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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 4/12/24 Depth Chart

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

Josh Mockensturm
Reliever Ranks 4/12/2024

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

 

Transaction and Schedule Notes

 

  • An already limited travel Thursday saw two games rained out, leaving us with only five games.
  • Pittsburgh gets a boost with the return of the number one holds reliever, Colin Holderman (at least in terms of his name), although his return to action wasn’t too hot.
  • Speaking of names, everyone’s favorite astrology-adjacent reliever Orion Kerkering started a rehab assignment in Low-A Clearwater, with the expectation he could be activated for the Phillies over the weekend.
  • Did someone say rehab assignment? Well, we got a double whammy for Toronto as both Erik Swanson and Jordan Romano were sent to Buffalo. Both would be a big boost for the Jays pen and would slot back into their respective high-leverage situations.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

PHI 5 – PIT 1

HD: Yunior Marte (1)

SV:  None

  • Colin Holderman apparently had some rust to shake off in his first action of the season after being activated from the IL today, allowing two runs (one earned) in 0.2 innings of work. Holderman had dealt with an illness in spring training that set him back and is just now returning to action. With the way Aroldis Chapman has been pitching, it’s likely Holderman will be deployed most often around the seventh inning as opposed to his usual eighth inning from last year.
  • Despite a semi-close game, Philadelphia was able to deploy some middle-inning arms to keep things close. Yunior Marte got his first hold of the season, striking out the side in his one inning of scoreless work, and Nick Nelson finished the game with two innings of one-run ball.

 

OAK 1 – TEX 0

HD: Austin Adams (3), Lucas Erceg (2)

SV: Mason Miller (2)

  • Mason Miller secured his second save of the season striking out two in a scoreless ninth. This was Miller’s second in the past three days. Oakland got a whole scoreboard of donuts in this one in front of Miller, as both Austin Adams and Lucas Erceg fired clean, perfect innings to support a nice performance from starter JP Sears.
  • Texas didn’t do too bad themselves, with their only run allowed coming from their starter, Jon Gray, while they got two scoreless innings apiece from Jake Latz and José Ureña to spell their high-leverage guys.

 

KCR 13 – HOU 3

HD: None

SV: None

  • Hunter Brown failed to launch himself beyond the first inning, allowing nine earned runs in only 0.2 innings, giving way to an unplanned five-man bullpen game. It’s hard to dig your way out of a nine run hole, but … yeah, no, the Astros still lost. Interestingly enough (unless you roster them), the trend of every reliever the Astros relied on last year inflating their ERA continued as Bryan Abreu allowed three more earned runs on two hits and a walk in his seventh inning. On the bright side, Seth Martinez continued his scoreless start to the season with another perfect 2.1 innings.
  • When the opposing pitcher coughs up nearly 10 runs in the first inning, it takes a lot of pressure off your pitching staff. I guess that lack of pressure worked out well for most of the Royals bullpen, as Angel Zerpa, Matt Sauer, and Jordan Lyles all threw scoreless innings to keep their respective ERAs at 0.00 for the season.

 

NYM 16 – ATL 4

HD: None

SV: None

  • Atlanta stomped on the hapless Mets to the tune of — I’m sorry, wait. The METS scored 16 runs AGAINST Atlanta?! Every single pitcher for Atlanta allowed at least two runs, although most of the damage was done by starter Allan Winans, who spotted the Mets seven runs in his five innings of work. From there, Atlanta turned to lower leverage arms and one position player to get through the game. The silver lining here is that it allowed their top relievers additional rest going into the weekend.
  • Another lopsided game, another chance for teams to turn to less-used pitchers to fill their need. Recently recalled Tyler Jay got his first action of the year, allowing one run in two innings of work, while Drew Smith threw 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball to keep his ERA at a pristine 0.00. Despite all their troubles, the high-leverage part of the bullpen has been stellar for New York with three of their four top guys having yet to allow a run.

 

BAL 9 – BOS 4 (10)

HD: Justin Slaten (2), Joely Rodríguez (3)

SV: None

  • Justin Slaten continued his excellent start to his MLB career with another two scoreless innings, bringing his scoreless total up to 7.2 innings to start his career and earning his second hold of the season. Unfortunately, Greg Weissert gave the lead away on his first pitch… a two-run shot that tied the game and scored an inherited runner for Joely Rodríguez. Weissert was charged with his first blown save of the season as a result, while Rodriguez did earn a hold despite the inherited runner scoring. Kenley Jansen came into a tie game in the ninth having not pitched in a week and was definitely not his best self, walking two before managing to finish out the inning unscathed. The O’s jumped all over Isaiah Campbell for six runs, five earned, completely blowing the game open.
  • Like his counterpart on the Red Sox, Craig Kimbrel also came into a tie game in the ninth. In years past, Kimbrel coming into a tie game, or just a non-save situation, always felt like the worst was about to happen. This was also his second consecutive appearance. Unlike Kenley, though, Kimbrel threw a clean inning of work and ended up with his second win of the season. Since allowing the first batter he faced this season to reach on a hit, Kimbrel has been dominant, retiring all 15 batters he’s faced. Yennier Cano should get the save chance if one materializes today, only throwing four pitches to retire one batter in this game.

 

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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