexen struck out the side in his lone inning of work.

 

COL 2 – SFG 5

• Just two arms appeared for the Rockies. Jake Bird permitted two runs in the seventh while Gavin Hollowell was flawless in the eighth. Closer Daniel Bard hasn’t pitched since Friday and may be in need of a maintenance outing.
• With a relatively close lead, the Giants went with the big guns to secure the victory. Tyler Rogers pitched both the sixth and the seventh, earning his 15th hold along the way. Scott Alexander tossed a perfect eighth to set up for Camilo Doval in the ninth. Doval allowed a run on two hits and two walks but was able to settle down enough to lock down the win. He needed 25 pitches to do so and the team may turn to John Brebbia to close out today’s game as a result.

 

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)