Reliever Ranks – 4/21

Welcome back to the newest 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

 

• There are only ten games today so most bullpens will be well-rested come Friday.
• On that note, the day off for a lot of teams explains several high leverage relievers getting their work in Wednesday in blowouts.

 

• The following teams don’t have another scheduled day off through the month of April and will need to manage their bullpen usage carefully to avoid overworking in the next two weeks – BOS, TOR, TEX, CLE, STL, ARI.

• Cleveland is dealing with COVID issues and brought up Enyel De Los Santos. He could be worth keeping an eye on for holds down the line.

 

Yesterday’s Performances

 

• Not a lot of new information to report from the Brewers in their victory over the Pirates. Brad Boxberger continued his excellent start to the season to pick up his 4th hold with a clean inning. He’s been really very good so far and is racking up holds left and right and might be worth a look in Saves + Holds leagues.  Brent Suter followed that up by giving up two runs in 0.2 IP but Devin Williams came and shut it down in the 8th to earn his 6th hold while Josh Hader wrapped things up in the ninth for his sixth save.
• For the Pirates, they were pretty much chasing the Brewers the whole game and they mostly churned through the lower end of their bullpen in this one. The one interesting note would be bringing in Chris Stratton just to face the final batter down two runs but it makes sense at the Brewers had gotten a runner on first and second and they had to keep it close.

• Cleveland started off game one of their doubleheader with a bang against the White Sox. After starter Shane Bieber went six strong innings, and up ten they were able to save the backend of their bullpen using workhorse Bryan Shaw,  the recently brought up Enyel De Los Santos, and Sam Hentges to cover the final three scoreless innings of the blowout victory. De Los Santos looked good in his season debut, often touching 97 MPH on his fastball and allowing just a walk. Hentges turned in probably the best inning of his career, successfully pumping 95 mph fastballs up in the zone and getting hitters to chase his curveball.
• Tanner Banks is the unsung hero in this one for the White Sox. After Dallas Keuchel didn’t make it out of the second Banks stepped in and pitched four scoreless innings with two strikeouts saving the Chicago bullpen from having a much longer day, especially with another game on the docket. Matt Foster added another scoreless inning with two strikeouts and Anderson Severino pitched the final two innings giving up one run.

 

• The second game in Cleveland involved more of the heavy hitters as it remained close throughout. Anthony Gose came in the fifth to relieve Triston McKenzie and looked great as he continued his reinvention from outfielder to flame-throwing reliever in getting the win for Cleveland.  He touched 100 MPH multiple times on his fastball while getting four strikeouts over 1.2 IP, netting 8 whiffs in just 24 pitches. Nick Sandlin followed that with a scoreless inning to earn his second hold of the year. Trevor Stephan made his sixth appearance of the season with a scoreless 8th. The Guardians are really high on Stephan after picking him up last year in the Rule 5 draft and while it’s mostly a hunch I have a feeling he’s settling into the setup role in Cleveland. If you were worried about Emmanuel Clase after a rough start to the season in a couple of non-save situations he looked great here, closing out the game in just eight pitches to earn his first save of the year, which probably means he could pitch if needed in today’s game as well.
• This game was close throughout so we saw the White Sox use a bit more of their bullpen as well. Reynaldo López continued his reinvention as a reliever by pitching an inning and a third.  Bennett Sousa and Kyle Crick combined to contribute another scoreless inning and a third before Aaron Bummer and José Ruiz pitched the final 1.2 innings. The White Sox used eight relievers between both games of the doubleheader and they play an early game today so it will be interesting to see who they have left.

 

• It was a slugfest between Philadelphia and Colorado. Brad Hand came in for the Phillies’ Zach Eflin getting just one out to finish the 6th but got the win. Jeurys Familia came in to pitch the seventh, giving up two runs before José Alvarado shut things down in the 8th to earn his first hold of the season. Corey Knebel pitched a clean 9th with a strikeout to earn his second save.  In five appearances Knebel has allowed just four baserunners and has struck out a batter an inning. He’s looking great as Philly’s closer which is a relief (see what I did there) after having so much volatility there for years.
• Jhoulys Chacín took the loss for the Rockies as he gave up three runs in just a third of an inning. This is the second appearance for Chaucin where he has given up at least three runs and you have to imagine his margin for error is getting pretty small in terms of staying in the bullpen this season.  The recently returned Lucas Gilbreath made his season debut and gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning while Robert Stephenson and Carlos Estévez each pitched scoreless innings to wrap up the game.

