Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 9/20

Philadelphia Phillies
Alex McFarlane – HLD (5)	0.2 IP	2 H	1 K	5 Whiffs	44% CSW
Chase Shugart	1.0 IP	1 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW
José Alvarado	1.0 IP	1 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	28% CSW

Alex McFarlane — Four-Seamer down 1.0 MPH (99.0 vs. 100.0 season avg). Even down a tick, the stuff’s great. The two singles came on sliders that he left over the plate to lefties.
Chase Shugart — Sinker down 0.9 MPH (94.2 vs. 95.1 season avg)
José Alvarado — Sinker down 2.1 MPH (95.8 vs. 97.9 season avg)

New York Mets
Jack Weisenburger	1.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	31% CSW
Jefry Yan	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	35% CSW
Kodai Senga	0.1 IP	3 ER	2 H	3 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	15% CSW
Austin Warren	1.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	4 Whiffs	35% CSW

Jack Weisenburger — Four-Seamer down 2.1 MPH (93.1 vs. 95.2 season avg)
Jefry Yan — Sinker down 1.2 MPH (96.5 vs. 97.7 season avg)
Kodai Senga didn’t generate one whiff while having no command of any of his pitches. The fastball is still a huge issue.
Austin Warren — Sinker down 1.9 MPH (92.1 vs. 94.0 season avg)

Kansas City Royals
Nolan Hoffman	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	40% CSW
Connor Thomas – HLD (4)	0.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	15% CSW
Jose Cuas – HLD (5)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	14% CSW
Nate Pearson – L (3)	0.2 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	20% CSW
Anthony Gose	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW

Nolan Hoffman — Four-Seamer down 1.4 MPH (92.0 vs. 93.4 season avg)
Nate Pearson’s slider was not very effective here, allowing a home run and a double.

Pittsburgh Pirates
Lake Bachar	1.0 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	20% CSW
Yohan Ramírez	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	4 K	3 Whiffs	37% CSW
Wilber Dotel	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	6 Whiffs	31% CSW
Carmen Mlodzinski – W (8)	3.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	18% CSW
Mason Montgomery – SV (16)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	36% CSW

Carmen Mlodzinski — Sinker down 0.8 MPH (93.6 vs. 94.4 season avg)
Mason Montgomery — Sinker down 2.0 MPH (96.7 vs. 98.7 season avg); Sinker usage 54% (+32 pts vs. 22% usual). Awesome to see another save from Monty, but the Pirates may want to pump the brakes over the final week, as there’s no need to push him if fatigue is setting in.

Chicago Cubs
Caleb Thielbar	1.0 IP	0 H	1 K	3 Whiffs	28% CSW
Edward Cabrera	1.0 IP	1 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	22% CSW
Colin Rea	1.0 IP	0 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	12% CSW

Edward Cabrera — Four-Seamer up 1.5 MPH (97.8 vs. 96.3 season avg). Fastball still doesn’t do much for me.
Colin Rea — Four-Seamer up 1.7 MPH (95.5 vs. 93.8 season avg)

Cincinnati Reds
Luis Mey	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	20% CSW
Graham Ashcraft	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	18% CSW

Luis Mey — Sinker down 1.6 MPH (96.5 vs. 98.1 season avg); Sinker usage 35% (-25 pts vs. 60% usual). No command of his sinker as well. It’s tough to see after he had a promising stretch about a month ago.

Athletics
Luis Medina	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	30% CSW
Elvis Alvarado	1.0 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW

Elvis Alvarado — Four-Seamer down 1.1 MPH (97.6 vs. 98.7 season avg). Not the way we were hoping to see Alvarado finish the season. Hopefully he’s just healthy and ready to have a normal offseason (please find your slider!).

Cleveland Guardians
Hunter Gaddis – HLD (31)	0.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	29% CSW
Cade Smith – SV (39)	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	40% CSW

Cade Smith is a machine. Since July (33 IP), Smith holds a 0.82 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, and a 37% K rate.

Boston Red Sox
Tyron Guerrero	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW

The sinker was at 101 MPH for Tyron Guerrero, so that’s all good. Would still like to see more slider/splitter, but I’m not expecting that to happen at this point.

Tampa Bay Rays
Cole Sulser	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	27% CSW
Brody Hopkins	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	43% CSW
Steven Matz	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Ty Johnson	0.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 K	0 Whiffs	31% CSW
Kevin Kelly	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW

Cole Sulser — Four-Seamer usage 18% (-27 pts vs. 45% usual)
Steven Matz — Sinker up 1.7 MPH (95.3 vs. 93.6 season avg); Curveball usage 43% (+30 pts vs. 12% usual)
Brody Hopkins has top 5 reliever potential; I just have no idea what role to expect from him next year.

