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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 8/14/24 Depth Chart

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

Scott McDermott
Fantasy 8/14/2024

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

 

  • Tuesday had the entire league in action and weather wasn’t a factor.  Wednesday will also have all thirty teams on the schedule.
  • Not much news to report but the Phillies optioned reliever Yunior Marte with the activation of Taijuan Walker.
  • Oakland has recalled Joe Boyle from their AAA squad and DFA’ed Kyle Muller in response.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

STL 1 – CIN 4

HD: Tony Santillan (1)

SV: Alexis Díaz (24)

  • Hunter Greene is becoming Mr. Automatic (and Mr. Chuckomatic) as he barfs his way into the Cy Young race.  He threw seven four-hit innings with eight K’s, his only blemish a solo homer by Nolan Arenado.  Greene has a 0.98 ERA in his last seven starts.
  • Another automatic lately: Alexis Díaz, who came on with a 4-1 lead in the ninth.  Diaz struck out Willson Contreras to start his night and got two ground-outs to short for an easy Save.
  • That’s seventeen straight Save conversions for Diaz, who’s carrying a 0.90 WHIP in his last seven which is encouraging given his obscenely-high 14% walk rate.  Diaz’s K% is down nearly 8% from last year and his ERA is up a run, but he’s found his groove after getting over-worked in the early months.

 

HOU 3 – TBR 2

HD: Bryan Abreu (30), Ryan Pressly (24)

SV: Josh Hader (26)

  • The Astros got their runs thanks to three hits from a red-hot Alex Bregman and took a lead going into the bottom of the eighth.
  • Houston brought in setup man Ryan Pressly and he quickly found trouble, coughing up a pair of hits and a walk to load the bases.  A twelve-pitch at-bat by Brandon Lowe resulted in a groundout to first but netted the Rays their second run.  Pressly would get another grounder from Colin Morel to squeak out of the jam.
  • After a second great inning by Drew Rasmussen—who’s looked outstanding in a relief role and might stretch out to longer outings before the season’s over—Josh Hader came on for the ‘Stros.
  • Hader’s first batter was the season-debuting Junior Caminero, and Hader noticed Caminero was swinging out of his shoes and struck him out in three pitches.  A pop-up by the next batter brought on Josh Lowe, who shockingly wasn’t replaced with a pinch-hitter given his .513 OPS against lefties.  Lowe pulled a weak grounder to first and Houston put the Rays below .500 on the season.

 

CHC 1 – CLE 2

W: Pedro Avila (4-1)

L: Drew Smyly (3-6)

HD: Cade Smith (19), Hunter Gaddis (26)

SV: Emmanuel Clase (37)

  • Emmanuel Clase pitched on Saturday.  Then he pitched again on Sunday.  And again on Monday.  He earned a Save in all three appearances and threw 43 total pitches.
  • Surprisingly he’d pitch again on Tuesday, but he hit 100 mph on his first fastball and looked just fine.
  • Clase got the first two batters out quickly, then a topper to third by Nico Hoerner had just enough English to be misplayed by José Ramírez.  Hoerner stole second on the next pitch.
  • So with two outs and a man on second, Dansby Swanson came to bat.  He also nubbed a ball to Ramirez that might have been an infield single, but Hoerner was caught on the basepaths and stuck in a rundown for the final out.
  • It was just a ten-pitch outing for Clase, so who knows if he’s ready to go again tomorrow.

 

TEX 4 – BOS 9

HD: Lucas Sims (14), Bailey Horn (2)

SV: Kenley Jansen (22)

  • Kutter Crawford had a bounce-back effort after surrendering 12 home runs (!) in his last four starts.  He left the game after giving up a run but the bases were loaded, and all would later score to make his stat line a bit inflated.
  • Lucas Sims came on in a fireman role after Cam Booser let his only three batters reach base.  After giving up five earned runs in two appearances against Houston last week, Sims got the outs he needed with two K’s.
  • Boston was up 6-4 in the top of the eighth and brought in Kenley Jansen to face Josh Jung with a runner on first.  Jung would fly out and then Boston scored three runs in the bottom of the inning.
  • Jansen stayed out to complete the four-out Save, now with some extra cushion.  He would go 1-2-3 over the reeling Rangers, who are now ten games below .500 in what’s become a lost season.

