Fantasy Baseball Reliever Roundup

Houston Astros
Colton Gordon	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	12% CSW
Kai-Wei Teng – HLD (2)	2.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	19% CSW
Enyel De Los Santos – L (1)	0.1 IP	3 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	20% CSW
Bryan King – BS (1)	0.2 IP	3 ER	2 H	2 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	7% CSW

A couple of rough outings for Bryan King now, and that will happen when the middling stuff mixes with bad command. This bullpen needs a healthy Hader and Abreu ASAP because right now their best reliever is Kai-Wei Teng.

Cleveland Guardians
Shawn Armstrong	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	36% CSW
Connor Brogdon	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	9% CSW
Tim Herrin	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	19% CSW
Peyton Pallette – W (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	24% CSW
Cade Smith	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	17% CSW

I guess, considering the state of most closers right now, we can’t complain too much about Cade Smith’s early-season performance…but what is going on with Smith’s command? He was all over the place here, and that’s more or less been the case for him so far. The fastball doesn’t look as good anymore. I don’t love where he is trending.

Cincinnati Reds
Sam Moll	1.1 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	18% CSW
Pierce Johnson	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	35% CSW
Kyle Nicolas	1.0 IP	4 ER	1 H	5 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW

Five walks and two strikeouts over one inning is kind of impressive. Maybe one day, Kyle Nicolas will be able to harness his stuff.

Tampa Bay Rays
Ian Seymour	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW
Griffin Jax	1.1 IP	2 ER	1 H	1 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	38% CSW
Hunter Bigge	0.2 IP	3 ER	2 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	21% CSW
Yoendrys Gómez	2.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	2 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	25% CSW
Ben Williamson	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	14% CSW

It’s easy to say that Griffin Jax was dealt some bad luck in this one, but I think we also need to realize that this particular excuse has a limit to how often we can use it. Jax has elite stuff, that’s not in question, so why is he getting hit hard? I wish I knew, and I’m sure the Rays and Jax wish they knew as well.

St. Louis Cardinals
Justin Bruihl	1.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW
Ryne Stanek	0.2 IP	2 ER	1 H	3 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	28% CSW
George Soriano – HLD (2)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW
Riley O’Brien – SV (7)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	35% CSW

There are about three closers I trust right now, and Riley O’Brien is one of them. The command has been much better than I had expected, and I love seeing that sweeper get whiffs for him.

Miami Marlins
John King	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	37% CSW
Tyler Phillips	3.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	35% CSW

Tyler Phillips is so good in this role, and I think it’s probably best if it stays that way and the Marlins don’t try to use him as a one-inning high-leverage arm.

Milwaukee Brewers
Grant Anderson – W (1)	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	12% CSW
Trevor Megill – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	36% CSW
Aaron Ashby	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	44% CSW
Jake Woodford	2.0 IP	3 ER	4 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	29% CSW

That Trevor Megill line looks fine on the surface, but his velocity was down to 96.3 MPH here, which is now a concern. It could be because he was pitching the sixth inning (less adrenaline?) or the weather (it wasn’t that cold), but also, his stuff still grades out well, even at this velocity. I’ll take Megill at 96-97 with command of his fastball over him at 98-99 with no command all day. That being said, his command wasn’t that great today.

Detroit Tigers
Enmanuel De Jesus	1.1 IP	5 ER	7 H	2 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	27% CSW
Connor Seabold	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	36% CSW
Jake Rogers	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW

Good for Jake Rogers having the best relief line of the night for the Tigers.

Atlanta Braves
José Suarez	3.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	4 BB	4 K	8 Whiffs	25% CSW
Dylan Dodd	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	29% CSW
Aaron Bummer	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	60% CSW
Ian Hamilton	1.0 IP	3 ER	2 H	2 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	29% CSW
Joel Payamps	1.0 IP	3 ER	1 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW

Ian Hamilton made his season debut and was DFA’d this morning. There was a time when he was interesting, but his fastball is not where it needs to be anymore.

Washington Nationals
Gus Varland – HLD (3)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	31% CSW
Cionel Pérez	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	2 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	24% CSW
Clayton Beeter	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	37% CSW

Clayton Beeter looked a little bit better here, command-wise, but at the end of the day, he and Gus Varland have similar stuff; Varland just commands it more consistently (it’s the year of Varland, alright).

