Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/21

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

ATL 1 – MIL 2

Atlanta Braves
Brent Suter	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	35% CSW
Dylan Dodd	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	27% CSW

Brent Suter — Sinker up 1.9 MPH (90.8 vs. 88.9 season avg); Sinker usage 59% (+29 pts vs. 30% usual). Even with the added velocity, I wouldn’t expect this type of strikeout performance often from Suter.

Milwaukee Brewers
Antonio Senzatela – HLD (8)	2.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	2 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	26% CSW
Trevor Megill – SV (24)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW

Antonio Senzatela — Sinker up 1.0 MPH (97.5 vs. 96.5 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 3% (-36 pts vs. 39% usual); Cutter usage 61% (+31 pts vs. 30% usual). Only one earned run luckily, but I have to imagine when this bullpens at full strength (Romero and Uribe) that Senzatela moves to a low leverage role.

STL 6 – PHI 7

St. Louis Cardinals
Caleb Ferguson	1.1 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	28% CSW
Gordon Graceffo – BS (2)	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	12% CSW
Justin Bruihl	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW
Luis Gastelum – L (3)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	48% CSW

Luis Gastelum finally ran into some trouble here, although, to be fair, he was perfect in the ninth. In the tenth, Arraez led things off with a single before Bohm hit a “triple” (it should have been caught, Fermin IS NOT a CF) to walk things off.

Philadelphia Phillies
Tim Mayza	0.2 IP	2 H	1 K	0 Whiffs	16% CSW
Orion Kerkering – HLD (16)	1.1 IP	1 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW
Brooks Raley – BS (3)	0.1 IP	1 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW
Jhoan Duran	1.0 IP	1 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	38% CSW
Alex McFarlane – W (2)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	11% CSW

The stuff has been better for Orion Kerkering the past few outings, so that’s a good sign. The team still trusts him in leverage/set up work, so hopefully we see more of these 97-98 MPH fastballs moving forward.

TOR 1 – NYY 3

Toronto Blue Jays
Mason Fluharty	0.2 IP	0 H	2 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW
Brendon Little	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	38% CSW
Braydon Fisher	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW
Paul Sewald	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	36% CSW
Simeon Woods Richardson	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	3 K	2 Whiffs	35% CSW

Brendon Little — Sinker up 0.8 MPH (95.5 vs. 94.7 season avg). Great to see this velo and the whiff count.
Braydon Fisher — Four-Seamer down 0.8 MPH (93.8 vs. 94.6 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 44% (+26 pts vs. 18% usual). The fastball remains a concern.
Paul Sewald — Four-Seamer usage 27% (-33 pts vs. 60% usual). The best Sewald has looked in some time.

New York Yankees
Brent Headrick – HLD (21)	1.0 IP	1 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	47% CSW
Paul Blackburn – HLD (8)	1.0 IP	1 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW
David Bednar – SV (30)	1.0 IP	1 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW

Brent Headrick — Four-Seamer down 1.0 MPH (93.2 vs. 94.2 season avg). Not too worried about this right now. More worried about how Paul Blackburn continues to have success cause that one does not make any sense.

SFG 4 – BOS 6

San Francisco Giants
Reiver Sanmartin	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	20% CSW
Trent Harris	1.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	20% CSW
Jason Foley	2.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW

Blegh.

Boston Red Sox
Erik Miller – HLD (12)	1.0 IP	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	54% CSW
Alec Gamboa – HLD (1)	1.0 IP	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	27% CSW
Aroldis Chapman – SV (28)	1.0 IP	1 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	35% CSW

Erik Miller — Sinker up 0.8 MPH (97.7 vs. 96.9 season avg)
Alec Gamboa — Four-Seamer usage 9% (-42 pts vs. 51% usual); Sinker usage 46% (+33 pts vs. 12% usual). How about Gamboa getting the 8th-inning setup role here? When this bullpens at full strength, I like him as a long relief type, but the fastball/slider from the left sides pretty legit.

