Bullpen Depth Charts: Relievers To Stream – 9/13

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 an excellent 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

 

• There are 14 teams off on Monday: BAL, DET, KCR, CWS, CLE, OAK, LAA, PHI, ATL, PIT, CHC, MIL, CIN, and COL.

• There are two opportunities for middle relievers to get wins or otherwise have increased value. The Giants are planning a bullpen game starting with Dominic Leone, so Zack Littell and Jarlin García are expected to be used and each has a solid chance of being in line for a win. Clayton Kershaw is returning for the Dodgers, but will be limited to four innings or 60 pitches. We’d expect to see either Phil Bickford or Alex Vesia as the next pitcher up.

 

Transaction Notes

 

• Kenley Jansen was placed on the paternity list on Sunday. Blake Treinen likely has no more than a one- or two-day window to earn a save in his absence.
• Nick Anderson was finally activated and should see his first work of the season any day now for the Rays. They took things very slow with his rehab, but it’s still anyone’s guess as to whether he immediately sees high leverage work.
• Matt Barnes started a rehab assignment and is currently on pace to rejoin the Red Sox for next weekend’s series against Baltimore.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

 

• It’s rare that I have to write that it was a rough day for the Rays’ relief corps, but here we are. David Robertson, Andrew Kittredge, and J.P. Feyereisen combined to give up six runs in the final three and two-thirds innings, blow leads in the eighth and tenth, and finally concede the loss in the eleventh.
• The Tigers’ pen didn’t fare much better as José Cisnero and Gregory Soto combined to allow six runs, but Kyle Funkhouser came through with a scoreless inning when they needed it and left with his seventh win of the season.

 

• Kyle Finnegan picked up save number nine of the season, this one being a five-out affair that required just 17 pitches. Since the execution of the series of trades that sent Brad Hand and Daniel Hudson out of town, Finnegan is fifth in the National League with all nine of his saves on a 1.00 ERA in 18 IP.
• The biggest news out of Pittsburgh was that co-closer David Bednar may soon be placed on the IL with right side discomfort. When the move is officially made, it will be reflected in the table below and would leave Chris Stratton as the main closer.

 

• Julian Merryweather made his second appearance after a long injury-related absence and it went much smoother than the first one. He still didn’t get a strikeout, but his fastball velocity was a full mph better than his last outing and he retired the side in order. The only path back to the ninth inning for him involves an injury to Jordan Romano, but he can still be a valuable bullpen piece for their playoff push over the next three weeks.
• The Orioles bullpen gave up 15 runs in eight innings. Do I need to write any more?

 

• Ashton Goudeau picked up his first career big league win and Carlos Estévez earned his seventh win for the Rockies on Sunday. The Rockies ousted closer Daniel Bard in late August after Estévez was dominant, posting 11 scoreless innings in the month. Since then, Estévez has gone five for six in saves, but it’s come with some pretty terrible ratios. This is about what you can expect from whoever assumes the closer’s role in Colorado.
• Héctor Neris was saddled with his sixth loss of the season after he gave up two runs in the top of the seventh. It was somewhat of a tough-luck loss as the only two hits he allowed were a weak infield single and a homer that left the yard by about a foot, but sometimes that’s all it takes.

 

• Aaron Ashby’s first career save came by way of the three-inning rule as he finished off the final three frames allowing just one hit and five punchouts. He was again dominant, putting up a 39% CSW in this outing including a 59% CSW on 22 sliders, and seems to dominate in any position the Brewers place him.
• It was interesting to see Cleveland’s top two relievers, Bryan Shaw and Emmanuel Clase, get in such a blowout as neither seemingly needed a maintenance inning. Shaw was working on zero days rest while Clase had two. Typically you only see high leverage relievers get in a game like this when they’re working on four or five days’ rest. However, with the scheduled off day Monday, this likely won’t affect the availability of either pitcher when they retake the field on Tuesday.

 

• Anthony Bass was saddled with his eighth loss of the year after allowing home runs numbers 10 and 11 on the season in the bottom of the seventh inning. This marks a career high in home runs allowed for Bass even surpassing his 2012 season where he threw 97 innings including 15 starts for San Diego.
• Will Smith earned save number 32 working around a hit and a walk for his third save of the month in four tries. Jacob Webb was rewarded with his fourth win of the year for his inning of scoreless relief. Smith has now worked in four of the past six days, but Atlanta is one of the many teams with a scheduled off day on Monday, so he should be good to go on Tuesday.

 

• Jimmy Herget’s 41% CSW across his five outs of work must seem intriguing, but he relied heavily on eight called strikes versus just three swinging strikes for that success. None of the three relievers the Angels used here are very interesting.
• It was just as Houston drew it up as Ryan Pressly logged his 24th save with Kendall Graveman and Ryne Stanek each earning holds. 24 saves is a bit of a disappointing total for a guy who’s stayed as the clear number one guy on a winning team all year, but Houston’s 32 team saves is 12th in the AL ahead of just Toronto, Texas, and Baltimore. Some teams don’t get saves because they’re bad, others don’t because they make a habit of blowing out their opponents.