New York Yankees
Brent Headrick – HLD (2)	0.2 IP	1 H	1 K	0 Whiffs	31% CSW
Tim Hill	1.0 IP	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	30% CSW
David Bednar	1.0 IP	1 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	37% CSW

David Bednar’s velocity is still down (95.2 MPH here), and it doesn’t look like we will be seeing him at 97 MPH anytime soon. Can he survive at his current velocity? Maybe, the stuff grades out as average right now, so it’s possible he can be OK if he commands well (as he did here).

Boston Red Sox
Jack Anderson	2.0 IP	1 ER	4 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	32% CSW
Tyler Samaniego	1.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	3 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW

Tyler Samaniego is back up, and I think his sinker/sweeper combo is good enough for him to stick around for a while.

Minnesota Twins
Anthony Banda	1.0 IP	2 K	6 Whiffs	33% CSW
Justin Topa	1.0 IP	1 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Cole Sands – W (1)	2.0 IP	3 K	5 Whiffs	35% CSW

Anthony Banda may have found his velocity here, with his stuff being up about 2 MPH across the board. THIS version of Banda could make sense as the Twins closer if they ever want to lean on just one guy. Hopefully this sticks.

New York Mets
Huascar Brazobán	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	44% CSW
Devin Williams – L (1)	0.0 IP	2 ER	1 H	3 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW
Austin Warren	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	67% CSW

As a closer, IF you walk the leadoff guy, you’re gonna have a bad time. Devin Williams not only walked the leadoff guy here, but also the second batter, and things unraveled from there as he followed by allowing a bunt hit, a chopper over the head of the pulled-in infield, and ended things with a bases-loaded walk. It could have looked a lot worse if Austin Warren (who was legitimately awesome in this one and is now on my radar in holds leagues) didn’t bail him out, but this outing reminded me a lot of his meltdowns with the Yankees last year. His velocity is down, and he has no command of his changeup right now, so things aren’t looking great. That being said, he’s in that TIARA range of relievers who could figure things out later this week and be awesome for the rest of the season, so don’t give up just yet.

Baltimore Orioles
Grant Wolfram	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	8% CSW
Rico Garcia – BS (1)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	50% CSW
Ryan Helsley – L (2)	0.1 IP	1 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 K	5 Whiffs	32% CSW

I didn’t mention it yesterday because I thought it may have just been a blip, but Rico Garcia’s velocity was down nearly 2 MPH again here, and I really just hope there’s nothing serious going on. Something to monitor now, though.
Ryan Helsley has had shaky command all year, but to say it was shaky here is an understatement. This was a mess, and like I’ve been saying, this is just what to expect with Helsley. It’s going to be a bit of a rollercoaster.

Kansas City Royals
Nick Mears	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	36% CSW
Matt Strahm – BS (1)	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Lucas Erceg – W (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW

Lucas Erceg looked OK last night, and I don’t love how he continues to struggle missing bats, but the changeup and slider can work for me, and he threw a nasty sinker to Ward in this one to saw him off. Does he have enough time to hang on to the closer role? (can we get a status check on Carlos Estévez, please?)

Philadelphia Phillies
Orion Kerkering	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	27% CSW
Tanner Banks – L (1)	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	2 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	23% CSW
Tim Mayza	1.0 IP	3 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	30% CSW
José Alvarado	0.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	26% CSW
Brad Keller	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW

The lefties in this bullpen remain an issue (don’t worry, Matt Strahm was just as bad last night), but it’d still be tough losing José Alvarado for any significant amount of time, given the current state of this bullpen. He left this one with back spasms.

Chicago Cubs
Riley Martin	1.0 IP	2 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	41% CSW
Jacob Webb	0.1 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	29% CSW
Caleb Thielbar – SV (2)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	17% CSW

Caleb Thielbar is clearly the closer here for the time being (probably just 2-3 more weeks), and there’s been nothing to complain about with him so far. Keep riding this for the time being.

Pittsburgh Pirates
Wilber Dotel	1.2 IP	1 H	3 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	15% CSW
Justin Lawrence	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW
Evan Sisk	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	30% CSW

This is a good stat line from Justin Lawrence, but his command is still a mess (4/15 pitches in the zone here), and even the sweeper isn’t grading out as well as it used to.

Texas Rangers
Cole Winn	1.0 IP	1 H	2 K	4 Whiffs	50% CSW
Jacob Latz	1.0 IP	0 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	29% CSW
Jakob Junis	1.0 IP	1 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	23% CSW

Jacob Latz seems to be settling into a relief role, as we saw his velocity up 2.2 MPH here. If his four-seamer can sit in the 95 MPH range, that would be a pretty exciting development. Jakob Junis may be the closer for now, but Latz, with that velo and secondaries, could easily overtake him.

