Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/5

Toronto Blue Jays
Spencer Miles	2.0 IP	2 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	20% CSW
Mason Fluharty	1.0 IP	0 H	2 K	4 Whiffs	55% CSW
Tyler Rogers	1.0 IP	1 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	30% CSW
Louis Varland – W (4)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 K	3 Whiffs	29% CSW
Chase Lee – SV (1)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	40% CSW

Spencer Miles — Sinker up 1.2 MPH (97.3 vs. 96.1 season avg). I want to buy in on Miles as this leverage reliever type, and I do think there’s a good sinker/slider reliever here (especially with this velocity uptick). Is his role going to be consistent though?

Houston Astros
Steven Okert	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	3 Whiffs	23% CSW
Bryan Abreu	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 K	2 Whiffs	42% CSW
Josh Hader	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	40% CSW
Bennett Sousa – L (1)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 K	4 Whiffs	42% CSW

Bennett Sousa — Four-Seamer down 0.9 MPH (93.2 vs. 94.1 season avg). Ughhhh.

Los Angeles Dodgers
Edgardo Henriquez	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	3 K	3 Whiffs	42% CSW
Kyle Hurt	1.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	2 K	5 Whiffs	39% CSW
Jonathan Hernández	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	25% CSW
Evan Phillips	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	11% CSW
Jack Dreyer	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	67% CSW

Evan Phillips — Four-Seamer down 0.8 MPH (96.0 vs. 96.8 season avg). 96 MPH is still a good spot for Phillips…as long as the sweeper can get back to what it once was.

Chicago Cubs
Tyler Ferguson	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	3 K	4 Whiffs	31% CSW
Caleb Thielbar	0.1 IP	4 ER	4 H	0 K	2 Whiffs	26% CSW
Ryan Zeferjahn – HLD (11)	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	29% CSW
Jacob Webb – SV (6)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	18% CSW

Ryan Zeferjahn — Four-Seamer usage 71% (+40 pts vs. 31% usual). Zeferjahn got got by Ohtani here, and it wasn’t even a bad pitch, just Ohtani doing Ohtani things. Seems like he’s locked into a fireman role here, at least for the time being.

San Francisco Giants
Carson Seymour	2.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	22% CSW
Jason Foley	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	36% CSW
Tristan Beck	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW

Carson Seymour has a good slider and interesting splitter, but is the fastball good enough (it may just be average enough)?

Texas Rangers
Tyler Alexander – W (2)	1.2 IP	0 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	42% CSW
Robby Ahlstrom	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	27% CSW
Chase Silseth	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW
Cole Winn	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	18% CSW

Tyler Alexander — Four-Seamer usage 42% (+29 pts vs. 13% usual). Ok Alexander. Still something left in that four-seam/change/sweeper mix when he’s locating like this.

Tampa Bay Rays
Tyler Wells – HLD (12)	1.1 IP	1 BB	4 K	6 Whiffs	42% CSW
Garrett Cleavinger	1.0 IP	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	25% CSW
Cam Booser	1.0 IP	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	50% CSW

Quite the Rays debut for Tyler Wells here, especially in Coors.
Garrett Cleavinger — Slider usage 69% (+26 pts vs. 43% usual). I dig it.

Colorado Rockies
Parker Mushinski	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	7% CSW
Juan Mejia	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW
Zach Agnos	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	21% CSW

Juan Mejia — Four-Seamer down 1.9 MPH (95.4 vs. 97.3 season avg); Sweeper usage 7% (-30 pts vs. 37% usual); Four-Seamer usage 79% (+29 pts vs. 49% usual). I think Mejia may be dealing with some sort of injury here…and with Halvorsen and Vodnik gone, there goes all the fun, upside arms in this bullpen.

Los Angeles Angels
Shaun Anderson	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	3 K	7 Whiffs	41% CSW
Ben Joyce	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW
José Fermin	1.0 IP	2 ER	1 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	38% CSW

Ben Joyce finally made his 2026 debut here, working the 7th inning with the Angels down a run. He went on to throw only fastballs (although these sinkers are likely splitters), and the command was a mess…but he definitely still has a great fastball to build off of.

