Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/30

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

MIA 6 – WSN 2

Miami Marlins
Calvin Faucher	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	10% CSW
Victor Vodnik	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	29% CSW
Dax Fulton – W (1)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	30% CSW
Michael Petersen	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	38% CSW

Calvin Faucher — Sinker down 0.9 MPH (95.0 vs. 95.9 season avg); Cutter usage 10% (-25 pts vs. 35% usual). Appreciate the cutter usage (he threw just one) but don’t love the velocity dip on the sinker/four-seamer.
Victor Vodnik — Four-Seamer up 0.9 MPH (99.4 vs. 98.5 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 17% (-32 pts vs. 49% usual). No one is questioning the stuff.
Michael Petersen — Slider usage 54% (+27 pts vs. 27% usual). If the Marlins score five runs instead of six in the top of the ninth, Peteresen would have picked up a save here and is probably added in most leagues last night. I’d still be hesitant to consider him the interim closer, as a committee approach feels likely.

Washington Nationals
Clayton Beeter – HLD (8)	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	45% CSW
Max Kranick – L (1)	0.1 IP	3 ER	1 H	2 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	23% CSW
Tom Cosgrove – BS (3)	0.2 IP	3 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	15% CSW

Classic Nationals meltdown. They head into the last day of August with 35 blown saves on the season, one shy of the MLB season record set by the 2024 White Sox.

COL 2 – ATL 3

Atlanta Braves
Dylan Dodd – HLD (14)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW
Dylan Lee – BS (2)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	21% CSW
Raisel Iglesias	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	2 Whiffs	17% CSW
Victor Mederos – W (4)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	22% CSW

Dylan Lee — Four-Seamer usage 57% (+26 pts vs. 31% usual). The two singles came off sliders (the first one, Sullivan just stuck the bat out on a 2-strike slider), and that’s now 5 ER and 10 hits over his past 4.1 innings. I think this rough stretch will pass, but it’s frustrating right now.
Raisel Iglesias — Four-Seamer down 0.9 MPH (93.5 vs. 94.4 season avg). He threw four sliders and four changeups here off the plate while throwing three of his four fastballs over the middle of the plate. The final two lineouts had xBA’s of .570 and .740, so Iglesias had luck on his side again in this one.

BOS 1 – NYY 16

Boston Red Sox
Greg Weissert	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	27% CSW
Jovani Morán	1.1 IP	5 ER	5 H	2 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	30% CSW
Andruw Monasterio	0.2 IP	5 ER	3 H	3 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	11% CSW

Greg Weissert — Four-Seamer up 1.2 MPH (95.2 vs. 94.0 season avg). It helps, but is it enough?
Jovani Morán — Four-Seamer up 1.1 MPH (93.9 vs. 92.8 season avg). Didn’t matter much, and for some reason, he abandoned his changeup in the eighth inning. That makes me think he was purely working on things here, since he was throwing a lot of cutters and mixed in a sweeper in that second inning of work.

New York Yankees
Tim Hill	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	24% CSW

SEA 0 – TOR 7

Seattle Mariners
Gabe Speier	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW
Seranthony Domínguez	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW
Nick Davila	1.0 IP	3 ER	3 H	2 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	18% CSW

Nick Davila — Sinker down 0.9 MPH (93.9 vs. 94.8 season avg). Oof. A healthy Matt Brash makes everything better here, but the depth is being tested. Alex Hoppe would be nice to have in this bullpen too (Ward currently holds an 18 wRC+ and .371 OPS with the Mariners).

Toronto Blue Jays
Spencer Miles	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	3 K	3 Whiffs	47% CSW
Braydon Fisher	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	50% CSW

Spencer Miles — Sinker up 1.2 MPH (97.4 vs. 96.2 season avg). Miles is not a big strikeout arm (he had just 3 over his previous 8.1 IP coming into this game), but his fastball was fooling Mariners hitters for some reason.

KCR 1 – CLE 11

Kansas City Royals
Connor Thomas	2.1 IP	2 ER	3 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	24% CSW
Jose Cuas	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	37% CSW
Luke Maile	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	12% CSW

Connor Thomas — Sinker up 1.0 MPH (91.7 vs. 90.7 season avg). Good, but it probably comes down to the cutter and sweeper for him.
Jose Cuas — Sinker up 0.8 MPH (93.0 vs. 92.2 season avg). The sinker is fine, but the rest of the arsenal is lacking.

Cleveland Guardians
Tim Herrin	1.0 IP	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	31% CSW
Hunter Gaddis	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	43% CSW
Cade Smith	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	25% CSW

Hunter Gaddis — Four-Seamer up 1.2 MPH (96.3 vs. 95.1 season avg). The velocity has been all over the place for Gaddis this season, but we’ll take anything over 96 MPH from him.

