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
- All 30 MLB teams were in action on Tuesday.
- The Arizona Diamondback placed Scott McGough on the Paternity List.
- The Houston Astros activated Blake Taylor from the 15-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Sugar Land.
- 26-year-old reliever Seth Elledge was claimed by the New York Mets off waivers from the Braves.
- Both Brandon Woodruff and Zach Eflin were placed on the 15-day IL while Janson Junk and Taj Bradley were called up from the minors in corresponding moves. They both are likely to make starts on Wednesday.
Yesterday’s Performances
HOU 4 – PIT 7
H: Duane Underwood, Jr. (2), Colin Holderman (5)
BS: David Bednar (1)
L: Ryan Pressly (2)
- The Pittsburgh bullpen protected a strong outing from starter Mitch Keller with both Duane Underwood, Jr. and Colin “hold machine” Holderman logging clean innings in the 7th and 8th respectively to both secure holds.
- That protection ended, however, when closer David Bednar coughed up the lead via a Chas McCormick 2-run double in an error-extended 9th inning. This was Bednar’s first blown save of the season.
- The late-inning high drama continued. Not to be outdone, Ryan Pressly proceeded to allow a pair of singles punctuated by a walk-off 3-run home run off the bat of Ji-Hwan Bea. It’s super early, but Pressly is sporting an uninspiring 8.44 ERA to start the year.
SDP 4 – NYM 2
SV: Josh Hader (4)
H: Steven Wilson (3), Luis Garcia (4), Brent Honeywell (1)
- Ryan Weathers kept the Mets’ bats largely in check through five innings which allowed a well-rested San Diego bullpen to stick to their script. The first man out was Brent Honeywell, who pitched a clean inning with one strikeout earning his first hold of the season.
- Notable was the order of the 7th and 8th inning duties. The Padres chose to deploy Luis Garcia—who has stumbled a bit to start the season—in the 7th and used fellow late-inning arm Steven Wilson in the 8th. Garcia responded with a decent inning where he allowed one hit and no runs to earn a hold. Wilson managed to dance around two walks with the aid of two strikeouts to secure a clean inning and the hold.
- As per usual, Josh Hader was called upon to secure the save in the 9th. Hader had Padres fans sweating it out a bit with a pair of walks and a Tommy Pham RBI single. Ultimately, Hader sealed the deal with a strikeout of rookie Francisco Alvarez.
CIN 6 – ATL 7
SV: Nick Anderson (1)
H: Dylan Lee (3), Joe Jimenez (2), Jesse Chavez (3)
- Kyle Wright’s season debut was a laborious one where he needed 75 pitches to complete just three innings. The outing featured four walks with four earned runs. Longman Michael Tonkin stepped in to bridge the gap with three clean innings to keep the Braves in the mix.
- Jesse Chavez continued his strong start to the season with a clean 7th inning. Joe Jimenez ran into trouble in the 8th when he gave up a 2-run home run to Jose Barrero and then proceeded to walk Jonathan India on four straight pitches. Dylan Lee was called upon to stop the bleeding which he did successfully by inducing a fly-out and a foul-tip strikeout. All three relievers earned holds for their efforts.
- With closer A.J. Minter likely unavailable after pitching two straight days, the Braves looked to Nick Anderson to finish out the game. Anderson made quick work of the Cincinnati bats allowing no baserunners while earning a strikeout. Leave it to the Braves to unearth what might be a Come-Back-Player-of-the-Year-worthy campaign from Anderson who hasn’t pitched more than 17 innings in a season since 2019.
CWS 3 – MIN 4 (10)
H: Caleb Thielbar (3)
BS: Jhoan Duran (1)
- Pablo Lopez continued his brilliant start to the season with this 7.2 inning gem that included 10 strikeouts. The Twins decided to bring in Caleb Thielbar to face Andrew Benintendi—leaning into the lefty-on-lefty match-up splits. The move resulted in a strikeout which earned Theilbar his third hold.
