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
- There were 14 MLB contests on Wednesday, with one game postponed due to weather in Boston. 10 games are scheduled for Thursday, including a Red Sox-Yankees doubleheader to make up for the rainout.
- Speaking of Boston, the Sawx placed Kenley Jansen on the shelf for seven days with COVID-19 on Wednesday. LHP Brandon Walter was recalled from Triple-A, and Chris Martin should slide into the closer role in the interim. Josh Winckowski and John Schreiber may see elevated setup roles as a result.
- The Dodgers activated Joe Kelly from the IL, and in the corresponding move, optioned rookie Kyle Hurt back to Oklahoma City the day after he dazzled for two innings in his major league debut. Hurt will presumably get another chance before the season’s end. Meanwhile, Kelly should slide back into his middle-innings setup role immediately.
- The Nationals demoted Mason Thompson to Triple-A, calling up rookie right-hander Jackson Rutledge in his place. Rutledge drew the start in his major league debut Wednesday, and he was thoroughly roughed up by the Pirates.
Yesterday’s Performances
TBR 5 – MIN 4
HD: Colin Poche (20)
SV: Robert Stephenson (1)
- The Rays coasted into the ninth with two shutout innings from Kevin Kelly, then a timely Randy Arozarena bomb broke the 4-4 tie in their favor. Kevin Cash initially turned to Colin Poche to earn the save, but he walked the second batter he faced. After that walk stole his way into scoring position, with two outs, the Twins sent Christian Vázquez in to pinch-hit for their lefty leadoff man. Cash countered by bringing in the righty, Robert Stephenson. He did just that, striking out Vazquez on three quick pitches to earn his first save of the season.
- The Twins piggybacked Dallas Keuchel with Dylan Floro and Emilio Pagán, who covered two innings himself. Caleb Thielbar had a solid inning as well, but it was Griffin Jax who served up the game-winning homer to Arozarena in the ninth.
LAA 2 – SEA 3
HD: José Suarez (1), Justin Topa (23), Matt Brash (23)
SV: Andrés Muñoz (13)
- The Angels bullpen game was largely successful until the fifth, when José Suarez hit the leadoff man. He followed that up by striking out the next two, and then intentionally walking Julio Rodriguez. At this point they went to the bullpen again, bringing in Jimmy Herget, who promptly allowed RBI singles to the next two batters, putting Seattle up 3-2. The next three relievers for L.A. were more effective, but the damage had been done.
- The Mariners took advantage of their newfound lead by turning the ball over to their tried-and-true trio of Justin Topa, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz for the final three frames. Topa and Brash made things interesting, allowing a hit and a walk each in the eighth and ninth, but the Angels failed to push a run across on both occasions. M’s catcher Cal Raleigh threw out a would-be base-stealer at second to end the game in the ninth, giving Muñoz his 13th save.
WSN 6 – PIT 7
HD: Ryan Borucki (6), Carmen Mlodzinski (6), Colin Holderman (27)
SV: David Bednar (34)
- The aforementioned Rutledge labored for four innings, allowing 10 hits and seven runs in his debut. That put Washington in a hole they couldn’t climb out of, despite a valiant effort. Robert Garcia and Andrés Machado were a key part of that effort, combining to strike out five and allowing zero baserunners in the last three innings.
- The Pirates played a bullpen game with Quinn Priester as the bulk man, and he ran into trouble in the sixth. A leadoff walk, double, home run and single spelled doom for Priester, who gave way to Borucki and the others listed above. The Nats didn’t muster another run until the ninth, when they worked a pair of walks and two hits off David Bednar. Suddenly on the brink of a blown save, Bednar rebounded with a clutch strikeout and a flyout to strand the bases loaded and end the game. The one run was technically unearned for Bednar, as it would’ve been avoided if not for a dropped foul popup earlier in the frame.
STL 1 – BAL 0
HD: Casey Lawrence (4), Giovanny Gallegos (19), John King (9)
SV: Ryan Helsley (10)
- Drew Rom was solid for five and a third, and St. Louis clung to their one-run lead from there like their season depended on it (it most certainly did not). Gallegos struck out two in the seventh, and King surrendered a walk but made up for it with a double play to end the eighth. Gunnar Henderson made things interesting with a two-out triple in the ninth, but Helsley managed to escape with a game-ending popout from the next batter. That’s back-to-back days with saves for Helsley, but with a day off Thursday, he should still be fine for the weekend.
- Kyle Gibson made his way through most of seven frames without any major damage, but with his offense getting shut out, a win was not in the cards (pun intended). Notably, Shintaro Fujinami pitched the ninth in a 1-0 game; that’s Fuji’s sixth straight scoreless appearance since the calendar turned to September, for those scoring at home.
CIN 4 – DET 3
HD: Sam Moll (8), Tejay Antone (1), Lucas Sims (22), Ian Gibaut (21)
SV: Alexis Díaz (36)
- After just four innings from Connor Phillips, Cincinnati used a whopping seven relievers to get to the finish line. If you’re interested in hearing about all seven in one sentence, you’re in the right place. Buckle up: Fernando Cruz and Sam Moll combined to finish the fifth, Tejay Antone and Lucas Sims tag-teamed the sixth, Ian Gibaut stranded two hits to end the seventh, Daniel Duarte cruised through the eighth, and then Alexis Díaz worked around a walk to crush the Tigers’ dreams in the ninth. Interestingly, the official scorer pegged Duarte as most deserving of the W. If anyone out there was really counting on a Duarte hold yesterday, my condolences.
- By contrast, Detroit used just two relievers, including Alex Faedo, who struck out three and allowed just two men to reach base in three innings of work.
- With Díaz pitching thrice in the past four days, he’s likely unavailable for today’s series capper. Sims is probably the least-exhausted alternative to pick up a spot save since he only threw 10 pitches on Wednesday.
MIA 2 – MIL 0
HD: David Robertson (8), Andrew Nardi (15)
SV: Tanner Scott (8)
- After six quality innings from Braxton Garrett, the Marlins deployed David Robertson in the seventh, and he worked around a single and a walk to strike out the side. Andrew Nardi had some traffic as well in the eighth, but he took advantage of a double play to escape the jam. Tanner Scott had little trouble retiring the side in the ninth for his eighth save. Scott is five-for-five in save conversions in his last five appearances, with eight punchouts and just one walk in that span.
- The Brewers used Trevor Megill as an opener, followed by four and two-thirds frames of Colin Rea, who allowed one run on four hits. Bryse Wilson covered the final two-plus innings, allowing two hits and zero runs.
The best of the rest
- Tyler Kinley recorded a save for the Rockies in unusual fashion, entering with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth leading 7-3 over the Cubs. He retired the next few batters and followed suit in the ninth to earn the save, his third of the year.
- Camilo Doval earned the win in San Francisco’s extra-innings victory over Cleveland, pitching one and a third innings of spotless ball and benefitting from a 10th-inning walk-off. Emmanuel Clase pitched as well but received no decision, retiring the side with the score tied in the ninth.
- Kirby Yates slammed the door on the Phillies in more ways than one, earning his fifth save and a sixth straight division title for Atlanta. Yates was filling in for Raisel Iglesias, who pitched the previous three days. The veteran righty has quietly been excellent down the stretch, having allowed just two runs in his last 18 IP dating back to July.
- The Astros entrusted Ryan Pressly with preserving their team no-hitter against the A’s in the ninth, despite leading 6-0. Not only did he fail to reward that trust, allowing a one-out single to break up the no-no, but he went on to allow two runs in the inning before recording that third out. Pressly’s ERA dropped to 3.45, the lowest it’s been since June.
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)