Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/31

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

SFG 7 – ATL 3

San Francisco Giants
Jason Foley – HLD (2)	1.1 IP	2 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	23% CSW
Reiver Sanmartin – HLD (2)	1.2 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	44% CSW
Dylan Smith	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW

Jason Foley — Sinker down 0.9 MPH (94.8 vs. 95.7 season avg). Not looking great, but he may be in a high-leverage role given the lack of alternative options.

Atlanta Braves
Dylan Lee	0.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	14% CSW

The stuff still looks great for Dylan Lee, and he mentioned he’s worried he’s tipping his pitches right now, which seems to be the case here, or hitters are just guessing correctly more often than not these days.

SDP 5 – CIN 0

San Diego Padres
Kyle Hart	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	4 K	5 Whiffs	48% CSW
Wandy Peralta	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	25% CSW

Kyle Hart gave the Padres two great innings here, but I still have a hard time buying in given where he is on the depth chart.

Cincinnati Reds
Julian Garcia	1.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	3 K	5 Whiffs	43% CSW
Pierce Johnson	1.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 K	3 Whiffs	26% CSW
Tony Santillan	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	30% CSW
Tejay Antone	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	2 K	4 Whiffs	47% CSW

Julian Garcia — Four-Seamer up 0.8 MPH (93.1 vs. 92.3 season avg). Stuff looked really good here.
Pierce Johnson — Four-Seamer up 1.6 MPH (97.2 vs. 95.6 season avg). He would have been an interesting waiver reliever, but it looks like he’s stuck here for the next month.

NYM 3 – TBR 2

New York Mets
Nate Lavender – HLD (7)	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	22% CSW
Dedniel Núñez – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	36% CSW
Daniel Duarte – HLD (6)	0.2 IP	2 ER	3 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	17% CSW
Chris Devenski – HLD (1)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	20% CSW
Kodai Senga – SV (5)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	35% CSW

Daniel Duarte had poor command here, and I know he’s been great outside of this game, but the way Dedniel Núñez is throwing the ball recently…I could see Núñez moving into that 8th-inning role. Barring offseason acquisitions, I’d expect Núñez to open up as Devin Williams top setup man in 2027.

Tampa Bay Rays
Casey Legumina	0.2 IP	2 H	0 K	2 Whiffs	13% CSW
Garrett Cleavinger	1.0 IP	0 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW
Steven Matz	1.0 IP	2 H	1 K	4 Whiffs	36% CSW

Casey Legumina — Four-Seamer down 1.4 MPH (91.8 vs. 93.2 season avg)
Steven Matz — Sinker up 1.1 MPH (94.6 vs. 93.5 season avg). Better, but I still don’t trust him.

SEA 8 – BOS 9

Seattle Mariners
Seranthony Domínguez – HLD (6)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	25% CSW
Gabe Speier – HLD (18)	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	27% CSW
Eduard Bazardo – HLD (26)	0.1 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	23% CSW
Andrés Muñoz – BS (9)	1.1 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	53% CSW
Cooper Criswell – L (2)	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	2 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW

Gabe Speier — Sinker up 0.8 MPH (95.8 vs. 95.0 season avg); Sinker usage 60% (+26 pts vs. 34% usual)
Eduard Bazardo — Sinker up 1.3 MPH (96.9 vs. 95.6 season avg). Again, the velocity boost in the second half is not exactly helping him.
Andrés Muñoz — Four-Seamer up 0.8 MPH (100.5 vs. 99.7 season avg). Muñoz gave up a ~~single here~~, wait, how was this called a triple?! This blown save is not on Muñoz at all.
Cooper Criswell — Sinker down 1.2 MPH (89.8 vs. 91.0 season avg). Welcome back!

Boston Red Sox
Tyron Guerrero – BS (1)	0.1 IP	3 ER	3 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	23% CSW
Erik Miller	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	44% CSW
Alec Gamboa	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	35% CSW
Aroldis Chapman – W (3)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW

Tyron Guerrero — Sinker down 0.8 MPH (99.4 vs. 100.2 season avg). He’s really dependent on that sinker being over 100 MPH since he has no secondary. Makes him hard to trust.
Alec Gamboa — Four-Seamer usage 13% (-38 pts vs. 51% usual); Sinker usage 39% (+27 pts vs. 12% usual)
Aroldis Chapman — Four-Seamer up 1.0 MPH (97.9 vs. 96.9 season avg). Nice to see a velocity boost on August 31st for Chapman. The fastball has looked better lately.

MIA 3 – WSN 6

Miami Marlins
Jack Ralston	0.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	26% CSW
Tyler Zuber	1.1 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	33% CSW
Josh Ekness – L (2)	0.1 IP	3 ER	3 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	28% CSW
Cade Gibson	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW

Jack Ralston — Four-Seamer down 1.0 MPH (91.4 vs. 92.4 season avg)
Josh Ekness gave up a home run to Lile on a fastball up and in (Lile is just locked in right now) before a walk and two opposite-field ground-ball singles. Poor result, and the command can always improve, but I’m not too worried about him.
Cade Gibson — Sinker down 1.0 MPH (91.2 vs. 92.2 season avg)

Washington Nationals
Luis Perales	1.0 IP	3 ER	4 H	1 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	29% CSW
Matt Waldron – W (2)	3.0 IP	0 ER	5 H	0 BB	0 K	6 Whiffs	37% CSW
Erik Tolman – SV (1)	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	4 K	6 Whiffs	52% CSW

I’ve said he’s the team’s best lefty, but Erik Tolman may be the best overall reliever in this bullpen right now. With a plus fastball and solid changeup/slider, why can’t Tolman be the closer here for the remainder of the season?

