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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 5/22/24 Depth Chart

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

Scott McDermott
Fantasy 5/22/2024

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

 

  • All 30 teams were in action on a packed Tuesday.  The same is true for Wednesday so expect all the bullpens to get plenty of work.
  • Wednesday will see a few extra innings as the Cards and Orioles dealt with a lengthy rain delay and their game was suspended in the sixth.  Starters Lance Lynn and Kyle Bradish were both dealing at the time and were forced to leave earlier than their performances warranted.
  • The Cubs announced that Kyle Hendricks will be moving into a bullpen role ‘for now’.  The hope is that he gets right and finds a way back into the rotation, but with Chicago’s other starters over-performing that may take a while.  (Also, keep an eye on Hayden Wesneski)
  • Ryan Pepiot will come off the IL to start on Wednesday for Tampa against the Red Sox.
  • With Milwaukee’s Joe Ross going on the IL, Tobias Myers gets the call.  Myers started four games for the Brewers earlier this season with a 17:9 K-BB ratio and a 5.29 ERA, but it looks like he’ll stick to the bullpen for now.
  • To make room for Joe Musgrove’s start tonight, sometime-starter/sometime-reliever Randy Vasquez was optioned back to AAA.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

 

BOS 5 – TBR 2

W: Greg Weissert (2-1)

L: Jason Adam (2-1)

SV: Kenley Jansen (8)

HD: Chris Martin (6)

  • Boston played some small-ball on Jason Adam to plate two runs in the eighth, including a perfectly executed first-and-third delayed steal that resulted in Jarren Duran swiping home.
  • Chris Martin looked great for Boston in the bottom half of the inning, striking out both Josh Lowe and Randy Arozarena in a clean frame.
  • After Boston notched another run to make it 5-2, Jansen came on and worked around an Isaac Paredes leadoff double to get the next three batters.  Jansen won’t blow anyone away at this stage in his career, but he’s still hitting 94 mph on the cutter and getting things done.

 

MIL 4 – MIA 5

W: Tobias Myers (1-2)

L: AJ Puk (0-5)

SV: Trevor Megill (7)

HD: Joel Payamps (5)

  • AJ Puk made an appearance after four days’ rest to work the eighth, and though his control was decent the results were not.  A leadoff double by the pinch-hitting Jake Bauers started things off, and a Christian Yelich triple plated two runs.  The Brewers would add another run on a Willy Adames double that deflected off the third baseman’s glove.
  • Payamps worked a clean frame in the bottom half, striking out two and looking more comfortable in the setup role he thrived in last year.
  • That left Trevor Megill to redeem himself after his first blown save of the season the night before.  Megill was clearly psyched up, touching 100 on his second-to-last pitch of the night and regularly hitting 98-99.  All three outs were swinging K’s.
  • Tobias Myers, added to the roster earlier today, gets the win after working a scoreless seventh.  He struck out two.

 

SDP 0 – CIN 2

SV: Alexis Díaz (8)

HD: Fernando Cruz (8)

  • Cruz and Diaz backed up a scoreless seven-inning start by Andrew Abbot to complete the shutout.
  • Iglesias walked Jurickson Profar to start the ninth, and things could have gotten wobbly from there, but he came back to strike out Manny Machado.  Iglesias then induced a ground ball by Jake Cronenworth for a game-ending double play.
  • Padres starter Joe Musgrove, fresh off the IL from an elbow injury, only went three innings and threw 66 inefficient pitches.  Adrian Morejon, Yuki Matsui, and Jhony Brito covered the next five frames and all kept the Reds off the board.

 

TEX 2 – PHI 5

SV: José Alvarado (9)

HD: Jeff Hoffman (6), Matt Strahm (5)

  • Ranger Suárez continued his magical season, lowering his ERA to 1.36 in his tenth start.  That’s the lowest ERA of any Phillies pitcher after ten starts in a hundred years.
  • Texas would almost crawl back in it, though, getting a Corey Seager home run to make it 3-2 in the top of the eighth.
  • But Philly got two insurance runs off Rangers reliever Cole Winn to make it a three-run game, which then left some cushion for José Alvarado to close it.
  • Alvarado made it interesting, however, allowing the bottom of Texas’s order to get to first and third before consecutive strikeouts to Marcus Semien and Seager.  Side note, it was Alvarado’s 29th birthday.

