Relievers To Stream for Wins and Saves – 9/22

The final week is upon us. Be sure to get your saves—you never know which category is going to be the one you win (or lose) by one to decide a matchup. Save situations are a bit of a mess at this point, but they really have been all year. Find out who could get you a save or a win out of the pen for today and check back tomorrow to begin padding those stats in a new week.

Notes

• Austin Gomber is set to start for the Cardinals on Tuesday. He has yet to get past 3 full innings this season, so we should see the bullpen take the bulk of this game. Seth Elledge threw one pitch in his outing on Monday and had the past 3 days off, so expect him or Alex Reyes to see action on Tuesday.
• Raisel Iglesias recorded his first hold of the year, getting the final two outs of the 8th inning while the Reds were up by 1 run. It’s possible he would have come back out for the 9th if Cincinnati hadn’t scored 4 in the bottom of the 8th. As it stands, Iglesias has now pitched in back-to-back days and neither outing netted a save. The good news here is that he only threw 3 pitches on Monday and should be readily available on Tuesday if needed.

• Brad Hand closed out the game for the Indians, netting his 14th save on the season. That’s 3 of the last 4 days pitched for Hand, who has thrown 26 pitches in each of his last two outings. I’d expect him to sit out Tuesday, especially with James Karinchak only needing 17 pitches to get through a perfect 8th inning on Monday and not pitching previously since Friday.
• Mike Mayers pitched the final 2 innings for the Angels and collected his first save of the year in the process. Mayers has quietly been the Angels’ best arm out of the pen all season and could (should) see the next opportunities should the Angels see any in the final days of the season—he only needed 20 pitches to get his 6 outs on Monday.

• Daniel Hudson saw some time on the mound Monday in a non save situation, collecting 2 strikeouts in a scoreless 9th with the Nationals up by 4 runs. Hudson hadn’t pitched since Wednesday so this was just a good time to get him in some work.
• Edwin Diaz pitched the 9th inning while the Mets were down 1 run. Diaz hadn’t pitched Thursday, so this seems like another case of getting him some work in a tight spot, regardless of the score.

• Nick Anderson picked up just his 6th save of the season, throwing 21 pitches during his perfect 9th. Though we like to say Anderson is the favorite for the next opportunity, it really could be anyone out of the pen as no one in Tampa has been taxed too much in the past few days.
• Mark Melancon grabbed his 11th save of the season, throwing a scoreless 9th inning on Monday. That’s two days in a row for Melancon, though he only needed a combined 26 pitches to get through both outings. Will Smith has seen action in three straight, while Shane Greene and Chris Martin have each been used twice in the last 3 so Melancon is just as likely to get another chance on Tuesday if needed.
• Greg Holland threw a scoreless 9th inning to record his 6th save of the season for the Royals on Monday. That’s two days in a row for Holland after not pitching previously since Thursday. Scott Barlow (15 pitches), Josh Staumont (23), and Jesse Hahn (15) each had a scoreless outing prior to Holland getting onto the hill, so there’s no obvious call to who would get the ball in a save situation on Tuesday. Holland himself only needed a combined 29 pitches between his two outings so he should also be available if needed.