Atlanta Braves
Victor Mederos – W (5)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	29% CSW
AJ Smith-Shawver – HLD (1)	2.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	4 K	5 Whiffs	35% CSW
Ray Kerr – HLD (2)	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 K	4 Whiffs	35% CSW
Dylan Dodd – SV (2)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	3 K	6 Whiffs	54% CSW

Victor Mederos — Sinker up 1.0 MPH (97.4 vs. 96.4 season avg)
AJ Smith-Shawver — Four-Seamer up 2.6 MPH (98.7 vs. 96.1 season avg). Oooh, I like the fastball from Smith-Shawver here. I can see a successful reliever arc in his future.
Dylan Dodd — Sinker up 1.6 MPH (95.4 vs. 93.8 season avg). This is the best Dodd has looked in some time (#SaveChanceEnergy), and hopefully it’s sustainable with Dylan Lee struggling, the Braves may need to rely more on Dodd in the postseason.

Houston Astros
Bryan King – L (6)	0.0 IP	4 ER	3 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	20% CSW
Miguel Ullola	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	15% CSW
Tatsuya Imai	2.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	4 K	6 Whiffs	42% CSW

Tatsuya Imai’s fastball still scares me, but no denying it’s effectivness in this outing.

Detroit Tigers
Tyler Holton	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	2 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	17% CSW
Ty Madden	3.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	1 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	25% CSW
Brant Hurter	1.0 IP	2 ER	2 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	24% CSW

Blegh.

Chicago White Sox
Hagen Smith	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	28% CSW
Huascar Brazobán – W (6)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	23% CSW
Trevor Richards	2.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	22% CSW
Luis Castillo	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW

Hagen Smith — Four-Seamer down 1.2 MPH (92.6 vs. 93.8 season avg)
Luis Castillo — Four-Seamer usage 92% (+50 pts vs. 42% usual). The fastball actually looked pretty good here. He could have an interesting future as a reliever.

Washington Nationals
Will Dion – HLD (1)	1.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 Whiffs	14% CSW
Erik Tolman – BS (3)	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 Whiffs	23% CSW
Yovanny Cruz – L (2)	0.1 IP	2 ER	1 H	1 BB	2 Whiffs	19% CSW

Erik Tolman threw a 0-1 fastball middle-middle to Herrera here for the game-tying home run. This was the 42nd blown save for the Nationals this season, shattering the previous record for a team (2024 White Sox had 36).

St. Louis Cardinals
Luis Gastelum – W (5)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	5 Whiffs	58% CSW
Riley O’Brien – SV (38)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	17% CSW

Riley O’Brien — Sinker down 1.1 MPH (96.6 vs. 97.7 season avg). He’s still got a chance to get to 40 saves.

Toronto Blue Jays
Spencer Arrighetti – W (9)	2.1 IP	2 ER	2 H	2 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	33% CSW
Mason Fluharty – HLD (18)	0.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	27% CSW
Paul Sewald – HLD (3)	0.1 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
José Rodríguez	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Tyler Rogers	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	25% CSW
Louis Varland	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	12% CSW

Spencer Arrighetti — Sinker down 0.9 MPH (91.2 vs. 92.1 season avg)
Paul Sewald — Four-Seamer down 1.6 MPH (89.8 vs. 91.4 season avg)
I feel for those who roster Louis Varland in H2H formats, as he has been more or less useless for you in the playoffs with just one save since September 5th (and a 1.42 WHIP).

Texas Rangers
Robert Garcia	1.2 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	9% CSW
Tyler Alexander	0.0 IP	3 ER	2 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	15% CSW
Chase Silseth	0.2 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Adam Macko	2.1 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	35% CSW

Robert Garcia — Four-Seamer down 1.1 MPH (92.8 vs. 93.9 season avg). Just hoping for a healthy offseason for Garcia at this point.
Chase Silseth — Four-Seamer down 0.9 MPH (95.0 vs. 95.9 season avg). This won’t work.

Seattle Mariners
Seranthony Domínguez – HLD (8)	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	33% CSW
Andrés Muñoz – HLD (1)	0.1 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	9% CSW
Eduard Bazardo – SV (1)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	25% CSW

Andrés Muñoz — Four-Seamer usage 91% (+50 pts vs. 41% usual); Slider usage 9% (-37 pts vs. 46% usual). Muñoz left this one with a knee injury, and while it’s not considered serious, it could still keep him out this week.

Colorado Rockies
Ryan Feltner	3.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	1 K	4 Whiffs	15% CSW
Jimmy Herget	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	2 Whiffs	19% CSW

Minnesota Twins
Bailey Ober – SV (1)	3.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	42% CSW

Los Angeles Angels
Sammy Peralta	1.2 IP	4 ER	6 H	0 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	29% CSW
Mitch Farris	2.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	2 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	26% CSW

Mitch Farris — Four-Seamer down 1.1 MPH (90.6 vs. 91.7 season avg). I miss Samy Natera.

