Reliever Ranks – 10/5

Welcome back to the latest edition of our Reliever Ranks series! This will bring you up-to-date bullpen depth charts every morning for the day’s games and makes for an excellent tool for those looking to stream saves or wins. This series runs seven days a week, so check in every morning to get your daily bullpen fix!

 

Notes

Transaction and Schedule Notes

 

• The season has come to a close. After six grueling months, fantasy managers can now breath a sigh of relief…and begin focusing on their rankings for next year’s drafts!

 

• Every team was in action on the final day of the season. The Blue Jays and Orioles participated in a doubleheader.

 

TOR 4 – BAL 5 (Game 1)

• Four openers were used prior to the follower in the first half of the final doubleheader of the season. Trevor Richards started, pitching one scoreless inning, and was followed by one inning each from Adam Cimber, Yimi García, and Jordan Romano. García and Romano were credited with their 23rd and third hold respectively. To close out the final four innings, Mitch White emerged from the bullpen. He allowed five runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out four. He induced five whiffs and a 25% CSW across 73 pitches. The poor performance saddled him with his seventh loss and first blown save.
• A scoreless arm barn performance was enough for the Orioles to steal the win. Keegan Akin and Logan Gillaspie had scoreless appearances prior to DL Hall pitching a scoreless eighth to earn his first career win. With a newfound ninth-inning lead, Bryan Baker came aboard and locked down his first career save with a perfect inning.

 

TOR 5 – BAL 1 (Game 2)

• With the playoffs on the horizon, the Jays turned to their second bullpen game in a row. This time, David Phelps opened and posted a scoreless frame before turning the ball over to Anthony Bass. A scoreless outing from Bass lowered his ERA to 1.54 (70.1 IP), the second-lowest mark in the Majors (min. 70 IP). Who could’ve seen that coming from a 30-year-old journeyman who had only ever posted a sub-3.00 ERA twice in his career? Tim Mayza notched his 17th hold with a perfect third prior to Casey Lawrence entering as a bulk reliever. He captured seven outs but allowed a run to score and was tagged with his first blown save. The Jays’ offense exploded across the next two innings, netting Yusei Kikuchi his sixth win following five perfect outs. Trent Thornton finished things off with a pair of hitless frames.
• The Orioles didn’t push their starter through the fourth and instead called upon Nick Vespi to finish the frame. Yennier Cano pitched the following two innings but was tagged with his first loss after giving up a run. Cionel Pérez dropped his ERA to 1.40 (57.2 IP) thanks to an unearned run in the seventh. That gives him a top-five ERA among pitchers with at least 55 innings pitched. The final two frames were covered by Dillon Tate and Beau Sulser. The former gave up two runs while the latter was unscored upon.

LAA 2 – OAK 3

• Following Shohei Ohtani’s final start of 2022, four arms appeared from the Anaheim arm barn. Nash Walters and Rob Zastryzny split the sixth, Zack Weiss allowed two runs in the seventh, and Jaime Barría pitched a perfect eighth.
• The A’s secured the win on the back of an incredible start. Norge Ruiz nearly blew it by allowing two runs in the eighth. He was able to work around a Mike Trout long ball to record his first hold. He needed help from Kirby Snead to finish out the inning. The lefty went on to pitch a perfect ninth to secure the first save of his career.

 

STL 3 – PIT 5

• Despite three scoreless innings from the bullpen, the Cards still went home defeated. Their consolation prize is a ticket to the playoffs. The sixth was pitched without event by Jordan Hicks who unleashed the second, third, and fourth-fastest pitches of the day. He topped out at 101.2 mph with his sinker. Jake Woodford tossed the final two scoreless frames. The 25-year-old right-hander finished the season with a 2.23 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP across 48.1 IP. The only blemish on his resume is a mediocre 4.47 K/9.
• The Pirates finished the season victorious thanks to five impressive frames from the relief corps. Junior Fernández pitched a hitless ninth before the decisions started rolling in. The win, his second, went to Manny Bañuelos following five scoreless outs and three Ks. The hold went to Nick Mears, his first, as he got four outs. Yohan Ramirez was called upon for the save, which he converted successfully for the first time all year.

 

NYY 2 – TEX 4

• The matchup resulted in a loss, but the Yankees’ bullpen wasn’t to blame. Albert Abreu completed the starter’s fifth before Miguel Castro, Lou Trivino, and Lucas Luetge went on to post a scoreless inning apiece. Trivino was the only one to go untouched and since joining the Yankees at the deadline, has pitched to a 1.70 ERA (20.2 IP).
• The Rangers were lights out on their way to securing their 68th win of the season. Yerry Rodriguez made his Major League debut with a scoreless seventh to earn his first hold. Dennis Santana pitched a hitless eighth to record his 20th hold. In the ninth, Matt Moore shut down the Bombers to secure his fifth save.