San Diego Padres
Jason Adam – HLD (4)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	50% CSW
Adrian Morejon – SV (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	75% CSW

Coors was not a factor for Adrian Morejon, who was pumping 100 MPH with a nasty slider last night. It’s interesting to see that he was the fill-in closer with Mason Miller off, not Jason Adam, who worked the eighth.

Colorado Rockies
Jimmy Herget	1.0 IP	0 H	3 K	3 Whiffs	43% CSW
Juan Mejia	1.0 IP	1 H	1 K	3 Whiffs	25% CSW
Brennan Bernardino	1.0 IP	2 H	2 K	2 Whiffs	24% CSW

As good as these stat lines look, I don’t think you want to chase any one of them right now.

Toronto Blue Jays
Spencer Miles	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW
Mason Fluharty – W (1)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	43% CSW
Tyler Rogers – HLD (4)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	17% CSW
Jeff Hoffman – HLD (1)	0.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 K	5 Whiffs	39% CSW
Louis Varland – SV (1)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW

Jeff Hoffman also hit two batters, so add that to this line. His command was pretty bad, his velocity was down, and yea it was just a mess. He’s still missing bats at an elite level, and I don’t think you should drop him yet, but he may be better off in a different role for the Blue Jays. He was so dominant as that stopper/fireman for the Phillies; maybe that’s his best role eventually, but first, he needs to figure out his command.
Louis Varland needed just one pitch to get a double play to end the game, and he’s arguably been the best non-closer in baseball this year…so it certainly makes sense to give him a shot at closing out games, no?

Los Angeles Angels
Sam Bachman	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	15% CSW
Drew Pomeranz – L (2)	1.0 IP	3 ER	3 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Nick Sandlin	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	44% CSW

I guess we aren’t going to see the same Drew Pomeranz magic we saw last year when he was with the Cubs, which is frustrating because his stuff actually looks better, and his command has been fine. He should be much better moving forward, but I’d also like to see some more swing and miss to go along with his A-grade stuff.

Athletics
Scott Barlow – HLD (5)	1.1 IP	1 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	31% CSW
Hogan Harris – HLD (5)	0.1 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
Jack Perkins – SV (1)	2.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	35% CSW

OK Jack Perkins, this is the guy we’ve been waiting to see. Fastball was up almost 1 MPH, and his sweeper and changeup were nasty in this one. Now, let’s repeat this version and build some consistency.

Seattle Mariners
Eduard Bazardo – L (1)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW
Gabe Speier	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Cole Wilcox	2.0 IP	1 ER	4 H	2 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	22% CSW

Gabe Speier gave up a HR here on his sinker, but at least the velocity was up on the pitch. The sliders not as good as it was last year, but it’s at least passable for the time being.

Chicago White Sox
Lucas Sims	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW
Osvaldo Bido	2.0 IP	3 ER	3 H	4 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	28% CSW

Lucas Sims still has some stuff left in the tank, but the command is way too inconsistent right now.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Taylor Clarke	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW
Jonathan Loáisiga	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	37% CSW
Kevin Ginkel	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW
Ryan Thompson	0.0 IP	3 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	20% CSW
James McCann	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	15% CSW

James McCann is a better reliever than Ryan Thompson, the stats don’t lie.

Los Angeles Dodgers
Tanner Scott	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	25% CSW

Tanner Scott hadn’t pitched in a while, so we saw him in the bottom of the eighth down two runs. He’s still the favorite to see the bulk of the saves for the Dodgers while Edwin Díaz is out.

San Francisco Giants
Ryan Borucki – HLD (1)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	50% CSW
Matt Gage – HLD (3)	0.2 IP	0 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Erik Miller – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW
Keaton Winn – HLD (4)	0.1 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	40% CSW
Ryan Walker – SV (2)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	40% CSW

This is more or less how we had expected this bullpen to look a few weeks ago, and I guess we can’t count Ryan Walker out as the team’s closer just yet. It’s still going to be a matchup-based committee, but Walker being the right-hander in the ninth inning is not nothing. He faced the bottom of the Dodgers lineup here, but the stuff still looked pretty good, and he located well.

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

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 4/21

Rick Graham

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 4/21

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