Fantasy Baseball Reliever Roundup

Welcome to the RP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every reliever performance from the previous day.

DET 6 – BOS 8

Detroit Tigers
Brant Hurter	2.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	22% CSW
Tyler Holton – L (1)	0.2 IP	3 ER	4 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	23% CSW
Drew Anderson	1.1 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW

Tyler Holton has some uncharacteristically bad command here,

Boston Red Sox
Danny Coulombe	0.2 IP	1 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	27% CSW
Zack Kelly – BS (1)	1.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	22% CSW
Jovani Morán	0.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	2 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	7% CSW
Greg Weissert	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	80% CSW
Garrett Whitlock – W (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW
Ryan Watson – HLD (1)	1.1 IP	3 ER	4 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	21% CSW
Aroldis Chapman – SV (4)	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	38% CSW

Greg Weissert was one pitch away from an immaculate inning despite only throwing 3.5 of his 1o pitches in the zone, and he went 9/10 fastballs, so shout out to Vierling, Lee, and Rogers for this result.

HOU 9 – CLE 2

Houston Astros
Steven Okert	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW
AJ Blubaugh	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW
Jayden Murray	2.0 IP	2 H	1 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	28% CSW

The Astros could really use another right-handed reliever they can trust, but Jayden Murray probably isn’t it. The fastball can be ok, but the sweeper is below average.

Cleveland Guardians
Matt Festa	2.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	36% CSW
Tim Herrin	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	21% CSW
Connor Brogdon	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	26% CSW

Matt Festa and Connor Brogdon allowed runs here, but both showed really good stuff and are a nice luxury in this bullpen that doesn’t need them in high-leverage spots (as of now).

CIN 6 – TBR 1

Cincinnati Reds
Brock Burke	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	36% CSW
Pierce Johnson	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	19% CSW
Connor Phillips	1.0 IP	1 H	2 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	21% CSW

Every now and then, we get Brock Burke throwing 97+ MPH and just dominating, and this was one of those days. It is nice to know what he has in the tank if needed.
Connor Phillips should have been off yesterday as he’s been pitching a lot lately (4 times in 5 days now), so this shaky outing isn’t too much of a concern.

Tampa Bay Rays
Trevor Martin	2.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	27% CSW
Cole Sulser	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW

Trevor Martin made his MLB debut here and looked, meh. It looks like four average-ish pitches at the moment (fastballs maybe slightly above average), so he could be a competent long reliever for the Rays.

STL 3 – MIA 5

St. Louis Cardinals
Matt Svanson	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	4% CSW
Ryan Fernandez	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	20% CSW

Why is Matt Svanson still on the MLB roster? He needs to figure things out at AAA.

Miami Marlins
Calvin Faucher – W (2)	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	57% CSW
Andrew Nardi – HLD (3)	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	3 Whiffs	24% CSW
Anthony Bender – HLD (3)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	44% CSW
Pete Fairbanks – SV (4)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	2 K	4 Whiffs	47% CSW

Much-needed outings from both Andrew Nardi and Anthony Bender here as the two have scuffled lately. No K’s for Nardi is surprising, but the stuff looked great per usual, and he had better command. Bender went with heavy sweeper usage, only throwing one sinker (at 97.5 MPH, though).
Pete Fairbanks looked fine in this one despite the leadoff triple to Winn on a cutter he left over the plate. We still need him to find a feel for his slider and to trust it again.

ATL 9 – WSN 4

Atlanta Braves
Aaron Bummer – HLD (3)	0.1 IP	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW
Tyler Kinley – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	2 K	6 Whiffs	47% CSW
Joel Payamps	1.0 IP	1 K	2 Whiffs	30% CSW

With no Raisel Iglesias, Tyler Kinley will have to step up in a high-leverage role, and as long as he’s locating those breakers, he should be fine.

Washington Nationals
PJ Poulin – BS (1)	0.1 IP	2 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	9% CSW
Brad Lord	2.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	5 Whiffs	16% CSW
Julian Fernández	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	2 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	28% CSW

Julian Fernández throws pretty hard and has an ok changeup, but even in this bullpen, I’m not sure he’s someone who’s going to be able to rise into an important role.

BAL 7 – KCR 5

Baltimore Orioles
Rico Garcia	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	31% CSW
Grant Wolfram	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	24% CSW
Yennier Cano	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW
Ryan Helsley	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW
Anthony Nunez – W (1)	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	28% CSW
Cameron Foster	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW

Ryan Helsley once again had no idea where anything was going last night, but the stuff won out despite only 3 of his 12 pitches being in/near the zone.