 

CHC 15 – CIN 2

• This game was not conducive to bullpen decisions or high-leverage work. The Cubs’ starter exited the third inning with an injury, forcing the team to turn to Adbert Alzolay for seven scoreless outs. The outing netted Alzolay his second win. That kicked off a string of 6.1 innings worth of zeroes. Mark Leiter Jr., Michael Rucker, Rowan Wick, and Brandon Hughes each contributed a scoreless frame.
• The Reds continued their year-long bullpen theme. Derek Law allowed two runs in the sixth and Joel Kuhnel allowed four more in the seventh. Chase Anderson was unscored upon in finishing the seventh. Reiver Sanmartin surrendered two more runs in the eighth before Hunter Strickland was perfect in the ninth.

 

KCR 2 – CLE 9

• Two arms appeared for the Royals. Their names were Carlos Hernández and Luke Weaver. The former surrendered two runs across five outs while the latter permitted one run while recording four outs.
• The Cleveland bullpen seems primed for the playoffs. The B-squad was lights out to secure the win. Trevor Stephan was perfect in the seventh, Enyel De Los Santos pitched a scoreless eighth, and Eli Morgan tossed a flawless ninth.

 

WSN 2 – NYM 9

• Somehow, in a game in which the Nationals permitted nine runs, the arm barn was untouched. Mason Thompson, Erasmo Ramírez, Hunter Harvey, and Kyle Finnegan combined for 5.2 scoreless frames. They allowed just two hits and struck out eight batters in that time. All but Finnegan finished the season with a sub-3.00 ERA.
• The Mets utilized an opener for bulk reliever Trevor Williams. Mychal Givens opened, setting up Williams for six innings of two-run ball on six hits with six punchouts. The righty induced nine whiffs with a 24% CSW across 79 pitches and earned his third win for his efforts. Trevor May pitched a hitless eighth before Joely Rodríguez closed things out with a scoreless ninth.

 

DET 4 – SEA 5

• Blowing a tie game in the ninth is never fun. Gregory Soto did just that when he surrendered a walk-off single to Ty France and was saddled with his 11th loss. Prior to that, Miguel Diaz got four outs without surrendering a hit and José Cisnero pitched a clean eighth. The latter finished the season with a 1.08 ERA (25 IP), the second-best mark in baseball among pitchers with at least 25 innings pitched.
• Perfect in securing the win, the Mariners’ bullpen did its job. Paul Sewald struck out the side in order in the eighth and Erik Swanson punched out two in a flawless ninth. The latter was awarded his third win upon the walk-off.

 

SFG 8 – SDP 1

• The Giants ended their season on a high note thanks to a successful bullpen game. John Brebbia opened, getting off on the wrong foot by allowing a run. That would be the only run the pitching staff would allow. Yunior Marte was perfect across the second and third before Alex Young and Cole Waites combined to pitch the fourth and fifth. The sixth and seventh were covered without a hit by Andrew Vasquez who struck out four in the process. Tyler Rogers was the man on the mound in a scoreless eighth and Luis Ortiz was the final San Francisco arm to appear.
• You wouldn’t know it from the box score but the Padres technically went with a bullpen game as well. Craig Stammen, a reliever, started and went three innings. He allowed five runs in the poor outing. Nabil Crismatt, another reliever, covered the next four frames while allowing just one run. Pierce Johnson allowed another run in the eighth and the theme continued in the ninth as Steven Wilson permitted one final run.

 

TBR 3 – BOS 6

• This is the team you expect to use a bullpen game when everybody else does, but the Rays subverted society and utilized a starter. Shawn Armstrong finished the starter’s fifth prior to perfect innings from both Javy Guerra and JT Chargois. Jimmy Yacabonis surrendered two runs on five baserunners in the eighth.
• It was decisions galore for the Red Sox. Eduard Bazardo earned his first career win for his scoreless fifth. Holds went to Matt Strahm (13th hold), Ryan Brasier (13th hold), and John Schreiber (22nd hold). Brasier was the only one to surrender a run. Matt Barnes closed things out in the ninth to finish his season on a high note. It was his eighth save of the season. After getting off to a poor start and dealing with injuries, Barnes pitched to a 1.62 ERA (22.2 IP) from early August to the end of the season.

