Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings

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

LAD 13 – WSN 6

Los Angeles Dodgers
Jack Dreyer	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	50.0% CSW
Blake Treinen	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	27.3% CSW
Edgardo Henriquez	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	40.0% CSW
Ben Casparius	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	38.5% CSW

Ben Casparius’s usage has been pretty annoying thus far. There’s an argument to be made that he is the team’s best right-handed reliever behind Edwin Díaz (it’s him or Will Klein) right now. Edgardo Henriquez will probably be good eventually, and Blake Treinen, well, let’s just say he’s the second “Triple F” card I’ve seen from a reliever so far this year (the stuff has evaporated). If they want Casparius to stay stretched out and potentially start down the road, or at least be their long man, that’s one thing. So far though, he’s just getting one-inning (or less) stints in lower-leverage spots.

Washington Nationals
Gus Varland	0.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	25.0% CSW
Ken Waldichuk	2.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	33.3% CSW
Andre Granillo	2.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	2 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	11.1% CSW

Gus Varland is going to be ok for the Nationals, and Ken Waldichuk looks like a good find for them as well.
Andre Granillo probably needs some time at AAA to figure out some sort of fastball to pair with his slider.

STL 0 – DET 4

St. Louis Cardinals
Justin Bruihl	0.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	26.7% CSW
George Soriano	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	18.8% CSW
Gordon Graceffo	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	31.2% CSW
Chris Roycroft	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	36.4% CSW

This group did well to only allow one ER, but also just one K tells you everything you need to know. That said, if one of them could develop an average or better fastball, then there may be something there.

Detroit Tigers
Will Vest	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	41.2% CSW
Kyle Finnegan	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	37.5% CSW
Tyler Holton	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	42.9% CSW

This was a much-needed bounce-back appearance from Will Vest. The fastball command was better, and his slider was on.
The two baserunners aside, Kyle Finnegan continues to look great so far this year. If the slider makes strides (he threw two in this game), watch out.

MIA 2 – NYY 8

Miami Marlins
Tyler Phillips	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	2 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	32.7% CSW
Michael Petersen	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	25.0% CSW
Lake Bachar	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	2 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	41.7% CSW

Michael Petersen’s fastball is great, but that’s really all he has right now (and there’s no command). The cutter/slider thing he’s throwing is questionable; maybe it could be ok.
Lake Bachar had no command in this one, but man, he can be really good at times.

New York Yankees
Tim Hill (HLD)	0.1 IP	0 K	0 Whiffs	0.0% CSW
Jake Bird (HLD)	1.0 IP	2 K	1 Whiffs	45.5% CSW
Brent Headrick	1.0 IP	2 K	3 Whiffs	50.0% CSW
Ryan Yarbrough	1.0 IP	0 K	0 Whiffs	10.0% CSW

Jake Bird did a great job locating, and that will be the key with him, as the stuff is lacking.
I was surprised to see Brent Headrick get a D+ stuff grade for this game (he’s usually around a B), but his command was probably the best it’s been, so we’ll take it.

SDP 2 – BOS 5

San Diego Padres
Wandy Peralta	1.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	30.0% CSW
Ron Marinaccio	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	50.0% CSW

Ron Marinaccio continues seeing mop-up duty, but he’s not a terrible reliever, especially when he is locating his fastball as he did here.

Boston Red Sox
Greg Weissert (HLD)	1.0 IP	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	11.8% CSW
Justin Slaten (HLD)	1.0 IP	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	44.4% CSW
Aroldis Chapman (SV)	1.0 IP	1 BB	1 K	5 Whiffs	42.9% CSW

Great work from this trio, especially Justin Slaten, who had maybe the best fastball I’ve seen from him in some time (97.4 MPH, 17.7″ iVB).
Aroldis Chapman continues to work with diminished velocity, but it hasn’t affected him too much (yet).

TOR 4 – CHW 5

Toronto Blue Jays
Braydon Fisher	1.2 IP	2 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	47.6% CSW
Brendon Little	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	29.4% CSW
Louis Varland	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	33.3% CSW
Tyler Rogers	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	16.7% CSW
Jeff Hoffman (L)	0.2 IP	2 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	28.6% CSW

This was a much-needed outing for Brendon Little, and he had great command of his fastball here.
As for Jeff Hoffman, this was an interesting outing. He didn’t throw ONE fastball here (14 total pitches), allowing a hit on his splitter despite the pitch never being in the zone. The other hit was on a bunt. No need to worry about this extra-innings outing, but it is fascinating he didn’t trust his fastball against this White Sox lineup.

Chicago White Sox
Grant Taylor	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	67.0% CSW
Jordan Leasure (BS)	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	5.9% CSW
Sean Newcomb	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	37.5% CSW
Seranthony Domínguez (W)	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	31.8% CSW

Grant Taylor opening is beyond frustrating (and he’s doing it again today), but I guess that will give him SP eligibility soon, at least?
Jordan Leasure made one bad pitch here, and it cost him.
This was a huge outing for Seranthony Domínguez, and while it’s not his first save, it’s a step in the right direction.

