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 was a full slate of 15 games on Saturday. Sunday will once again feature all 30 teams in action.
- The Chicago Cubs optioned Michael Rucker to the minors. He’ll be replaced on the chart by Daniel Palencia.
- The Miami Marlins acquired David Robertson via trade with the New York Mets. He’ll bump A.J. Puk out of the closer role and kick Jorge López off of the chart. In Queens, Adam Ottavino and Brooks Raley are expected to split closing duties. Ottavino will get the designation on the chart because of his handedness advantage. Dominic Leone was also added as a holds candidate.
- The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Joe Kelly in a trade with the Chicago White Sox that also included Lance Lynn. As he enters holds consideration in LA, he knocks Alex Vesia off the chart. Aaron Bummer, Bryan Shaw, and Jesse Scholtens were added to the chart as holds options in Chicago.
- The Houston Astros acquired Kendall Graveman via trade with the Chicago White Sox. He’ll displace Rafael Montero as a holds option. The Astros also optioned Seth Martinez to the minors, so Parker Mushinski will become the new bulk reliever. Meanwhile in Chicago, Gregory Santos will shift to the closer role as he was the first reliever to record a save in the absence of Graveman, Joe Kelly, and Reynaldo López.
- The Texas Rangers activated Josh Sborz from the 15-day IL. He’ll knock Grant Anderson off the chart as a holds option
- The Toronto Blue Jays placed Jordan Romano on the 15-day IL with lower back inflammation. He’s been dealing with this injury since it flared up in the All-Star Game. Erik Swanson, Yimi García, and Tim Mayza will all be in consideration for closing duties. García appears to have the first crack at it. Jay Jackson will enter the chart as a holds option.
Yesterday’s Performances
LAA 1 – TOR 6
H: Jay Jackson (1), Trevor Richards (8), Nate Pearson (3)
- Reynaldo López was dominant in his first appearance as a member of the Angels. He recorded four outs, three of which came via the strikeout. He induced five whiffs, four of which came on his heater, and he did that across just 19 total pitches. This was a guy that I was super hyped about in the offseason because of his work at Driveline and the uncertainty of the closer role in Chicago. Now in LA, the competition is tougher, but it does give him a fresh start. He really just needs to throw strikes, as his BB% has jumped nearly 8% since last year and hasn’t been offset enough by his 5.3% jump in K rate. If Carlos Estévez begins to pitch closer to his peripherals in the season’s final two months, there’s a shot López is the next man up.
- With Jordan Romano on the shelf, all eyes will be on the Toronto bullpen to see who closes over the next couple of weeks. The candidates are Erik Swanson, Yimi García, and Tim Mayza. Swanson has the best strikeout stuff, García has the most experience, and Mayza has had the most success this year. My money was originally on Swanson, but after Saturday’s game, I’m not so sure. García was the one to warm up for the ninth and would’ve notched a save if not for the offense tacking on a couple of extra runs in the bottom of the eighth. He pitched anyway, but that’s the only indication we have of who the preferred ninth-inning arm will be. Keep in mind that García has now pitched on consecutive days, so even if Swanson or Mayza close today, it could just be temporary while García rests.
DET 5 – MIA 0
- Alex Lange got some work in during a maintenance outing. He hadn’t pitched in a game since Tuesday. He set the Marlins down in order in the ninth. Tyler Holton had another successful appearance as well and is quietly having an amazing season. Among pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched, he owns the second-lowest ERA at 1.69. No other southpaw reliever has even crossed the 50-inning threshold. The next-best lefty reliever (Hoby Milner) has an ERA of 2.16. His 0.92 WHIP is also second among relievers with 50 IP and the next-best lefty reliever (Brock Burke) with at least 40 IP is at 1.05. The 27-year-old employs a six-pitch mix, four of which sport CSW marks north of 30%. He doesn’t have the strikeout, ground ball, or weak contact-inducing stuff to hold onto ratios this fantastic, but he’s banked an exceptional year thus far.
- Jorge López made his first appearance as a member of the Marlins. He pitched a scoreless eighth, working around a walk. López has been unable to rediscover what he found in Baltimore in the first half of last year. Miami has one of the best pitching development staffs in baseball, so there’s a shot the change of scenery helps him return to form. He’s displayed a high ceiling in the past, but his performance thus far has been indicative of a pitcher who likely won’t stick in the bigs much longer.
