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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 9/2

A Review of Key Bullpen and Reliever Usage from Yesterday's Games

Rick Graham

RP Roundup 10 Hours Ago

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

SDP 3 – CIN 7

San Diego Padres
Wandy Peralta	1.1 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	25% CSW
David Morgan	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	12% CSW
Kyle Hart	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	18% CSW
Jhony Brito	1.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	30% CSW

David Morgan — Four-Seamer up 1.5 MPH (99.0 vs. 97.5 season avg). Still a pretty meh arsenal.

Cincinnati Reds
Pierce Johnson – HLD (8)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Tejay Antone – HLD (9)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	30% CSW
Tony Santillan	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
Emilio Pagán	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	23% CSW

Better results and stuff from Tony Santillan here, but the command was still shaky, and we’ll see if bringing back his slider is the answer to his problems.

ATL 9 – WSN 0

Atlanta Braves
Dylan Dodd	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	5 Whiffs	43% CSW
Elieser Hernández – W (2)	3.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	30% CSW
Didier Fuentes	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	35% CSW
Victor Mederos	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	27% CSW

Elieser Hernández — Four-Seamer up 1.3 MPH (93.3 vs. 92.0 season avg). Still has a pair of solid offspeed pitches in his sweeper and changeup; the fastball is fringy at best, though.
Victor Mederos — Sinker down 0.9 MPH (95.4 vs. 96.3 season avg); Cutter usage 9% (-42 pts vs. 51% usual); Sinker usage 36% (+26 pts vs. 11% usual)

Washington Nationals
Riley Cornelio – L (2)	2.2 IP	3 ER	3 H	1 BB	3 K	9 Whiffs	36% CSW
Max Kranick	1.1 IP	5 ER	4 H	3 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	10% CSW
Matt Waldron	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	60% CSW
José Tena	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW

I’m still holding out hope for Riley Cornelio; there’s definitely a promising fastball/slider combo here.
Also, why is Max Kranick still here?

ATH 9 – TEX 2

Athletics
Geoff Hartlieb	2.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	19% CSW
Hogan Harris	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	24% CSW

Geoff Hartlieb has a pretty good slider and an average fastball, so he could find a way to stick around in this bullpen for the remainder of the season. I doubt it will amount to any fantasy potential in hold leagues, though.

Texas Rangers
Robby Ahlstrom	1.0 IP	3 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	23% CSW
Jordan Montgomery	3.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	2 BB	3 K	7 Whiffs	27% CSW
Ben Peoples	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	2 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	26% CSW

Robby Ahlstrom — Sinker down 1.3 MPH (93.1 vs. 94.4 season avg). This isn’t going to work.
Ben Peoples — Four-Seamer down 1.7 MPH (94.3 vs. 96.0 season avg). This is not it.

BAL 5 – COL 6

Baltimore Orioles
Rico Garcia – HLD (18)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	18% CSW
Yennier Cano – HLD (13)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW
Andrew Kittredge – BS (5)	0.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	38% CSW
Josh Walker	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	44% CSW
Alex Hoppe	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	8% CSW
Grant Wolfram – L (3)	0.2 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	30% CSW

Rico Garcia — Changeup usage 64% (+36 pts vs. 28% usual); Four-Seamer usage 0% (-35 pts vs. 35% usual). Not sure why he’s completely ditched his fastball the past two games, but it could be Coors-related.
Andrew Kittredge got hit hard again here as the double by Carrigg hit the top of the wall, and the Veen double was 105 MPH off the bat. I’m not sure who should close here anymore, but I don’t think it should be Kittredge.

Colorado Rockies
Juan Mejia	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Jimmy Herget	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	21% CSW
Jaden Hill	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	23% CSW
Nick Frasso	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	22% CSW
Blas Castaño – W (2)	1.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	28% CSW

Good on this Rockies bullpen for this performance (or shame on the Orioles lineup?)

PHI 0 – ARI 1

Philadelphia Phillies
Jonathan Bowlan – L (2)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW

Jonathan Bowlan — Four-Seamer down 1.4 MPH (95.7 vs. 97.1 season avg). The very first pitch Bowlan threw here was a sweeper at the bottom of the zone that somehow McCann jumped all over. No idea why he was sitting sweeper here, but anyway, other than that Bowlan looked great even with the velocity down a bit.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Taylor Clarke	1.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	30% CSW
Derek Law	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	37% CSW
Kevin Ginkel	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW
Jose Cabrera	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	21% CSW
Brandyn Garcia	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	43% CSW
Jonathan Loáisiga – W (6)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	27% CSW
Juan Morillo – SV (3)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	40% CSW

Brandyn Garcia — Sinker down 1.0 MPH (96.2 vs. 97.2 season avg)
Juan Morillo got the ninth here again, and that’s now his second save in a week. I’m fine with the Diamondbacks going with Morillo in the ninth; just commit to something, though.