DET 1 – MIN 11

Detroit Tigers
Yilber Díaz	2.0 IP	4 ER	2 H	3 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	21% CSW
Zach McKinstry	1.0 IP	2 ER	1 H	2 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	32% CSW

Yilber Díaz — Four-Seamer up 0.8 MPH (97.6 vs. 96.8 season avg). Cool to see him back, but we’ve got a long way to go to be relevant.

Minnesota Twins
Tommy Nance	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	27% CSW

Tommy Nance — Sinker down 1.4 MPH (93.1 vs. 94.5 season avg). The sinker is not great; we know that. It’s all about the two breakers with Nance (which were great here).

MIL 3 – CHC 17

Milwaukee Brewers
Chad Patrick	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 Whiffs	14% CSW
DL Hall	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Andrew Vaughn	2.0 IP	7 ER	9 H	3 BB	3 Whiffs	18% CSW

Chad Patrick — Four-Seamer up 1.5 MPH (97.0 vs. 95.5 season avg).
DL Hall — Four-Seamer up 1.2 MPH (96.2 vs. 95.0 season avg). A home run to Kelly on a changeup that caught too much of the plate was the only blemish here.

Chicago Cubs
Ryan Rolison	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	8% CSW
Colin Rea	2.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	31% CSW

Colin Rea — Four-Seamer up 1.4 MPH (95.2 vs. 93.8 season avg). Still not a great fastball, but he has a deep enough mix to still make things work in shorter innings.

ATH 1 – TEX 8

Athletics
Chris Roycroft	2.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	16% CSW
José Suarez	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	5 Whiffs	26% CSW

José Suarez — Sinker down 1.0 MPH (90.6 vs. 91.6 season avg). Hasn’t looked the same since returning from the IL.

Texas Rangers
Robby Ahlstrom	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	50% CSW
Ben Peoples	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	28% CSW

Ben Peoples — Four-Seamer down 1.7 MPH (94.4 vs. 96.1 season avg). Power to the Peoples (but the stuff was way down from his previous MLB stint here).

CHW 3 – HOU 6

Chicago White Sox
Trevor Richards	2.1 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	18% CSW
Tyler Davis	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW

Trevor Richards — Four-Seamer down 1.0 MPH (90.9 vs. 91.9 season avg). Wheels may be falling off a bit here, but he’s given them more than they could have asked for.

Houston Astros
Enyel De Los Santos – W (3)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	3 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW
Bennett Sousa – HLD (7)	1.1 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	39% CSW
Steven Okert – HLD (21)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	44% CSW
Bryan Abreu – SV (8)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	50% CSW

Bryan Abreu looked pretty good here and was able to locate his fastball well enough to lock things down, with Hader getting the night off.

BAL 2 – COL 1

Baltimore Orioles
Grant Wolfram – W (6)	2.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	32% CSW
Alex Hoppe – HLD (5)	0.1 IP	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	8% CSW
Rico Garcia – HLD (17)	0.2 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	60% CSW
Andrew Kittredge – SV (9)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW

Alex Hoppe — Slider usage 17% (-25 pts vs. 42% usual)
Another save for Andrew Kittredge, who can thank Cowser for making one of the best home run robberies you’ll ever see to end the game here. So yeah, I still have my doubts about Kittredge.

Colorado Rockies
Mark Manfredi – L (1)	1.1 IP	1 ER	0 H	3 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	26% CSW
Nick Frasso	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	16% CSW
Brennan Bernardino	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	18% CSW
Jordan Romano	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	50% CSW

Jordan Romano — Four-Seamer down 1.7 MPH (92.3 vs. 94.0 season avg). I really don’t understand how he’s getting away with this.

NYY 1 – LAA 10

New York Yankees
Michael Fulmer	1.1 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	2 K	7 Whiffs	39% CSW
Luis Gil	2.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	33% CSW
David Bednar	1.0 IP	3 ER	4 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	18% CSW

Michael Fulmer — Four-Seamer down 0.9 MPH (93.4 vs. 94.3 season avg)
Luis Gil — Four-Seamer usage 85% (+39 pts vs. 45% usual). Gil certainly has the stuff to work as a reliever, so I’m interested to see how this plays out. This could be fun.

Los Angeles Angels
Tayler Saucedo	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
Blake Weiman	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	60% CSW

Blake Weiman — Sinker down 1.0 MPH (89.4 vs. 90.4 season avg). Weiman is back up, and the fastball is still an issue.

PHI 2 – ARI 1

Philadelphia Phillies
Alex McFarlane – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW
Orion Kerkering – HLD (17)	0.2 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	36% CSW
Brooks Raley – HLD (16)	0.1 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW
José Alvarado – HLD (13)	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	7% CSW
Jhoan Duran – SV (29)	1.0 IP	2 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	44% CSW

Orion Kerkering — Four-Seamer down 0.9 MPH (96.4 vs. 97.3 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 64% (+31 pts vs. 33% usual); Sweeper usage 18% (-25 pts vs. 44% usual)
Jhoan Duran — Splitter usage 78% (+31 pts vs. 47% usual). Duran made things interesting here with two infield singles but ultimately got Moreno to ground out to end the game. I have to wonder if he’s throwing the splitter too much, especially since he has a plus-plus four-seamer that sits 101 MPH.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Jonathan Loáisiga	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	36% CSW
Juan Morillo	1.0 IP	1 H	2 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	9% CSW
Kevin Ginkel	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	42% CSW

Kevin Ginkel — Four-Seamer up 1.1 MPH (96.7 vs. 95.6 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 75% (+28 pts vs. 47% usual). Nice to see, as August had been a rough month for Ginkel (10.24 ERA, 1.55 WHIP), but I hope Lovullo doesn’t consider Ginkel a ninth-inning option still.

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/31

Rick Graham

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/31

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