LAD 6 – DET 1

Los Angeles Dodgers
Kyle Hurt	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	21% CSW
Seth Halvorsen	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW

This wasn’t the outing to prove it, but I still believe Seth Halvorsen could wind up being a problem outside of Colorado. The fastball consistency is the next big step for me.

Detroit Tigers
Tyler Kinley	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	42% CSW
Tanner Rainey	0.1 IP	3 ER	2 H	2 BB	0 K	4 Whiffs	27% CSW
Kyle Finnegan	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW
Jacob Waguespack	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW

Kyle Finnegan — Splitter usage 58% (+26 pts vs. 32% usual). It took until August 30th to get Finnegan back to his 2025 Tigers pitch usage? Finnegan had success last year in Detroit, throwing 55% splitters.

SDP 4 – TBR 5

San Diego Padres
Bradgley Rodriguez – HLD (11)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Adrian Morejon – HLD (22)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW
Mason Miller – BS (2)	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	35% CSW
Yuki Matsui	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
David Morgan – L (1)	0.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW

Bradgley Rodriguez — Four-Seamer down 0.9 MPH (97.4 vs. 98.3 season avg). Still nice to see him bounce back from Saturday’s outing.
I’m sure most people have seen the “home run” Mason Miller allowed here, and while it should have been caught, we can also all agree that’s a terrible location for that slider.
Yuki Matsui — Four-Seamer down 1.9 MPH (90.0 vs. 91.9 season avg). Not great.

Tampa Bay Rays
Cam Booser	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW
Casey Legumina	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	12% CSW
Manuel Rodríguez	1.0 IP	0 H	2 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	38% CSW
Bryan Baker	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	43% CSW
Tyler Wells – W (3)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	42% CSW

Casey Legumina — Four-Seamer down 1.3 MPH (91.9 vs. 93.2 season avg)
Bryan Baker — Four-Seamer down 1.1 MPH (95.5 vs. 96.6 season avg). Zero whiffs but one K and no baserunners. He just keeps chugging along.
Tyler Wells — Cutter usage 58% (+29 pts vs. 29% usual). Wells looked awesome here, mixing his four pitches well, but the cutter did the bulk of the work.

CHW 1 – MIN 5

Chicago White Sox
Jordan Hicks – L (2)	0.2 IP	3 ER	1 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	28% CSW
Tyler Gilbert	2.1 IP	1 ER	5 H	0 BB	1 K	5 Whiffs	32% CSW

Jordan Hicks — Four-Seamer usage 52% (+36 pts vs. 16% usual); Sinker usage 16% (-33 pts vs. 49% usual). Ugh, I hate the opener role. Hopefully, that’s all this is, but 3 of his past 4 outings have been shaky now.

Minnesota Twins
Jeff Hoffman	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW

Jeff Hoffman — Four-Seamer down 0.8 MPH (95.6 vs. 96.4 season avg). The fastball/slider still looks great, though.

TEX 7 – MIL 4

Texas Rangers
Tyler Alexander – W (5)	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	19% CSW
Adam Macko – HLD (5)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW
Jordan Montgomery	1.0 IP	2 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Jakob Junis – HLD (17)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW
Jacob Latz – SV (27)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW

Tyler Alexander — Sinker up 0.9 MPH (92.2 vs. 91.3 season avg)
Jordan Montgomery — Sinker up 1.4 MPH (91.7 vs. 90.3 season avg); Sinker usage 73% (+42 pts vs. 31% usual)
Jakob Junis — Sweeper usage 75% (+31 pts vs. 44% usual)
Jacob Latz — Four-Seamer up 1.5 MPH (96.2 vs. 94.7 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 83% (+29 pts vs. 55% usual). The Rangers have struggled to give Latz opportunities as of late, but when he does get chances, he’s still showing he’s one of the best closers in baseball.

Milwaukee Brewers
Grant Anderson	2.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	28% CSW
Bryse Wilson	2.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	26% CSW

Grant Anderson may not stick around when this bullpen gets back to full strength, but he’s still a quality depth piece when called upon.

PIT 5 – STL 4

Pittsburgh Pirates
Kirby Yates – HLD (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	38% CSW
Camilo Doval – HLD (6)	0.2 IP	2 ER	2 H	2 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	26% CSW
Yohan Ramírez – HLD (7)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Luke Weaver – HLD (17)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	40% CSW
Mason Montgomery – SV (7)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	18% CSW

Kirby Yates — Four-Seamer down 1.3 MPH (89.5 vs. 90.8 season avg)
Camilo Doval — Sinker down 1.2 MPH (97.1 vs. 98.3 season avg)
Luke Weaver — Cutter usage 40% (+26 pts vs. 14% usual). This could be the path to offsetting his four-seamer when he doesn’t have his top-end velocity.
Mason Montgomery — Sinker usage 73% (+60 pts vs. 13% usual); Four-Seamer usage 9% (-44 pts vs. 54% usual). The new normal for Montgomery with that sinker usage. He did not have his best stuff or command here, hence no strikeouts, but at least he didn’t allow any walks.

