Bullpen Depth Charts: Relievers To Stream – 9/6

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

 

• It’s a pretty full slate for a Monday as only six teams have scheduled off days. They are: CWS, OAK, MIA, ATL, ARZ, SDP.
• For win vulture opportunities, your best chance comes in DC as the Mets throw Trevor Williams against the Nationals. Williams has gone more than five innings just twice since April and is facing a struggling Patrick Corbin. In Williams’ last outing, Aaron Loup was first out of the bullpen and picked up the relief win. Loup did pitch on Sunday, but he needed just 12 pitches and is likely available again on Monday if needed.

 

Transaction Notes

 

• Camilo Doval was recalled by the Giants and likely resumes a middle relief role. He was a highly touted prospect, so he could impress in his second stint with the big league club.
• Houston sent Josh James back down to AAA.
• Pittsburgh placed Duane Underwood Jr. on the IL and replaced him on the roster with Kyle Keller.
• Jonathan Loaisiga hit the IL for the Yankees and was replaced on the roster by Albert Abreu.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

 

• It was overall a tough weekend series for the Mets bullpen despite the team winning three of four. In this one, they redeemed themselves by delivering four and two-thirds hitless innings. Aaron Loup was rewarded with his fifth win and Trevor May picked up the lone hold before the Mets added cushioning to the lead. That’s three straight off days for Edwin Díaz, so he’s completely fresh going into their next series.
• It was a good day for everyone except Austin Voth who allowed all six of the runners he faced to score and gave up two homers. There was a time where he looked like a really nice piece, but his last two outings have raised his ERA from a serviceable 4.40 to a deplorable 6.00. Alberto Baldonado has delivered three straight scoreless appearances to start his career after toiling in the minors for 11 years. With the lack of depth in the Nationals bullpen, he could easily see holds chances.

 

• Marcos Diplán earned his first win in relief and Tyler Wells secured his first save to seal a rare series win for Baltimore. Wells hasn’t allowed a run since the All-Star break, but that’s a bit misleading as that only stretches nine appearances. Even if he keeps that up, he’s unlikely to see another situation where Cole Sulser is unavailable due to being used in back-to-back games. The Orioles just don’t play that many close games.
• The Yankees have attempted to salvage some value from Andrew Heaney by using him as a reliever and that…. hasn’t worked. Four earned runs and just one out today led to Heany being saddled with his ninth loss of the year.  Chad Green threw 29 pitches for two clean innings in this one, so he’s probably unavailable for a day or two.

 

• Oakland’s bullpen was severely hurting, so this blowout may have been a blessing in disguise. The bullpen actually didn’t do too bad for a change, allowing just one run in five and two-thirds innings of work. The most notable one was A.J. Puk working the last inning. The A’s are looking to him to take some pressure off their top few guys, but he’s been struggling in high-leverage innings so far.
• This is what the Nate Pearson bullpen experiment was supposed to look like. Pearson struck out the side on 14 pitches and absolutely dominated with his slider earning three swinging strikes and three more called strikes. If that slider sticks around (and it’s been inconsistent at best thus far in his career), Pearson is likely the second-best arm in that bullpen. If it doesn’t, he likely doesn’t make Toronto’s playoff roster.

 

• It was save number 21 for Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase despite the 11-6 final score. Clase entered in the eighth when the game was still 6-5 and returned to record the final three outs. Clase is 10 for 11 in save opportunities with a 1.17 ERA in 23 IP since the All-Star Break.
• Starter Nick Pivetta was a late scratch from this one, so Boston’s bullpen was behind the eight ball from the start. They held their own until Phillips Valdez blew up in the ninth and the game was placed out of reach. Hansel Robles logged a clean inning, but he’s still trying to find his footing in Boston. He still has a 6.59 ERA in 15 appearances since moving east.

 

• Gregory Soto notched save number 18 with Michael Fulmer picking up a hold and José Ureña picking up a relief win. That’s 11 straight successful conversions for Soto who seems to have pitched himself out of a committee over the past few weeks. He’s been dominant since the trade deadline save for an August 17th debacle against the Angels.
• What a pickup Luis Cessa has been for the Reds. He sports a 2.03 ERA in 13.1 IP since being picked up. On the opposite side, what a disaster of a season it’s been for Amir Garrett. He was being drafted as the top reliever out of the pen and he’s sitting here in September with a 6.18 ERA. Ouch.

 

• It’s not always the prettiest, but that’s nine saves for Alex Colomé since the trade deadline which is tied with Will Smith of Atlanta for tops in the majors during that stretch. That is his second day of work in a row, though, so Tyler Duffey, who earned the win on just 10 pitches, would possibly be thrown in the ninth if another save opportunity presents itself Monday.
• The Rays needed a lot from their bullpen today and they mostly delivered but faltered at the very end. Andrew Kittredge allowed a rare earned run, just his 10th all season in 64 IP, and took the loss. Only Pete Fairbanks threw enough pitches (25) to be potentially unavailable on Monday.

 

• Philadelphia deployed their entire bullpen using nine pitchers to finish ten innings and secure the win. A small handful of holds were handed out and Ian Kennedy earned the win in relief. The overall numbers for the Phillies are still a bit rough, but Kennedy has been unscored upon in eight of his past nine appearances and appears to be settling in.
• Miami’s bullpen did their best to keep the team in the game allowing only the Manfred runner to score in five innings of work. Both Anthony Bass and Dylan Floro have worked in two straight, but with an off day Monday, both should be available again on Tuesday.

