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
- We had a full slate of 15 games and with only about half the teams going yesterday, a lot of the bullpens were ready to go and go they did, with saves in 10 of the 15 games!
- The Giants activated Ryan Walker from the paternity list, just in time for him to… probably be the opener sometime this week.
- Seattle signed Luke Weaver, who spent the beginning of the year with Cincinnati, and the expectation is that he will be in a long relief role. There is always the chance he could find himself starting if the Mariners look to limit Bryce Miller or Bryan Woo’s innings or go to a 6-man rotation.
Yesterday’s Performances
WAS 2 – NYY 1
HD: Hunter Harvey (14)
SV: Kyle Finnegan (22)
- Both starters only allowed one run, so it was up to the bullpens to see who would flinch first, and it wasn’t Washington as they got three clean innings of relief. Mason Thompson got his 4th win of the season, Hunter Harvey his 14th hold, and Kyle Finnegan his 22nd save. Washington has been a surprising source of saves + holds as of late, with this being Finnegan’s 4th save in the past week with Harvey getting a hold in front of him in 3 of those 4 (but appearing in all four).
- The only damage allowed by the Yankees bullpen was a home run given up by Tommy Kahnle to Carter Kieboom, who had just been called up the same day. Otherwise, the Yankees bullpen continued to do their job, with scoreless innings from Jonathan Loáisiga and Keynan Middleton.
ATL 3 – NYM 2
HD: Pierce Johnson (7), Joe Jiménez (11), A.J. Minter (14)
SV: Raisel Iglesias (25)
- Atlanta had itself a Hold party…
Hold hoedown? Atlanta got 3 holds in this game. In fact, everyone who pitched came away with something! Bryce Elder picked up the win as the starter, with 5.1 innings of 1 run ball. Pierce Johnson came in next and picked up the first hold of the night, albeit allowing a run in 2/3 of an inning off a Daniel Vogelbach home run. After that, Joe Jiménez and A.J. Minter locked down the 8th and the 9th so that Raisel Iglesias could close things out in the 9th for his 25th save of the season. - The Mets bullpen got a combined 3.1 innings of scoreless relief from Adam Kolarek, Reed Garrett, and Brooks Raley. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter because Tylor Megill had allowed 3 runs in his 4.2 innings of work and that was all Atlanta ever needed.
TOR 6 – BAL 3
HD: None
SV: Jordan Romano (25)
- Jordan Romano got the extra innings save, his 31st of the year, after Toronto and Baltimore were knotted 3-3 through 9. Tim Mayza actually worked a clean 9th for the win, after Hold stalwarts Jordan Hicks and Erik Swanson had worked scoreless innings apiece. But with a tie game, they got no holds to show for it.
- Having only thrown 9 pitches in the past week, Félix Bautista made an appearance in 9th in a tie game, throwing a perfect inning. Yennier Cano preceded him with a scoreless inning of his own, but all was for naught when Toronto went ahead on a Brandon Belt 3-run HR in the 10th against Mike Baumann.
PHI 4 – SFG 3
HD: Luke Jackson (3), Tyler Rogers (25), Taylor Rogers (9)
SV: None
- We had ourselves a bullpen battle! Philadelphia sent out the whole high-leverage bullpen brigade, including freshly activated José Alvarado, who pitched a scoreless 7th allowing a walk, but striking out 2.
- San Francisco got all the holds… but Philadelphia walked away with the win. Luke Jackson and the
WonderRogers twins all got holds for their scoreless innings of work, Jackson his 3rd, Tyler Rogers his 25th, and Taylor Rogers his 9th (side note: I wonder if Taylor is jealous of Tyler’s 16 more holds?). Camilo Doval came on in the 9th to try for his NL-leading 34th save, but instead had to settle for his 6th blown save and 4th loss of the season after a third of an inning where he allowed the Phillies to walk off on 2 hits and a walk. This was Doval’s 2nd blown save in the past week, his only 2 appearances, but there’s no action to take. He’s still an elite closer who is unfortunately on a bad team.
DET 8 – CHC 6
HD: Jason Foley (20)
SV: Alex Lange (19)
- Jason Foley is the closer and Alex Lange is the setup man. You sure about that? Foley sure seemed like the closer after Lange went nearly a month without a save, and more recently went through a spell of not getting any high-leverage appearances. In fact, Foley had back-to-back saves on Friday and Saturday before a day off gave Lange a save chance on Sunday. But here we are on Tuesday, and Foley got the 8th and Lange got the 9th. At this point, it’s looking like a full-on committee for the Tigers.
- With the Cubs bullpen severely taxed over the past few days, they had to turn to some of their lower-leverage guys to keep things close in a 1 run game. Hayden Wesneski came in for 2.1 innings of scoreless relief for Drew Smyly, who was probably not smylyng after allowing 7 earned runs in 3 and 2/3 innings. Daniel Palencia and Jose Cuas both pitched an inning apiece, with Cuas allowing a run, but the Cubs bats were spent.
OAK 5 – KCR 4
HD: Spencer Patton (1), Kirby Snead (4)
SV: Trevor May (13)
- Dany Jiménez opened for Hogan Harris, throwing a perfect inning that Harris wasted in no time, allowing the first 2 of his 4 runs in the 2nd inning. From there, everything was smooth sailing with recently recalled Spencer Patton throwing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief for his 1st hold of the season. Kirby Snead pitched 1.2 scoreless inning of his own for the second consecutive day, and second consecutive hold in front of Trevor May, who secured his 13th save of the season with nary a baserunner. Snead and May have gone back-to-back now and should the unlikely Oakland save situation arise, Lucas Erceg would probably get the call (if you’re desperate).
- I hope everyone likes openers, because we had two of them! Angel Zerpa opened for the return of Zack Greinke, and honestly seems like it would have been better off if Greinke went first, as Zerpa allowed 5 runs, 4 earned, in his 3 innings of work. With Greinke back, Zerpa should slide back into the long relief role.
The Best of the Rest…
- Trevor Stephan and Emmanuel Clase got in some work after having been off a few days, though there wasn’t a hold or save to be had. Both should be good to go tomorrow if needed.
- Pittsburgh deployed the ‘ole 1-2 punch of Colin Holderman and David Bednar to close out their win. Both allowed a hit, but neither allowed a run en route to their 21st hold and 27th save, respectively. I’m still disappointed Holderman doesn’t lead the league in Holds.
- 1 batter, 4 pitches, 3 strikes, 1 strikeout. Andrés Muñoz, ladies and gentlemen. Gabe Speier came in for the 9th in a non-save situation and made it a save situation on an Andrew Benintendi home run with 2 outs. Enter Muñoz, Exit White Sox.
- Another day, another messy save for Paul Sewald. Apart from a 3-run blowup in his second appearance, Sewald hasn’t allowed any runs, but he’s sitting on a 1.75 WHIP since his trade to Arizona and that does not feel like a recipe for success for a closer. He’s allowed more than 1 baserunner in half of his appearances for the Diamondbacks. He should be fine, but it’s still annoying.
- Speaking of closers disappointing after the trade deadline, David Robertson bounced back after his latest blown save, securing his 18th save of the season in a scoreless 9th. Tanner Scott pitched a scoreless 8th in front of him for his 24th hold. Signs still point to Miami sticking with their guy, but it’s something to monitor going forward.
- Alexis Díaz was able to lock down his 34th save of the season, taking the NL lead in a perfect inning of work.
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)