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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings – 9/25/24 Depth Chart

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

Scott McDermott
Fantasy 9/25/2024

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

 

  • It’s the final week of the regular season!  Tuesday and Wednesday both feature a full slate of games after only eight teams played Monday.
  • The Dodgers are calling Edgardo Henriquez for a late look.  Henriquez started the season in Single-A but throws as hard as Matt Joyce or Mason Miller.  After plowing through four levels in the minors, Henriquez has combined stats of 88 strikeouts, a 2.72 ERA, and 1.23 WHIP in 53 innings pitched.  He’s a little wild with 29 walks but only gave up two home runs all season.  Safe to say the kid (he’s only 22) has a bright future, but he’ll probably just get low-leverage work to keep the rest of the ‘pen fresh for the playoffs.
  • After struggling much of the season and getting sent to the minors recently, the Orioles released Craig Kimbrel.
  • The Royals’ Alec Marsh is moving to the bullpen for the last few games and will not start another game this season.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

TBR 1 – DET 2

SV: Beau Brieske (1)

  • In a game that was moved up to a 1:10 first pitch to avoid bad weather, Tarik Skubal polished off the mantle where his Cy Young will sit with seven innings of shutout baseball.  Ryan Pepiot tried to match him and succeeded for about four innings before giving up a pair of runs in the fifth.
  • After Skubal, Detroit brought in Beau Brieske to work the eighth.  He’d throw a perfect frame with two strikeouts, and was so effective he came back on for the ninth with the game still at 2-0.
  • With the Rays down to their final out, Brandon Lowe cut the lead in half with a solo shot, but that was the only knock Brieske allowed in his two innings.  He struck out Josh Lowe to preserve Skubal’s 18th win and the Tigers continued their unlikely playoff push.  They’re for real.
  • Worth mentioning, Tampa’s Mason Montgomery also worked two innings and looks phenomenal.  In his short career (eight appearances) he has 15 strikeouts, a 1.04 WHIP, and has allowed a single earned run in 7.2 innings pitched.  He’s a future stud closer.

 

BOS 6 – TOR 5

W: Chris Martin (3-1)

HD: Zach Penrod (2)

SV: Chase Shugart (1)

  • Toronto’s Bowden Francis has looked like an ace the past couple of months and he kept Boston off the board in his five innings of work (he was pulled after 71 pitches).
  • Ryan Burr gave up a hit to load the bases and then Ceddane Rafaela stroked a line drive over the shortstop to make it 3-2.  Burr came back to get Jarren Duran swinging on a dirtball slider and Toronto kept their lead.
  • Boston tied the game in the next inning, though, off Génesis Cabrera, who gave up two singles to make it first and third with no outs.  An RBI groundout from Masataka Yoshida then made it 3-3.
  • The Red Sox weren’t done.  After Chris Martin blanked the Jays in the bottom of the ninth, a Trevor Story double brought home two runs to make it 5-3.  Boston added another for the three-run lead.
  • With Kenley Jansen on the IL and done for the rest of the season, the Sox turned to Zach Penrod, who has five total games of major league experience (all in the last ten days).  As the seventh pitcher to appear, Penrod probably wasn’t Cora’s first choice to save the game, but he’s looked good in his limited action.
  • A wild pitch and then a double made for a rough first few efforts from Penrod, but he’d get the next batter.  After a walk brought up Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with two on, the Red Sox opted for Chase Shugart.
  • Things got more interesting from there as Shugart also struggled, thought he’d get Guerrero, walking a batter with the bases loaded to make it 6-5.  But he’d get an infield pop-up from Addison Barger to get out of the jam.

 

KCR 1 – WSH 0

HD: Greg Weissert (6), Zach Penrod (1), Luis Guerrero (2)

SV: Lucas Erceg (12)

  • The Royals and Nationals traded zeroes all night with Cole Ragans and Mitchell Parker starting.  But the bullpens picked up where they left off and no runs would be scored until ghost runners (and Bobby Witt Jr.) got involved.
  • With closer Kyle Finnegan on in the top of the tenth, Witt finally broke the scoring drought with an infield single, aided by a throwing error on the shortstop.
  • Lucas Erceg then got the call for KC, and despite his four losses since coming over from Oakland in July Erceg has maintained a 1.00 WHIP and notched 30 strikeouts in 25 innings.  He’s got great peripherals and pitches to soft contact with a 97th-percentile average exit velocity.  Pinch-hitting Joey Gallo was maybe not the best move for Washington, as Erceg struck him out swinging to end a clean inning and the game.