 

• The Braves followed up a rough outing from Charlie Morton against the Dodgers with Collin McHugh, who gave up a run in 1.1 IP and left with runners on first and second where Tyler Thornburg came in and ended the rally. Will Smith picked up the eighth with a strikeout and a walk. It had been four days since Smith had pitched so I think this was mostly about getting his work in especially since ATL doesn’t play today.
• The Dodgers needed just two relievers in this one as Brusdar Graterol pitched a scoreless inning with a strikeout and Mitch White gave up one run over two innings pitched with two strikeouts. Graterol has been fantastic this season as he has yet to give up a run and has a minuscule 0.86 WHIP. There’s a lot of talent fighting over the high leverage innings in LA but he keeps pitching like this and you have to imagine he sees his share of them.

 

• The Reds were behind in this one the entire game and so they mostly used the lower end of their bullpen. After starter Vladimir Gutierrez‘ exit with two outs in the fifth, Justin Wilson came in to stop the bleeding and get the final out of the inning. Alexis Diaz pitched a scoreless inning in the 6th before Buck Farmer gave up a run in the 7th and Hunter Strickland gave up two more in the 8th.
• MacKenzie Gore was great over five innings so with the game still within three runs at the time the Padres turned to Steven Wilson who pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts to get his third hold of the season and Pierce Johnson came on to pitch the seventh to earn his fifth hold to go along with two strikeouts. This is his second appearance in three days but since the Padres have today off he should be good to go on Friday if needed.

• The Orioles bullpen was lights out yesterday against the Athletics. Paul Fry pitched the 6th to get his first hold of the season while Dillon Tate followed it up with a scoreless inning of his own to get his second hold. Bryan Baker got one out in the 8th but also allowed two hits so Jorge López stepped in to pitch a shutout over the last inning and two-thirds to earn his second save of the season. This further cements López as the Baltimore closer but he did throw 19 pitches in the one so it wouldn’t be shocking if he was unavailable today.
• A.J. Puk picked up the 7th inning and the first out of the 8th for the Athletics and walked a bit of a tightrope spreading out a walk and two hits without giving up a run.  Jacob Lemoine finished up the inning while sidearmer Adam Kolarek pitched the 9th inning with one strikeout to finish up the loss for the A’s.

 

• The Rays/Cubs game was called in the 6th due to rain so we don’t have much in the way of relievers for this one. Jalen Beeks picked up the win for the Rays after pitching the fourth and fifth innings without giving up a run and striking out two hitters.
• On the other side of this game, Daniel Norris came on for the Cubs to relieve Marcus Stroman pitching 1.2 innings with three strikeouts.

 

• The Angels needed just two relievers to help Shohei Ohtani one hit the Astros. Ryan Tepera came on to pitch the 7th and the 8th striking out two and giving up no runs. Raisel Iglesias hadn’t pitched since the 15th so he came on to pitch a scoreless 9th inning with one strikeout. The Angels are off today so this shouldn’t affect his future availability thought.
• On the other hand, the Astros had to use all the relievers since starter Jake Odorizzi lasted just two-thirds of an inning after giving up six runs. Blake Taylor finished the first and pitched a scoreless second. After that Cristian Javier came in long relief and saved further bullpen overuse by pitching a scoreless 3.2 innings striking out four with one walk and three hits. Phil Maton, Rafael Montero, and Ryne Stanek pitched the final 3.1 innings without giving up any more runs to put this game to bed. Luckily for Houston, they’re off today so there shouldn’t be any ramifications for the bullpen after today.

