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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 4/5/24 Depth Chart

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

Josh Mockensturm
Reliever Ranks 4/5/2024

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

 

  • It was a light schedule for the first non-Opening Day Thursday of the year with only 10 teams playing across six games
  • As a result, most bullpens should be relatively refreshed today, with the notable exceptions of DET and NYM. STL and MIA also had a lot of guys go, but MIA is off and STL should be good regardless.
  • Early this morning the Yankees placed Jonathan Loáisiga on the 60-day IL (retroactive to 4/4) due to a right flexor strain. This is a pretty big blow to the Yankees bullpen, but then again… they seem to churn out great bullpen arms.
  • Penn Murfee was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for Miguel Díaz, who Houston had claimed off waivers from the Tigers.
  • The Marlins called up Matt Andriese to attempt to spark some life into their struggling bullpen.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

DET 6 – NYM 3 (Game 1 / 11)

 

HD: Brooks Raley (1), Drew Smith (1), Jake Diekman (1)

SV: None

  • Things were looking up for the winless Mets with Brooks Raley, Drew Smith, and Jake Diekman all securing holds (although Smith did get charged an unearned run on a Diekman wild pitch) and putting the Mets in a position to get their first win of the season. Unfortunately, Adam Ottavino couldn’t … hold on to the lead, allowing a game-tying HR to Riley Greene. This led to Edwin Díaz making this third appearance of the season with nary a save situation to show for it, although he did strike out two in his clean inning of work. Jorge López followed with a perfect 10th before the wheels fell off for Michael Tonkin in the 11th, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits for his second straight loss.
  • Detroit, on the other hand, kept the box score clean in relief. Joey Wentz was the only reliever to allow a hit in his 1.2 innings of work in relief of Casey Mize (and also adding an earned run to Mize’s total by allowing an inherited runner to score). From there it went Alex Lange for the seventh, Andrew Chafin for the eighth, and Jason Foley for the ninth (once again lined up for a save should the opportunity arise, essentially putting to bed any committee talk). All three threw scoreless, hitless innings of work (but only Chafin kept the basepaths completely clear). Shelby Miller came in for his team-leading fourth appearance and gave the Tigers the two scoreless innings they needed, securing the win in the process, his second of the year, after the Tigers roughed up Tonkin.

 

NYM 2 – DET 1 (Game 2)

 

HD: Tyler Holton (1)

SV: None

  • Detroit looked like they might keep their undefeated season going with a doubleheader sweep, but Pete Alonso had other ideas with a game-tying, ninth-inning HR off Alex Faedo. A walk, a sacrifice bunt, and a single later, and the Mets walked it off sending Detroit, and Faedo, home with their first loss.
  • After using seven relievers in Game 1, the Mets got a much-needed three innings of scoreless relief from Reed Garrett.

 

STL 8 – MIA 5

 

HD: Anthony Bender (2), Sixto Sánchez (1), JoJo Romero (2)

SV: Ryan Helsley (2)

  • It was the best of bullpens; it was the worst of bullpens as Miami felt their first victory slip through their fingers like the famed white sand of its beaches. Anthony Bender was first out of the ‘pen with a scoreless sixth for his second hold of the season. From there, it was nearly all downhill. Sixto Sánchez only managed one out, getting tagged for three runs (two earned) on two hits. But he managed to come away with the always fun Loss/Hold combo thanks to Andrew “Nard Dog” Nardi (I really don’t think anyone calls him this…) allowing two of those inherited runs to score, before then allowing two of his own runs, nudging his season ERA from 20.25 to 21.60.
  • It was a tale of two bullpens as the Cardinals bullpen saw what the Marlins did and then shut the door. Giovanny Gallegos got the five-pitch, one-out win by getting Bryan De La Cruz to fly out in the top of the seventh. JoJo Romero kept things clean for the eighth and his second hold of the season. Ryan Helsley secured his second straight save with a perfect ninth.

 

CLE 4 – MIN 2

 

HD: Tim Herrin (1), Hunter Gaddis (2), Scott Barlow (3)

SV: Emmanuel Clase (3)

  • Everyone pitching for Cleveland today came away with a decision like a contestant on Oprah reaching under their chair. You get a Win, Tanner Bibee! And you get a Hold, Tim Herrin! And YOU get a Hold, Hunter Gaddis! And YOU get your THIRD Hold, Scott Barlow! Everyone gets a decision! Oh, and Emmanuel Clase got his third save of the season with a perfect ninth like he does.
  • With no lead to protect, down by two runs, the Twins turned to their bullpen b-sides and got two scoreless innings of Kody Funderburk, and one scoreless inning from Cole Sands.

 

PIT 7 – WAS 4

 

HD: Aroldis Chapman (2)

SV: David Bednar (1)

  • A wild David Bednar save chance appears! After blowing the opportunity on Sunday, Bednar finally locked down his first save of the season. Aroldis Chapman struck out his only batter ahead of Bednar for his second hold of the season. This was the fourth save of the year for the Pirates, yet only the first for Bednar.
  • The Nationals used four relievers for the second straight day, managing to use everyone they didn’t use the previous day. While three of the four threw scoreless innings, they never managed to close the scoring gap to earn any holds (let alone a win or a save).

 

KCR 10 – CHW 1

 

HD: Angel Zerpa (2)

SV: None

  • As the bottom of the seventh inning started, I mused to the PL Discord that we might have ourselves a Royals save opportunity for the third day in a row… and then the Royals scored eight runs while I was in the process of typing up a fun little poll about who might get the opportunity.  BASEBALL! Deivi García and Dominic Leone were the two unfortunate souls responsible for the eight runs.
  • On the other end of the pitching spectrum, the Royals bullpen didn’t allow a hit or a run in their 2.2 innings of relief, with Angel Zerpa, Matt Sauer, and Jordan Lyles all keeping their ERAs a sparkling 0.00.

 

 

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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