Kansas City Royals
Matt Strahm – HLD (6)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	3 K	3 Whiffs	40% CSW
Lucas Erceg – BS (2)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	3 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	19% CSW
Daniel Lynch IV	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	50% CSW
John Schreiber	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Alex Lange – L (2)	1.0 IP	4 ER	3 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	23% CSW

This actually may have been the best Lucas Erceg has looked all year, as there were a lot of borderline pitches and ABS challenges in this half inning. This was the best his stuff has looked all year, at least (velo was up 1.3 MPH on everything), and the command really wasn’t as bad as the three walks insinuate. That said, if he didn’t pick off Gunnar here, things could have been a lot worse, so this outing squarely puts him on the closer hot seat, and he may not have much time to turn things around, as Carlos Estevez is supposedly starting a rehab assignment this week.
Daniel Lynch IV should be the closer here in Kansas City, at least if the team wants to keep Matt Strahm in the 7th/8th inning, but to me, Lynch should be the 9th inning guy at the moment. He’s come a long way and has a three-pitch mix (sinker, changeup, slider) to get both righties and lefties out.

PHI 1 – CHC 5

Philadelphia Phillies
Kyle Backhus	0.2 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	80% CSW
Chase Shugart	2.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	39% CSW
Seth Johnson	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	19% CSW

Seth Johnson walked the leadoff guy on 7 pitches, then gave up a bloop pop-up single on 6 more pitches before getting a strikeout, a popup to the catcher, and another strikeout. The two whiffs came on his fastball (both for strikeouts), and it’s a legit four-seamer. He’s still just a deep league stash, but these first two outings from Johnson have me very intrigued.

Chicago Cubs
Hoby Milner	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	35% CSW
Corbin Martin	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW

Corbin Martin still has a really good curveball, but is the supporting cast good enough to keep him above water? Some fastball and command consistency is still needed here.

LAD 12 – COL 3

Los Angeles Dodgers
Edgardo Henriquez	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	43% CSW
Jake Eder	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	8% CSW

Edgardo Henriquez is so inconsistent, and it’s unfortunate with Edwin Díaz being out for at least 3 months now, but not only does Henriquez’s command/location fluctuate on a game-to-game basis, but the stuff does as well. The arm talent is undeniable, but he’s still not ready to truly break out, it seems.

Colorado Rockies
Tanner Gordon	4.0 IP	6 ER	7 H	3 BB	6 K	8 Whiffs	29% CSW

TOR 5 – LAA 2

Toronto Blue Jays
Braydon Fisher – HLD (4)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	25% CSW
Louis Varland – HLD (3)	1.1 IP	0 H	0 BB	3 K	3 Whiffs	35% CSW
Tyler Rogers – HLD (3)	0.2 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Jeff Hoffman – SV (3)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	3 K	7 Whiffs	47% CSW

Jeff Hoffman is back! Well, not exactly, but obviously, we will take this result, and his K rate this season has been bonkers (44.2%), so it’s not like he’s struggling to miss bats. The command was not good here, but facing the bottom of the Angels lineup helped him out here. If he has another positive outing or two this week, we can probably consider him off the hot seat (for now).

Los Angeles Angels
Chase Silseth	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW
Shaun Anderson	2.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	15% CSW

Chase Silseth looked pretty good in this one, I mean, his stuff is fairly consistent, and even at average to slightly above average, it can play up with solid command. I don’t love the idea of him as a potential closer, but outside of Drew Pomeranz, he might make the most sense right now (Sam Bachman’s command is just way too inconsistent still).

ATH 6 – SEA 4

Athletics
Hogan Harris – W (2)	1.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	44% CSW
Mark Leiter Jr. Jr. – HLD (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 K	3 Whiffs	21% CSW
Joel Kuhnel – SV (4)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	20% CSW

Joel Kuhnel just comes in and pounds the strike zone with sinkers and cutters, and just waits to see how far they hit it. The cutter command was actually bad here, but I don’t know, maybe the fact that he doesn’t walk anyone gives Kuhnel a decent floor, but then again, this pitch mix is not going to work every game, especially with his home ballpark. This still feels potentially too volatile to me, but if you want to Vargas Rule it, I get it.

Seattle Mariners
Jose A. Ferrer	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	4 Whiffs	32% CSW
Matt Brash	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Casey Legumina – L (1)	1.0 IP	3 ER	3 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Cooper Criswell	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	22% CSW

Jose A. Ferrer continues to be unlucky, or maybe he should just stop throwing his sinker so much (I will keep saying it until things change). Getting out of Washington was supposed to lead to Ferrer throwing more sliders and changeups, but instead, his sinker usage is actually up 3%. I know his sinker is his best pitch (and it’s not even that close), but can we just bring the usage to like 40 or even 50%?

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 4/20

Rick Graham