BOS 2 – SFG 3
H: Tyler Rogers (23)
- Following a comeback, the Red Sox deployed closer Kenley Jansen in the ninth in a tie game. It took him just one pitch to throw everything away. J.D. Davis took him deep off the foul pole to walk things off on the first pitch he saw from Jansen. It was the right-hander’s fifth loss of the year. Jansen has pitched on back-to-back days and in three of the past four, so Chris Martin may be called upon in the ninth today. In the eighth, newly acquired reliever Mauricio Llovera who was recently DFA-ed by the Giants, made his Red Sox debut. He worked around a hit and two walks, recording all of his outs via the strikeout. He’s got a 1.42 ERA in 6.1 innings of work but is likely a few good weeks away from factoring into high-leverage situations.
- On the other side, Camilo Doval hit his own road bump. He came on to close the game in the top half of the ninth but surrendered two runs on two hits and a walk to blow his third save of the year. He was bailed out by his offense and wound up with his third win. He’s currently tied for the Major League lead with 31 saves. Speaking of league leaders, Tyler Rogers recorded his 23rd hold in this one. That mark leads the National League and trails only Yennier Cano and Erik Swanson among all Major League pitchers.
SEA 3 – ARI 4
H: Andrew Chafin (12)
SV: Scott McGough (8)
- Andrés Muñoz took the loss in this one after surrendering a run in a tie game in the eighth. It was his fourth loss of the year. He’s been pretty great since returning from injury a couple of months ago. The right-hander has pitched to a 3.43 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP while striking out 34.9% of batters across 21 innings. He’s not been nearly as dominant as last year and I think it can be pinned on his loss of control. His walk rate has spiked nearly five percent while his strikeout rate has dropped six percent. Not the ideal combination. Everything else is still intact though. He’s one of the game’s hardest throwers, his ability to induce grounders is in the top 10%, and he owns the best overall CSW% (38.9%) among relievers. Don’t lose faith.
- The Diamondbacks seem to be employing a closer committee once again. With Scott McGough struggling in recent weeks, other names have been thrown into the pool, Kevin Ginkel is one of those names, but he got four outs across the eighth and ninth on Saturday. Andrew Chafin is another one of those names, and he was lined up for his first save since May, but he recorded just one out and put two men on after taking over for Ginkel. That led to McGough entering for the final out of the ninth. The fact that they needed three pitchers to get three outs in the ninth doesn’t bode well, and I think the Diamondbacks will be aggressive in acquiring a backend reliever before the deadline.
TEX 0 – SDP 4
- José Leclerc has had a weird season but he’s been great in recent weeks. Since May 24th, he’s allowed just four runs, and three of those came in a single outing. He has a 1.83 ERA and a 28.2% K% during that time and has become the top right-handed option in a pretty loaded Rangers bullpen. Somehow, he still has just three SV+HLD on the year, but I expect that number to rise across the season’s final two months.
- Josh Hader continues to excel. He required a maintenance outing, having not pitched since Tuesday, and struck out two with a four-run lead. His workload’s been pretty light this year with just 39 IP. However, it has worked out, as he owns the lowest ERA in the NL at 0.92 (min. 30 IP). He’s also pacing National League relievers with his 39% K%. The Padres still seem to be undecided about selling at the deadline, but if they deal Hader, they could get a massive return.
The best of the rest…
- David Bednar recorded the final five outs of the Pirates’ win over the Phillies to earn his 21st save of the season. Every reliever to appear before him also notched a hold as Ryan Borucki got his first, Colin Holderman his 16th, and Yerry De Los Santos his second.
- The Nationals curiously turned to Kyle Finnegan in the eighth with a four-run lead. There were two runners on and just one out, so they seemed to have been using him as a fireman. He was able to finish off the frame and earn his eighth hold in the process. Finnegan wasn’t needed past that after the offense tacked on three runs in the top half of the ninth.
- Scott Barlow bounced back from a blown save to record his 13th save of the season. He’s now pitched on back-to-back days, but so has setup men Carlos Hernández and Jose Cuas. The rest of the bullpen has earned little experience or trust with the manager, so it’s somewhat likely one of these arms goes for a third straight day before Austin Cox or Dylan Coleman pitch depending on matchups.
- Evan Phillips recorded his 13th save of the season. The outing was of the four-out variety. He dropped his ERA to 2.21 (40.2 IP) to go with his 30.9% K%.
Bullpen Depth Charts
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)