José Fermin — Four-Seamer up 1.8 MPH (98.4 vs. 96.6 season avg); Sinker usage 4% (-27 pts vs. 30% usual). Fermin was cruising until he hit Gunnar and badly hung a 2-1 slider to Taveras, who took him deep. Fermin definitely possesses closer-esque stuff, but we’re still waiting to see some more consistent command.

Baltimore Orioles
Alex Hoppe – HLD (2)	0.2 IP	1 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	31% CSW
Rico Garcia – HLD (14)	0.1 IP	0 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW
Yennier Cano – HLD (10)	1.0 IP	0 H	2 K	2 Whiffs	44% CSW
Andrew Kittredge – SV (5)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW

Alex Hoppe — Sinker up 1.6 MPH (99.3 vs. 97.7 season avg). Glad to see he’s still throwing 99 MPH after the trade from Seattle. Very nice get for two months of Tyler Ward.
Looks like we are going to get a different guy in the ninth until Helsley and/or Bautista return. I’d prefer Garcia in the ninth, but the Orioles may prefer him as a fireman. I just don’t quite get the infatuation with Kittredge at this point.

New York Mets
Jefry Yan – HLD (1)	1.0 IP	2 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	36% CSW
Dedniel Núñez – BS (1)	1.0 IP	3 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	30% CSW
Chayce McDermott – W (1)	2.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	21% CSW
Daniel Duarte – SV (1)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	29% CSW

Dramatics aside, Jefry Yan is actually a pretty interesting arm here. Not many lefties can sit 99.5 MPH with a devastating slider. Just comes down to command with him.
Dedniel Núñez made his 2026 debut, and despite getting Singled Out and dealing with some bad defense behind him, the stuff looked great.

Chayce McDermott has serious command/control issues, but the stuff is for real, and he should get every opportunity to work through those issues in this shallow bullpen.

Cleveland Guardians
Erik Sabrowski	0.1 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	20% CSW
Craig Yoho	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	27% CSW
Hunter Gaddis – HLD (22)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	23% CSW
Cade Smith – BS (5)	1.0 IP	1 H	2 BB	2 K	9 Whiffs	38% CSW
Matt Festa – L (3)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW

Craig Yoho — Changeup usage 82% (+38 pts vs. 44% usual); Four-Seamer usage 0% (-26 pts vs. 26% usual). He’s going to turn into Tommy Kahnle in Cleveland, isn’t he?
Hunter Gaddis — Four-Seamer up 1.4 MPH (96.5 vs. 95.1 season avg). Well, that’s a good sign as his fastball actually had been down lately.
Cade Smith — Four-Seamer up 2.4 MPH (99.6 vs. 97.2 season avg). It’s fun seeing Smith throwing 100 MPH all of a sudden, but he’s also now walked seven batters over his past four outings. I’d prefer him throwing 97-98 with some semblance of command.
Matt Festa — Four-Seamer up 1.6 MPH (94.1 vs. 92.5 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 71% (+30 pts vs. 42% usual). Does it matter?

Athletics
Hayden Juenger – L (1)	0.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW
José Suarez	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW
Scott Blewett	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	17% CSW

Scott Blewett — Four-Seamer up 1.5 MPH (96.9 vs. 95.4 season avg). Meh, can take it or leave it. Give the A’s someone to eat innings at least.

Cincinnati Reds
Brock Burke – HLD (13)	1.1 IP	3 K	2 Whiffs	39% CSW
Tejay Antone – HLD (7)	0.2 IP	0 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW
Emilio Pagán – SV (13)	1.0 IP	1 K	2 Whiffs	36% CSW

Emilio Pagán — Four-Seamer usage 91% (+29 pts vs. 62% usual). Pagán has fired off eight scoreless now, allowing just four hits and zero walks while striking out ten. Another strong week may push him up a tier in the circle of trust.

