Bullpen Depth Charts: Relievers To Stream — 6/30

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

 

• 28 teams were in action yesterday, the Detroit and Cleveland matchup was postponed. Nine of yesterday’s 14 games finished as one-run games, and there were plenty of saves for top-tier closers – Mark Melancon, Liam Hendriks, Edwin Diaz, Alex Reyes, Brad Hand, Josh Hader, Matt Barnes, and Kenley Jansen all recorded saves on a good day for fantasy rosters.
• If you are looking to vulture a win today, the best opportunity could come with Atlanta. Max Fried returns from the injury list and is unlikely to go more than five innings on his return. Sean Newcomb is likely to be the man to add.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

 

• The leader in saves in Major League Baseball hardly broke a sweat last night, inducing a couple of groundouts and striking out Tucker Barnhart to record a clean ninth inning to earn his 25th save of the season in the Padres’ 5-4 win over the Reds. Mark Melancon has six straight save appearances and sits four saves ahead of his nearest competitor, Liam Hendriks. Hendriks also picked up a save in the White Sox’s  7-6 win over the Twins, but it was ugly. Hendriks hit young Trevor Larnach with a pitch, then threw an errant wild pitch and issued a walk all with one out. Another wild pitch moved the winning runs to second and third base before an RBI groundout of Jorge Polanco brought the Twins within one run. Alex Kirilloff could only hit a fly ball to center fielder Billy Hamilton, however, and Hendriks was saved the blushes.
• Mets closer Edwin Diaz goes from strength to strength to end the month after needing only seven pitches to retire Ehire Adrianza, Pablo Sandoval, and Ronald Acuna in the Mets’ 4-3 win over Atlanta. The often-maligned reliever now has 41 strikeouts across 31 1/3 innings.

 

• Another huge moment in the maturation of Cardinals closer Alex Reyes, who recorded his first career six-out save in St. Louis’ 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks. He struck out three across the two frames and looked relatively comfortable after an early wobble.
• In a roll of the dice, the Nationals sent out closer Brad Hand for the third day in a row to close out the game against the Rays with a two-run lead. This was surprising after he notched five outs but threw 25 pitches the night before. He gave up a leadoff home run to Mike Zunino, and suddenly everyone thought it was the wrong decision. But the crafty veteran knows how to get outs, and he forced a couple of flyouts and a lineout to end the game. He won’t be available to pitch tonight, surely!

 

• Josh Hader is having a phenomenal season – he is a perfect 20-for-20 in save opportunities and boasts a dominant 0.55 ERA and 55/12 K/BB ratio in 33 outings in 2021. With a 2-1 lead to protect, a one-out single by Joc Pederson and a walk issued to Willson Contreras gave the Cubs some late hope. Hader responded in an enigmatic fashion, striking out the iconic Javier Baez before forcing a groundout to end the game.
• Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen achieved his 11th consecutive scoreless appearance by closing the door on the Giants for the second night running. He allowed the first two hitters on base thanks to a hit by pitch and a walk but answered back by striking out Steven Duggar and the dangerous Brandon Crawford to earn his 20th save of the season.

 

• Rangers closer Ian Kennedy gave up solo homers to Jed Lowrie and Mitch Moreland in the bottom of the ninth against the As. He still managed to close out a narrow 5-4 win. Kennedy has converted 14 of 15 save opportunities.
• After a nightmare week for the Phillies bullpen, Jose Alvarado finally nailed down a four-out save for the beleaguered fans in the 4-3 win over the Marlins. It was far from convincing, however, as he allowed two runs on two hits and a walk while striking out one to scrape out the save. It was his third of the year. You have to think he will be preferred to Hector Neris at this point.