Fantasy Baseball Reliever Roundup

New York Mets
Huascar Brazobán	0.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Sean Manaea	4.0 IP	5 ER	6 H	1 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	22% CSW

Things will get better, Mets fans.

Chicago Cubs
Riley Martin	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
Jacob Webb	1.0 IP	1 ER	4 H	1 K	4 Whiffs	32% CSW
Hoby Milner	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	30% CSW

We are still waiting to see how things play out in the later innings with Daniel Palencia now out of the Cubs bullpen, but the lack of righties could mean lefties like Riley Martin get a chance in high-leverage spots. His plus fastball gives him a solid foundation against both righties and lefties.

Baltimore Orioles
Yennier Cano	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	27% CSW
Grant Wolfram	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	46% CSW
Anthony Nunez	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	38% CSW
Rico Garcia – W (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Ryan Helsley – SV (6)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	27% CSW

Ryan Helsley did not have his best command here (the opposite, actually), but he made it through despite only throwing maybe 2 or 3 decent pitches in his 15-pitch effort. The splitter bailed him out here, and while it may be a roller coaster with Helsley, the stuff is good enough for him to hang on to the closer role long term (I think).

Cleveland Guardians
Hunter Gaddis	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	3 K	7 Whiffs	75% CSW
Shawn Armstrong	0.0 IP	3 ER	0 H	2 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	23% CSW
Erik Sabrowski – L (1)	0.2 IP	2 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	18% CSW
Connor Brogdon – BS (1)	1.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	22% CSW

Hunter Gaddis threw 9 sliders, 2 splitters, and just 1 fastball here, leading to that amazing line. As long as he’s throwing his slider more than his fastball, we’re in business.
Erik Sabrowski was likely being saved for the 9th inning with Cade Smith off, but had to come in to bail out Shawn Armstrong, and unfortunately didn’t have his best command, leaving a middle-middle fastball to Wilson for a double. As is the case with most elite relievers, there will be days when the command isn’t here, and it hurts them, as was the case here with Sabrowski.

Atlanta Braves
José Suarez – SV (1)	3.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	7 Whiffs	31% CSW

Philadelphia Phillies
Tim Mayza	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	30% CSW
Tanner Banks	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	25% CSW
Orion Kerkering	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	24% CSW
Chase Shugart	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	27% CSW

Orion Kerkering was catching a little too much of the plate with his sweeper here, but there’s nothing to worry about here as the fastball looked good.

San Francisco Giants
Matt Gage	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Caleb Kilian	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	28% CSW
Blade Tidwell	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	10% CSW

Caleb Kilian looked good in this one. He’s been kind of hit-or-miss so far this season, but this was a good mix of stuff and command from him. The hit-or-miss thing can be said about Blade Tidwell as well, whose fastball was back down to 95 MPH and didn’t have great shape. It’d be nice if one of these guys could be consistent (they’re relievers, that’s not what they do).

Washington Nationals
Paxton Schultz	3.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW
PJ Poulin	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	38% CSW
Richard Lovelady	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	2 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	25% CSW

I’m not sure why the Nationals thought they needed to add Richard Lovelady back to the roster after they let him go earlier this year, but also, if we are being honest, he is better than the results show.

Tampa Bay Rays
Griffin Jax	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Yoendrys Gómez	2.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	2 BB	3 K	8 Whiffs	27% CSW

I’m starting to wonder if there is some sort of tipping issue with Griffin Jax (maybe it really is just bad command/sequencing) because he should be getting more swing and miss at the very least. The HR by Cruz came off one of those two sweepers he threw to lefties (and it wasn’t the one at the top of the zone), which that pitch 9/10 times would result in a strikeout given the batter and pitcher involved, but here it was a HR. Maybe Cruz is just that locked in right now, but it’s definitely concerning how well hitters are seeing Jax right now.

Pittsburgh Pirates
Mason Montgomery – HLD (4)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW
Gregory Soto – HLD (5)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	40% CSW
Dennis Santana	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	18% CSW

Mason Montgomery is so close, it may be time to pick him up now, or maybe we should be cautious a little longer, but the fastball command is starting to stabilize.
Gregory Soto’s early-season shine is starting to wear off, and his velo was down over 1 MPH here. The stuff is still better than Santana’s…but neither one is near Montgomery right now.
Dennis Santana pitching for the third time in three days for some reason, did not look particularly good here, but that should be expected.

