Fantasy Baseball Reliever Roundup

Kansas City Royals
Mitch Spence	4.0 IP	6 ER	4 H	5 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	25% CSW

At least Mitch Spence was able to preserve the rest of the bullpen for today’s series finale.

New York Yankees
Paul Blackburn	2.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW

Cincinnati Reds
Sam Moll	0.1 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	27% CSW
Pierce Johnson	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	45% CSW
Brock Burke	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	25% CSW
Kyle Nicolas – W (1)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	53% CSW
Tony Santillan – SV (1)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	42% CSW

Kyle Nicolas has really good stuff, and this kind of outing shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Consistency is the next step with him, but this is a glimpse into his upside.

Minnesota Twins
Justin Topa – HLD (2)	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	50% CSW
Kody Funderburk – HLD (4)	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	30% CSW
Eric Orze – BS (1)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 K	5 Whiffs	47% CSW
Cole Sands – L (1)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	17% CSW

Unfortunate outing for Eric Orze here, but as you can see, he remains the only reliever in this bullpen who can generate whiffs consistently (only reliever here with a swinging-strike rate over 10% at the moment).

New York Mets
Brooks Raley	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
Luke Weaver	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 Whiffs	0% CSW
Craig Kimbrel	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 Whiffs	21% CSW

No whiffs or called strikes may look discouraging from Luke Weaver, but the stuff was great here, and we saw his velocity up into the 95 MPH range here. Now we just need the Mets to figure out how to win games.

Chicago Cubs
Ben Brown – HLD (1)	2.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	26% CSW
Caleb Thielbar – SV (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	29% CSW

As expected, Caleb Thielbar got the first save with Daniel Palencia out and just missed striking out the side to do so. He even saw some increased velocity (role-motivated adrenaline bonus), but he doesn’t need it

Tampa Bay Rays
Mason Englert	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW
Ian Seymour – HLD (4)	1.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	43% CSW
Hunter Bigge – HLD (4)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	22% CSW
Bryan Baker – BS (2)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	7 Whiffs	32% CSW
Cole Sulser	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	23% CSW
Kevin Kelly	1.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	40% CSW
Griffin Jax – W (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	23% CSW
Yoendrys Gómez – SV (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW

The Rays emptied their entire bullpen here, with every reliever on the roster pitching. Bryan Baker’s outing is frustrating, sure, he pitched the eighth and blew the save, but it was not that bad. He came in to face the top of the Pirates lineup, and got burned by an infield single and a flare single by Yorke later on.

Pittsburgh Pirates
Cam Sanders	0.2 IP	4 ER	3 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	35% CSW
Evan Sisk – BS (1)	1.2 IP	1 ER	4 H	0 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	32% CSW
Justin Lawrence	1.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	22% CSW
Gregory Soto	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Isaac Mattson	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	31% CSW
Yohan Ramírez – L (1)	3.0 IP	1 ER	4 H	2 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	18% CSW

A scoreless outing from Gregory Soto here, but we’re still seeing fastball velocities around 95 MPH. Last year, he sat at 97 MPH, and from 2021-’23 he was in the 98-99 MPH range. Even this season, in Soto’s first 5.1 innings, he averaged 97 MPH, resulting in a 1.02 SIERA, 52.4% strikeout rate (43% K-BB), 17.6% swinging-strike rate, and 41.2% CSW. Over his past 6.1 IP, though, his velocity has dropped to 95.5 MPH, resulting in a 4.93 SIERA, 21.7% strikeout rate (4.3% K-BB), 6.3% swinging-strike rate, and 29.5% CSW. Something to keep an eye on.

San Francisco Giants
Ryan Borucki	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	50% CSW
Erik Miller – HLD (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW
Matt Gage – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW
Ryan Walker – BS (1)	2.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	2 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	31% CSW
Caleb Kilian – W (1)	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW

Ryan Walker is a good reliever when not pitching in a save situation, and this might solidify him not pitching in the ninth for a while, as the team has better options in Erik Miller (who looked great again here) and Keaton Winn.

Washington Nationals
Mitchell Parker	3.0 IP	3 ER	5 H	0 BB	2 K	7 Whiffs	25% CSW
Gus Varland	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW
Richard Lovelady	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	48% CSW
Cionel Pérez – L (2)	2.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	23% CSW

Gus Varland pitching the 8th innings is kind of frustrating, but he still looked good here despite a couple of seeing-eye singles. No walks here and pretty solid command all around, that alone should have him in the closer role over Clayton Beeter.