WSN 2 – MIA 3

Washington Nationals
Will Dion	3.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	2 BB	4 K	7 Whiffs	42% CSW
Orlando Ribalta – HLD (12)	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	35% CSW
Tom Cosgrove – BS (2)	0.1 IP	2 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	23% CSW
Clayton Beeter – L (4)	0.2 IP	1 ER	3 H	3 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	18% CSW

This was vintage Clayton Beeter, with his command just completely disappearing on him (7/28 pitches in the zone), and he’s lucky the Marlins only needed one run to walk this thing off, or it could have been a lot uglier. Will Dion and Orland Ribalta are far and away the best relievers in this bullpen right now, so it’d be cool to see them in the 8th and 9th (unless Dion is moving into the rotation).

Miami Marlins
Josh Ekness	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Tyler Zuber	0.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	26% CSW
Cade Gibson	1.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Calvin Faucher	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW
Pete Fairbanks – W (4)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	32% CSW

Cade Gibson — Sweeper usage 58% (+32 pts vs. 27% usual). This is the way for Gibson. Fade the fastball and spam sweepers.
Pete Fairbanks — Four-Seamer down 1.3 MPH (96.0 vs. 97.3 season avg). Well, that velocity dip is not what we want to see. He did get two quick strikeouts here before a walk, stolen base, and single tied the game with two outs. But that fastball velocity and command are worth noting, and hopefully it was just an off day for Fairbanks, as he had been looking great recently.

TBR 3 – BAL 5

Tampa Bay Rays
Garrett Cleavinger	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	18% CSW

Garrett Cleavinger — Sinker usage 54% (+27 pts vs. 28% usual); Slider usage 18% (-26 pts vs. 44% usual). Fastballs not getting much swing and miss these days from Cleavinger.

Baltimore Orioles
Andrew Kittredge – HLD (9)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Rico Garcia – SV (6)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	33% CSW

Rico Garcia — Four-Seamer up 1.0 MPH (96.4 vs. 95.4 season avg). Ayy, and we are back to Garcia in the closer spot, maybe for the foreseeable future? When his stuff is at its best (which it has been the past few outings), Garcia is the best option here to close, as Cano is more of a specialist and Kittredge is what he is at this point. Félix Bautista is starting his rehab assignment tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see what his velocity looks like.

NYM 4 – CHW 6

New York Mets
Nate Lavender	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	36% CSW
Daniel Duarte	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	50% CSW
Jefry Yan – L (1)	0.2 IP	2 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	18% CSW

Jefry Yan — Four-Seamer down 1.5 MPH (96.2 vs. 97.7 season avg). Yan has better pure stuff than Nate Lavender, but the command is just nowhere near where it needs to be yet.

Chicago White Sox
Jordan Hicks	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	40% CSW
Bryan Hudson	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	55% CSW
Grant Taylor – W (5)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW

Bryan Hudson — Four-Seamer down 1.1 MPH (90.9 vs. 92.0 season avg)
Grant Taylor — Four-Seamer down 1.4 MPH (96.7 vs. 98.1 season avg). Velocity still down, but it doesn’t matter. And that’s back-to-back ninth-inning appearances.

DET 2 – KCR 5

Detroit Tigers
Enmanuel De Jesús	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	50% CSW
Tyler Holton	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 K	5 Whiffs	44% CSW
Ty Madden	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	7% CSW

Meh.

Kansas City Royals
Jose Cuas – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	24% CSW
John Schreiber – HLD (13)	0.2 IP	2 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	20% CSW
Steven Cruz – HLD (5)	1.1 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	15% CSW
Nate Pearson – SV (3)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	24% CSW

Steven Cruz — Four-Seamer down 1.0 MPH (97.4 vs. 98.4 season avg). And that four-seamer is all he’s got.
That’s back-to-back closer usage days for Nate Pearson now, and he’s definitely throwing the ball better than Cruz right now, so I get it. But will the Royals actually commit to one closer, or are they going to continue to shuffle roles around?

