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
- There were only six games yesterday so the majority of teams across baseball have fresh bullpens going into today’s matchups. Those that you need to check on the chart below are: CIN, BAL, MIL, NYM, MIN, ATL, DET, TEX, CWS, LAA, WSN, and SEA.
- There were few significant transactions yesterday with the New York Mets, only noteworthy for activating relievers Drew Smith and T.J. McFarland in place of Josh Walker.
Yesterday’s Performances
MIL 2 – NYM 1
HD: Hoby Milner (6), Elvis Peguero (6)
SV: Devin Williams (14)
- The Brewers bullpen held the Mets scoreless after Colin Rea gave up just one run through six and a third stellar innings. Hoby Milner, Elvis Peguero and Devin Williams combined to not allow a base runner and seal the win for the Brew Crew. Williams and his Airbender recorded his 14th save of the season and moves to 4-1 on the year after picking up another win the day prior. Williams has remarkably given up a run in just two of his 26 appearances this season. He boasts an impressive 1.75 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 35:14 K:BB over 25.2 innings. Josh who?
- Unfortunately, Drew Smith’s first contribution after his 10-game foreign substance abuse suspension was to give up his second blown save of the season as he could not build upon Justin Verlander’s scoreless five-frame outing. Adam Ottavino, Brooks Raley and closer David Robertson were all used and went scoreless in a tight contest. They should be available today, however Raley and Ottavino threw 23 pitches each.
CWS 1 – LAA 2
HD: None
SV: None
- Reynaldo López took an ugly loss, his fifth of the season, after walking Mike Trout to open the bottom of the ninth inning. Despite Aaron Bummer replacing him and immediately walking Shohei Ohtani before throwing a wild pitch that allowed Trout to score from third, Lopez was responsible for the leadoff runner. Surprisingly, Kendall Graveman wasn’t used despite not pitching on Sunday either.
- Closer Carlos Estévez picked up the win to move to 2-1 on the year after pitching a clean ninth inning before watching the Angels win the game on Aaron Bummer’s wild pitch! Estévez has been a reliable source of saves this season, and his phenomenal 40/16 K/BB ratio is better than anyone could have imagined. He is locked for fantasy production for the rest of the year.
WSN 4 – SEA 8
HD: Andrés Muñoz (5)
SV: Paul Sewald (14)
- Cory Abbott and Trevor Williams were knocked around in multiple innings in this game and neither looked sharp whatsoever. Thaddeus Ward was brought in to get the final two outs but should be available again if called upon for long relief today.
- After going into the ninth inning with a five-run lead, Tayler Saucedo allowed a run and then loaded the bases with two outs with Jeimer Candelario coming to the plate. Closer Paul Sewald was called upon and needed just four pitches to earn the K and end the game, in doing so recording his 14th save of the year. The fiery Andrés Muñoz struck out two in a perfect eighth frame.
MIN 1 – ATL 4
HD: Collin McHugh (6), Ben Heller (1)
SV: Kirby Yates (1)
- Emilio Pagán gave up a two-run homer to Ronald Acuña Jr. immediately after replacing Sonny Gray in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Atlanta an unassailable lead. Gray had opened the frame by being tagged for the loss after Marcell Ozuna took him deep before allowing Michael Harris II to to reach on a deflected single off first baseman Alex Kirilloff. Pagan hung one over the plate and was punished and that was all they wrote for the Twins.
- Veteran reliever Kirby Yates picked up his first save of the season after all three of Raisel Iglesias, Nick Anderson and A.J. Minter pitched heavily on back-to-back days over the weekend. Yates is unlikely to see regular opportunities as it really was a perfect storm of high-leverage use over the weekend for Atlanta.
CIN 3 – BAL 1o
HD: None
SV: None
- Brandon Williamson lasted just three innings before being pulled for a selection of low-level relievers. Jake Wong ate up some innings by giving up three runs on six hits through the final three frames.
- Bruce Zimmerman picked up the win in bulk relief of Cole Irvin – Zimmerman gave up a two-run bomb to Spencer Steer but otherwise did enough to pick up his first win of the year. It isn’t expected to be a tradition as the Orioles’ young arm boasts a derisory 6.75 ERA through eight frames this year.
DET 7 – TEX 2
HD: Tyler Anderson (2)
SV: None
- After starter Matthew Boyd left the game in the first inning due to elbow discomfort, the Tigers looked to the bullpen to make up the shortfall. Mason Englert gave up a home run over two and a third innings but came away with the win after striking out four and seeing his hitters do the job. Even better was Tyler Anderson, who earned himself a hold after three scoreless innings in which he gave up just three hits and struck out four.
- Andrew Heaney took another disappointing loss and the low-leverage arms in the Rangers pen got them through the rest of the way but it wasn’t pretty.
Bullpen Depth Charts
The Hold Up: Ranking the Top 100 Relievers for Holds Every Thursday