Chicago White Sox
Sean Newcomb	1.1 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	16% CSW
Jordan Leasure – BS (2)	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	7% CSW
Bryan Hudson	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	2 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	25% CSW
Seranthony Domínguez	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW
Jordan Hicks	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW
Lucas Sims – L (2)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW

This bullpen is pretty rough right now. Jordan Leasure did not look good; his command was terrible here, and the stuff just isn’t good enough to overcome. Seranthony Domínguez still has ZERO fastball command, like none at all, maybe even worse than Jordano Romano’s fastball command right now. Jordan Hicks, who throws 99 MPH, couldn’t get one whiff or called strike on 17 pitches?

Athletics
Hogan Harris	1.1 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW
Joel Kuhnel	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW
Mark Leiter Jr. Jr.	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	17% CSW
Jack Perkins – W (2)	2.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	2 BB	3 K	7 Whiffs	30% CSW

Jack Perkins grinded through this one, throwing only 16 of his 44 pitches in the zone, but he didn’t allow a run in extra innings, and that’s all that matters. The stuff looks pretty average right now, though, so I’m not too interested in chasing him at the moment, but this bullpen is wide open still, so anything is possible.

Detroit Tigers
Tyler Holton – HLD (2)	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	32% CSW
Kenley Jansen – SV (5)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	7% CSW

Kenley Jansen’s velocity was back to 92 MPH, which is probably where he will sit more often than not. I think the three-run lead allowed him to ease up a little more than he would in, say, a one-run game (and this is why Jansen has been so consistent all these years).

Boston Red Sox
Jovani Morán	3.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	34% CSW
Greg Weissert	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Zack Kelly	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	11% CSW

Zack Kelly only had one whiff here, and just one called strike (which wasn’t a strike), but his stuff continues to grade out well, and PLV especially loves his sinker. I get it, I think Kelly needs to stick around on the roster even when everyone is healthy here, and I trust him more than Greg Weissert at this point.

Milwaukee Brewers
Jake Woodford	1.1 IP	1 ER	5 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	24% CSW
Abner Uribe – SV (2)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	25% CSW

The Brewers were really hoping to avoid needing Abner Uribe in this game, but needed to turn to him to get the last two outs as Jake Woodford was starting to get into trouble in the ninth. At least Uribe only needed four pitches here, but he’ll almost certainly be off today.

Miami Marlins
Anthony Bender	0.2 IP	2 ER	1 H	2 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	31% CSW
Lake Bachar	2.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW
John King	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	30% CSW

This was a near masterclass in bad command from Anthony Bender, who managed to throw 18 of his 26 pitches not remotely near the strike zone in this one. He also managed to throw two sliders and a sinker middle up in the strike zone. It has not been a good start to the year for Bender, to say the least, and he’s pitched himself out of any sort of leverage situations.

Baltimore Orioles
Albert Suárez	2.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	24% CSW

Cleveland Guardians
Hunter Gaddis – HLD (1)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	33% CSW
Cade Smith – SV (5)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	53% CSW

Hunter Gaddis hasn’t had his best slider so far this season (the HR to Gunnar was terribly located as well), but it’s been good enough and should come around (I think).
Improved command from Cade Smith here, and he didn’t even go to his sweeper. Here’s to hoping his command only gets better from here on out.

St. Louis Cardinals
Gordon Graceffo	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	15% CSW
Matt Svanson	1.0 IP	1 ER	0 H	3 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
George Soriano	0.1 IP	3 ER	1 H	2 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	24% CSW
Riley O’Brien – SV (6)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	57% CSW

I don’t love it, but given the lack of alternatives at the moment, I wonder if Gordon Graceffo should be the Cardinals’ secondary setup man. It’s obviously not going to be Matt Svanson, Ryne Stanek may have the worst command in all of baseball, and George Soriano is who we thought he was. Graceffo’s fastball is very vulnerable, though, so I’m not sure that will end well.

Houston Astros
Colton Gordon	2.2 IP	3 ER	4 H	1 BB	5 K	5 Whiffs	23% CSW
AJ Blubaugh	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	25% CSW

This isn’t the AJ Blubaugh we were promised earlier in the season, and it makes me sad. Oh well, we can move on to other interesting upside dart throws.

