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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 6/26/24 Depth Chart

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

Scott McDermott
Fantasy 6/26/2024

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

 

Transactions and Schedule

 

  • All teams were scheduled for action on Tuesday, but the Braves and Cardinals were rained out.  They’ll have a day-night doubleheader on Wednesday.
  • Mets closer Edwin Diaz opted not to appeal his suspension for a foreign substance.  He serves the first of his ten-game suspension tonight.
  • After two straight days of bullpen games, the San Francisco Giants will call up Hayden Birdsong to make his MLB debut Wednesday.  Birdsong, a 6’4″ righty, had a 2.05 ERA in AA Richmond this season.  He was called up to AAA a couple of weeks ago and only made two starts in the PCL, but the Giants are in dire need of pitching and he’s one of their top prospects.
  • Dallas Keuchel is now a Brewer, as Seattle handed him over for cash considerations.   Keuchel’s been 7-4 in AAA with a 3.93 ERA, but just 45 K’s in 71 IP.  Keuchel appeared in six games in MLB with the Twins last year, earning a 1.67 WHIP.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

 

PIT 9 – CIN 5

  • Reds starter Hunter Greene had a few digestive issues in the first inning, but had just as much trouble keeping the ball down as he did his dinner.  He’d cough up six runs in four innings, throwing 93 tough-to-stomach pitches.
  • With the game mostly out of hand, Reds reliever Yosver Zulueta made his Major League debut in the sixth.  He’s worth keeping an eye on as he can hit 99 on the gun and his fastball has a ton of movement, but he’s historically had trouble commanding it (20 BB in 30 MiLB innings this season).  He can add some length in the ‘pen, though, as he went three innings and tossed more than fifty pitches, giving up one run.  All in all a solid first outing.
  • Newly-minted closer Aroldis Chapman warmed up for the Pirates, but with a five-run lead going into the ninth and the Reds not really threatening he’d stay on the bench.

 

CLE 10 – BAL 8

W: Pedro Avila (2-1)

HD: Scott Barlow (17), Cade Smith (13), Sam Hentges (8)

SV: Emmanuel Clase (25)

  • The offenses were firing all night in a back-and-forth game, but the scoring settled down with the Guardians up two in the ninth.
  • That meant Clase was in session, and he painted the corners with 100-mph fastballs in his brief appearance.  Though he surrendered a double to Cedric Mullins (who would later make it to 3rd), that was his only blemish on fourteen pitches.
  • Baltimore setup man Yennier Cano, possibly the best reliever in baseball last season, got tripped up in this one.  He only threw nine pitches but gave up two runs on three hits, including a Bo Naylor RBI triple.

 

TOR 9 – BOS 4

  • Boston took an early 2-0 lead, but the Blue Jays erupted for nine unanswered runs to put the game quickly out of reach.
  • The Red Sox got two more runs off starter Kevin Gausman on a Tyler O’Neill homer, but that’s as close as they’d get.
  • With Yimi García and Jordan Romano both on the IL, Chad Green got the ball in the ninth, albeit in a non-save situation.  Green has been electric all season with an ERA around 1.50, and continued his stellar season with a clean 1-2-3 inning.  Green will likely get the majority of Save opportunities for the next couple of weeks at least and is a solid short-term pickup.
  • One bright spot for Boston was Josh Winckowski, who turned in six innings of relief and struck out eight.  He picks up starts here and there, but a consistent rotation spot might be in his future if there’s an injury (or Bello continues to struggle).

 

NYY 7 – NYM 9

HD: Ryan Fernandez (6)

SV: Ryan Helsley (27)

  • This appeared to be a runaway for the Mets as they blitzed Gerrit Cole for six runs and chased him out of the game after 72 pitches.
  • But the Yankees got to relievers Adam Ottavino and Danny Young, the latter of whom would leave the game with the bases loaded and Aaron Judge at the plate.  The Mets called on Reed Garret, who quickly got ahead on an 0-2 count.  But then Judge delivered the harshest of verdicts by driving a grand slam to right center, and we suddenly had a ball game.
  • The Yanks brought on Tommy Kahnle, their fourth reliever of the game, to work the eighth down two.  He gave up a single to Francisco Lindor but retired the rest.
  • That left Garrett to come back on in the ninth, though he wasn’t eligible for the Save.  But he looked sharp, striking out DJ Lemahieu to cap a 1-2-3 inning.
  • With Diaz suspended until late next week, Garrett will likely see most of the Saves going forward.

