Reliever Ranks – 9/3

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

 

• After a smaller slate on Thursday, all 30 teams took the field on Friday, and all 30 teams square off on Saturday.
• The next off day isn’t until Monday (9/5), and the following teams have off: ATL, CHC, CIN, MIA, PHI, and OAK. Furthermore, we could see those teams push their bullpen arms on little rest.

 

• The Los Angeles Dodgers activated Blake Treinen from the 60-day IL, and he slots into a setup role that could provide holds. We haven’t seen Treinen toe the rubber since mid-April due to a shoulder injury. From a workload standpoint, the expectation likely won’t be for Treinen to pitch on back-to-back days for a little bit. Conversely, Jake Reed was designated for assignment.
• Other minor transactional news: Wyatt Mills was recalled by KCR, Denyi Reyes DFA’d by BAL, Tyler Danish recalled by BOS, and Aaron Bummer transferred to the 60-day IL.

 

• The following reliever pitched on back-to-back nights and is likely unavailable: Kaleb Ort (BOS), Reynaldo López (CHW), Jimmy Lambert (CHW), Bryan Shaw (CLE), Andrew Chafin (DET), Jose Cuas (KCR), Norge Ruiz (OAK), Dinelson Lamet (COL), and Justin Lawrence (COL).
• The Toronto Blue Jays are starting Trevor Richards, who has made 51 appearances out of the pen but none as a starter. Since Yusei Kikuchi hasn’t made an appearance since Sunday, he’ll likely toss a couple of bulk innings after Richards.

 

 

TOR 4 – PIT 0

• Toronto blanked the Pirates with a seven-inning start from Manoah, followed by two stellar bullpen performances. The first was Tim Mayza, who struck out the only two batters faced in the 8th inning. The other was Adam Cimber hurled a clean 9th inning with one strikeout.
• Pittsburgh attempted to piggyback its starters by utilizing Johan Oviedo for three innings and Tyler Beede for the next three. The game plan worked for Oviedo as he sprinkled base runners but no runs. However, Beede did the same but allowed two runs to cross home plate. Then, Chase De Jong tossed two scoreless innings to keep the team within two runs late. In the 9th inning, Yohan Ramirez served a two-run shot to Bo Bichette.

 

COL 2 – CIN 3

• Kyle Freeland ran into trouble in the 6th inning and exited with two men on base. Justin Lawrence came in and put an end to Cincy’s offensive threat by striking out Jose Barrero. In the 7th inning, Dinelson Lamet gave up a solo shot to Jake Fraley, which tied the game up. Carlos Estévez followed by striking out a pair in the 8th inning. Unfortunately, in the 9th, Alex Colomé gave up a leadoff double to Spencer Steer, who eventually scored the winning run.
• Luis Cessa surprised many as he pitched into the 5th inning. Things stayed very quiet after that as Fernando Cruz, Joel Kuhnel, and Buck Farmer combined for three innings of scoreless ball with five Ks. Finally, in the 9th inning, Alexis Díaz struck out one and earned the W after the team’s late offensive heroics.

 

CHC 0 – STL 8

• Chicago tossed Javier Assad for an inning after Adrian Sampson lasted five innings. Assad minimized the damage, and only one scored, but a pair of base hits spoiled his outing. Finally, Sean Newcomb tossed the last two frames and was putrid. He allowed five earned runs as his four walks allowed became a problem.
• We only saw two RPs from St. Louis as Montgomery dominated six innings. Jordan Hicks earned hold #6 with three punchouts in his lone innings, and Chris Stratton struck out a pair over the final six outs. The couple didn’t allow a single baserunner.

 

OAK 2 – BAL 8

• In the 7th inning, Kirby Snead was the first RP out of the pen, and he did his job by striking out two to keep the game tied. However, Domingo Acevedo collapsed by walking three batters and allowing three earned runs before getting pulled early. Norge Ruiz completed the final two outs.
• After back-to-back pitching nights, Cionel Pérez and Félix Bautista weren’t available in this one. Instead, Baltimore went with Bryan Baker for 1.2 innings of scoreless ball and Dillon Tate for the final four outs. The scoreless affair earned Tate his third win of the season.

