Dynasty
Nastiest GIFs
The List
Dynasty
Nastiest GIFs
The List

Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 8/15/24 Depth Chart

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

Justin Perri
Fantasy 8/15/2024

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

 

  • Wednesday had the entire league in action, Thursday is a travel day with only eight games.
  • No major transactions to report for relievers, the Dodgers optioned Landon Knack and the Twins optioned Josh Winder.
  • The Rockies also sent Josh Rogers to Triple-A and the Padres did the same for Carl Edwards Jr., none of these players were in high-leverage roles.
Yesterday’s Performances

KC 4 – MIN 1

SV: Lucas Erceg (5)

HD: Sam Long (4)

  • The Twins were only able to muster up a single run against the Royals, with a solo shot from Carlos Santana off Cole Ragans, who had a great day on the mound otherwise. Up 4-1 heading into the eighth, Sam Long allowed back-to-back singles with one out and was lifted for Erceg, who would attempt the four-out save.
  • Erceg promptly stranded the inherited runners, getting a ground out on just three pitches. He would only need another 10 throws to induce three more contact outs in the bottom of the ninth. He kept it clean on the way to his 5th save with his fastball touching 98 mph and both his slider and changeup creating outs as well.

 

TEX 9 – BOS 7

SV: Kirby Yates (21)

HD: Brennan Bernardino (9)

BS: Luis Garcia (3), Josh Winckowski (1)

W: David Festa (1-1)

L: Zack Kelly (4-2)

  • Always going to be an interesting one when you see two blown saves, a hold and a save from different teams, and the relievers picking up the decisions. The Red Sox were winning 4-2 after the seventh inning when Brennan Bernardino came in to relieve Tanner Houck, he would complete the seventh as his only out to pick up a cheeky hold.
  • In the eighth, after Andrew Chafin worked a clean inning for the Rangers, Luis Garcia wasn’t as fortunate for the Sox. Still 4-2 when he entered, Garcia allowed a solo home run to Adolis García and two infield singles before the tying run came around on an error, which still counts as a blown save even if it was unearned.
  • David Robertson entered the now tied game for the Rangers in the bottom of the frame and was looking like he was going to preserve the lead, he got a strike’m-out-throw’em-out double play after a lead-off single, but it turned south from there… with two outs Robertson allowed three straight hits while also intentionally walking Rafael Devers, which plated three runs. Robertson didn’t finish the frame and was lifted for David Festa, who got the final out.
  • Now, if you’re sharp, you’ll see Festa got the win, so something had to happen here – which it did. On came Josh Winckowski to pitch the top of the ninth with a three-run lead, he allowed back-to-back singles, got two outs, then Wyatt Langford took him deep to tie the game so he got a blown save too.
  • Festa stayed in and pitched a clean bottom of the ninth, which sent the game into extra innings tied at seven.
  • Zack Kelly stumbled out of the Boston pen for the top of the 10th and Jonah Heim took him yard on the very first pitch he saw… the 9-7 score would be all she wrote, as Kirby Yates needed just nine pitches to retire the Red Sox side in order and stranded the ghost runner to pick up his 21st save. Phew. What a mess. 

 

BAL 4 – WSH 1

SV: Seranthony Domínguez (3)

HD: Yennier Cano (27), Cionel Pérez (17)

  • A much less convoluted finish here, Seranthony Dominguez picked up his second save for his new team, as he looks to be settling into a high-leverage role, usurping Craig Kimbrel as the closer for Baltimore. The 29-year-old walked one and struck out one as the Orioles cruised to a three-run win over Washington.
  • Cano and Perez were great as set-up options, neither allowed a base runner while recording their holds – it was a dominant overall showing from the Baltimore bullpen and pitching staff behind Dean Kremer.