ATH 0 – HOU 4

Athletics
Elvis Alvarado	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	27% CSW
Drew Rom	1.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	26% CSW
Hayden Juenger	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW

I hate seeing Elvis Alvarado used like this, but at the same time, I kind of get it at this point. The fastball was great here, but the slider remains MIA (he tried throwing two, but they were useless).

Houston Astros
Bennett Sousa – HLD (6)	1.0 IP	2 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	47% CSW
Bryan Abreu – HLD (10)	1.0 IP	0 H	2 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	39% CSW
Steven Okert	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	25% CSW
Enyel De Los Santos	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW

Bennett Sousa — Sinker down 1.6 MPH (91.6 vs. 93.2 season avg). That’s down 2.3 MPH from last season. He’s mostly just spamming sliders at this point.
Steven Okert — Four-Seamer down 1.5 MPH (89.7 vs. 91.2 season avg). Okert, too, should be just throwing 90% sliders if his fastball velocity is going to continue to live below 90 MPH.
Sousa and Okert’s velocity continues to dip, Abreu is still having issues with his command, and De Los Santos is pretty meh. This bullpen’s going to be fighting for its life next month to make the postseason (luckily, the AL West is the worst division in baseball this year).

LAA 1 – TEX 2

Los Angeles Angels
José Fermin	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	18% CSW
Tayler Saucedo	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	18% CSW
Ryan Watson	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	3 K	3 Whiffs	35% CSW
Ben Joyce – L (1)	0.2 IP	2 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	55% CSW

José Fermin — Sinker up 1.5 MPH (97.9 vs. 96.4 season avg). And no walks? Ok, ok.
Ben Joyce — Four-Seamer down 1.0 MPH (100.5 vs. 101.5 season avg). Only a handful of guys can have their velocity dip a MPH and still sit at 100 MPH. He threw 11 pitches, all four-seamers here, getting a flyout and strikeout, and even had Langford down 0-2 here, but that 0-2 fastball (cause, again, that’s all he threw here) was middle down, and Langford doubled down the right-field line to tie the game. After an intentional walk, Duran ripped the first pitch he saw down the line that Guzman originally made a great diving stop on, but then threw the ball into right field. Long story short, Joyce should be fine, but he can’t just be throwin 100% four-seamers all the time.

Texas Rangers
Cole Winn	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	46% CSW
Chase Silseth	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	21% CSW
Jacob Latz	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW
Tyler Alexander – W (4)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	22% CSW

Cole Winn — Cutter usage 0% (-31 pts vs. 31% usual). Finally, I know the cutter is his best strike getter, but stuff was it lags behind the four-seam and slider.
Chase Silseth — Four-Seamer usage 79% (+38 pts vs. 41% usual). Not sure this is the answer.

CLE 9 – COL 1

Cleveland Guardians
Tim Herrin – W (2)	1.1 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	35% CSW
Colin Holderman	1.0 IP	1 H	2 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	17% CSW
Craig Yoho	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	2 K	0 Whiffs	24% CSW
Matt Festa	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	23% CSW

Tim Herrin — Four-Seamer down 2.0 MPH (92.7 vs. 94.7 season avg). Sometimes stuff/velocity doesn’t matter.

Colorado Rockies
Mark Manfredi	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Zach Agnos	2.1 IP	4 ER	4 H	1 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	29% CSW
Brett Sullivan	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW

Nope.

CIN 0 – ARI 9

Cincinnati Reds
Julian Garcia	2.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	24% CSW
Pierce Johnson	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	2 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	32% CSW
Sam Moll	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	35% CSW

Julian Garcia — Four-Seamer down 1.2 MPH (91.0 vs. 92.2 season avg). Velocity isn’t a big part of his game, but still tough to see zero whiffs while getting eight outs.
Pierce Johnson — Four-Seamer up 1.2 MPH (96.7 vs. 95.5 season avg). Not that it matters much.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Dennis Santana	1.1 IP	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	45% CSW
Justin Martinez	1.0 IP	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	30% CSW
Taylor Clarke	1.0 IP	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	27% CSW

Dennis Santana — Sinker down 0.9 MPH (93.1 vs. 94.0 season avg). As I said above with Herrin, sometimes stuff/velocity doesn’t matter. Luck is the best skill to have.
Justin Martinez made his second appearance, and the stuff was great again, while the command was a bit better. He couldn’t locate the four-seamer, but made do with the sinker.