 

BAL 5 – NYY 3

HD: Keegan Akin (6), Jacob Webb (13), Cionel Pérez (22), Yennier Cano (34), Gregory Soto (10)

SV: Seranthony Domínguez (11)

  • The O’s and Yanks battled all night, with Baltimore staying ahead a couple of runs.  Gregory Soto started the ninth (after getting two outs in the eighth) and got Jazz Chisholm Jr. out, but a walk to Anthony Rizzo brought in Seranthony Domínguez.
  • Dominguez has been spotty of late, with a 1.89 WHIP in his last seven appearances and a couple of blown saves.  He looked better here and would get the two outs he needed, on a pinch-hit grounder from Jasson Domínguez and a lazy fly ball from Alex Verdugo.  The Orioles take the first game of the series in the Bronx.

 

SEA 3 – HOU 4

HD: Bryan Abreu (37), Ryan Pressly (24)

SV: Josh Hader (30)

  • Julio Rodríguez was 3-for-3 against Josh Hader in his career and is in the middle of one of the hottest streaks in his career.  So with two outs in the ninth inning and down a run, the two would meet for the fourth time.  Hader had retired the previous two batters in order, including a strikeout of Victor Robles, to get to J-Rod.
  • However, the fourth time would not be the charm, as Hader got Julio swinging on a high-outside fastball for strike three.  The Astros win the AL West for the fourth straight year, overcoming a historically bad April, and look like a tough out in the playoffs.

 

LAA 2 – CHW 3

W: Prelander Berroa (1-0)

L: Hunter Strickland (3-2)

SV: Justin Anderson (1)

  • Down to their last six outs, the White Sox rallied against the Angels to win their 37th game of the season and add a bright spot to their season of futility.  Justin Anderson, who has spent the last five years in the minor leagues, got his first save since 2019 in pitching a scoreless ninth with one strikeout and one walk.
  • Prelander Berroa got the first win of his career in working the eighth, and he might have a decent future with a career ERA of 2.84 and 29 strikeouts in 19 innings.

 

SDP 4 – LAD 2

HD: Adrian Morejon (11), Jeremiah Estrada (15), Tanner Scott (11), Jason Adam (30)

SV: Robert Suarez (35)

  • In a night full of division rivalries and clinched playoff spots, no game was more exciting than this one.  The Dodgers might have the better record but San Diego has been on an absolute tear in the second half.
  • After the rest of the ‘pen was able to shut down the Dodgers’ vaunted offense, Robert Suarez got the ball in the ninth.  He allowed the first two runners aboard, including the tying run.  In what was a classic bunt situation with the number nine batter and no outs (and, you know, three Hall of Famers up next), Miguel Rojas was asked to swing away.  Unfortunately for he and the Dodgers, he pulled a hard grounder right over third base.  Machado speared it and threw to second, kicking off a game-ending 5-4-3 triple play.  The bubble of excitement in Dodger Stadium popped just like that, and the game was over with the world’s best hitter left waiting in the on-deck circle.  The Padres clinch a playoff spot.

 

The Best of the Rest…

  • It wasn’t a save situation, but Emmanuel Clase got some work with the Guardians up 6-1 on the Reds (he hadn’t pitched since last Thursday).  To no one’s surprise, he breezed through his inning in just eleven pitches, nine of them strikes, and got a strikeout.
  • In another game with a five-run lead, the Brewers opted for Joe Ross to finish off the Pirates.  He’d allow the first two batters to reach base, raising expectations that Devin Williams might be needed after all, but Ross got the next three batters in order.  Starter Tobias Myers only went four innings so the rest of the bullpen got plenty of work.
  • If you have Jesús Tinoco on your roster during these last two weeks of the season, you might be a genius.  Tinoco’s got a 0.35 WHIP in his last seven games and 0.56 in his last 25 innings.  That’s launched him in the closer role for Miami and he got his third save in a five-out outing, striking out one and allowing nary a baserunner.  He’s gonna win someone a championship.
  • Up four runs in Coors Field, the Cardinals left Ryan Helsley on the pine and opted for Ryan Fernandez.  Fernandez struck out two batters in his inning of work, allowing one hit, and lowered his ERA to 3.02 in 65.1 innings of work this season.
  • Miller Time appeared in the way of a 4-4 tie going into the ninth, in Oakland Coliseum’s last series.  The stadium saw a good one as Mason Miller hit 100 over and over in 24 pitches.  He labored a bit but kept the score as is, and Zack Gelof scored the walk-off run in the bottom of the ninth.  Miller for the win.

 

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

Scott McDermott

Scott lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, two daughters, and a couple of furballs. When he’s not dissecting box scores and pondering over the optimal starting lineup for the Cincinnati Reds, he covers fantasy baseball for Pitcher List. He’s also the author of the award-winning book series 'Election 2064', available on Amazon.

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