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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 5/27/24 Depth Chart

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

Jake Crumpler
Fantasy 5/27/2024

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

 

  • The Seattle Mariners activated Tayler Saucedo from the 15-day IL. He last pitched on May seventh before going down with a hyperextended right knee. Prior to the injury, he pitched to a 2.70 ERA (13.1 IP) while contributing a save and a hold. Saucedo will enter the holds conversation with Austin Voth shifting to a bulk relief role to replace Eduard Bazardo who was optioned to the minors in a corresponding move.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

 

TOR 11 – DET 14

W: Mason Englert (1)

L: Jordan Romano (2)

  • It was a high-scoring affair in which the Tigers came out victorious. Jason Foley did his best to foil their plans for a win, surrendering three runs while recording just two outs in the eighth and taking his second blown save. His offense bailed him out with five runs across the next two times at-bat. It’s hard to blame Foley for a poor performance here as he was pitching in a high-leverage situation for the third day in a row. The right-hander should bounce back after a day off today.
  • Jordan Romano continues to put himself at risk of losing the closer role. He entered the ninth with the score tied and coughed up a three-run walk-off home run to Matt Vierling and now sits with a putrid 6.39 ERA (12.2 IP). With Yimi García having an incredible season, pitching to a 1.35 ERA (20 IP) with a 33.3% K% and a 15.1-inning scoreless streak entering the weekend, Romano could see a break from the closer role and may lose it indefinitely if García succeeds. Romano may be safe for now, though, as García allowed two runs and was tagged with his first blown save in the eighth inning of this one. Romano has now pitched on back-to-back days, so expect García to get a taste of the ninth today.

 

LAD 1 – CIN 4

W: Nick Martinez (2)

HD: Carson Spiers (1)

SV: Alexis Díaz (10)

  • Just when you started to think Alexis Díaz was cooked, he reeled off three saves in a week without surrendering a run. The most interesting part is that Díaz has sported increased velocity on his heater and slider in his past two appearances. The four-seamer was at 95.5 mph on Saturday and 95.1 mph on Sunday compared to the 93.8 mph he’s averaged on the season, while the slider was at 89.4 mph and 88.5 mph over the weekend after sitting 86.9 mph all year. If this holds, Díaz may return to relevance and claim the closer role for good. Díaz will have an opportunity to rest his arm today after pitching on consecutive days.

 

SEA 9 – WSN 5

W: Austin Voth (2)

L: Dylan Floro (1)

  • Having had four days off in a row, the Mariners gave Andrés Muñoz a maintenance outing, pitching the ninth with a four-run lead. Muñoz worked around a hit to secure the victory. His 34.1% K% is a top 10 mark among pitchers with at least 20 innings pitched. Muñoz is a top-10 closer indefinitely.

 

MIL 1 – BOS 2

W: Justin Slaten (3)

L: Elvis Peguero (2)

SV: Kenley Jansen (9)

  • Kenley Jansen continues to inch toward the fourth spot on the all-time saves leaderboard. With his perfect ninth on Sunday, he recorded the 429th save of his career, putting him just eight shy of Francisco Rodríguez for fourth in baseball history. Jansen is once again having a typically great year with a 3.06 ERA (17.2 IP) and a 30.7% K%, though a career-high 13.3% BB% and decreased cutter velocity (-2.3 mph from 2023 to 92 mph) is cause for concern. It’s a good sign he’s walked just two batters across his last 12 appearances (4.2% BB%) and sported increased cutter velocity (+1.2 mph to 93.2 mph) on Sunday.

 

KCR 1 – TBR 4

W: Garrett Cleavinger (4)

HD: Kevin Kelly (4)

SV: Pete Fairbanks (5)

  • Since returning from the IL on May 11th, Pete Fairbanks hasn’t allowed a run and has permitted just four baserunners, three of which came on Sunday. That seven-inning scoreless streak slashed his ERA in half after it sat at 9.00 prior to his IL stint. Fairbanks should reassure fantasy managers that he’s a top-five closer as he continues to keep opposing teams off the board. He has now pitched on consecutive days, but the Rays are off today, so he’ll be ready to go for the team’s next save opportunity.

 

BAL 4 – CHW 1

HD: Danny Coulombe (11), Yennier Cano (12)

SV: Craig Kimbrel (12)

  • Craig Kimbrel joined Kenley Jansen in recording the 429th save of his career as they remained tied for fifth all-time. Kimbrel has been on fire over the past couple of weeks, pitching 6.2 consecutive perfect frames while fanning 40% of the batters he’s faced. Whatever knocked him out of the closer role earlier this year seems to be in the rearview mirror, helping him return to being a top-15 closer in baseball.