 

KCR 4 – DET 5

• Daniel Lynch was cruising until the fifth inning when he served up four runs and left the game without the lead. Amir Garrett followed by tossing a scoreless 6th inning that included a strikeout, but Carlos Hernández couldn’t continue the trend in the 7th as he allowed an earned run. Jose Cuas cleaned up the 7th inning mess. Finally, Dylan Coleman kept things quiet in the 8th inning.
• Thanks to timely hitting, Andrew Chafin earned his first win after pitching 1.1 innings of scoreless ball that lingered into the 7th. Will Vest notched his third hold with a scoreless 8th inning, and Gregory Soto grabbed save #24 with a three-strikeout performance.

 

WSN 3 – NYM 7

• Recently, Washington’s bullpen has been overworked, and high-leverage RPs (Kyle Finnegan and Carl Edwards Jr.) were unavailable. Instead, Steve Cishek was summonsed for an inning but allowed an earned run over three hits. Mason Thompson tossed a clean frame in the 8th inning, and Cory Abbott made a late-inning appearance out of the pen.
• Mychal Givens earned his 7th win on the back of a 1.2 inning outing that included getting David Peterson out of a 6th inning jam. The final two frames belonged to Joely Rodríguez (8th inning) and Seth Lugo (9th inning), as both allowed a hit and struck out two while not allowing any runs.

 

SEA 6 – CLE 1

• Seattle didn’t need much bullpen work in this one, as Luis Castillo tossed six scoreless innings. In the 7th inning, Diego Castillo wasn’t as sharp as usual and gave up an earned run on two hits. The final two innings belonged to Matt Festa, who struck out one and didn’t allow the two hits allowed to cross home plate.
• Cleveland only got two innings out of Cody Morris, who made his first appearance last night. Conversely, this meant the bullpen would get extra work. Sam Hentges was stout for two innings and didn’t allow any runs, and things were smooth for Bryan Shaw in the 5th inning. However, upon his return in the 6th inning, he gave up a two-run shot to Cal Raleigh before getting pulled. Eli Morgan and Kirk McCarty cleaned up the rest of the way and combined for 3.2 innings with no runs and a pair of Ks.

 

TEX 1 – BOS 9

• Dallas Keuchel was atrocious for 4.2 innings and left after giving up seven earned runs. It didn’t get any better for Texas as A.J. Alexy gave up two earned runs over his 2.1 innings. Finally, Charlie Culberson (3B) pitched the final frame.
• Nick Pivetta left after only three innings, and Tyler Danish vultured the W, his third, after an inning of successful relief. Following Danish, Matt Strahm completed two scoreless innings and earned his 10th hold. The 7th through 9th innings went to Ryan Brasier, Kaleb Ort, and Eduard Bazardo since the team was a) up by a bunch and b) wanted to rest John Schreiber and Garrett Whitlock after recent high-pitch count appearances.

 

NYY 0 – TBR 9

• The only Yankees RP that didn’t allow a run was Marwin Gonzalez. Although, he only pitched for one out after Anthony Banda imploded for three earned runs while not recording an out. Furthermore, Greg Weissert was not much better as he gave up a trio of runs in his lone inning.
• Following nearly six innings of scoreless pitching from Jeffrey Springs, JT Chargois (H,1 ), Colin Poche (H, 17), and Jason Adam (H, 20) earned holds after clean outings. In the 9th inning, Calvin Faucher completed a two-strikeout performance as the Rays routed the Yankees.