CIN 5 – TEX 3

Cincinnati Reds
Sam Moll (HLD)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	33.3% CSW
Graham Ashcraft (BS)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	35.3% CSW
Tony Santillan (W)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	20.0% CSW
Emilio Pagán (SV)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	23.1% CSW

Graham Ashcraft gave up a triple and double in this one, but they were on pretty good pitches. The triple was a 100 MPH cutter, 2 inches inside and off the plate to Brandon Nimmo, and the double was a 99 MPH cutter two inches down and out of the zone that probably should have been caught, to be honest. Long story short, I’m not worried.
Tony Santillan continues to be down 2-3 MPH on his fastball, but he located it well today at least.
This was a big outing for Emilio Pagán, who could not afford another shaky outing. That being said, the stuff and command were still “meh” here, but we will take the outcome.

Texas Rangers
Cole Winn	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	23.5% CSW
Jakob Junis	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	0 Whiffs	41.7% CSW
Chris Martin (L)	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	0 K	3 Whiffs	30.4% CSW

I like Cole Winn a little bit better with every outing, especially with the increased slider, cutter, and splitter usage.
I don’t think Chris Martin is going to last very long this season, unfortunately. His cutter is still an above-average offering, but that’s it at this point. If he doesn’t have great command, he is going to struggle. He and Jakob Junis essentially have similar stuff, but Junis is way better at locating right now.

CHC 1 – CLE 4

Chicago Cubs
Colin Rea	3.1 IP	1 ER	4 H	1 BB	4 K	9 Whiffs	33.9% CSW
Hoby Milner (BS)	1.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0.0% CSW
Hunter Harvey (L)	0.2 IP	3 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	20.0% CSW
Jacob Webb	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	5 Whiffs	31.0% CSW

The two homeruns Hunter Harvey allowed in this weren’t even terrible pitches (Delauter is just on another planet right now), and despite the terrible line, I’m not overly concerned with him.

Cleveland Guardians
Matt Festa	0.2 IP	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	0.0% CSW
Connor Brogdon (W)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	15.4% CSW
Shawn Armstrong (HLD)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	30.8% CSW
Cade Smith (SV)	1.0 IP	1 H	3 K	2 Whiffs	40.9% CSW

Good stuff from Cade Smith today, and while the command isn’t where it can be (the 1-2 fastball that Kelly picked up a hit on was middle-middle), it’s good to see the splitter location improve a bit here.

TBR 4 – MIN 10

Tampa Bay Rays
Hunter Bigge	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	5 Whiffs	37.5% CSW
Kevin Kelly (L)	0.1 IP	5 ER	2 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	24.2% CSW
Yoendrys Gómez	1.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	5 Whiffs	30.4% CSW

Hunter Bigge is back, and that is kind of exciting, especially given the state of this bullpen. The command was not great here, but the stuff remains great. He should stay in this bullpen the rest of the year.

Minnesota Twins
Eric Orze	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	18.9% CSW
Justin Topa	0.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	35.3% CSW
Kody Funderburk (W)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0.0% CSW
Anthony Banda	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	17.6% CSW
Cody Laweryson	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	50.0% CSW

This bullpen generating four whiffs over five innings checks out, but Twins fans can’t complain with just one run allowed.

PHI 10 – COL 1

Philadelphia Phillies
Kyle Backhus	0.2 IP	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	44.4% CSW
Tim Mayza	1.0 IP	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	46.2% CSW
Zach Pop	1.0 IP	1 BB	3 K	2 Whiffs	47.1% CSW

This trio generating 9 whiffs and 6 K’s over 2.2 innings is a surprise, but we can chalk it up to facing that Rockies lineup (even at Coors).

Colorado Rockies
Valente Bellozo	6.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	7 K	15 Whiffs	36.4% CSW

That’s actually a pretty good stat line for Bellozo, and no, you do not want to think about adding him in any league.

BAL 4 – PIT 5

Baltimore Orioles
Dietrich Enns	1.0 IP	1 ER	3 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	28.2% CSW
Tyler Wells	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	39.1% CSW
Rico Garcia	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	37.5% CSW

Dietrich Enns usually has great command, but he was very off today. Probably just a fluky bad day.
With a healthy Andrew Kittredge, the Orioles will have one of the more underrated right-handed reliever groups in baseball with Tyler Wells, Rico Garcia, possibly Anthony Nunez, and obviously Ryan Helsley. Garcia was locating well today, and Wells seems to be rounding into form as a full-time reliever now.

