Welcome back to Relievers to Stream for Wins and Saves! 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
- Wednesday brought a full slate of games, and 29 bullpens saw action after the Yankees’ Corey Kluber gave his teammates the day off.
- Ten teams have the day off today: CHW, CLE, DET, KC, SEA, NYM, MIL, STL, COL, and SD. The bulk of yesterday’s save opportunities happened to come for these teams, which means that very few bullpens have high-leverage arms who could miss chances today. The Twins and Angels play a doubleheader today, which brings our total slate to 11 games.
- The Dodgers are slated for a bullpen game today, and Jimmy Nelson and Edwin Uceta have been rested over the past few days to both potentially pitch multiple innings. While David Price might seem like an obvious arm to use in this situation, he hasn’t pitched more than one inning in a game since April 16th. Be careful with that temptation.
Injuries and Transactions
- The Nats placed Eric Fedde and Tanner Rainey on the COVID IL yesterday. Kyle McGowin and Paulo Espino were recalled.
- Rays placed Luis Patiño and Cody Reed on IL and recalled Trevor Richards.
Yesterday’s Performances
- Pete Fairbanks allowed a run in a messy first save of the year. He was called upon after Diego Castillo pitched the 8th, but he walked DJ Stewart to start the inning before giving up two singles against the heart of the Orioles’ order with two outs. The closer situation in Tampa is less clear than it was before Castillo spent time on the IL thanks in part to a lack of chances — this was just the fourth save opportunity for the Rays since Castillo was hurt in the first week of May.
- Brad Hand picked up his fifth save despite giving up a solo shot to Javier Báez. After signs last year that his strikeout rate was teetering (a massive drop off in whiffs turned almost exclusively into fouls), he’s sitting at a sub-25% strikeout rate with a career-high 11% walk rate. It’s worth watching to see whether that changes, not just for short-term success but for potential trade prospects — his one year, $10.5m deal would be more than affordable to teams in need of bullpen depth if what he’s dealing is worth buying.
- Atlanta’s Will Smith notched a win against the Mets after picking up the loss yesterday, so we should expect him to be off today. He also broke a four-game streak of giving up a hit in the process. His season-long numbers don’t look that encouraging — his 4.50 ERA and 1.33 ERA have made him a common drop in some formats recently — but the story looks more like batters making unsustainably good contant that Smith being worse. His 39% line drive rate surrendered is almost certainly going to regress.
- Smith got that win after the Mets bullpen blew a one-run lead in the 8th inning: Aaron Loup allowed three consecutive hits before Jacob Barnes bailed him out by striking out (Dansby Swanson also deservs some credit for getting caught stealing). Ronald Acuña Jr. then took Barnes’ first pitch of the bottom of the 9th deep, though. Trevor May and Edwin Díaz were both unavailable after pitching on back-to-back days before this game, which explains why the Mets didn’t have a reliable option for this high-leverage situation.
- Kenley Jansen closed his ninth game of the year for the Dodgers, who are scheduled for a bullpen game today. After an efficient 12-pitch outing, Jansen should still available to close out a game today, should the situation arise. The rest of that bullpen is well rested after a week of solid starts from their rotation, and based on their last bullpen game, we should expect Edwin Uceta and Jimmy Nelson to get multiple innings of work.
- The Marlins’ Yimi García pulled off an impressive four-out save against the heart of the Phillies order without giving up a run. He allowed two hits, but two strikeouts in the 9th against Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm kept the two-run lead intact. The 30-year-old’s strikeouts have been ticking up in the past weeks, with his strikeout rate now sitting at 26.5% alongside a stellar 4.4% walk rate.
- Melancon picked up his league-leading 15th save of the year for the Padres last night, combining with Craig Stammen and Joe Musgrove to two-hit the Rockies. He was one of the five closers who picked up saves last night whose teams will have today off: Alex Reyes (13), Liam Hendriks (9), Josh Staumont (5), and James Karinchak (5) all picked up saves and will be off today.
- Among that list, Karinchak is a notable mover in the chart today after getting his second save in two nights. He slides into the formal “closer” spot as a result. Emmanuel Clase picked up his second hold of the year in the process. Both now have ERAs under 1.00, making them two of just 12 qualified relievers under that mark.
- San Fransisco gave Tyler Rogers the 9th for the third time in four days, but this time, it wasn’t a save chance thanks to the three runs they hung on Carson Fulmer in the top of that inning. It’s hard not to see him as the closer at this point, but the huge number of save chances they’ve been getting (thanks to their strong performances from their starters) should mean that clarity comes quickly. Jake McGee picked up a hold for pitching the 8th, and he should be off for the day as a result.
Bullpen Depth Charts