 

• Scott Barlow was credited with save number 12 of the year as he closed out the ninth with two strikeouts on 15 pitches. Barlow continues to dominate and the only thing holding him back from being a solid closer is the Royals’ erratic usage of him.
• Jovani Moran made his major league debut for the Twins on Sunday and logged four outs, two by strikeout, while allowing two hits and two walks. Moran has carved up the minor leagues this year with an absolutely devastating changeup, so I’m excited to see what he does with this opportunity over the next few weeks. His command is an issue and definitely started to wane around pitch 25 or so, but there are the makings of a really good reliever here.

 

• Interesting bullpen usage in this one as Adam Ottavino came on in a high-leverage situation in the sixth inning. Hansel Robles later came on in the eighth with the team down one and Garrett Whitlock was deployed in the bottom of the ninth of a tie game. Whitlock ended up taking the loss, but the usage makes you wonder what the pecking order is anymore. It all may be moot soon, though, as Matt Barnes started a rehab assignment.
• With both Liam Hendriks and Craig Kimbrel coming off two straight days of work and Aaron Bummer with three, the White Sox had to make some tough decisions regarding usage in Sunday’s tilt. They opted to use Kimbrel for a third straight game instead of Hendriks, who may have been dealing with some discomfort on Saturday. Kimbrel blew the save, but benefitted from a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth and ended up riding home with his fourth win of the year. That’s back-to-back days with a blown save for Kimbrel as his struggles in a White Sox uniform continue. Stay tuned for any updates on Hendrik’s condition.

• Only one inning needed from the Reds relievers in this one and it came from Tony Santillan. He’s an interesting piece in the long-term but doesn’t have much of a path to consistent high-leverage work this year.
• Giovanny Gallegos logged his eighth save of the year and fourth in five days on Sunday. He hasn’t needed more than 15 pitches for any of the four saves, but he’s still likely unavailable if a save opportunity should arise on Monday. Luis Garcia is next on the list, but he’s also been used in three out of four days. The Cardinals may just give Alex Reyes another shot after a couple of successful outings in a row.

 

• Jake McGee earned save number 31 needing just 12 pitches to retire the side in the ninth. Tyler Rogers and Tony Watson also logged holds. This team is just money in close games. Their 27-15 record in 1-run games is tops in the majors.
• We saw two innings each from the top two arms for the Cubs, Codi Heuer and Rowan Wick. It took Wick a moment to get his legs under him after a long absence, but he’s been excellent lately including a crazy 82% CSW on 11 fastballs in Sunday’s matchup. They’ve started using him as a multi-inning reliever and he has seven straight scoreless innings with two hits and nine punchouts in his last four appearances.

 

• Joe Barlow earned his sixth save of the season recording three outs on 11 pitches. Barlow continues to rely mainly on batted balls to have his success as his 25% K-rate and 12% walk rate aren’t exactly elite. However, he’s allowed just one barrel all year and has found a way to consistently miss the sweet spot of the bat. As long as he does that, he’ll continue to have success even without more strikeouts.
• Lou Trivino continues to work his way back from the brink by working a scoreless ninth to keep the deficit at one. In the box score, this looks like just a simple, clean inning, but it had a bit more drama than that including a dropped third strike, a steal, and a 13-pitch at-bat to the very dangerous Adolis García. Props to Trivino for winning the battle, though. Hopefully it’s a sign he’s turning a corner.

 

• San Diego unexpectedly needed seven and a third innings from their bullpen after starter Blake Snell left early with an injury. Like most unexpected bullpen games, it didn’t go well. Of the six relievers they used, five gave up runs.
• The Dodgers just needed three low-leverage outs from Justin Bruihl in this one. After some heavy usage and with another series to get through before a day off, this rest day was sorely needed.

 

• It was about as unappetizing as a save can get, but J.B. Wendelken earned his first save in Arizona. It was the team’s first save since August 26th, so don’t expect too many more opportunities down the stretch for Wendelken.
• How many of you knew Sean Doolittle landed in Seattle? Come on, be honest.

 

• Chad Green took the loss for the Yankees, his seventh of the year, after allowing a go-ahead homer in the ninth. Green has now allowed runs in three straight appearances, but he’ll maintain a high-leverage role for the Yankees.
• Edwin Díaz picked up save number 29 on Sunday night working around a hit and a walk. He’s coming off a stretch of three straight appearances with runs allowed that left him with two blown saves and two losses, so while the save wasn’t pretty, it was an improvement. Seth Lugo also was credited with a win in relief, his fourth.