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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 4/20/24 Depth Chart

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

Patrick Fitzgerald
Fantasy 4/20/2024

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

 

  • We nearly had a full slate of games on Friday, but a Coors Field contest between the Rockies and Mariners was rained out. They will play a doubleheader Sunday to make up the game.
  • The Brewers activated Trevor Megill from the 7-day concussion IL. More on that later!

 

Yesterday’s Performances

CHC 8 – MIA 3

  • Nothing to see here, as the Cubs jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Keegan Thompson was the highlight in relief (2 IP, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K), maintaining his perfect ERA on the season in 6 IP. Thompson is streaky but has the potential to be a multi-innings weapon for the Cubs.

 

CIN 7 – LAA 1

HD: Fernando Cruz (4), Lucas Sims (4)

  • Cruz and Sims both notched holds as they continue to prove themselves as solid middle relievers. Cruz has been fantastic, as he fanned two in 0.2 IP to keep his K% over 50% (!!).

 

BOS 8 – PIT 1

  • Nothing to report here, but I’ll shout out Cam Booser (1 IP, 1 ER) for making his MLB debut.

 

PHI 7 – CWS 0

  • This was yet another game with no real action for relievers. Orion Kerkering pitched a scoreless ninth, his second outing since starting the season on the IL. With more outings like this, he figures to work his way into the already-clouded high-leverage mix in Philly.

 

HOU 5 – WAS 3

HD: Bryan Abreu (2), Ryan Pressly (3)

SV: Josh Hader (2)

  • In what has been a rare occurrence this season, the Astros’ bullpen did exactly what it was supposed to. Following a strong showing from the returning Justin Verlander (6 IP, 2 ER), Abreu and Pressly each notched holds before Hader closed things out in the 9th, albeit not before he allowed a run to score. Abreu’s ERA sits at 5.40 while both Pressly and Hader have marks over 8.00, but this shouldn’t last long.
  • On Saturday, Pressly could get a save change, as he only threw 18 pitches on Friday to Hader’s 30.

 

NYY 5 – TBR 3

W: Dennis Santana (1-0)

BS, L: Chris Devenski (0-1)

H: Shawn Armstrong (1)

SV: Clay Holmes (8)

  • There was lots of reliever action in this one, with the highlight being Clay Holmes recording his league-leading 8th save. He has yet to allow an earned run this season.
  • Devenski allowed 5 runs in the 7th despite only giving up 2 hits in the frame thanks to 2 Rays’ errors. This put the Yanks up 5-1 before Ian Hamilton ceded 2 runs in the 8th before handing things over to Holmes.
  • Santana vultured the win as a result of the Yankees’ rally and continues to show that he was a good waiver claim (3.00 ERA).

 

CLE 10 – OAK 2

  • No major reliever news here, but Timmy Herrin threw a scoreless 6th with two strikeouts to continue a great sophomore campaign (10.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 BB, 11 K).

 

ATL 8 – TEX 3

L: Jacob Latz (0-1)

  • No top relief arms from either team worked in this one. Latz struggled mightily (0.2 IP, 4 ER) but figures to still get some leverage work as the only LHP in the Rangers’ bullpen.

 

KCR 9- BAL 4

H: John Schreiber (4)

  • Several relievers saw their ERAs balloon after this game, including Will Smith (14.14 ERA). Smith allowed four hits and four earned runs, all coming on a 7th-inning grand slam by Adley Rutschman.
  • Schreiber preserved his perfect ERA this season (9 IP, 7 K) with the cheeky one-out hold.

 

DET 5 – MIN 4

W: Andrew Chafin (2-0)

L: Caleb Thielbar (0-1)

SV: Jason Foley (6)

  • In a shocking turn of events, the Tigers played a close game! Just kidding: they’ve already had six one-run games in their first 20. Foley shut the door again and kept his season ERA at 0.00. But, he only topped out at 96.8 MPH, with his sinker velo down 2.2 MPH from his season average. He still has a strong grip on Detroit’s closer job, but this is something to monitor.
  • Brock Stewart and Griffin Jax threw scoreless 7th and 8th innings, respectively, before Thielbar gave up the go-ahead run in the 9th.

 

MIL 2 – STL 1 (10)

W, BS: Joel Payamps (1-1)

L: Ryan Helsley (1-2)

H: Elvis Peguero (2), Trevor Megill (2)

SV: Hoby Milner (1)

  • This game had the most bullpen action of the day, and it provided no clarity on the Brewers’ closer situation. The Brewers took an early one-run lead and inserted the just-activated Megill in the 8th. He retired five of the first six hitters he faced before stalling out one out away from securing the save, which would’ve been his first of the season.
  • Payamps replaced Megill after a walk and single and let in the tying run on an HBP and a walk before recording the final out to send the game to extras. After Helsley allowed the Manfred Man to score in the top of the 10th, Milner struck out Nolan Gorman looking with runners on first and third to record his first career save in 242 appearances. Congrats Hoby!
  • Abner Uribe, who leads the Brew Crew in saves but has seen more middle relief work lately, did not pitch in this one. My best guess is that the current closing situation is a three-way split between Megill, Payamps, and Uribe. Uribe should get the look on Saturday if a save situation arises

 

TOR 5 – SDP 1 

W: Bowden Francis (2-2)

  • After two horrible starts to open the year, Francis (2 IP, 0 R, 2 K) picked up his second straight win in relief of Yariel Rodríguez, who has shown well in his MLB outings but is still building up his workload. Rodriguez threw 83 pitches in this one, which should be enough to qualify him for wins in the future.
  • Jordan Romano worked a scoreless 9th inning, his first clean sheet after nearly blowing a save against the Yankees earlier this week in his season debut.

 

NYM 9 – LAD 4

W: Reed Garrett (3-0)

L: Daniel Hudson (1-1)

H: Brooks Raley (4), Adam Ottavino (3)

  • The Mets continue to stack wins after their slow start. This one went to Garrett, his third of the season already, after he allowed 2 unearned runs in the bottom of the 6th thanks to a pair of errors from Joey Wendle. Hudson allowed two runs (one earned) in the top of the 7th to make Garrett the pitcher of record. He’s emerged as a relief weapon for the Mets this year despite little to no track record of big league success despite multiple stints.
  • Reliable vets Raley and Ottavino each picked up holds and will continue to set up Edwin Diaz.

 

ARI 17 – SFG 1

  • This one was ugly, as the Snakes tallied 12 runs in the final three innings. Most of them came off of multi-inning relievers Landon Roupp and Kai-Wei Teng. In the battle of late-signing Boras clients, Blake Snell continued to struggle (4.2 IP, 5 ER) while Jordan Montgomery shined(6 IP, 1 ER) in his season debut.

 

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

Patrick Fitzgerald

Patrick Fitzgerald is a Staff Writer for Pitcher List's fantasy team. He is an alum of Vassar College, where he pitched on the baseball team and studied economics and political science. Patrick is an avid O's fan and head-to-head fantasy baseball player (roto remains a work in progress).

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