MIN 2 – SDP 6

Minnesota Twins
Travis Adams	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	2 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	12% CSW
Taylor Rogers	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	45% CSW

Sure. Although Taylor Rogers has been pitching well lately, and as long as he limits his sinker usage, he should be OK.

San Diego Padres
Bradgley Rodriguez	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	50% CSW
Mason Miller	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	35% CSW

Bradgley Rodriguez — Four-Seamer down 1.3 MPH (97.0 vs. 98.3 season avg). He only threw two four-seamers, and we’ll gladly take the line and 50% CSW.
Mason Miller — Four-Seamer up 1.0 MPH (102.5 vs. 101.5 season avg). Electric stuff as usual.

PIT 4 – LAD 5

Pittsburgh Pirates
Yohan Ramírez	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	36% CSW
Kirby Yates	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	29% CSW
Lake Bachar	1.0 IP	0 H	3 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW
Luke Weaver	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	46% CSW
Mason Montgomery	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	46% CSW
Gregory Soto – L (4)	0.2 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	21% CSW

Luke Weaver — Four-Seamer up 0.8 MPH (96.1 vs. 95.3 season avg). Anytime he’s 96 MPH or better, he gets great results.
Mason Montgomery — Four-Seamer up 2.1 MPH (100.5 vs. 98.4 season avg). Started the inning striking out Ohtani and Freeman on four-seamers. Special, elite talent.
Gregory Soto — Sinker up 2.0 MPH (98.5 vs. 96.5 season avg). Soto actually looked really good here. Edman just did a great job on an 0-2 sweeper out of the zone to win it for the Dodgers.

Los Angeles Dodgers
Brock Stewart – HLD (6)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	38% CSW
Kyle Hurt – BS (2)	0.1 IP	2 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	26% CSW
Edgardo Henriquez	1.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	35% CSW
Evan Phillips – W (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	39% CSW

Brock Stewart — Four-Seamer up 1.1 MPH (96.8 vs. 95.7 season avg). He’s looked really good since returning from the IL…now can he stay on the field?
Kyle Hurt — Four-Seamer up 1.4 MPH (98.0 vs. 96.6 season avg). That velocity stuck around from last time out, but the results weren’t as nice.

CHC 5 – SEA 6

Chicago Cubs
Daniel Palencia	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	30% CSW
Colin Rea	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	26% CSW
Jacob Webb	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	45% CSW
Ryan Zeferjahn – L (4)	0.2 IP	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	14% CSW

Daniel Palencia made his return from the IL here, working in the 7th inning with Jacob Webb still in the ninth. Palencia looked pretty good, all things considered, and while we may not see him living near 100 MPH, the fastball (and slider) still looked good coming out of his hand.

Seattle Mariners
Gabe Speier – HLD (17)	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW
Eduard Bazardo – HLD (25)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW
Andrés Muñoz – BS (8)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	56% CSW
Seranthony Domínguez – W (5)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW

Gabe Speier — Sinker up 0.9 MPH (95.8 vs. 94.9 season avg). Good to see, but where have the strikeouts gone?
Eduard Bazardo — Sinker up 2.0 MPH (97.5 vs. 95.5 season avg). Doesn’t seem to matter where his velocity is.
Andrés Muñoz — Four-Seamer up 1.2 MPH (100.9 vs. 99.7 season avg); Slider usage 17% (-33 pts vs. 50% usual). Muñoz let an 0-2 slider catch too much of the plate here with Bregman all over the pitch for a game-tying homer. He did throw just 3 sliders to 13 fastballs (and two nasty changeups), and this one really came down to just one mistake.
Seranthony Domínguez — Splitter usage 50% (+38 pts vs. 12% usual). Interesting, but not sure how sustainable this is.

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/21

Rick Graham

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/21

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