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
- For the second day in a row, air quality concerns postponed a game. This time it was the Diamondbacks and Nationals who were supposed to play a day game in the nation’s capital.
- That left 11 games on Thursday, including the Tigers/Phillies game, which was a rescheduled game that had been carried over from Wednesday after being postponed to poor air quality. The White Sox and Yankees also ended up playing a doubleheader on Thursday after their Wednesday game was postponed for the same reason.
- The Cubs recalled Michael Rucker from Triple-A Iowa.
- The Braves reinstated Michael Tonkin from the 15-day IL and sent Roddery Muñoz to Triple-A Gwinnett. Tonkin is 3-2 with a 3.42 ERA and 0.95 WHIP and has appeared in 13 games for Atlanta in 2023.
- Tayler Scott was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City as the Dodgers placed Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day IL. Thor is fighting a blister on his hand that has been bothering him and has looked shaky during his first season on the Dodgers.
Yesterday’s Performances
MIN 2 – TB 4
SV: Jason Adam (10)
HD: Jake Diekman (6), Colin Poche (10)
- Pitching for the third time in four days, Jason Adam earned his 10th save of the season. Adam blew the save on Wednesday against the Twins but was able to finish the job on Thursday dropping his ERA to under 3.00 on the year (2.96). Jake Diekman also appeared for the Rays and pitched 1.1 innings, striking out two, to earn his sixth hold. Colin Poche also was pitching for the third time in four days, giving up a run, but doing enough to earn his 10th hold.
- For the Twins, starter Bailey Ober was relieved by Griffin Jax with one out in the sixth inning. Jax finished out the sixth inning before José De León threw two scoreless innings.
BAL 6 – MIL 3
SV: Félix Bautista (16)
HD: Elvis Peguero (3), Joel Payamps (9), Yennier Cano (13)
- Kyle Bradish allowed three runs in his five innings of work and afterward, the Orioles bullpen was perfect, allowing a combined two hits with four strikeouts over three innings. Keegan Akin was credited with the win and Yennier Cano earned his 13th hold. Cano blew a save opportunity on Tuesday but bounced back on Thursday, lowering his season ERA to a still microscopic 1.09. Bautista pitched a scoreless ninth for his 16th save.
- For the Brewers, Elvis Peguero and Joel Payamps earned holds before Peter Strzelecki allowed three runs in the eighth inning to blow the save. Strzelecki was also hit with the loss and fell to 3-5 on the season.
SF 6 – COL 4
SV: Camilo Doval (16)
HD: Matt Carasiti (1), Jake Bird (4)
- Camilo Doval earned his second save in two days as he pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 16th save of the season. Scott Alexander got the win and moved to 5-0 after pitching an inning of scoreless relief in the eighth inning. The Rogers brothers were also in action for the second consecutive day on Thursday, so John Brebbia or Alexander could be in line if a save opportunity arises on Friday.
- For the Rockies, Matt Carasiti earned his first hold and Jake Bird earned his fourth. The Rockies entered the ninth inning with the lead, but Pierce Johnson blew the save as he allowed three earned runs. Johnson has 11 saves on the year, but also carries a 7.50 ERA and has now blown saves in two of his last three opportunities. If his struggles continue, it will be interesting to see if Daniel Bard receives any high-leverage work.
White Sox & Yankees Doubleheader
Game 1: CHW 6 – NYY 5
SV: Kendall Graveman (6)
HD: Jimmy Cordero (5), Wandy Peralta (6), Reynaldo López (7), Joe Kelly (8)
- In the first game of the White Sox and Yankees doubleheader, there was a lot of relief action as each team deployed four relievers. For the White Sox, Gregory Santos earned the win after pitching a perfect sixth inning. Following Santos, Joe Kelly and Reynaldo López pitched an inning each before Kendall Graveman closed out the game in the ninth.
- Michael King took the loss for New York when he allowed a two-run home to Eloy Jiménez in the seventh inning.
Game 2: CHW 0 – NYY 3
SV: Clay Holmes (7)
HD: Ron Marinaccio (6)
- In game two, the Yankees shut out the White Sox 3-0. Yankees starting pitcher Randy Vásquez went 5.2 innings before Ron Marinaccio entered the game for long relief duty. Marinaccio earned his sixth hold of the season going 2.1 innings and striking out four. Clay Holmes earned the save for the Yankees.
- Aaron Bummer and Garrett Crochet made scoreless appearances out of the bullpen for the White Sox.
CHI 1 – LAA 3
SV: Carlos Estévez (16)
HD: José Soriano (2), Chris Devenski (7)
- Carlos Estévez remained perfect on save chances this season as he nailed down his third save this week, and 16th on the season. He had pitched his entire career in Colorado, before moving to the Angels this offseason and his previous best ERA was 3.47. Nothing suggested he would be having such a breakout season at age 30. His ERA now sits at 1.32 and his WHIP is 1.10. José Soriano and Chris Devenski earned holds for their work. The Angels’ relievers didn’t allow a single hit in this game.
- For the Cubs, Julian Merryweather and Adbert Alzolay each got an inning out of the bullpen and pitched scoreless outings.
The Best of the Rest…
- Jordan Romano notched his 17th save of the year during the Blue Jays 3-2 victory over the Astros. Yimi García also earned his eighth hold for the Blue Jays while Erik Swanson earned his 16th hold of the season. Romano was pitching for the second game in a row so he will likely be resting on Friday. For the Astros, Bryan Abreu pitched a scoreless inning in his second straight appearance.
- James Karinchak came away with his 12th hold of the year as the Guardians beat the Red Sox 10-3. Former Cleveland pitcher and two-time Cy Young Award Winner Corey Kluber came out of the bullpen in this game for Boston and was thoroughly knocked around by his old team. Kluber gave up seven runs on 11 hits in only 3.1 innings.
- There were two blown saves in the Tigers & Phillies matchup. First, Seranthony Domínguez blew the save as the Tigers tied the game up 1-1 in the eighth inning. Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for Philadelphia and allowed an additional run to score, but then it was the Phillies’ turn to strike. They got three hits against Alex Lange in the ninth as he surrendered two runs. blowing the save chance, and allowing the Phillies to prevail 3-2.
- A wild game between the Mets and Braves ended with an Ozzie Albies walk-off homerun in the 10 inning. It was the third consecutive game the Braves won after being behind by at least three runs – not a good look for the Mets bullpen. In this one, Jeff Brigham and Drew Smith earned holds for the Mets before David Robertson allowed a game-tying home run to Orlando Arcia. Then in the 10th inning, Albies’ home run off Tommy Hunter ended the game. Raisel Iglesias earned the win for Atlanta.
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
(Photos by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Doug Carlin (@Bdougals on Twitter)