 

MIA 1 – ATL 8

• Sandy Alcantara left after five innings with a poor showing (6 ER). In the 6th inning, Huascar Brazoban put three men on base but struck out a pair to escape issues. Cole Sulser also tried to escape danger but allowed a pair of HRs in his one inning of work. Finally, Richard Bleier struck out two as the team dropped its 76th game.
• Following a two-out walk in the 6th inning, Collin McHugh came in to relieve Charlie Morton. McHugh collected the final out and went on to pitch another scoreless inning. Jesse Chavez walked one and K’d one in the 8th inning, and Raisel Iglesias grabbed two Ks in the 9th inning.

 

CHW 4 – MIN 3

• Sonny Gray was not good for the Twins and was pulled after four innings. Michael Fulmer, Griffin Jax, and Jhoan Duran followed by keeping the scoreboard clean to preserve the close game. However, Caleb Thielbar served up a solo shot and allowed the game to tie back up. Disaster struck again in the 9th inning as Jorge López loaded the base on a pair of singles and HBP before a forceout drove in the winning run.
• For Chicago, the plan was Joe Kelly to open for an inning and Davis Martin to follow for a few innings. Unfortunately, Kelly gave up two first-inning runs. Although, Martin went on to hurl five scoreless frames. Reynaldo López pushed the tied game past the 7th inning with a pair of Ks. In the 8th inning, Jimmy Lambert allowed a go-ahead run (unearned) after a walk and two hits. Thanks to timely hitting, Liam Hendriks earned the W with a scoreless performance.

 

HOU 4 – LAA 2

• Lance McCullers Jr. ran into problems in the 6th inning and was pulled for Phil Maton, who collected the inning’s final out unharmed. His three-pitch performance earned him hold #13. Héctor Neris (H, 23) and Bryan Abreu (H, 4) followed by striking out two batters over their inning and earning holds. Up by two runs in the 9th, Rafael Montero struck out a pair and notched save #11.
• Reid Detmers left the game and was tallied with the loss, but his bullpen was solid. José Marte had an issue with walks and allowed one of Detmer’s runners to score, but Zack Weiss, Aaron Loup, and Jaime Barria combined for the game’s final four innings without allowing a single baserunner.

MIL 1 – ARI 2

• Milwaukee got nearly seven innings from Eric Lauer and only needed Hoby Milner for 1.1 innings of relief. He was solid and didn’t allow any late runs to score.
• Quite different for Arizona, they hurled five different RPs at the Brew Crew. The first, Kyle Nelson, was wild and walked three batters while picking up the W. From the 6th through the 8th inning, Reyes Moronta, Kevin Ginkel, and Joe Mantiply kept the base paths clean and struck out a bunch, five in total. In the 9th, up by one run, Ian Kennedy allowed a one-out single but induced the final two outs to pick up his tenth save.

 

SDP 7 – LAD 1

• Yu Darvish struck out nine over seven innings with no runs. His gem was followed by Steven Wilson, who struck out a batter of his own. Finally, Nabil Crismatt came in for the 9th inning but didn’t fare so well. He gave up an earned run via a Joey Gallo single and eventually collected the final two outs.
• Dustin May didn’t have it last night and allowed six earned runs over a handful of innings. The team preserved the high-leverage RPs; instead, Heath Hembree and Phil Bickford pitched three combined innings. In the 9th inning, Hanser Alberto (2B) dropped his ERA to under four.

 

PHI 1 – SFG 13

• Kyle Gibson got walloped for seven earned runs in 1.2 innings of work. Furthermore, Sam Coonrod gave up four earned runs in less than an inning. This meant someone would have to play the mop-up role, and it was Cristopher Sánchez. He labored through nearly four innings but only allowed one earned run. In the 7th inning, Andrew Bellatti tossed a one-strikeout inning, and Garrett Stubbs (catcher) pitched the final three outs.
• With such a big lead early, Alex Cobb cruised through seven innings and earned win #5. Jarlín García had not pitched since Monday, so he grabbed an inning. Finally, Luis González (OF) threw an inning.

 

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)