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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 08/02/24 Depth Chart

Breakdowns of key bullpen usage from yesterday's slate of games.

Josh Mockensturm
Fantasy 8/2/2024

Welcome back to the latest edition of our Reliever Ranks series! 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 looking to stream saves or wins. This series runs seven days a week, so check in every morning to get your daily bullpen fix!

 

Notes

 

Transactions and Schedule

 

  • There were only five games on Thursday, so most of the league should be pretty rested heading into the weekend.
  • Shawn Armstrong was activated by the Cardinals after arriving in the trade deadline. Armstrong should slot in as middle/long relief.
  • Detroit called up two arms from AAA to fill the gaps in their trade-depleted pen:  Sean Guenther and Brenan Hanifee. Both should be lower leverage middle relief.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

 

CLE 10 – BAL 3

HD: Cade Smith (17)

SV: None

  • Cleveland jumped all over Baltimore early, allowing their pitchers some breathing room. Cade Smith continued his excellent rookie season with a perfect seventh inning, notching his 17th hold of the season. Tim Herrin and Nick Sandlin followed for an inning apiece and didn’t allow Baltimore to claw their way back, with Herrin allowing a run in the eighth, and Sandlin keeping it scoreless for the ninth.
  • Albert Suárez got bumped to the pen by recent acquisition Trevor Rogers, so when Rogers stumbled through 4 1/3 innings, it was Suárez’s chance to shine in relief of him and… he allowed three runs in 1 2/3 innings. Jacob Webb chipped in two runs for good measure and Baltimore didn’t have an answer for the 2024 Guardians power surge.

 

KCR 7 – DET 1

HD: None

SV:  None

  • Seth Lugo cruised through eight one-run innings leaving only the ninth inning for the bullpen. Will Smith got the call and delivered a vintage performance of 1 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, and 2 Ks.
  • Detroit got seven innings out of their starter Keider Montero, but allowed four runs, three of which put the Tigers in a hole in the very first inning. Detroit then turned to two AAA call-ups to handle some work in Sean Guenther and Brenan Hanifee. Neither one escaped unscathed, as Hanifee handled two outs in the eighth, but allowed two runs on three hits before giving way to Guenther, who fared better but allowed one run in his 1.1 innings of work.

 

ATL 4 – MIA 2

HD: Dylan Lee (3), Luke Jackson (3), A.J. Minter (9)

SV: Raisel Iglesias (23)

  • After only managing two saves for the entire month of July, Raisel Iglesias wasted no time in August, securing his 23rd save of the season. Every relief pitcher ahead of him earned a hold. Dylan Lee handled two outs in the seventh but had walk troubles, so newcomer Luke Jackson finished out the inning for him (although he allowed one of Lee’s runs to score). A.J. Minter then threw a perfect eighth with two Ks.
  • George Soriano and Emmanuel Ramirez handled the pen work for Miami and delivered three scoreless innings combined in a losing effort

 

CHC 5 – STL 4

W: Nate Pearson (1-1)

L: Ryan Helsley (4-4)

BS: Ryan Helsley (3)

HD: JoJo Romero (27)

  • Nate Pearson came away with the win for the Cubs with two scoreless innings after the offense got to Ryan Helsley in the ninth. Jorge López also pitched in this one, coming in to relieve Shota Imanaga with runners on base in the seventh. López ended up allowing one run to score before getting the final out of the inning.
  • The Cardinals had things pretty lined up with seven strong innings from their starter, and then JoJo Romero locking down the eighth with a perfect, two K inning for his 27th hold. But Ryan Helsley ran into trouble in the bottom of the ninth. Helsley got a pop out to start the inning, but then Cody Bellinger took him deep. After that, another out got Helsley one batter closer to a save, but then Nico Hoerner singled, stole second, and then scored on a Dansby Swanson double to tie the game. With all of this, the Cards still stuck with Helsley to face pinch hitter Mike Tauchman who worked back from two strikes to double in the winning run and walk things off. Tough break for Helsey, the co-league leader in saves.

 

COL 5 – LAA 4

W: Victor Vodnik (3-1)

L: Hans Crouse (4-3)

HD: José Quijada (2), Ben Joyce (7)

BS: Hunter Strickland (2)

SV: Tyler Kinley (6)

  • Colorado’s wheel of saves currently points to Victor Vodnik as the closer, and he came on for the ninth in a tie game and eventually walked away with the win, leaving the save to former closer Tyler Kinley.
  • Hunter Strickland came on in the ninth to try and secure his second save since the trade deadline but ended up with his second blown save instead, allowing a two-run HR to tie the game. This was Strickland’s second straight chance at a save, so it does seem like he’s the first choice for the Angels as of now, but we’ll have to see if this blow-up impacts anything. Ben Joyce and José Quijada earned holds ahead of Strickland, each allowing baserunners but no runs.

 

Bullpen Depth Charts

 

Also, if you’re looking for a detailed list or ranking of RPs, check out Rick Graham’s weekly pieces:

The Hold Up: Ranking the Top 100 Relievers for Holds Every Thursday

Closing Time: Ranking the Top 30 Closers

Top 100 Relievers for Save+Hold Leagues

 

Josh Mockensturm

Josh is an Ohio Born, North Carolina residing Boston Red Sox fan thanks to his mom (and her love of Wade Boggs). If he's not watching or reading about baseball, he's probably watching a movie, reading a book, or making a dumb spreadsheet about Baseball, movies, or books.

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