Washington Nationals
Will Dion	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Yovanny Cruz – BS (1)	0.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	26% CSW
Tom Cosgrove	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	11% CSW
Orlando Ribalta	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	12% CSW
Clayton Beeter – W (4)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	6% CSW
Brad Lord	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW

Clayton Beeter — Four-Seamer usage 17% (-36 pts vs. 52% usual); Slider usage 83% (+36 pts vs. 48% usual)

Philadelphia Phillies
Tim Mayza	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
Orion Kerkering – HLD (13)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	30% CSW
Brooks Raley – BS (2)	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	35% CSW
Jonathan Bowlan	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	27% CSW
Jhoan Duran	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	25% CSW
José Alvarado	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	21% CSW
Caleb Kilian – L (7)	0.1 IP	4 ER	1 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	26% CSW
Chase Shugart	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	11% CSW

Brooks Raley — Sinker up 1.5 MPH (91.6 vs. 90.1 season avg). Rough debut, but the stuff was great at least. They need to protect him better against righties.
Jhoan Duran — Four-Seamer up 1.3 MPH (101.7 vs. 100.4 season avg). A pair of ground ball singles wound up not hurting Duran here.
Caleb Kilian — Four-Seamer down 0.9 MPH (95.9 vs. 96.8 season avg). Kilian is so hit or miss each outing, and perhaps should not pitch back-to-back days.

St. Louis Cardinals
George Soriano – HLD (17)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	42% CSW
Justin Bruihl – HLD (7)	0.2 IP	1 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	20% CSW
Ryne Stanek – HLD (20)	1.0 IP	0 H	2 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW
Riley O’Brien – SV (27)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	32% CSW

At this point, we’re just holding on for dear life with Riley O’Brien. Luckily, he has no competition (Soriano looked good here), so he should remain the closer for the next two months but prepare for a bumpy ride.

New York Yankees
Kervin Castro	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	27% CSW
Tim Hill	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW
Paul Blackburn	1.2 IP	2 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	37% CSW

Blegh.

Chicago White Sox
Sean Newcomb	1.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	28% CSW
Huascar Brazobán	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	21% CSW
Chris Murphy	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	33% CSW

Huascar Brazobán made his debut here, and the changeup was OK without Citi Field jetstream, but the home/road splits are pretty daunting (1.20 ERA, 0.73 WHIP at home and a 4.18 ERA, 1.35 WHIP on the road).

Boston Red Sox
Tyron Guerrero – HLD (14)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW
Garrett Whitlock – HLD (21)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	64% CSW
Jovani Morán	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	47% CSW

Jovani Morán — Four-Seamer up 1.7 MPH (94.2 vs. 92.5 season avg). Just crazy depth in this bullpen right now, as Morán is now the 6th/7th best reliever here.

Miami Marlins
Calvin Faucher	1.0 IP	2 H	3 K	4 Whiffs	25% CSW
Cade Gibson	1.0 IP	0 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Josh Ekness	1.0 IP	1 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	22% CSW

Great to see Josh Ekness return, and the stuff looks excellent per usual. Hopefully we can see him work his way into leverage situations over the final two months.

Atlanta Braves
Dylan Dodd – HLD (9)	0.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	31% CSW
Didier Fuentes – SV (2)	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	26% CSW

Dylan Dodd — Sinker down 1.2 MPH (92.6 vs. 93.8 season avg)
Didier Fuentes with a four-out save here, and he was locating his stuff at a near-elite level here. Raisel Iglesias had pitched the night before in a non-save situation, but only threw 21 pitches, so you would think he’d be available here. I’ll just drop this table here…

Braves Big 4 Relievers (since June 1st)

Name	IP	ERA	WHIP	SIERA	xERA	K%	SwStr%	Stuff+	WPA/LI
Didier Fuentes	25.2	2.10	1.09	2.38	2.72	32.7%	14.3%	113	0.63
Dylan Dodd	24.2	2.19	0.85	3.58	2.87	27.7%	12.5%	107	0.60
Dylan Lee	24.1	2.96	0.86	2.60	2.97	32.6%	18.0%	114	0.80
Raisel Iglesias	23.1	3.86	1.33	3.68	3.74	23.5%	12.8%	96	0.16