SEA 8 – BOS 3

Seattle Mariners
José A. Ferrer	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	38% CSW
Michael Rucker	2.0 IP	2 ER	4 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	22% CSW
Seranthony Domínguez	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW
Cooper Criswell – W (3)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW

José A. Ferrer — Sinker up 0.8 MPH (98.3 vs. 97.5 season avg)
Seranthony Domínguez has now gone four straight outings/innings without a strikeout. The stuff has fallen off, but the walk rate is down at least.

Boston Red Sox
Brayan Bello	3.0 IP	4 ER	7 H	2 BB	0 K	6 Whiffs	19% CSW
Raymond Burgos	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	3 K	2 Whiffs	53% CSW

Nice line from Raymond Burgos here, but I’m not a big fan given how poor the sinker is.

SFG 5 – PIT 4

San Francisco Giants
Reiver Sanmartin – HLD (3)	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	20% CSW
Ryan Walker – HLD (5)	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	22% CSW
Carson Seymour – BS (1)	1.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Jason Foley – W (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	18% CSW
Dylan Smith – SV (4)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW

Dylan Smith was the only reliever not to allow multiple baserunners for the Giants in this one and also the only reliever to generate more than two whiffs. That’s why he’s the closer here, folks (the bar is low, I know).

Pittsburgh Pirates
Brandon Eisert	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	21% CSW
Carmen Mlodzinski	3.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	37% CSW
Camilo Doval – L (2)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	19% CSW

Brandon Eisert — Four-Seamer usage 86% (+47 pts vs. 39% usual).
He’s not the same guy we saw in the second half of last season, but Carmen Mlodzinski did look better here and probably should stick as a reliever moving forward.

NYM 10 – TBR 4

New York Mets
Chris Devenski	0.2 IP	3 ER	4 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	18% CSW
Dedniel Núñez – W (1)	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	36% CSW
Nate Lavender – HLD (8)	1.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	30% CSW
Daniel Duarte	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	28% CSW
Jonathan Pintaro	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	27% CSW

Nate Lavender — Four-Seamer down 0.9 MPH (91.4 vs. 92.3 season avg). He threw 30 pitches, so hopefully that’s the reason behind the velocity dip.
Daniel Duarte — Four-Seamer up 1.1 MPH (96.0 vs. 94.9 season avg)
Jonathan Pintaro — Four-Seamer down 2.2 MPH (93.7 vs. 95.9 season avg)

Tampa Bay Rays
Steven Matz	2.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW
Cam Booser	1.1 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	27% CSW
Manuel Rodríguez	1.2 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	3 K	3 Whiffs	27% CSW
Bryan Baker	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	21% CSW

Bryan Baker — Four-Seamer down 1.6 MPH (95.0 vs. 96.6 season avg). Did he really need to pitch in this game?

TOR 11 – CLE 0

Toronto Blue Jays
Paul Sewald	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	28% CSW
Brendon Little	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	33% CSW
Braydon Fisher	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	30% CSW

Paul Sewald — Four-Seamer usage 28% (-30 pts vs. 57% usual). Sweeper heavy approach may be the solution for Sewald moving forward.
Braydon Fisher — Four-Seamer down 1.0 MPH (93.5 vs. 94.5 season avg)

Cleveland Guardians
Carlos Hernández	2.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	20% CSW
Austin Hedges	1.2 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	16% CSW

Fun to see Carlos Hernández back at the MLB level, and he’s still throwing hard (99 MPH here), but the command remains highly questionable.

DET 11 – MIN 6

Detroit Tigers
Tyler Kinley – HLD (12)	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	41% CSW
Drew Sommers – HLD (11)	0.1 IP	3 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	18% CSW
Kenley Jansen – BS (6)	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	35% CSW
Tyler Holton	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	5 Whiffs	44% CSW
Jacob Waguespack	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	20% CSW
Kyle Finnegan – W (3)	2.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	3 K	8 Whiffs	28% CSW

Off day for Drew Sommers here, who also hit a batter in the outing.
Weird seeing Kenley Jansen enter the 8th inning and get just one out, but here we are.

Minnesota Twins
Kody Funderburk	1.2 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	34% CSW
Travis Adams	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	67% CSW
Jeff Hoffman	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	3 K	6 Whiffs	67% CSW
A.J. Minter	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW
Yoendrys Gómez	1.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	27% CSW
Taylor Rogers	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	43% CSW
Tommy Nance – L (3)	1.1 IP	4 ER	3 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	27% CSW

A.J. Minter — Four-Seamer up 1.1 MPH (94.4 vs. 93.3 season avg)
Yoendrys Gómez — Four-Seamer up 1.4 MPH (97.2 vs. 95.8 season avg). That’s cool, and the fastball can be great, but this doesn’t fix all his problems. At least he still has the manager’s trust.