 

HOU 2 – TBR 1 (10)

W: Josh Hader (5-6)

L: Garrett Cleavinger (7-3)

HD: Kaleb Ort (1), Tayler Scott (6)

BS: Bryan Abreu (4)

  • Ronel Blanco was at it again, blanking the Rays for six innings, only allowing two hits and throwing 73 pitches. He was hyper-effective. The Astros’ offense, not so much so. They only gave Blanco a 1-0 lead and that’s a tall task for any bullpen.
  • Kaleb Ort was given the top of the seventh and walked the second and third batters he faced, which promptly got him pulled. He left with the lead intact, though, so it still counts for a hold.
  • Tayler Scott had to handle the inherited runners, and did, even with a double steal putting them both in scoring position. He got a swinging strikeout on a full count for the second out of the inning, then a first pitch ground out to end the frame and strand the tying and go-ahead run. Really nice stuff from Scott who, at 7-3 with six holds along with a 1.75 ERA and 1.02 WHIP, has been rewarding owners all season.
  • The Rays were answering every step of the way, Zack Littell had only allowed a solo home run, then Edwin Uceta allowed just a single walk before the trio of Kevin Kelly, Manuel Rodríguez and Pete Fairbanks would keep any Astros from reaching base until extra innings.
  • Back to the Astros, as they were still leading 1-0 when Scott departed. Bryan Abreu was tasked with the eighth inning and was bitten by the leadoff walk he allowed. A groundout to shortstop moved the runner to second, and a steal of third along with a well-placed ground out to second scored the tying run. A small-ball blown save for Abreu.
  • After Fairbanks’ efforts in the top of the 9th, Josh Hader was summoned to keep the Rays from walking it off in the ninth. He did so without a ball being put in play; two strikeouts and a foul out. About as clean as it gets.
  • The Astros scored the go-ahead run on a single from Mauricio Dubón off of Garrett Cleavinger, who would take his third loss as Hader remained in to shut the door on his fifth win. The Rays put the ball in play twice for a ground out and fly out, along with Josh’s third strikeout, to end with a whimper. But that’s why you have Josh Hader, two clean high leverage innings to pick up a nice dub. Great game from both bullpens on this one, both Tampa and Houston are candidates to shut down opposing offenses every time they get into the seventh inning.

 

MIL 5 – LAD 4

SV: Devin Williams (2)

W: Joel Payamps (3-5)

L: Brent Honeywell Jr. (0-1)

BS: Jared Koenig (2)

HD: Nick Mears (11)

  • This was the game of unearned runs, with seven of the game’s nine runs going unearned. Frankie Montas allowed three unearned in the first inning after a leadoff error extended the frame. Then an extended second frame on a Nick Ahmed error put two unearned on Walker Buehler. Kiké Hernández had a throwing error tacking on another unearned run in fourth, which knocked Buehler out of the game.
  • The score stayed 4-3 through the seventh, when Jared Koenig allowed three singles to allow the Dodgers to tie the game. This was one of the two earned runs and also Koenig’s second blown save. He was pulled after the run scored for Payamps, who got the final out of the top of the seventh, which would end up culturing the win.
  • Brent Honeywell Jr. had been in for the Dodgers since the bottom of the fifth and was still going into the seventh with the game now tied. He would hit a batter to open the inning, which was then moved over by a sacrifice bunt. Honeywell was pulled here, he had gotten six outs and thrown 29 pitches.
  • Evan Phillips was given the call to keep the man in scoring position from getting home, and, well, a single turned into that runner scoring thanks to an error from Mookie Betts. So Honeywell picked up the unearned run from the bench that would hand him the loss.
  • Payamps would handle the eighth without a baserunner being allowed, and recently activated Devin Williams picked up his second save of the season for the Brewers. Williams faced the top of the Dodgers order for his appearance, his success against one of the top trios in baseball is a great sign for his performance going forward.

 

The best of the rest

  • Yankees got a save the non-traditional way, with Michael Tonkin pitching the final three frames, recording his second save of the season even though New York won by eight runs. He allowed two hits and struck out two over the final frames.
  • A.J. Puk needed just eight pitches to complete the ninth inning against the Rockies. The Diamondbacks steamrolled their way to a win as Colorado’s bullpen looked rough, per usual.

 

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

3 responses to “Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 8/15/24 Depth Chart”

  1. Josh says:
    August 15, 2024 at 3:15 PM

    You mean Matt Festa got the win for the Rangers, not David Festa

    Reply
  2. Clark says:
    August 15, 2024 at 3:29 PM

    The write-ups in this daily article are great, but the depth chart is always a head-scratcher and rarely aligns with the writing.

    Reply
  3. Josh says:
    August 16, 2024 at 9:45 AM

    yeah its like how in the world is Craig Kimbrel in the closer’s spot and Seranthony down so low?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Account / Login