Texas Rangers
Cal Quantrill	3.0 IP	3 ER	3 H	2 BB	5 K	9 Whiffs	26% CSW

Seattle Mariners
Matt Brash – HLD (3)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Gabe Speier – HLD (2)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	21% CSW
Eduard Bazardo – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW
Jose A. Ferrer – HLD (2)	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	50% CSW
Cole Wilcox	0.2 IP	2 ER	3 H	2 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	35% CSW
Andrés Muñoz – SV (2)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	75% CSW

It took six different relievers to accumulate ten outs in this one for the Mariners, which is not ideal. Andrés Muñoz only threw four pitches, but he looked good, and the slider got two whiffs from Nimmo to end the game.

Atlanta Braves
Dylan Lee – HLD (3)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	40% CSW
Robert Suarez – SV (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	43% CSW

Dylan Lee was filthy here, throwing 3 MPH harder than he has all season, and even at 95.3 MPH with his fastball, it still generated 21.6″ iVB. Just nasty stuff from Lee.
Robert Suarez got his first save of the season as Raisel Iglesias is nursing a sore shoulder, and Suarez looked a little amped up in this one as well, as he was sitting at 100 MPH. This version of Suarez is pretty unhittable.

Philadelphia Phillies
José Alvarado	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	36% CSW
Tanner Banks	1.0 IP	1 H	2 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	24% CSW
Brad Keller	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	24% CSW

Brad Keller will be the Phillies interim closer with Jhoan Duran hitting the IL yesterday, and while he doesn’t have the best stuff in this bullpen (that goes to either Orion Kerkering or José Alvarado), he is probably the most consistent option at the moment, although he had no fastball command in this one.

Los Angeles Dodgers
Will Klein – L (1)	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Alex Vesia	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	27% CSW
Edgardo Henriquez	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	42% CSW

Will Klein was hanging his sweeper and slider all night and is kind of lucky he only allowed the two runs on three hits. I still believe in the stuff, but the command needs to be better than this.

Colorado Rockies
Brennan Bernardino – W (2)	1.1 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	36% CSW
Jaden Hill – HLD (3)	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	36% CSW
Victor Vodnik – SV (3)	1.0 IP	2 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	20% CSW

Props to Victor Vodnik, who survived a pair of two-out singles here to hang on for the save. Despite the great stuff and relatively good command here, he’s still having a hard time generating swings and misses.

Toronto Blue Jays
Tyler Rogers	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	11% CSW
Jeff Hoffman – L (2)	1.0 IP	4 ER	3 H	1 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	27% CSW

Jeff Hoffman entered this game in the eighth inning of a tie game, and proceeded to give up two hits, walk a guy, and then give up a grand slam (3-1 fastball middle middle to Carroll). We had doubts about him as the closer after his last outing against the Brewers, and now, I think it may be safe to say he won’t be getting the next save chance. I don’t care what his manager is saying; actions are louder than words, and the actions here along are pointing towards Louis Varland being the ninth-inning guy. This team was trying to find a new closer this offseason as well, as they probably prefer Hoffman to be in a role similar to the one he had in Philadelphia.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Ryan Thompson	1.0 IP	1 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	27% CSW
Juan Morillo – W (1)	1.1 IP	1 H	2 K	6 Whiffs	30% CSW
Kevin Ginkel	1.0 IP	1 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	50% CSW

This is the best we’ve seen Kevin Ginkel in some time, as his fastball velocity was up over 1 MPH here, and he actually had pretty average stuff. He shouldn’t be a threat to Paul Sewald or Juan Morillo, but this team could certainly use another reliever it can trust.

San Diego Padres
Adrian Morejon – W (2)	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	41% CSW
Jason Adam – HLD (3)	1.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	6 Whiffs	30% CSW
Mason Miller – SV (7)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	7 Whiffs	50% CSW

Jason Adam got his first strikeout of the season, but also allowed his first earned run. The fastball was not good here (is it ever with him, though?), and he left a few changeups up in the zone to hit.
Somehow, the second hit of the year against Mason Miller came from…Yoán Moncada? Should we be concerned about Miller? (obviously a joke, Miller is the best reliever on the planet who just happened to have a bad command day)

Los Angeles Angels
Ryan Zeferjahn – L (1)	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	2 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	13% CSW
Nick Sandlin	1.2 IP	2 ER	2 H	2 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	34% CSW
Shaun Anderson	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW

Ryan Zeferjahn getting zero whiffs on 23 pitches and allowing two walks and three hits here is sad to see. Also, his fastball was down over 1.5 MPH and did not have the shape it usually does.

If you’re looking for potential relievers to stream today, check out RP Streamers

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 4/18

Rick Graham

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 4/18

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