MIA 9 – KCR 6

Miami Marlins
Cade Gibson – W (3)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	50% CSW
Josh Ekness – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	3 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	15% CSW
Jack Ralston – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	38% CSW
Michael Petersen – HLD (23)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Calvin Faucher – SV (3)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW

Calvin Faucher — Sinker down 1.0 MPH (94.9 vs. 95.9 season avg). The stuff was down, but Faucher still managed the first save since Fairbanks went on the IL. No guarantee he gets the next one.

Kansas City Royals
Jose Cuas – L (1)	0.1 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	27% CSW
Connor Thomas	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	36% CSW
Craig Kimbrel	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW
Nate Pearson	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW
Alex Lange	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	29% CSW

Whole lotta meh.

MIL 9 – CHC 5

Milwaukee Brewers
JoJo Romero – W (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	18% CSW
Antonio Senzatela – HLD (10)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW
Abner Uribe – HLD (20)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Aaron Ashby – HLD (14)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	27% CSW
Trevor Megill	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	50% CSW

JoJo Romero — Sinker down 1.8 MPH (92.1 vs. 93.9 season avg). Right off the IL, he’s getting back-to-back outings, which feels a bit aggressive, but it worked here despite the stuff being way down.
Antonio Senzatela — Sinker down 0.8 MPH (95.7 vs. 96.5 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 0% (-35 pts vs. 35% usual); Sinker usage 50% (+34 pts vs. 16% usual)

Chicago Cubs
Trent Thornton	0.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW
Ryan Rolison	1.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	26% CSW
Daniel Palencia	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	8% CSW
Caleb Thielbar	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	55% CSW
Jacob Webb	0.1 IP	2 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	14% CSW
Colin Rea	0.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	38% CSW

Daniel Palencia — Four-Seamer down 1.4 MPH (97.9 vs. 99.3 season avg); Four-Seamer usage 92% (+26 pts vs. 67% usual); Slider usage 0% (-25 pts vs. 25% usual). Yeah…so he may not be 100% healthy. He allowed another “double” here, but the bigger concern is the velocity.
Jacob Webb took a line drive off his throwing arm here, but X-rays were negative, so he should be considered day-to-day.

CHW 0 – HOU 2

Chicago White Sox
Sean Newcomb – L (4)	2.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	17% CSW
Tyler Davis	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	14% CSW

Sean Newcomb — Four-Seamer up 0.8 MPH (95.5 vs. 94.7 season avg). It was going well until Yordan snuck a single through the infield, Newcomb walked Paredes, and hit Altuve before Velazquez opened up the scoring with a two-run single.

Houston Astros
AJ Blubaugh – W (5)	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	20% CSW
Josh Hader – SV (22)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	14% CSW

AJ Blubaugh did not have any command here and remains one of the more inconsistent relievers out there, but at least the stuff has held steady lately.

NYY 6 – LAA 3

New York Yankees
David Bednar – W (7)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	3 K	5 Whiffs	35% CSW
Michael Fulmer	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW

Needed to see this from David Bednar after his last outing…the fastball was still down in this one, though.
Michael Fulmer — Four-Seamer down 1.5 MPH (92.0 vs. 93.5 season avg).

Los Angeles Angels
Ryan Watson	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	22% CSW
Ben Joyce	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	31% CSW
Luke Murphy – L (2)	0.2 IP	4 ER	5 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	21% CSW
Blake Weiman	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	0% CSW

Ryan Watson — Curveball usage 44% (+30 pts vs. 14% usual); Cutter usage 0% (-26 pts vs. 26% usual)
Ben Joyce — Sinker up 0.9 MPH (96.1 vs. 95.2 season avg). Similar to Bednar, we needed to see this outing from Joyce after his last one. We got a more diverse pitch mix from Joyce here as well.

STL 8 – LAD 6

St. Louis Cardinals
Brycen Mautz	1.0 IP	3 ER	2 H	3 BB	0 K	3 Whiffs	19% CSW
Ryan Fernandez	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	27% CSW
Gordon Graceffo	3.0 IP	0 ER	3 H	1 BB	6 K	8 Whiffs	29% CSW
George Soriano	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	30% CSW
Ryne Stanek	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	27% CSW
Luis Gastelum	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Justin Bruihl – W (1)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
Riley O’Brien – SV (35)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	35% CSW

George Soriano — Four-Seamer up 0.8 MPH (97.3 vs. 96.5 season avg). 6.75 ERA and 1.77 WHIP over his past 20 appearances.

Los Angeles Dodgers
Tanner Scott – BS (3)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	4 Whiffs	25% CSW
Jack Dreyer	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	14% CSW
Brock Stewart – L (2)	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	33% CSW

Tanner Scott got the 8th inning here to face the top of the Cardinals order, with Baez hooking a hanging 0-2 slider down the line that Muncy was unable to make a play on. A ground out to 1B and a sac fly eventually scored him and handed Scott a blown save. I’m not too worried about Scott, but in save-only leagues it’s a reminder that he won’t always see the ninth inning.

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Rick Graham

Rick resides in the Boston area and has experience as a player and coach at the collegiate level. He has been covering relievers for Pitcher List since 2017.