 

TEX 1 – MIL 3

W: Bryse Wilson (5-3)

SV: Elvis Peguero (2)

  • Bryse Wilson looked great as the bulk reliever for Milwaukee, coming on in the third and going six scoreless innings.
  • With Trevor Megill working the last two nights, the Brewers opted for Elvis Peguero to close it out.  Peguero got the Win Monday and he’d follow it with a Save Tuesday, pitching around an HBP to end the game.
  • Notably for Texas, Dane Dunning looks to be back in a bulk relief role as he worked 2.1 innings and threw 37 pitches.

 

MIA 2 – KCR 1

W: A.J. Puk (2-8)

L: Carlos Hernández (0-1)

SV: Tanner Scott (10)

HD: Huascar Brazaban (1), Calvin Faucher (7)

  • Tanner Scott continues to stay under the radar.  He might not get many opportunities in Miami, but he’s only allowed two runs in his last fifteen appearances.  He won’t get the most K’s, either—his strikeout rate hovers around 25%—yet his ERA stands at 1.59 with another scoreless outing.
  • A.J. Puk also pitched well to get the Win (.98 WHIP in his last 15 appearances) while the Royals continue to struggle with the bat, losing 19 of their last 28.  Kansas City set a team record of five straight contests without a batter getting more than one hit in a game.

 

LAD 4 – CHW 3

W: Michael Petersen (2-0)

SV: Evan Phillips (13)

HD: Yohan Ramírez (3), Anthony Banda (1), Blake Treinen (6), Daniel Hudson (12)

  • The White Sox scored three in the first inning off starter Bobby Miller, but that’d be all the runs they’d get as the Dodgers blanked them the rest of the way.
  • In what turned out to be a bullpen game after Miller only went two innings, Michael Petersen earned the Win by throwing the third and fourth, allowing one hit.  The rest of the LA bullpen would earn Holds as Chicago only got one hit and one walk in the last four innings.
  • Closer Evan Phillips came in with a one-run lead and also looked sharp in a perfect frame against the heart of the Chicago lineup (such as it is).  He’d get Eloy Jiménez to pull a weak grounder to third to complete the comeback.

 

MIN 4 – ARZ 5

W: Kevin Ginkel (6-1)

L: Jorge Alcala (1-3)

SV: Paul Sewald (10)

HD: Ryan Thompson (11)

  • The Diamondbacks were cruising through the middle innings off a strong start by Brandon Pfaadt, up 4-1.  But a Ryan Jeffers three-run bomb would tie the game and end Pfaadt’s night in the seventh.
  • Arizona would take the lead again in the bottom of the inning, however, as Ketel Marte never stops hitting.  A single with two on made it 5-4.
  • That would be enough for Sewald, who was a little wilder than usual (nine of his seventeen pitches were strikes) but got past a Byron Buxton double to seal the victory.

 

The best of the rest…

  • Tarik Skubal effectively blanked the Phillies through seven, leaving Shelby Miller to work the eighth.  He had a clean inning so Jason Foley came on in the ninth up four.  In a non-save situation, Foley served up a solo shot to Bryce Harper (who might be as hot as he’s ever been in his illustrious career).  Foley sat the next three batters down, however, and the Tigers won 4-1.
  • The pattern of closers working in non-save situations continued with Josh Hader also entering the game with a four-run lead on the Rockies.  He’d give up a solo shot to Michael Toglia and walk a batter, but strike out the other three hitters to earn Hunter Brown another Win.
  • The Padres took a commanding 9-4 lead off a Jurickson Profar grand slam (still relevant), but the Nationals would make a game of it.  Robert Suarez came on up three runs and got the first two batters, including a swinging strikeout to Ildemaro Vargas.  An error and a single would bring in an unearned run to make it 9-7 but Suarez shut the door after that, getting Lane Thomas to pop out to first and getting his twentieth Save, third in the National League.
  • I’m still trying to figure out how Tyler Rogers earned the Win in San Francisco, as he was the fifth pitcher to come into the game and the Giants had the lead since the second inning.  But he apparently was the first pitcher in this bullpen game to have a ‘clean’ inning and earn a W.  Ryan Walker, who pitched the inning BEFORE Rogers, earned a Hold (not sure I’ve seen that before).  Camilo Doval would take the ball in the ninth in—you guessed it—a non-save situation.  He pitched a clean inning with one K and lowered his ERA to 4.55.

 

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

 

Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire

Design by Jackson Wallace

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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