Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/6

Los Angeles Angels
Mitch Farris – W (1)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW
Luke Murphy – HLD (2)	1.1 IP	0 H	1 BB	3 K	3 Whiffs	43% CSW
Tayler Saucedo – HLD (3)	0.2 IP	0 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	36% CSW
Samy Natera Jr – SV (2)	1.1 IP	1 H	0 BB	2 K	7 Whiffs	39% CSW

Samy Natera Jr— Four-Seamer up 1.4 MPH (96.1 vs. 94.7 season avg). Obviously I’m excited about this, and there are legitimate reasons to get hyped, but I also think we should temper expectations a bit. The fastball is plus, maybe plus-plus. At this point, he doesn’t trust his slider, though, and it does have just a 24% Zone rate. It can be a nasty secondary to pair with that fastball, but I want to see it more consistently. He’s also tinkering with a splitter that looks promising as well. He’s worth a flier for now, but I may be more excited for him in 2027 if he can make strides with his secondaries.

Baltimore Orioles
Josh Walker	1.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	16% CSW
Yaramil Hiraldo	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	33% CSW
Albert Suárez	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	8% CSW

Yaramil Hiraldo’s four-seam/splitter is MLB bullpen-worthy, so I’d imagine he sticks around for the rest of the season, but this bullpen is still fairly deep, and they have guys like Helsley and Bautista potentially returning later in the year, so I can’t see Hiraldo working his way into consistent high-leverage innings.

Athletics
Elvis Alvarado	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	32% CSW
Brady Basso	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	22% CSW
Seth Johnson	2.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	4 K	5 Whiffs	24% CSW

Elvis Alvarado — Four-Seamer down 1.0 MPH (97.9 vs. 98.9 season avg). Here’s Alvarado getting the fireman usage again, entering in the 5th inning with the bases loaded in a tie game. I get how important that role can be, but A. I’m not sure that’s the best role for Alvarado, and B. It’s more of a luxury when you have steady 7th/8th/9th inning options. Alvarado wound up walking in two runs, bookending them with strikeouts, which would have been a fine inning for him if he started the inning.

Cincinnati Reds
Pierce Johnson – HLD (6)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW
Sam Moll – HLD (6)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Brock Burke – SV (2)	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 K	3 Whiffs	32% CSW

Pierce Johnson — Four-Seamer up 1.3 MPH (96.7 vs. 95.4 season avg). The recent velocity gains for Johnson are nice to see (feel like he would have been a solid depth addition for a contender).

New York Mets
Nate Lavender – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	40% CSW
Kodai Senga	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	43% CSW
Xzavion Curry	2.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	7% CSW

Kodai Senga — Four-Seamer up 1.3 MPH (97.5 vs. 96.2 season avg). The extra velocity doesn’t help his secondaries look any better, unfortunately.

Cleveland Guardians
Matt Festa	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	23% CSW
Colin Holderman	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	21% CSW
Craig Yoho	1.0 IP	3 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	29% CSW
Slade Cecconi	0.0 IP	4 ER	3 H	2 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	23% CSW
Tim Herrin	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	26% CSW
Austin Hedges	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	43% CSW

Matt Festa — Four-Seamer up 1.1 MPH (93.6 vs. 92.5 season avg)
Craig Yoho — Four-Seamer usage 0% (-26 pts vs. 26% usual). Yoho went changeup/cutter here, which was interesting, but he did get hit around.
Slade Cecconi — Four-Seamer up 1.9 MPH (95.3 vs. 93.4 season avg). Did it matter?
Tim Herrin — Four-Seamer up 1.3 MPH (96.1 vs. 94.8 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 48% (+28 pts vs. 20% usual)

Pittsburgh Pirates
Gregory Soto	1.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	48% CSW
Camilo Doval	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	36% CSW
Kirby Yates	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	50% CSW

Gregory Soto — Sinker down 1.0 MPH (95.4 vs. 96.4 season avg). Working the sixth inning down two…
Camilo Doval — Sinker down 1.7 MPH (96.8 vs. 98.5 season avg)

Milwaukee Brewers
DL Hall – HLD (4)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Aaron Ashby – HLD (10)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	3 K	3 Whiffs	47% CSW
Chad Patrick – SV (5)	1.0 IP	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW

Chad Patrick — Sinker up 1.5 MPH (96.8 vs. 95.3 season avg). Made things interesting here, but Patrick ultimately picked up his fifth (seriously, he has five saves?) save of the year. It’s hard to get excited to roster him, though.

Toronto Blue Jays
Braydon Fisher – HLD (11)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Louis Varland – BS (1)	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	24% CSW
Chase Lee	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	60% CSW
Brendon Little – L (3)	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	12% CSW

Louis Varland gave up a leadoff hit to PCA before getting two outs, and then Bregman was sitting curve 1-2 (he had thrown it three straight pitches) and hooked it over the left field wall to tie things up. Not a bad pitch either, but if Varland had thrown a fastball there, the game would have been over. Stuff still looks great, so there’s nothing to worry about here.

Chicago Cubs
Ryan Rolison	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	36% CSW
Aaron Civale	3.0 IP	1 ER	4 H	0 BB	3 K	7 Whiffs	27% CSW
Caleb Thielbar	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	25% CSW
Trent Thornton – W (5)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW

Caleb Thielbar — Four-Seamer up 1.5 MPH (94.8 vs. 93.3 season avg). We’ll take the extra velocity, but the stuff in general has declined since the start of the season. As long as he’s locating well, though, he should be fine.

Detroit Tigers
Kyle Finnegan	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW
Brenan Hanifee	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	45% CSW

Kyle Finnegan produced not one whiff or called strike here and somehow is having the worst year of his career after it looked like he figured things out in Detroit last season.