 

PHI 2 – HOU 3

• The Phillies followed the notice of the day, calling upon an opener. Bailey Falter, who would normally be counted on as a starter, lasted just one frame. He was followed by six innings from Michael Plassmeyer. The lefty allowed three runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out six. He forced 13 swings and misses and produced a 31% CSW while tossing 90 pitches. Nick Nelson pitched a scoreless inning to end the Philadelphia relief work.
• With a first-round bye, the Astros could afford to turn to their best arms in game 162. Bryan Abreu and Ryne Stanek each were perfect in their lone innings of work. They recorded their eighth and 17th holds respectively and both maintain sub-2.00 ERAs. Stanek’s 1.15 mark (54.2 IP) is the second-lowest in baseball (min. 50 IP). Phil Maton permitted two runs in the eighth but was still credited with his 14th hold. He needed help from Rafael Montero who closed out the inning to notch his 23rd hold. In the ninth, Ryan Pressly successfully converted his 33rd save of the season with a one-two-three ninth.

 

MIN 10 – CHW 1

• The Twins were no match for the White Sox. They also only needed one reliever as Cole Sands covered the final four innings, allowing only one unearned run. He was rewarded with his first career save for his efforts – the final 3+ inning save of 2022.
• The White Sox starter was knocked out after surrendering nine runs across the first two frames. Vince Velasquez cleaned up by locking down nine outs while allowing just one run. The rest of the game was eventless as Aaron Bummer, Jake Diekman, José Ruiz, and Jimmy Lambert were unscored upon across one frame apiece.

 

ATL 9 – MIA 12

• It wasn’t the best day for the Atlanta arm barn. Three arms allowed multiple runs and the only arm that didn’t secured only one out. Tyler Matzek gave up two runs, Jesse Chavez permitted four, and Silvino Bracho surrendered three more. Dylan Lee was the only Atlanta arm to improve his ERA. Chavez was tagged with his third loss and fifth blown save.
• A lot of arms pitched for the Marlins but they did well enough to go home victorious. Bryan Hoeing allowed three runs across four outs and Andrew Nardi allowed two more in an equal amount of time. Luckily for the latter, he was awarded his first career win. Jeff Brigham completed the seventh to earn his third hold. Tanner Scott pitched a scoreless eighth to set up the ninth. In the final frame, Jake Fishman ran into trouble and needed help from Dylan Floro to close things out. Floro walked a tightrope but was able to secure his 10th and final save of the season.

 

ARI 4 – MIL 2

• The Diamondbacks ended the season on a high note as they took down the Brew Crew. The seventh and eighth were shared by Caleb Smith and Sean Poppen. The latter was the only one to surrender a run but was also the only one to earn a decision – his second win. With a two-run lead in the ninth, Kevin Ginkel converted his first save of the season.
• Aaron Ashby was used as a piggyback starter. He covered a trio of frames, allowing five hits and one run while striking out two. Brad Boxberger and Hoby Milner pitched the next two innings without allowing a run. The final frame was covered by Trevor Gott who surrendered three runs on two dingers and was saddled with his fourth loss and fourth blown save.

 

COL 1 – LAD 6

• A lack of offense and the overwhelming ability of the Dodgers were the most apparent reasons for the Colorado loss. Chad Smith was the one to be listed as the reason in the box score as he was tagged with his first loss after permitting three runs across four outs. Gavin Hollowell secured five outs without allowing a baserunner to bridge the gap between the two Rockie relievers to allow runs. The second one to do so was Noah Davis who gave up two runs in his Major League debut. Ty Blach pitched a scoreless frame to cap things off.
• The Dodgers finished off an incredible 2022 campaign with lights-out relief work. The first three arms out of the bullpen were perfect. Yency Almonte not only pitched the sixth and earned his ninth hold, but he also locked in his claim to the lowest ERA in baseball (min. 35 IP). He ended the season with a 1.02 ERA across 35.1 innings pitched. Chris Martin notched his ninth hold as well in the seventh. In the eighth, Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in order. Caleb Ferguson closed things out by recording all three of his outs by way of the strikeout.

 

Thank you for reading my Reliever Ranks articles all season long! I appreciate everyone’s support.

 

Bullpen Depth Charts

Also, if you’re looking for a detailed list or ranking of RPs, check out Rick Graham’s weekly pieces:

The Hold Up: Ranking the Top 100 Relievers for Holds Every Thursday

Closing Time: Ranking the Top 30 Closers

Top 100 Relievers for Save+Hold Leagues

 

Photos by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Doug Carlin (@Bdougals on Twitter)