 

SEA 1 – DET 15

SV: Joey Wentz (1)

  • Yes, you read that right.  It’s not often a Save is earned in a 15-1 game, but Joey Wentz got his first (and probably last) opportunity by virtue of going three innings to end the game, no matter the score.  Wentz did well as the only reliever to Tarik Skubal, striking out three without surrendering a hit.

 

LAD 7 – MIL 2

SV: Landon Knack (1)

  • Knack had another unlikely Save conversion in relief of starter Gavin Stone.  Entering the sixth inning up 7-1, Knack went the rest of the way and scattered three hits on 64 pitches.  He gave up a run but kept out of any serious trouble so the leash was long enough to get a four-inning Save, his first (and also probably last) of the season.

 

NYY 4 – CHW 1

HD: Tommy Kahnle (9)

SV: Jake Cousins (1)

  • It’s another first-time Save!  Buoyed by three home runs from Juan Soto and seven sharp innings from Nestor Cortes, the Yankees avoided being swept by the White Sox.
  • The Sox would scratch out a run to make the game a Save situation due to a rough appearance by Mark Leiter Jr., who’s struggling in New York with a 2.10 WHIP in his last seven appearances and a 5.79 ERA in August.
  • New York hoped Tommy Kahnle, who came in for Leiter, could finish the game.  But a walk and a double suddenly had the tying run at the plate with no outs and the Yankees called on Jake Cousins (Clay Holmes threw 45 pitches for a four-out Save on Sunday).
  • Cousins then walked Miguel Vargas to put ducks on the pond, up by three.  But Cousins, the unlikely closer, would then exclusively rely on his slider to get a shallow fly and a strikeout to seal the win.

 

COL 3 – ARZ 4

W: Joe Mantiply (6-2)

L, BS: Victor Vodnik (3-3, 3)

  • Last week we did a deep dive on Rockies closer (and possible superhero arch-nemesis?) Victor Vodnik.  Looking into the peripherals, the profile was less than stellar, whether at or away from Coors.
  • Unfortunately, that proved itself against the D-backs last night.  Up 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Arizona got things going with a one-out triple by Corbin Carroll to put the tying run 90 feet away.  Vodnik struck out Kevin Newman but then walked the next two batters to load the bases.
  • Jake McCarthy was up next and went the other way on a high fastball to score two and get the walk-off.

 

PIT 0 – SDP 3

HD: Jason Adam (20), Tanner Scott (5)

SV: Robert Suarez (27)

  • The Padres and the Diamondbacks are both 9-1 in their last ten games, and San Diego kept the good times rolling by shutting out the Pirates.  Michael King was sensational in six innings with ten K’s.
  • Jason Adam and Tanner Scott picked up where King left off, only allowing a single base-runner between the two of them and striking out three.  It’s a shame Scott isn’t closing for anyone but he’s holding down the eighth for San Diego exceptionally well.
  • Robert Suarez needed just nine pitches to extinguish the slumping Pirates, getting a K and an easy Save.

 

The best of the rest

  • Reliever Austin Adams of the A’s gets a piggyback win after starter Joe Boyle only went four innings but left with a lead.  Oakland was up 9-4 the rest of the game so there was no Miller Time on this one.
  • Though down by five, the Mets did ask for some work out of Edwin Diaz, if just to keep him on a schedule.  He struck out two and threw 13-of-16 pitches for strikes.
  • Carlos Estévez also saw work for the Phillies down five runs.  Estevez gave up a homer to Jesus Sanchez and didn’t record a K.

 

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

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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