 

PHI 2 – COL 5

HD: Matt Carasiti (1), Nick Mears (5)

SV: Tyler Kinley (2)

  • The Rockies are trying something new. They started the season with Justin Lawrence in the closer role but recently relied upon Jalen Beeks in the ninth. That was until he blew back-to-back saves earlier this week. The club went back to their ex-closer on Saturday, using Beeks to record four outs across the seventh and eighth before handing the ball to Lawrence in the ninth. Both pitchers allowed runs while Lawrence failed to maintain the lead. Now the Rockies have turned to Tyler Kinley, a closer candidate in the second half of 2023. Even after Sunday’s scoreless outing, Kinley owns a terrible 7.59 ERA (21.1 IP). It’s best to stay as far away from this pen as you can in fantasy leagues.

 

CLE 5 – LAA 4

HD: Sam Hentges (3), Scott Barlow (13)

SV: Emmanuel Clase (17)

  • Emmanuel Clase has been unhittable this year. He’s leading the American League and is tied for the Major League lead in saves. His 0.33 ERA (27.1 IP) is the best in baseball (min. 15 IP) and it’s thanks to a career-low 2% walk rate. Clase has achieved that walk rate by inducing swings on pitches out of the zone 7% more often than he did last year. Batters are likely chasing more often because Clase has focused on locating his pitches down in the zone rather than separating his cutter and slider in different hemispheres of the zone. The tunneling on the pitches has created a greater likelihood of batters chasing pitches. It’s a great sign following a career-worst season for Clase in 2023 and ERA estimators agree that Clase has recovered his old form. He’s now pitched in each of the past two days, but it’s anyone’s guess who gets the call on Friday as it could be Clase for the third day in a row or any other reliever in that arm barn.

 

HOU 5 – OAK 2

  • The Astros turned to Josh Hader despite a four-run lead. He created a save situation by coughing up a home run but was able to recover and secure the victory. The long ball ruined what had been the longest scoreless streak (8.1 IP) of the season for Hader. His HR/FB rate is higher than the league average, but as a fly ball pitcher, Hader is prone to the longball. He has actually been fortunate in that department with one of the lowest HR/9 rates of his career despite the inflated ERA (4.13, 24 IP).

 

MIA 3 – ARI 1

HD: Declan Cronin (2), Calvin Faucher (4)

SV: Tanner Scott (7)

  • Tanner Scott has worked himself back into the favor of fantasy managers and has likely secured himself a spot atop the trade deadline closer ranks. Scott has pitched 14.1 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, lowering his ERA to 1.64 (22 IP) with his perfect outing on Sunday. However, he’s maintained a 13.6% walk rate during that stretch, an area that Scott improved upon last year in a breakout campaign. Scott won’t return to being a top-10 closer until he addresses the free passes.

 

NYY 2 – SDP 5

W: Jeremiah Estrada (2)

SV: Robert Suarez (15)

  • Robert Suarez worked around a run as he covered the final four outs of the game to notch his 15th save and maintain his sub-1.00 ERA. However, it was Jeremiah Estrada who stole the show, striking out all five of the batters he faced across the sixth and seventh innings. Through 15.1 IP in his first season with the Padres, Estrada has a 0.59 ERA and has struck out 45.5% of the batters he’s faced, the second-highest mark in the Majors (min. 10 IP), trailing only Mason Miller. The addition of a splitter and further reliance on his slider has allowed Estrada to take off and makes his ascension believable, especially with his minor league pedigree supporting his strikeout numbers. The 25-year-old right-hander could quickly become a top 10 holds option.

 

CHC 3- STL 4

HD: JoJo Romero (18)

SV: Ryan Helsley (17)

  • Ryan Helsley has now surrendered runs in each of his last two appearances after going 16 consecutive innings without a runner crossing home on his watch. That hasn’t stopped him from continuing to lock down saves and he remains tied with Emmanuel Clase for the Major League lead in that category. Helsley has pitched in back-to-back games and seems to be in need of a day off after a rough weekend. Both JoJo Romero and Andrew Kittredge also pitched in both games this weekend, so expect Ryan Fernandez to get the ninth if a save arises today.

 

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

 

Jake Crumpler

A Bay Area sports fan and lover of baseball, Jake is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz with a B.A. in English Literature. He currently writes fantasy articles for Pitcher List, is the lead baseball writer at The Athletes Hub, and does playing time analysis at BaseballHQ. Some consider his knowledge of the sport to be encyclopedic.

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