Pittsburgh Pirates
Yohan Ramírez (HLD)	0.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	21.1% CSW
Mason Montgomery (HLD)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	44.4% CSW
Dennis Santana (HLD)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	50.0% CSW
Gregory Soto (SV)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	45.0% CSW

I’ll talk about Mason Montgomery every time he pitches because we need to be prepared for when he is finally able to command his fastball. Despite the results today, this was not the outing where he finds his fastball command, unfortunately.
Dennis Santana had another 8th inning appearance, which is frustrating for fantasy managers who thought he would be getting saves. BUT, this was the best Santana has looked in quite some time, which at least makes me feel better about him long term in SV+HLD formats. He only faced lefties in this one (ominous development with Soto being a lefty and still getting the ninth), but his changeup has become a legitimate weapon for him. The slider will always be solid, and only throwing his four-seamer over his sinker might be the move in the fastball department. This is good.
Gregory Soto is just a bat-missing machine at the moment, and despite hanging a 1-2 sweeper to Gunnar here, he was dominant again. The big change for Soto this year is the increased sweeper usage (up 23%) and decreased sinker usage (down 20.7%). That sweeper had a 53.5% Whiff and 29% PutAway rate last year, and so far this season, has a 60% Whiff and 43.8% PutAway rate. He needs to be rostered pretty much everywhere.

SEA 3 – LAA 1

Seattle Mariners
Matt Brash	1.0 IP	2 K	3 Whiffs	50.0% CSW
Andrés Muñoz (W)	1.0 IP	3 K	4 Whiffs	43.8% CSW
Gabe Speier (SV)	1.0 IP	1 K	1 Whiffs	33.3% CSW

This is what we typically expect from this trio, and Muñoz didn’t even have any command in this one. Gabe Speier had his better command in the 10th inning here, but I still worry about the diminished stuff grades (back-to-back “F” grades now).

Los Angeles Angels
Chase Silseth	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	20.0% CSW
Drew Pomeranz	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	17.6% CSW
Jordan Romano	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	37.5% CSW
Brent Suter (L)	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	1 BB	0 K	4 Whiffs	26.9% CSW

Drew Pomeranz did not have his best command, but grinded through the middle part of the Mariners lineup (Cal, Julio, Naylor, and Arozarena).
Jordan Romano looked a little bit better here; at least he had some command of his slider in this one. The fastball is still a mess, and luckily, he has not faced a ton of quality hitters yet this season. He did strike out Yordan Alvarez, let’s give him that. But these are the rest of his matchups so far: Nico Hoerner hit a 102 MPH line drive right at Mike Trout, Jeremy Peña and Jake Meyers flied out, Brooks Raley lined out, Cam Smith grounded out, and he walked Dansby Swanson and Yainer Diaz. His other five strikeouts were against Joey Loperfido, Michael Conforto, Nick Allen, Leo Rivas, and J.P. Crawford (in his first game back). Again, this was the best he has looked so far, but I still need that fastball command to get ironed out before I fully buy in. Still, this was a step in the right direction, but can the Angels even trust him against the middle part of a team’s lineup right now?

HOU 4 – ATH 11

Houston Astros
Roddery Muñoz	1.1 IP	5 ER	4 H	2 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	20.5% CSW
Ryan Weiss	3.0 IP	0 ER	3 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	26.3% CSW

Ryan Weiss didn’t even have his best stuff in this one, but still posted a solid line. He’s probably better than a long reliever/mop-up guy.

Athletics
Michael Kelly	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	3 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	37.5% CSW
J.T. Ginn	2.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	25.0% CSW

Scoring 10+ runs may be needed for the A’s to win games this year, especially at home.

ATL 2 – ARI 0

Atlanta Braves
Dylan Lee	1.0 IP	1 H	1 K	4 Whiffs	45.5% CSW
Robert Suarez (W)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	12.5% CSW
Raisel Iglesias (SV)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	31.2% CSW

I guess the lack of Whiffs from Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias shouldn’t be too surprising, and at least that’s what they have Dylan Lee for. Suarez’s fastball hasn’t been at its best so far, and Iglesias fastball is what it is.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Juan Morillo	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	33.3% CSW
Paul Sewald (L)	0.2 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 K	3 Whiffs	31.2% CSW
Ryan Thompson	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	50.0% CSW

Juan Morillo continues to look really good here, and he definitely deserves a setup role, and maybe the closer role if Sewald runs into any more trouble?
Paul Sewald left two fastballs too close to the middle of the plate, and both were hit for home runs. Every other pitch was executed just fine, so let’s just chalk this up to one bad day for now. That being said, this is why Sewald isn’t a top 15 closer anymore, because if his command is off, it’s going to give him trouble (especially against good hitters like Olson).

NYM 10 – SFG 3

New York Mets
Brooks Raley (HLD)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	12.5% CSW
Huascar Brazobán	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	20.8% CSW
Richard Lovelady	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	17.9% CSW
Luis García Jr.	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	21.4% CSW

Brooks Raley is Mr. Consistent and such a problem for left-handed hitters.

San Francisco Giants
JT Brubaker	1.1 IP	3 ER	3 H	2 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	26.3% CSW
Matt Gage	1.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	24.3% CSW
Erik Miller	0.2 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	26.9% CSW
Caleb Kilian	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	40.0% CSW

Can we please see more Caleb Kilian?

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

Also, if you’re looking for the detailed list or ranking of Relievers, check out my weekly RP Ranks

AL East

AL Central

AL West

NL East

NL Central

NL West

Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 4/3

Rick Graham