Dynasty
Nastiest GIFs
The List
Dynasty
Nastiest GIFs
The List

Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 8/30/24 Depth Chart

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

Josh Mockensturm
Fantasy 8/30/2024

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

 

  • There were 11 games on Thursday, a nice (not) round number.
  • The White Sox released John Brebbia. We can all guess who the closer will be, but no matter who it is they are not worth being rostered when the White Sox can’t even muster 20+ fans to watch a game…
  • Will Vest returned from the paternity list for Detroit. Mason Englert was optioned as the corresponding move.
  • The Red Sox sent Brad Keller outright to AAA, since they are now using Rich Hill in their “veteran former starting pitcher now pitching in relief” role.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

LAA 3 – DET 0

HD: José Quijada (5), Roansy Contreras (1)

SV: Ben Joyce (3)

  • We had a Ben. Joyce. Save! Joyce is one of the most electric arms who just happens to pitch for the Angels, so these chances have been few and far between. As such, we re-joyce when it happens! Roansy Contreras also earned his first hold of the season!
  • Detroit’s bullpen threw four scoreless innings, with Joey Wentz leading the way with three Ks in two innings. Will Vest also returned to action after being activated from the paternity list.

 

TEX 2 – CHW 1

HD: David Robertson (27)

SV: Kirby Yates (25)

  • Kirby Yates continued his closer comeback season, locking down his 25th save of the season despite allowing a home run to Andrew Benintendi. Meanwhile, David Robertson earned his 27th hold of the season ahead of Yates. Texas really has the resurgent veteran reliever market locked down.
  • What else is there to say about the White Sox? Nobody should have anything to do with this bullpen in fantasy.

 

NYM 3 – ARI 2

W: José Buttó (6-3)

L: Justin Martinez (5-5)

HD: None

SV: Edwin Díaz (15)

  • It was a bounce-back performance for Edwin Díaz, as he struck out two in a scoreless inning of work for his 15th save of the season. José Buttó earned his sixth win of the season ahead of Díaz, in a bounce-back performance of his own.
  • Justin Martinez took home his fifth loss of the season, breaking up a string of four straight saves. Since taking over as the closer, Martinez has had a 2.31 ERA and a 34.6 K%, albeit with a less-than-ideal 1.37 WHIP.

 

CIN 10 – OAK 9

W: Emilio Pagán (4-4)

L: Grant Holman (0-1)

BS: T.J. McFarland (1), Alexis Díaz (4), Grant Holman (1)

HD: Joe Boyle (1), Tony Santillan (2)

SV: None

  • Hoo boy, things were back and forth for a bit, but the Reds had the upper hand going into the top of the ninth, and their closer, Alexis Díaz, lined up for the save. Cue Lawrence Butler and his third HR of the game and the game was tied. Diaz couldn’t stop the bleeding there, allowing two more runs without retiring a batter before he was pulled for Emilio Pagán. In the end, the Reds walked it off in the bottom of the ninth and Pagán earned his fourth win of the season for his scoreless inning of work.
  • Oakland had the distinction of earning not one, but two(!) blown saves in this game thanks to T.J. McFarland and Grant Holman. Holman was also charged with the loss after allowing the Reds to score three runs. Mason Miller had pitched in back-to-back games (and 3 of 4).

 

PHI 5 – ATL 4

W: Orion Kerkering (3-2)

L: Grant Holmes (2-1)

BS: Grant Holmes (1)

HD: Aaron Bummer (1), Matt Strahm (14)

SV: Jeff Hoffman (10)

  • The versatile Phillies bullpen has so many options, they can mix and match as they please. On Thursday, they earned a win, a hold, and a save in 3.1 scoreless innings thanks to the efforts of Orion Kerkering (W), Matt Strahm (HD), and Jeff Hoffman (SV). Hoffman ended up getting the save chance over Carlos Estévez because he was already warming up, according to manager Rob Thompson.
  • The Real Estate Broker Grant Holmes couldn’t cover the closing costs, and unfortunately the win fell through for Atlanta as a result. Raisel Iglesias and Joe Jiménez had both pitched in back-to-back games and needed a night off.

 

TOR 2 – BOS 0

HD: Génesis Cabrera (10)

SV: Chad Green (16)

  • Toronto had an easy time handling the fading Red Sox, getting seven scoreless innings from Bowden Francis to start with, and then the bullpen took over and kept the good times rolling. Génesis Cabrera earned his 10th hold with a scoreless eighth, and Chad Green notched his 16th save with a perfect ninth.
  • Rich Hill HAS RETURNED AND… his fastball was mistaken for changeup by statcast. In any case, he still got the job done, stranding the lone batter he faced in the seventh and then delivering a scoreless eighth. He even managed to strike two Blue Jays out!

 

HOU 6 – KCR 3

W: Ryan Pressly (1-3)

L: Lucas Erceg (2-5)

BS: Lucas Erceg (5), Bryan Abreu (6)

HD: Kris Bubic (4)

SV: Josh Hader (29)

  • The Astros were in control until the seventh, when Bryan Abreu allowed three runs to score (two of them charged to starter Hunter Brown). But chaos followed for the Royals in the bottom of the eighth, so Ryan Pressly earned a win for his work in the eighth (his first of the season, which is a little surprising) and Josh Hader got his 29th save.
  • Lucas Erceg came into the game in the eighth and took the loss after allowing three runs… to add injury to insult, he had to leave the game after trying to barehand a ball. Weirdly enough, first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino was also seemingly injured on the play. I guess the consolation is that two of those runs were inherited runners that John Schreiber allowed to score. It’s unclear at this time if Erceg will miss time, but I would imagine even if he doesn’t go on the IL, he’ll get some or all of the weekend off since this was also his third appearance in four games.

 

The best of the rest…

  • Jesús Tinoco earned his first win in a matchup between the Rockies and the Marlins that played out like two kids fighting over a broken toy.
  • The Brewers and Giants both got some solid long relief in what ended up being a Milwaukee win. Aaron Ashby threw two scoreless, striking out two, while Landen Roupp pitched three scoreless for the Giants, walking three but striking out four.
  • Ryan Helsley earned a win Wednesday and followed it up with his 41st on Thursday with a clean ninth. Ryan Fernandez and Matthew Liberatore both earned holds ahead of Helsley, their 11th and fourth respectively.
  • Michael Kopech had pitched in back-to-back games, so it was time for Evan Phillips to once again grab the spotlight. Phillips earned his 17th save of the season. In fact, it was a who’s who of guys who have earned a save for the Dodgers showing up to earn holds in support of starter Bobby Miller. Anthony Banda, Daniel Hudson, and Blake Treinen all had scoreless appearances.

 

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

 

Josh Mockensturm

Josh is an Ohio Born, North Carolina residing Boston Red Sox fan thanks to his mom (and her love of Wade Boggs). If he's not watching or reading about baseball, he's probably watching a movie, reading a book, or making a dumb spreadsheet about Baseball, movies, or books.

Leave a Reply

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

Account / Login