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 just five games on a quiet Thursday night in baseball. Two of those games occurred as part a doubleheader between the Angels and Tigers. Only two saves were produced on the night.
- The deadline moves are starting to heat up as teams decide whether to be sellers or buyers at this year’s trade deadline.
- The Twins sent Jorge López to the Marlins in a swap for Dylan Floro, a year after they traded with Baltimore for Lopez. Lopez was never able to replicate his first-half 2022 success in Minnesota and gets a fresh start in Miami. He is 4-2 with a 5.09 ERA and three saves this season. Floro was a steady bullpen presence for the Marlins in 2021 and 2022, going a combined 7-9 with an ERA under 3.00 and 1.20 WHIP. He captured 25 saves across the two seasons. In 2023, Floro has had an up and down season. He got off to a good start in April before stumbling in May and has had an uneven last few months. Floro sits at 3-5 with a 4.54 ERA and seven saves.
- The White Sox and Angels also swapped pitches as Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López were shipping to the Angels in exchange for LHP Ky Bush and catcher Edgar Quero. On the relief front, Lopez will slide into a setup role with the Angels. He is 2-5 with a 4.29 ERA and four saves on the year. Bush showed some promise last year in Double-A but has struggled to a 8.10 ERA in Triple-A this season.
- The White Sox also recalled Sammy Peralta from Triple-A Charlotte. Peralta has only appeared in one other game this season, back in May. He gave up two earned runs during that outing. Peralta is likely serving as bullpen depth as the Sox reshuffle their bullpen after shipping out Lopez.
- The Tigers recalled Trey Wingenter from Triple-A Toledo. The big 6’7” RHP appeared in seven games in April before being sent to the minors.
- The Angels transferred Ben Joyce from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL as he continues to be on the shelf battling elbow irration/inflammation.
- Atlanta agreed to minor league contracts with Rowan Wick and Seth Ellredge. The Braves bullpen has been battling injuries as of late and main setup man A.J. Minter is still on the 15-day IL. Wick is the more interesting move to me as he had a run as the Cubs’ number one closer last season, during which he went 4-7 with a 4.22 ERA and nine saves.
Yesterday’s Performances
WSH 1 – NYM 2
HD: Jordan Weems (2), Jose A. Ferrer (3)
SV: Brooks Raley (2)
- In the busiest relief game of the night, the Mets and Nationals game was interrupted by a rain delay in the bottom of the eighth inning that lasted over an hour. After play resumed, the Mets came away with a 2-1 victory that saw Brooks Raley nail down his second save on the year and David Peterson (3-7) getting the win for New York.
- On the Washington side, Jordan Weems and Jose A. Ferrer captured holds before Mason Thompson entered the game in the eighth inning with the Nationals holding a 1-0 lead. Thompson allowed three hits and two earned runs that ended up being the difference in the game. He was also charged with his third blown loss of the year. Kyle Finnegan also made an appearance in relief of Thompson and threw a scoreless 0.2 innings.
CLE 6 – CHW 3
HD: Trevor Stephan (14)
SV: Emmanuel Clase (28)
- Trevor Stephan locked down his 14th hold of the season as the Guardians defeated the White Sox 6-3. He went 1.1 innings and struck out one while giving up no hits or runs. Emmanuel Clase entered for the ninth inning and made things interesting by allowing two hits to Chicago, but escaped with his 28th save on the season. He has a 3.02 ERA and 1.09 WHIP on the year.
- The White Sox deployed Aaron Bummer as the first arm of the bullpen. He allowed an earned run before Gregory Santos entered the game and also allowed a run. Sammy Peralta finished the game for the South Siders and came away unscathed as he went a scoreless inning, allowing one hit, one walk, and two strikeouts.
LAA 6 – DET 0 (Game 1)
No SV or HD
- The Angels publicly confirmed they were taking Shohei Ohtani off the trade market on Thursday and Ohtani quickly made this look like a very smart decision. The two-way star threw a complete game shutout against the Tigers, striking out eight and giving up only one hit in his first career complete game. Ohtani’s excellence provided the Angels’ relievers an off-day.
- The Tigers used only one arm out of the bullpen on Thursday as Zach Logue relieved Detroit starter Michael Lorenzen after five innings. He went four innings but was done in by the long ball and gave up two home runs. Logue surrendered three earned runs on six hits.
LAA 11 – DET 4 (Game 2)
No SV or HD
- Despite no holds or save being recorded in game two of the Angels/Tigers doubleheader, a bevy of relievers made appearances. Tigers starter Matt Manning was chased after five innings and seven earned runs before recently called-up Trey Wingenter threw two innings of one-hit ball, the lone hit being a home run. Chasen Shreve and Brendan White also made appearances out of the bullpen for the Tigers.
- The Angels used five relievers after Patrick Sandoval departed after five innings. Jacob Webb and Gerardo Reyes each pitched an inning before Zack Weiss lasted only 2/3 of an inning. Aaron Loup finished out the eighth and Jaime Barría closed out the ninth inning. The Angels kept their top two bullpen options, Carlos Estévez and Matt Moore, fresh for the weekend.
CHC 10 – STL 3
No SV or HD
- Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas was ejected during the first inning after throwing at Ian Happ, throwing the Cards’ bullpen into action. Dakota Hudson entered the game for his longest outing of the season as he went 4.1 innings but gave up five earned runs on nine hits. Andrew Suárez was next for St. Louis and didn’t fare much better as he was dinged for two hits and three earned runs. Suarez also gave up three runs the day before in his season debut. Drew VerHagen was last up for St. Louis and he went two innings and gave up three hits and an earned run with two strikeouts.
- For the Cubs, Daniel Palencia, Anthony Kay, and Michael Rucker were the arms that appeared out of the bullpen. Palencia and Rucker each threw scoreless innings, but Kay was not as lucky with two earned runs on three hits.
The best of the rest…
- As there were only five games on the slate, all of them were reviewed above.
Bullpen Depth Charts
The Hold Up: Ranking the Top 100 Relievers for Holds Every Thursday