- Flamethrower Jhoan Duran was relied upon to close out the game. However, Luis Robert had other plans as he launched a first-pitch hanging curveball for a home run to tie the game. Duran proceeded to strike out the next three batters.
- Reynaldo Lopez pitched the bottom of the ninth in a tie game to force extra innings. He recorded two strikeouts and showcased good velocity on this 4-seam fastball with it showing an increase of nearly a tick.
- Minnesota deployed Griffin Jax in the top of the 10th where he pitched a clean inning and put himself in line for his first Win.
- With a ghost runner on second, Michael A. Taylor squared up a bunt on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the 10th—shooting it up the third base line. The bunt was fielded cleanly by defensive-replacement Hanser Alberto but his throw was errant—actually hitting Taylor right in the head as he crossed first base. The error on the throw allowed the ghost runner to score giving us the joy of a bunt single + error walk-off.
KCR 5 – TEX 8 (10)
H: Will Smith (2)
BS: Jose Leclerc (1), Scott Barlow (1)
- The Rangers bullpen paved a bumpy road after a dominant Jacob deGrom start. Jonathan Hernandez failed to record a single out in the 8th before being removed. Co-closer Will Smith was next in and managed to keep it close while earning a hold. However, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy decided to allow Smith to stay in to start the 9th—where Smith proceeded to give up a leadoff single to Kyle Isbel. With the tying run on base, fellow co-closer Jose Leclerc entered the game and proceeded to blow the one-run lead with a walk and an RBI single from M.J. Melendez.
- Across the diamond, following a four-run performance from starting pitcher Jordan Lyles, the Royals bullpen did an admirable job keeping the team close. No earned runs from Amir Garrett, Carlos Hernandez, and Aroldis Chapman. Chapman continued his particularly strong start to the campaign showing increased velocity on his pitches—his final sinker reaching over 102 MPH.
- Unfortunately for the Royals, closer Scott Barlow was unable to maintain the shutdown posture of his pen mates. Johan Heim completed the two-out rally in the bottom of the 10th with a walk-off three-run blast—which gave Barlow his first blown save of the year.
STL 9 – COL 6
SV: Ryan Helsley (2)
- The Cardinals’ bullpen shined with strong multi-inning performances from Genesis Cabrera (1.2 IP, 3 Ks) and Giovanny Gallegos (1.1 IP, 2Ks) that combined to allow not a single Rockie base runner through three innings. Ryan Helsley battled through a pair of singles to start the final frame but settled in nicely to strikeout two and secure the save.
- The Rockies’ replacement closer Pierce Johnson imploded in the 9th and allowed three runs to score without finishing the frame. Managers speculating on Johnson to provide a repeat of the Bard-like dominance from last year may be left wanting.
WAS 0 – LAA 2
SV: Carlos Estevez (1)
H: Jose Quijada (3)
- Shohei Ohtani threw seven innings of shutout baseball that provided the Angels’ bullpen an opportunity for short work. The Halos’ arms did not disappoint. Jose Quijada came in to pitch the 8th inning and earned his third hold of the season without allowing a baserunner. Carlow Estevez maneuvered around a Keibert Ruiz walk to shut down the Nats and secure his first save of the season.
- Both Estevez and Quijada have now earned a save so far this season, so the bullpen roles are still taking shape.
Best of the rest…
- While no holds or saves were issued thanks to the prolific Rays offense, the late-inning bullpen blueprint of Garrett Cleavinger, Jason Adam, and Ryan Thompson was still employed by Tampa for three shutout innings of work. With a 6-run lead in the 9th, the Rays turned to Calvin Faucher to finish the game.
- Adbert Alzolay earned his second hold of the season for the Cubbies with another multi-inning effort (2 IP) and looks to be a favorite weapon in the Chicago bullpen for IP and hold chances.
- John Brebbia (2) and Tyler Rogers (1) each earned holds for the Giants. Evan Phillips gave up three earned runs in the bottom of the 8th which removed the save chance from Camilo Doval. Doval still worked the 9th to protect the five-run lead and proceeded to shut down the Dodgers while earning two strikeouts.
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