St. Louis Cardinals
Ryne Stanek	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	60% CSW
Luis Gastelum	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	2 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	19% CSW
Gordon Graceffo	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	26% CSW

Luis Gastelum battled some command issues here with a pair of four-pitch walks before Lowe singled to left on a hanging changeup, as this was Gastelum’s worst outing in a while. Still finished with two strikeouts, though, and holds a 47% K rate over his past 13.2 innings.

HOU 6 – NYM 3

Houston Astros
AJ Blubaugh – HLD (9)	2.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	35% CSW
Bryan Abreu – HLD (12)	0.2 IP	0 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	37% CSW
Steven Okert – HLD (20)	0.1 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Josh Hader – SV (21)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	8% CSW

Bryan Abreu — Four-Seamer up 1.1 MPH (96.7 vs. 95.6 season avg). 16% walk rate in August now for Abreu after he had gotten that number down in June and July. At least the stuff is back to normal.
Steven Okert — Sinker down 1.3 MPH (89.1 vs. 90.4 season avg). Thanks, I hate it.

New York Mets
Jonathan Pintaro – L (1)	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	45% CSW
Jefry Yan	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	20% CSW
Austin Warren	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	31% CSW
Chris Devenski	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	8% CSW

Chris Devenski? Why though?

BAL 8 – ATH 5

Baltimore Orioles
Anthony Nunez – HLD (7)	1.1 IP	0 H	2 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Josh Walker – HLD (3)	1.0 IP	1 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Yennier Cano – SV (3)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	20% CSW

Anthony Nunez — Four-Seamer usage 60% (+31 pts vs. 29% usual). He’s been avoiding the sinker, and that’s just fine by me.
Josh Walker — Slider usage 12% (-29 pts vs. 41% usual). Walker has a good changeup, which gives him a chance against righties, and the fastball overall is probably good enough for him to continue having success. He didn’t face a lefty here, so no need for the slider.
Yennier Cano — Splitter usage 0% (-27 pts vs. 27% usual). So this was a weird outing for Cano, who threw only fastballs here as he filled in for Kittredge in the ninth. Not sure this is an approach he’s going to want to duplicate.

Athletics
Scott Blewett	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	4 K	3 Whiffs	35% CSW
Brady Basso	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Kade Morris	2.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	2 K	5 Whiffs	26% CSW

Scott Blewett’s been pretty good for the A’s lately, as he holds a 1.04 ERA (1.41 xFIP), 0.92 WHIP, and 34.4% K rate over his past 8.2 IP.

PHI 5 – LAA 2

Philadelphia Phillies
Alex McFarlane – HLD (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW
José Alvarado – HLD (12)	0.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	23% CSW
Orion Kerkering – SV (2)	1.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	26% CSW

Alex McFarlane — Sinker down 1.2 MPH (98.4 vs. 99.6 season avg). This brings his stuff down to a B+/A- level, so still great. Just need the command piece to tighten up.
José Alvarado — Sinker down 1.2 MPH (96.8 vs. 98.0 season avg). No walks at least?
Orion Kerkering — Sinker down 0.9 MPH (95.5 vs. 96.4 season avg). No Bowlan or Duran led to Kerkering getting a rare save chance here. It wasn’t pretty, but he’s hanging on.

Los Angeles Angels
Sammy Peralta	0.1 IP	2 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	26% CSW
José Fermin	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	17% CSW
Mitch Farris	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	7 Whiffs	40% CSW

José Fermin — Sinker up 0.8 MPH (97.2 vs. 96.4 season avg). He’s volatile, but I still want to believe in that sinker/slider combo.

CIN 7 – CHC 5

Cincinnati Reds
Brock Burke – HLD (16)	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	2 K	4 Whiffs	44% CSW
Luis Mey	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 K	2 Whiffs	36% CSW
Emilio Pagán – SV (19)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW

Emilio Pagán looked OK here, only allowing a home run to PCA (which feels unavoidable at this point). Suzuki just missed taking him deep as well, and the stuff in general has been down for five straight outings now. I’m not really sure what to expect from Pagán in September.

Chicago Cubs
Caleb Thielbar	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	58% CSW
Trent Thornton	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	31% CSW
Aaron Civale	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	47% CSW
Jacob Webb	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	28% CSW

Aaron Civale — Sinker up 1.2 MPH (92.6 vs. 91.4 season avg). The real difference-maker for Civale has been his new pitch mix changes, and he’s actually throwing his sinker less. Over his past 21 innings, Civale has been throwing his cutter (up 8%) and changeup/splitter (up 6%) more, with the four-seam/sinker down 15%. That’s resulted in a 0.86 ERA and WHIP with a 24% K rate.

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/30

Rick Graham

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/30

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