 

• The White Sox were down big by the seventh inning of this one and just used their low-leverage guys.
• The Royals needed just two low-leverage innings from their bullpen, but one of them was from minor league journeyman Domingo Tapia who’s been quietly solid since the Royals acquired him since the trade deadline. He’s not flashy, but his sinker somehow went 4/8 on whiffs today even though Tapia had a 6.7% swinging strike rate coming into this game. Don’t get me wrong, Brady Singer pitched a great game, but Chicago’s bats were just off in this one.

 

• Giovanny Gallegos worked out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth and took a save situation into the bottom of the ninth. He proceeded to allow a run to score and leave the bases loaded before being replaced by Alex Reyes. Because he entered with a save situation and left with a save situation, Gallegos got credited with a hold despite having a bigger role in what was to come than Reyes. Reyes’ first pitch to Daniel Vogelbach was a strike at the knees that was called a ball. He saw he needed to go higher to get a strike and that put the ball right in Vogelbach’s wheelhouse for a walk-off grand slam. Reyes has now blown four of his past six save opportunities while Gallegos’ ERA rose to its high-water mark on the year at 3.46. Gallegos needed 30 pitches in this one and Reyes has gone back-to-back games, so closing duties on Monday will likely fall to Luis García who worked in this game, but needed just 12 pitches.
• The Brewers were behind by multiple runs for most of this game, so they saved all their top arms. Jake Cousins allowed multiple runs in one appearance for the first time in his career (24 appearances) and his ERA shot up to an astronomical 1.46. He’s like the fourth-best pitcher in Milwaukee’s bullpen.

 

• This was a bit of a crazy game and Pittsburgh used six different relievers for five innings. Sam Howard, once one of the better arms in that pen, has completely unraveled since the injury that forced him to miss most of July and August.
• Well, remember when I said Rowan Wick’s chances of getting any save opportunities were dwindling? Oh, me neither, it was ever so long ago. (It was last week). Well, in the past week, Wick has been used in save situations four times and converted three of them including a six-out affair on Sunday. He threw four innings in the weekend series including 37 pitches on Sunday, so expect Codi Heuer to take over as closer on Monday and possibly even Tuesday, but Wick appears primed to retake the role when he’s rested up. Whether we can trust him there is a different story, but a 2.43 xERA in his 11.2 IP is encouraging.

 

• Atlanta needed just two low-leverage innings from their bullpen on Sunday and have a scheduled off-day on Monday, so they’ll be well-rested going into Tuesday’s action.
• It’s not often that I want to talk about a guy who allowed three runs in an inning and two-thirds in his MLB debut, but Julian Fernández was electric for his first inning of work. His fastball averaged 100+ and touched 102.4, one of the fastest pitches in the league this year. However, it wasn’t just uncontrolled gas as he threw seven out of eight pitches for strikes in the first inning. He definitely has some polishing to do, but this is a guy with future closer potential.

 

• Joe Barlow closed out the ninth for Texas, but it was a four-run game, so he was not credited with a save. Barlow had had a rough go of things in his last outing on Wednesday, so it’s good to see the promising young reliever get back on track.
• The Angels were playing from behind for the final innings of this one and decided to let rookie Kyle Tyler finish out the final nine outs in his debut. He featured a low-90s cutter and an OK slider. Overall, he was very reliant on called strikes for success in this one, but his ability to get ground balls could allow him to stick around.

 

• Ryne Stanek allowed the walk-off solo homer in the ninth and took the loss, his fourth of the year. Kendall Graveman also worked a quick, scoreless, nine-pitch eighth.
• Despite three walks in the top of the ninth, Mark Melancon was credited with the win on Sunday, his fourth of the year. Melancon worked around the walks by inducing a double-play and striking out the final batter of the inning. He did need 21 pitches, but the Padres have an off day on Monday, so he will be ready to go on Tuesday.

 

• It was all hands on deck as Seattle tried to keep the game tied in the late innings. Paul Sewald worked the eighth and Drew Steckenrider worked the ninth, both scoreless. Yohan Ramirez saved the Mariners from the brink after they failed to score in the top of the 10th and was credited with the win for his efforts. Sewald has been worked heavily over the past six days, throwing a combined 79 pitches across four appearances in that time frame, so Diego Castillo may see the save opportunity on Monday.
• Arizona did their valiant best but just lacked the depth in relief to hang with the Mariners. Taylor Clarke was tagged with the loss, his third.

 

• The Dodgers unexpectedly needed five innings from their bullpen leading them to use David Price even though he was battling elbow soreness. They avoided using some of their top arms, but this is still a pretty taxed bullpen going into the new week.
• It was a bullpen game for the Giants who used nine pitchers to get their 27 outs. Jake McGee recorded the final three, but allowed two runs (one earned) and wasn’t credited with a save because he entered with a four-run advantage. This is also a pretty taxed bullpen as both teams pulled out all the stops in this series. McGee has worked three of the past four games including 23 pitches in this one while Tyler Rogers has worked four out of the past five games.