San Francisco Giants
Carson Seymour – BS (3)	1.0 IP	1 ER	2 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	22% CSW
Sam Hentges – L (7)	0.1 IP	1 ER	3 H	0 K	0 Whiffs	29% CSW
Dylan Smith	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	0 K	1 Whiffs	17% CSW
Trent Harris	0.2 IP	0 ER	2 H	1 K	0 Whiffs	33% CSW

Carson Seymour — Sinker usage 56% (+27 pts vs. 28% usual)
Sam Hentges — Four-Seamer up 1.1 MPH (95.5 vs. 94.4 season avg)
Dylan Smith — Four-Seamer down 0.8 MPH (94.8 vs. 95.6 season avg)
Trent Harris — Sinker up 3.0 MPH (96.8 vs. 93.8 season avg). Just one sinker, but if he can get into that 95-96 MPH range with his sweeper, we may be on to something.

Los Angeles Dodgers
Jack Dreyer	1.0 IP	1 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	29% CSW
Kris Bubic – W (4)	0.2 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	3 Whiffs	36% CSW
Brock Stewart – HLD (8)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	2 K	2 Whiffs	40% CSW
Tanner Scott – SV (23)	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	1 K	2 Whiffs	26% CSW

Kris Bubic — Four-Seamer up 1.8 MPH (93.7 vs. 91.9 season avg); Sweeper usage 43% (+26 pts vs. 17% usual). Ahh, Bubic is making a push for a postseason spot for sure. I might prefer him over Dreyer.
Tanner Scott — Four-Seamer usage 79% (+31 pts vs. 48% usual); Slider usage 21% (-31 pts vs. 52% usual)

Miami Marlins
Bradley Blalock	2.0 IP	3 ER	2 H	1 BB	3 K	4 Whiffs	31% CSW

San Diego Padres
Kyle Hart – HLD (9)	0.1 IP	0 H	1 BB	2 Whiffs	20% CSW
Bradgley Rodriguez – HLD (16)	1.0 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 Whiffs	0% CSW
Mason Miller	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 Whiffs	14% CSW

Mason Miller — Four-Seamer down 1.2 MPH (100.3 vs. 101.5 season avg). I’m not too worried, but this wasn’t exactly the dominant Mason Miller we’ve become used to.

New York Yankees
Brent Headrick – L (4)	0.2 IP	2 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	19% CSW
Tim Hill	1.0 IP	0 ER	1 H	0 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	29% CSW
John Schreiber	1.0 IP	2 ER	3 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	22% CSW
Luis Gil	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	27% CSW

Brent Headrick — Four-Seamer down 1.2 MPH (92.9 vs. 94.1 season avg). Velo continues to be down for Headrick, who may need a reset this week to get him ready for the postseason.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Ryne Nelson	1.1 IP	0 H	2 K	4 Whiffs	50% CSW
Justin Martinez – W (3)	1.0 IP	0 H	2 K	3 Whiffs	50% CSW
Taylor Clarke – HLD (14)	1.0 IP	2 H	1 K	3 Whiffs	26% CSW
Brandyn Garcia – HLD (17)	1.0 IP	0 H	1 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW
Jonathan Loáisiga	2.0 IP	1 H	0 K	3 Whiffs	27% CSW

Brandyn Garcia — Sinker usage 75% (+26 pts vs. 49% usual)
Jonathan Loáisiga — Sinker up 1.1 MPH (99.0 vs. 97.9 season avg). Continues to just quietly put together his best season since 2021.

Milwaukee Brewers
Antonio Senzatela	0.2 IP	1 H	0 BB	0 K	1 Whiffs	27% CSW
JoJo Romero – HLD (22)	1.2 IP	1 H	0 BB	1 K	0 Whiffs	23% CSW
Chad Patrick – HLD (11)	0.2 IP	0 H	2 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	12% CSW
Kyle Harrison – HLD (1)	0.1 IP	1 H	1 BB	0 K	0 Whiffs	10% CSW
DL Hall – W (4)	1.2 IP	0 H	0 BB	2 K	3 Whiffs	53% CSW
Trevor Megill – SV (29)	1.0 IP	0 H	0 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	33% CSW

JoJo Romero — Sinker down 1.0 MPH (92.7 vs. 93.7 season avg)
Kyle Harrison — Four-Seamer up 1.5 MPH (96.3 vs. 94.8 season avg). I have no idea what his role is going to be in the postseason, but his fastball looked much better here, at least.
DL Hall — Sinker up 1.3 MPH (96.7 vs. 95.4 season avg). Glad to see him in a bigger role.

Baltimore Orioles
Félix Bautista	0.2 IP	1 ER	2 H	1 BB	2 K	6 Whiffs	42% CSW
Grant Wolfram	1.1 IP	0 ER	1 H	1 BB	1 K	1 Whiffs	26% CSW
Cam Sanders	1.0 IP	0 ER	0 H	1 BB	2 K	4 Whiffs	39% CSW

The long-awaited return of Félix Bautista, and I think all things considered, we’ll take this. The command is going to be a work in progress and take time (not that it was great to begin with), but at least there’s still swing and miss here. Excited to see him next year.

Grant Wolfram — Sinker down 0.9 MPH (94.9 vs. 95.8 season avg)
Cam Sanders — Four-Seamer up 2.5 MPH (98.5 vs. 96.0 season avg); Slider usage 67% (+30 pts vs. 37% usual)

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

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 9/20

Rick Graham

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 9/20

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