Kansas City Royals
Eli Morgan	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	19% CSW
Alex Lange – L (1)	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	39% CSW

Alex Lange hasn’t looked bad recently; he had some bad luck with his changeup here (the HR to McMahon wasn’t a terrible pitch). I’m not too discouraged by this outing, and the Royals desperately need to find some right-handed relievers they can trust. Between Lange, Nick Mears, and Lucas Erceg, I don’t see a huge gap right now.

New York Yankees
Brent Headrick – HLD (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	45% CSW
Camilo Doval – W (1)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
David Bednar – SV (6)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	41% CSW

Good results from David Bednar again, but I still don’t love the mix of stuff/command we are seeing.

Milwaukee Brewers
DL Hall – HLD (2)	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	38% CSW
Grant Anderson – HLD (4)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	35% CSW
Angel Zerpa – BS (2)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	21% CSW
Abner Uribe – W (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	39% CSW
Trevor Megill – SV (4)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	33% CSW

Angel Zerpa continues to just throw his sinker over the heart of the plate, and I think maybe he should try a different approach? The slider and changeup aren’t that bad man.
This was just one of those classic Abner Uribe games where he has zero command of his stuff (6/18 pitches over the plate). The velocity keeps trending up, though at least.
This was better from Trevor Megill, I’d still like to see better command, but at least the fastball command was fine here. We’ll take it as a positive and hope the command (and maybe velo) improve.

Miami Marlins
John King	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	35% CSW
Tyler Phillips	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	3 BB	3 K	8 Whiffs	33% CSW
Pete Fairbanks	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW
Calvin Faucher – L (2)	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	27% CSW

Jake and I were just talking on the latest In The Pen about why Pete Fairbanks hasn’t been throwing his slider as much this year, instead opting to throw his harder cutter more often. That changed here as he threw more sliders, getting a few called strikes with it as well. Overall, I like the pitch usage here and hope this is what he goes with moving forward.

Detroit Tigers
Kyle Finnegan	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	10% CSW
Brant Hurter	0.1 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	67% CSW
Will Vest – L (3)	1.1 IP	1 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	30% CSW

So Kyle Finnegan has not allowed a run all year, but he also has 8 walks to just 3 strikeouts. He currently holds the worst K-BB% amongst relievers right now, and maybe I should be more concerned, but I’m really not, yet. I think the increased splitter usage has caused this, but his four-seam command has been fine, and he even mixed in some good sliders here. He probably needs to be lowered in the holds rankings, but I’d imagine he turns this around.

Boston Red Sox
Aroldis Chapman	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	25% CSW
Garrett Whitlock – W (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	10% CSW

Aroldis Chapman left a couple of fastballs over the middle of the plate here that got hammered, but ultimately survived the inning unscathed, and it’s good to see his velocity increasing.

St. Louis Cardinals
Justin Bruihl – HLD (3)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	22% CSW
JoJo Romero	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Ryne Stanek	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	2 BB	3 K	7 Whiffs	31% CSW
George Soriano	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW

Ryne Stanek is such a headache; it’s almost the same strikezone plot every game. A bunch of pitches in the middle of the zone, and a bunch of pitches way out of the zone. Nothing on/near the edges/corners. It’s just a shame cause his stuff is so so good that he can still get 7 Whiffs with that kind of plot, I mean, just imagine if he had any semblance of command whatsoever. George Soriano has been much better lately and should be the secondary setup guy for this team moving forward.

Houston Astros
Steven Okert	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	21% CSW
Bryan Abreu	1.0 IP	3 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW
J.P. France	2.0 IP	2 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	29% CSW

Bryan Abreu is still broken, as the velocity is still way down, but I guess he threw his fastball for strikes here at least. He just left three of them middle middle with his decreased velocity, and actually, the three middle middle fastballs resulted in two outs and a called strike, so that isn’t even what hurt him here.