Minnesota Twins
Tommy Nance	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	29% CSW
A.J. Minter – L (2)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
Jeff Hoffman	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	27% CSW

Jeff Hoffman — Four-Seamer down 1.3 MPH (95.2 vs. 96.5 season avg). Hoffman pitching the bottom of the eighth down a run could be considered closer usage (his former manager in Toronto loves using his closer in this spot, especially on Wednesdays), but I suppose we won’t know how things will shape up here until they get a true save situation. I’m not too worried about the fastball velocity being down (he only threw three here anyway).

Kansas City Royals
Steven Cruz – SV (3)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	31% CSW

Steven Cruz — Four-Seamer up 1.6 MPH (100.0 vs. 98.4 season avg). Just let it ride Royals, please?

Pittsburgh Pirates
Lake Bachar	2.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW
Evan Sisk	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	40% CSW

Lake Bachar — Four-Seamer down 1.3 MPH (93.3 vs. 94.6 season avg); Curveball usage 43% (+30 pts vs. 13% usual)
Evan Sisk — Sinker up 1.3 MPH (92.5 vs. 91.2 season avg). Great having Sisk back, and now the Pirates have three lefties in that bullpen they can trust. Will one of them get a chance to close out games consistently?

Milwaukee Brewers
Chad Patrick – HLD (6)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	32% CSW
DL Hall	0.2 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	15% CSW
Antonio Senzatela – HLD (6)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	75% CSW
Abner Uribe – HLD (18)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Trevor Megill – SV (20)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	25% CSW

Chad Patrick — Four-Seamer up 1.8 MPH (97.2 vs. 95.4 season avg)
Abner Uribe — Sinker down 0.8 MPH (97.9 vs. 98.7 season avg)
Trevor Megill — Four-Seamer up 0.8 MPH (98.7 vs. 97.9 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 92% (+28 pts vs. 64% usual); Curveball usage 8% (-28 pts vs. 36% usual). Continues to be nasty.

San Diego Padres
Kyle Hart	2.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	3 K	8 Whiffs	31% CSW
Wandy Peralta	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	24% CSW
Griffin Canning	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	33% CSW

Griffin Canning — Four-Seamer up 1.6 MPH (96.0 vs. 94.4 season avg). Not the best results, but still have hope for him as a reliever eventually.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Taylor Clarke	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	5 Whiffs	28% CSW
Kevin Ginkel	0.2 IP	4 ER	2 H	2 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	20% CSW
Paul Sewald	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	20% CSW

Kevin Ginkel — Four-Seamer up 0.8 MPH (96.3 vs. 95.5 season avg). Ginkel hung a slider to Tatis here before allowing two walks and throwing a ball away on what could have been a double play ball. He then hung another slider that led to a bases-clearing double against Workman. Maybe just a one-off, but he’s been due for some negative regression.

Detroit Tigers
Tyler Holton	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW
Brenan Hanifee – L (1)	0.0 IP	3 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Drew Sommers	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	50% CSW
Enmanuel De Jesús	2.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	24% CSW

Drew Sommers — Four-Seamer up 1.8 MPH (96.5 vs. 94.7 season avg). Only one fastball thrown here, but this type of velo could be a difference-maker for him.

Seattle Mariners
Gabe Speier – HLD (14)	0.2 IP	1 ER	0 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	22% CSW
Eduard Bazardo – HLD (22)	0.1 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW
Andrés Muñoz – SV (20)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	45% CSW

Eduard Bazardo — Sinker up 1.7 MPH (97.1 vs. 95.4 season avg). Cool to see him throwing harder, but he fell behind 3-1 to Dingler here and left a sinker over the middle of the plate for a two-run home run.

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

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/5

Rick Graham

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/5

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