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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 8/9/24 Depth Chart

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

Josh Mockensturm
Fantasy 8/9/2024

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 20 teams in action on Thursday with BOS, CHW, CLE, KCR, MIN, HOU, OAK, TEX, CHC, and LAD all off.
  • Toronto placed set up man Génesis Cabrera on the paternity list.
  • Colin Holderman was placed on the 15-day IL with a right wrist sprain.
  • The Rays activated Richard Lovelady from the 15-day injured list.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

SDP 7 – PIT 6

W: Jason Adam (6-2)

L: David Bednar (3-4)

BS: Yuki Matsui (4), David Bednar (5)

HD: Aroldis Chapman (18)

SV: Robert Suarez (25)

  • The Pirates were held scoreless through five but then chipped away with three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to take the lead. Yuki Matsui was charged with his fourth blown save of the season for allowing the go ahead runs. Jason Adam then thew a scoreless eighth and earned the win after the Padres took the lead back. Robert Suarez then came in and allowed two hits and a run, but also struck out two Pirates. It wasn’t a clean inning, but it was enough to earn Suarez his 25th save of the season.
  • David Bednar’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad season continued with his fifth blown save of the season (and second in as many days), allowing three runs in the ninth inning to let the Padres take the lead. It was Bednar’s fourth loss of the season and also his fourth straight appearance with a run. It’s unclear if there will be any shakeup here, especially with Aroldis Chapman tossing a clean eighth ahead of Bednar for his 18th hold. It is worth noting that things could have been different had Oneil Cruz been able to successfully complete the double play, instead getting the out at second and making an error on his throw to first.

 

SFG 5 – WSN 2

W: Camilo Doval (4-1)

L: Robert Garcia (2-4)

BS: Camilo Doval (5)

HD: None

SV: None

  • When I started typing up this article, Camilo Doval was all lined up for the save. In fact, I had him all lined up in the SV section up above and then went about setting other parts of the article in order. Well, color me surprised when I checked back in and saw Doval was now the pitcher of record for the win (and his fifth blown save of the season). Doval is another closer, like Bednar above, who has previously had really excellent seasons but is struggling in 2024. Luckily for Doval, but unluckily for Taylor Rogers‘ chances at a save, the Giants scored four runs in the top of the 10th.
  • Washington had to use six relievers in this game after starter DJ Herz only went 2.2 innings. There was a rain delay in the third, but Herz actually came back into the game afterward but only managed 4 more batters before getting pulled. After that, the Nats got 5.1 innings of scoreless relief from Eduardo Salazar, Jacob Barnes, and Derek Law. But then Kyle Finnegan came in for the save and gave three runs right back, two of them earned, and had to be bailed out of the inning by Robert Garcia. Garcia ended up staying in for the 10th after Washington tied things up… but he couldn’t hold on and took the loss after he allowed four runs, none of which were earned and none of which was allowed to score by Joan Adon who came in after.

 

CIN 10 – MIA 4

W: Buck Farmer (1-0)

HD: None

SV: None

  • The deer rancher himself, Buck Farmer, earned his first win of the season with 1.1 scoreless innings across the eighth and ninth inning, striking out two. With the game being tied for most of the game time, nobody ended up earning any holds or saves.
  • There’s a technical term for when a team comes roaring back from apparent defeat to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat, as coined by Sarah Langs: wheeeee! The Reds scored seven runs, five earned, off of Emmanuel Ramirez in the top of the 10th to come back and shock Miami. Up until then, Miami’s bullpen had delivered 4.2 scoreless innings of relief thanks to the combination of Jesús Tinoco, Declan Cronin, Andrew Nardi, Anthony Bender, and Calvin Faucher. It was Faucher who got the ninth inning in the tie game here, the day after earning his second straight save for the Marlins.

 

TOR 7 – BAL 6

HD: None

SV: Chad Green (10)

  • It looked like Chad Green would get a night off after Kevin Gausman pitched eight strong innings and left with a five-run lead, but Zach Pop goes the lead was charged with three runs after leaving the bases loaded without retiring a batter. This made it a save situation and I guess Green did walk away with his 10th save of the season, but did he really earn it after he allowed all three of his inherited runners to score, along with one of his own for good measure? In the end, Green shook things up and Pop was the one who got charged with the explosion. Doesn’t seem fair.
  • Baltimore deployed their bullpen as expected for a losing effort (despite almost pulling off the upset) with Keegan Akin, Bryan Baker, and Gregory Soto getting some work. Akin allowed two runs, but both Baker and Soto were scoreless.

 

TBR 6 – STL 4

W: Richard Lovelady (3-4)

L: JoJo Romero (5-2)

BS: JoJo Romero (6)

HD: Kyle Leahy (3), Manuel Rodríguez (7), Colin Poche (15)

SV: Pete Fairbanks (22)

  • Richard Lovelady came straight from the injured list to the winner’s circle, earning his third win of the season after being activated earlier in the day. Manuel Rodríguez and Colin Poche followed with scoreless innings to earn holds and Pete Fairbanks threw a perfect ninth for his 22nd save of the season.
  • JoJo Romero took the loss and blown save in this one, after allowing a Brandon Lowe two-run home run on his first pitch of the game.

 

PHI 6 – ARI 4

HD: Orion Kerkering (11), Jeff Hoffman (15), José Alvarado (8)

SV: Carlos Estévez (21)

  • Philly deployed their high-leverage hierarchy in order and everyone got a hold or a save, even if it wasn’t always pretty. Orion Kerkering handled the sixth but did allow two runs on a home run. Jeff Hoffman handled the seventh, keeping things scoreless on one hit. José Alvarado took the eighth inning and pitched around two walks to keep the scoreboard clean before giving way to Carlos Estévez for the ninth inning. Estévez notched his 21st save of the season but had some traffic after allowing two singles and some wild throws which led to a run.
  • Slade Cecconi pitched three innings of long distress, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk. Couldn’t really call it relief…

 

SEA 4 – DET 3

W: JT Chargois (2-0)

L: Will Vest (2-4)

BS: Will Vest (5)

HD: Tyler Holton (7)

SV: None

  • Trade deadline acquisitions Yimi García and JT Chargois combined for 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, with Chargois taking home his second win of the season.
  • It was a bullpen game for Detroit, with Brenan Hanifee as the opener … and the only member of the bullpen who didn’t allow a run. Bryan Sammons handled the bulk of the innings while Tyler Holton earned a hold. Will Vest actually came in for the ninth inning in a save situation, but ended up taking the loss and a blown save after allowing two runs on two hits and a walk. Jason Foley had pitched in back-to-back games.

 

The best of the rest…

  • Milwaukee hit six Home Runs in their game against Atlanta and overpowered them 16-7. Elvis Peguero earned his seventh win in relief. Also of note, Raisel Iglesias got in an inning of work in the seventh after not having pitched in a week.
  • The Mets bullpen combo of Adam Ottavino, Ryne Stanek, and Danny Young held Colorado scoreless at home for four innings to help lock up the win. Didn’t help that the offense scored nine!
  • Ben Joyce was called on for the ninth inning to protect a six-run lead (since he hadn’t pitched in a few days) and even though he allowed a run here, he’s probably still the best bet for saves for the Angels, should some of those situations actually arise.

 

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.

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