Cincinnati Reds
Connor Phillips – HLD (2)	0.2 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	50% CSW
Graham Ashcraft – HLD (6)	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	19% CSW
Tony Santillan – HLD (7)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	17% CSW
Emilio Pagán – SV (6)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	23% CSW

Ugh, I don’t like this from Graham Ashcraft, whose velocity was down 2 MPH here while also not having great command. Hopefully, this was just a one-off and not a sign of something underlying. Tony Santillan’s velocity was down to 93 MPH here, as it was cold in Minnesota last night.
Emilio Pagán looked healthy in his first game pitching since he tweaked his hamstring, and everything more or less was normal for him here.

Minnesota Twins
Justin Topa	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	27% CSW
Kody Funderburk	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	38% CSW
Cole Sands	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW

Cole Sands was getting some whiffs and called strikes with his cutter last night, but I’m still not excited about this. He couldn’t find the zone with his fastball here and really had to depend on his cutter, which isn’t exactly a great offering.

Los Angeles Dodgers
Jack Dreyer	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	35% CSW

Jack Dreyer is awesome, and I just wish he had more hold or win chances here, some sort of counting stat so I could recommend him more in fantasy leagues.

Colorado Rockies
Zach Agnos	4.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	1 BB	4 K	6 Whiffs	35% CSW
Brennan Bernardino	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	20% CSW

Zach Agnos went four innings, throwing like eight different pitches. Maybe the team is stretching him out to move into the rotation?

San Diego Padres
David Morgan	0.2 IP	2 ER	3 H	2 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	26% CSW
Wandy Peralta	1.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	32% CSW
Bradgley Rodriguez	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	27% CSW
Kyle Hart	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	38% CSW

David Morgan needed 39 pitches to get two outs here, and he was just leaving too many hittable pitches over the plate or missing the zone completely. The stuffs fun, the command is inconsistent.

Los Angeles Angels
Chase Silseth	0.1 IP	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW
Shaun Anderson	2.0 IP	0 H	2 K	6 Whiffs	33% CSW
Jordan Romano	1.0 IP	1 H	3 K	6 Whiffs	53% CSW

Do not fall for this Jordan Romano line, the fastball command is still a trainwreck (4/8 zone rate, all four were middle middle). He struck out Machado (who seemed very uninterested in hitting), Bryce Johnson, and Castellanos. Six of his 19 pitches were in the zone, and all six were pretty hittable (Sheets did double).

Texas Rangers
Gavin Collyer – W (1)	1.1 IP	1 H	1 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	31% CSW
Tyler Alexander – HLD (3)	0.2 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	29% CSW
Jalen Beeks – HLD (3)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW
Cole Winn – HLD (4)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	25% CSW
Jacob Latz	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	9% CSW

I don’t want to get too excited but the Rangers may have a dude here in Gavin Collyer. He could probably do without the cutter so much as the fastball/sweeper are both great pitches. It’s nasty stuff, but the command does need some work still but it’s not terrible command for a rookie.

Seattle Mariners
Eduard Bazardo	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	45% CSW
Jose A. Ferrer	0.2 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW
Casey Legumina	2.1 IP	2 ER	4 H	1 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	28% CSW

Jose A. Ferrer had some bad luck hits here, but he’s still throwing his sinker too much in my mind. He hung a changeup to Burger but he’s going to need those offspeed offerings if he is to take a step forward.

Toronto Blue Jays
Braydon Fisher	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	36% CSW
Spencer Miles	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	28% CSW
Joe Mantiply	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	27% CSW

Braydon Fisher opened here and got a couple of surprise strikes with his fastball before Perdomo doubled off of it. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Fisher throw more fastballs than his slider or curveball before.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Jonathan Loáisiga – HLD (4)	1.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	20% CSW
Paul Sewald – SV (7)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW

Paul Sewald continues to dominate, and is just pitching with a ton of confidence right now, going right at hitters. Will it last for a full season, who knows, but ride it for now.

Chicago White Sox
Doug Nikhazy	2.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	2 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	23% CSW

Athletics
Elvis Alvarado	2.0 IP	4 ER	3 H	3 BB	3 K	9 Whiffs	31% CSW
Justin Sterner	2.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	4 K	8 Whiffs	28% CSW

Elvis Alvarado threw 4 sliders and 4 splitters, getting 3 whiffs on the 8. So why did he throw 37 fastballs, which he couldn’t even command?

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 4/17

Rick Graham

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 4/17

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