 

SFG 6 – PIT 7

W: David Bednar (3-3)

L: Erik Miller (0-2)

BS: Camilo Doval (1)

  • Bob Melvin might be kicking himself for this one.  With a 6-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, the Giants’ manager opted for Luke Jackson instead of closer Camilo Doval.  It being a non-save situation, NBD right?
  • It would in fact be a big deal.  Jackson got the first out and then gave up a walk and a double.  This led Melvin to change his mind and bring in Doval.
  • But sometimes a closer needs a rhythm, and Doval’s was clearly missing once he thought he had the night off.  The Giants closer walked Jared Triolo, then ceded a single to Ji Hwan Bae (called up this morning).  An infield error only added to the pain and then Oneil Cruz came to bat down by one.
  • After a first-inning rocket was clocked at 120.4 mph, StatCast’s hardest ball hit this year, Cruz outdid himself.  He uncorked a screaming liner to right at 121.5 mph, a ball hit so hard it might have disintegrated off the bat.  Tie game.
  • David Bednar, having an up-and-down season, looked good working the top of the tenth and keeping the ghost runner at bay.  He struck out one.
  • With Doval spent, the Giants turned to Erik Miller.  Miller would get in exactly one pitch, which talented rookie Nick Gonzalez promptly turned around with a liner to center.  The runner from second scored and the Pirates walk it off in an amazing comeback.

 

SEA 6 – NYY 3

SV: Andrés Muñoz (9)

HD: Trent Thornton (5), Ryne Stanek (8)

  • Seattle starter Bryan Woo has appeared to make the second-year leap into a burgeoning ace, keeping the Yankees to two hits in six innings with seven K’s.
  • New York would do their only damage in the seventh with a three-run shot by Gleyber Torres (who’s finally heating up).
  • Clarke Schmidt threw five strong innings but gave up two runs, and Seattle would score more off three of New York’s relievers–Dennis Santana (2 ER), Clayton Andrews (1 ER), and Nick Burdi (1 ER).

 

ATL 3 – CHC 4

W: Luke Little (1-0)

L: Aaron Bummer (1-2)

  • The wind might have been blowing out at Wrigley, but both bullpens kept the game at 3-3 and went to extras.
  • Atlanta played to the weather by using their most grounder-prone pitchers, including specialist Aaron Bummer in the bottom of the ninth.  He gave up two fly balls that inning but they stayed in the park.
  • The Braves couldn’t do anything in the top of the tenth, as a grounder to short cut off the inherited runner.  In things you don’t see that very often, Luke Little needed just three pitches to get three outs.
  • Bummer would come back in the tenth and get his ground balls this time, but the first one moved the ghost runner to third and the second was a ball that bounced high enough off the plate to bring the runner home.  Cubs win.

 

The best of the rest…

  • A late comeback in Oakland meant it was MILLER TIME.  Though it was his first save opportunity in three weeks he did not disappoint, striking out the side in sixteen pitches.  He’s amazing.
  • The Guardians won another close one off the Mets, and Emmanuel Clase is also really good.  He still has allowed only one run all season and lowered his ERA to a miniscule .36, though for the second straight outing he didn’t record a strikeout.
  • Why is anyone pitching to Kyle Tucker?  The Astros phenom blasted two homers to take the MLB lead with seventeen, blasting his second one off Luis Garcia to tie the game 5-5 in the seventh.
  • Given their bullpen, the Angels would probably prefer that baseball games lasted six innings.  But they held strong through nine against the Astros after that tying home run, only to lose in the tenth with a walk-off single by Jeremy Peña.  Josh Hader gets his third win and continues to cruise through multi-inning situations.
  • It hasn’t been said enough–the Blue Jays offense is woeful lately.  They would get blanked by Garret Crochet and the White Sox, 5-0.  Jordan Leasure and Michael Kopech held things down in the late innings, amassing five K’s between them, though neither got a Hold or Save.

 

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

 

Scott McDermott

Scott lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, two daughters, and a couple of furballs. When he’s not dissecting box scores and pondering over the optimal starting lineup for the Cincinnati Reds, he covers fantasy baseball for Pitcher List. He’s also the author of the award-winning book series 'Election 2064', available on Amazon.

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