Seattle Mariners
Michael Rucker	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	29% CSW
Cole Wilcox	0.2 IP	3 ER	3 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	36% CSW
Josh Simpson	1.1 IP	0 ER	3 H	0 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	38% CSW
Victor Robles	1.0 IP	3 ER	5 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	23% CSW

Josh Simpson — Four-Seamer up 1.0 MPH (94.2 vs. 93.2 season avg). The velo increase brings his fastball closer to average, but overall this is a pretty meh profile.

Washington Nationals
Max Kranick	2.0 IP	1 ER	4 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW
Trevor Williams	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	47% CSW

Philadelphia Phillies
Orion Kerkering	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	28% CSW
José Alvarado	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	36% CSW
Jonathan Bowlan	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	50% CSW
Jhoan Duran	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	15% CSW

Jonathan Bowlan — Four-Seamer down 0.9 MPH (96.3 vs. 97.2 season avg). He’s just saving some gas for the postseason, right? RIGHT?!

Chicago White Sox
Bryan Hudson	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	38% CSW
Jordan Hicks – HLD (6)	0.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	12% CSW
Grant Taylor – HLD (8)	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	20% CSW
Huascar Brazobán – BS (4)	1.1 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	6 Whiffs	30% CSW
Trevor Richards – BS (2)	1.2 IP	1 ER	3 H	4 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	21% CSW
Chris Murphy	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	21% CSW
Erick Fedde – L (7)	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	20% CSW

Bryan Hudson — Four-Seamer up 1.6 MPH (93.7 vs. 92.1 season avg)
Jordan Hicks — Four-Seamer up 0.8 MPH (100.3 vs. 99.5 season avg); Sinker usage 25% (-28 pts vs. 53% usual). Hicks gave up back-to-back doubles on two poorly located 1-0 sinkers here but otherwise looked good.
Huascar Brazobán — Sinker up 1.0 MPH (97.2 vs. 96.2 season avg). I had mentioned yesterday how Brazobán is a different pitcher away from Citi Field.

Boston Red Sox
Greg Weissert	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	3 K	3 Whiffs	24% CSW
Justin Slaten	1.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	35% CSW
Tyron Guerrero	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	44% CSW
Erik Miller	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	39% CSW
Jovani Morán	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW
Aroldis Chapman	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	17% CSW
Garrett Whitlock	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	54% CSW
Brayan Bello – W (4)	2.0 IP	0 ER	3 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	25% CSW

Erik Miller is one of the best sinker/slider lefty relievers in baseball right now, and should be a safe bet in holds leagues still, even in this deep bullpen.

Miami Marlins
Tyler Zuber	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	41% CSW
John King	1.0 IP	3 ER	4 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	16% CSW
Victor Vodnik	2.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	25% CSW
Cade Gibson	0.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	16% CSW
Javier Sanoja	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	25% CSW

Victor Vodnik — Four-Seamer down 1.1 MPH (97.4 vs. 98.5 season avg). Womp womp.

Atlanta Braves
Tyler Kinley	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	36% CSW
Victor Mederos – W (2)	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	31% CSW
Danny Young	0.2 IP	2 ER	3 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	19% CSW
Dylan Lee – HLD (25)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	50% CSW
Brent Suter	2.0 IP	1 ER	4 H	1 BB	1 K	7 Whiffs	33% CSW

Dylan Lee needed just 2 pitches to pick up his league-leading 25th hold here. Too easy.

Minnesota Twins
Kody Funderburk – W (3)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
Andrew Morris – HLD (17)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW
Yoendrys Gómez – SV (15)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	22% CSW

Andrew Morris — Four-Seamer up 1.6 MPH (98.7 vs. 97.1 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 77% (+33 pts vs. 44% usual)
Yoendrys Gómez — Four-Seamer up 1.1 MPH (96.7 vs. 95.6 season avg). The Twins may still prefer to keep Morris and Gómez in their pre-deadline roles, leaving Jeff Hoffman as perhaps some sort of fireman, I suppose? Not sure that’s the right move as Gómez has been shaky lately.

Kansas City Royals
Jose Cuas – HLD (1)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	17% CSW
Alex Lange – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW
Aaron Bummer – L (2)	0.1 IP	3 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	20% CSW
Nate Pearson – BS (1)	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	11% CSW
Easton McGee	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW

Aaron Bummer somehow got the 8th inning with the Royals up two runs here (I swear they are purposely trying to tank for some reason with the bullpen usage here), and of course that didn’t work out. Daniel Lynch IV is moving into the rotation (also why?) so Bummer is now the only lefty in this bullpen.

San Diego Padres
Bradgley Rodriguez – W (3)	2.0 IP	0 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	28% CSW
Jeremiah Estrada	1.0 IP	0 H	1 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW
Adrian Morejon	1.0 IP	1 H	3 K	5 Whiffs	38% CSW
Mason Miller	1.0 IP	1 H	2 K	5 Whiffs	35% CSW

Jeremiah Estrada — Four-Seamer up 1.0 MPH (96.8 vs. 95.8 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 83% (+26 pts vs. 58% usual). This is much better, so now we just need to see it stick for a bit, as we have seen highs like this from him this season, only to follow it up with 95 MPH fastballs and no command the next couple of outings. Hopefully he can build off this and keep trending the right way.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Jonathan Loáisiga	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW
Philip Abner	3.0 IP	2 ER	4 H	2 BB	1 K	6 Whiffs	23% CSW
Juan Morillo	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW

Juan Morillo — Sinker down 1.4 MPH (97.2 vs. 98.6 season avg). Don’t love the velocity decrease here, but it was only four sinkers, and he was pitching in a low-leverage spot down 4 runs in the ninth.

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/6

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 8/6

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