Welcome back to our Relievers to Stream for Wins and Saves series! This will bring you up-to-date bullpen depth charts every morning for the day’s games and makes for a great tool for those of you looking to stream saves or wins. This series runs seven days a week, so be sure to check in every morning to get your daily bullpen fix!
Notes
Schedule notes:
- 12 teams had the day off yesterday: NYY, TBR, CLE, DET, TEX, ATL, PHI, WSN, CIN, LAD, SD, and SFG. Expect most, if not all members of their bullpens to be available today.
- Another 12 teams have today off: BAL, BOS, CHW, KCR, MIN, SEA, MIA, NYM, CHC, MIL, PIT, and STL. You can avoid these bullpens when deciding who to stream.
- Rich Hill is scheduled to start for the Rays. With Chris Archer unavailable to piggyback off Hill again as he’s scheduled to start Saturday, I’d expect Andrew Kittredge to be the first man up out of the bullpen when Hill is pulled, as Collin McHugh is only two days removed from throwing 45 pitches and Chris Mazza may need another day of rest from throwing over 60 pitches on Monday.
Yesterday’s performances:
- Paul Fry blew a save for the Orioles. Ok, sure, he came in the 6th inning, but it still counts. On the other side of the ball, Matt Barnes closed out the 4-run win for the Red Sox by striking out the side on 11 pitches in the 9th inning. Boston has the day off on Friday so expect Barnes back out to close out the next opportunity there is for Boston.
- Those wondering if Edwin Diaz would ever get used in a game by the Mets need not wonder for any longer, as he was called upon with the Mets down one run going into the 9th inning on Thursday. Diaz pitched a hitless inning and walked away with a win after the, well, questionable hit by pitch called on Anthony Bass to end the game. Yimi Garcia pitched a perfect 8th inning for Miami, and though the game ended controversially, Bass did himself no favors as he allowed a leadoff home run to Jeff McNeil and recorded just one out before loading the bases on two hits an an intentional walk to Francisco Lindor. Speculative adds of Garcia would not be unfounded at this point, but know that Miami is one of those teams that have today off.
- Richard Rodriguez pitched a perfect 9th inning for the Pirates in a losing effort, while Craig Kimbrel helped solidify Jake Arrieta’s second win against Pittsburgh with an impressive appearance of his own. Kimbrel was called in to relieve Dan Winkler after he loaded the bases on three straight walks and failed to record an out. Kimbrel struck out the next two batters to end the inning and went on to finish off the game with a clean 9th inning.
- Daniel Bard recorded his second save of the young season as he came in to clean up the mess left by Carlos Estévez, who allowed a two run shot off the bat of Eduardo Escobar to bring the Diamondbacks within 4. After walking the next two batters, Estévez was pulled and Bard retired the only two batters he faced, picking up a rare 4-run save. Though Colorado is one of the few teams to play both Thursday and Friday games, Bard only needed 6 pitches in this one and should be ready to go if needed on Friday.
- Lance Lynn gave the White Sox bullpen the day off with his complete game shutout (yes, I know the “complete game” is implied when you say “shutout,” but even though I don’t have a word count quota, I felt like I needed to extend this one).
- Josh Staumont and Wade Davis pitched well in the losing effort for the Royals. Staumont got 5 outs and allowed just one walk and no hits, while Davis allowed just one hit in his scoreless inning of work.
- Alex Reyes notched his third save of the season, striking out one and allowing one hit during his scoreless 9th inning appearance for St. Louis. Fantasy managers who still roster Giovanny Gallegos still did not walk away empty handed, as he recorded his second win of the season after striking out two in the 8th inning, setting up for Reyes.
- After taking the loss on Wednesday, Raisel Iglesias bounced back on Thursday, collecting his second save on the season by striking out the side on just 14 pitches to close out the 11th inning contest for the Angels. Iglesias has been used in two of the past three days (and three of the past five), throwing 41 pitches in the process. There’s a good chance he stays on the bench Friday. Ultimately, the Angels’ bullpen has seen a lot of work as a whole in the past few days and could benefit from a deep start by Andrew Heaney on Friday.
- On the other side of the ball, Jordan Romano was called upon by the Blue Jays to clean up after Trent Thornton’s 7th inning. Romano allowed one inherited runner to score, tying the game, which ultimately led to extra innings. Julian Merryweather pitched the 9th inning and returned to finish up the 10th as well, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out two in the process. Romano was charged with the blown save while Ryan Borucki was credited with the loss after he left the game with two runners on, who Rafael Dolis allowed to score. The Blue Jays play the Angels once again Friday and after needing 31 pitches to get through his two innings of work, Merryweather will likely be rested, giving Romano the opportunity to close out a save opportunity, or even Dolis the opportunity to redeem himself.
Bullpen Depth Charts
Green = long/bulk reliever expected to pitch after starter
Yellow = closer pitched previous day or twice in three days
Red = closer has pitched back to back days and likely is off
Photo by Kent Kanouse/Flickr | Adapted by Justin Redler (@reldernitsuj on Twitter)
For the Rays, you mention Kittredge in the preamble but gave the green highlight to Thompson in the chart. Looking to add one with Fairbanks injured but I really can’t tell which one to go for. Maybe it’s all a fool’s errand given that the Rays are gonna Ray.
He has a legend at the bottom, indicating what the colors mean. The colors are a bit misleading in terms of who the closer is, but here is what they mean.
Green = long/bulk reliever expected to pitch after starter
Yellow = closer pitched previous day or twice in three days
Red = closer has pitched back to back days and likely is off
That’s exactly my point. In one area it says Kittredge will likely relieve Hill but the table implies that Thompson will. Curious as to who would be the better stream to try and vulture a win.
Jonathan, sorry, that was a typo. It was meant to highlight just the fact that the bullpen itself was expected to get a vulture win opportunity. I expected Kittredge to get first shot. Highsight 20/20 – I was wrong on both accounts as Hill went 6 innings and Stickland was first up after being called up to replace Fairbanks.