 

• In St. Louis, the bullpen was stalwart in support of Miles Mikolas. First Andre Pallante threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts followed up by a scoreless inning from Génesis Cabrera who picked up his first win of the season. Giovanny Gallegos came on to pitch a sweaty palms 9th inning as he gave up a hit and walk but struck out two to get his third save of the season.
• Sandy Alcantara almost went the distance for the Marlins in this one pitching eight innings so they only needed one reliever. Unfortunately, Anthony Bender gave up the decisive two runs to take the loss. I know Bender already has two saves on the season but he’s also given up runs in three of his five appearances. This is purely speculation but with Cole Sulser pitching well and Dylan Floro coming back soon I can’t imagine Bender holds onto the job much longer if he continues to struggle.

• The Yankees bullpen had some good and some bad in this back and forth battle with the Tigers. First the bad, as Chad Green gave up two runs over an inning in the sixth to get hung with his first blown save of the season. On the other hand, he also picked up his first win as well. Green has been great this season so there’s nothing to worry about here. Jonathan Loáisiga came on to earn his second hold of the season with a scoreless inning. Clay Holmes did the same along with two strikeouts to gain his fourth hold. Finally, Aroldis Chapman did his thing, earning his third save with a scoreless 9th giving up just one hit and no strikeouts. There are some reasons for concern though with Chapman as his strikeouts are down and he’s currently surviving off a .091 BABIP and a 100 LOB% and the 3.76 SIERA is troubling. I’m not worried yet but it could be worth monitoring if it continues.
• For the Tigers, Drew Hutchison’s 1.64  WHIP finally caught up with him after giving up a hit, a walk, and an error in the 7th saddled him with an unearned run and the loss in this one while only retiring one hitter. Michael Fulmer came on and finished out the 7th without allowing any more damage. Things got worse for the Tigers in the 8th though as Joe Jiménez would give up another run while striking out two.  Finally, Jason Foley came on and pitched a scoreless 9th.

 

• Arizona absolutely creamed the Nationals so they didn’t need to dig too deep into their bullpen for this one. After starter Merrill Kelly threw six innings Corbin Martin threw another two striking out four and giving up one run on three hits. Kyle Nelson pitched the ninth striking out two in the blowout win.
• On the other side, the Nationals used ALL the relievers as starter Erick Fedde only made it through 3.1 innings. Francisco Perez finished the four surrendering a run on a hit and a walk without any strikeouts. Patrick Murphy followed that up with three runs (only one earned) in the fifth. Sam Clay, Andres Machado, Hunter Harvey, and Paolo Espino all combined to pitch the final four innings without giving up any more runs, or hits for that matter. The Nationals do play today but managed to avoid using most of their main bullpen arms so given it isn’t another blowout they should be okay.

• San Francisco led the entire game against the Mets on the back of a spectacular outing from Carlos Rodón. John Brebbia threw an inning and two-thirds giving up one run on a walk and two hits while striking out two. Dominic Leone continued his renaissance by coming on to get out the last hitter in 7th. Tyler Rogers did his setup thing in the 8th yet gave up a run on three hits and since Camilo Doval pitched the day before Jake McGee came on and pitched a scoreless ninth with a walk and a strikeout to earn his second save of the season. I don’t think this indicates any change in the pecking order this was most likely just because Doval had pitched the day before.
• The Mets only used two relievers in this game as Chasen Shreve pitched a scoreless 7th inning with a walk and a strikeout and Sean Reid-Foley threw a scoreless 8th and 9th inning to finish out the game.

 

• Toronto led Boston handedly in this one from the second inning on so they didn’t need to dip too far into their bullpen after José Berríos went six strong innings. Tim Mayza got out the first two hitters of the 7th but was pulled after allowing two hits. Trevor Richards put out the fire though and stayed on to pitch a scoreless 8th inning as well. Up by four, Julian Merryweather pitched an uneventful 9th inning with one strikeout.
• With Nick Pivetta getting roughed up and only going four innings the Red Sox opted for multi-inning relievers as Phillips Valdéz pitched the 5th and 6th innings without incident. Matt Barnes came on in the 7th and gave up a run with a strikeout before Tyler Danish pitched an impressive final two innings striking out five and walking one.

 

• Minnesota got five solid innings from Chris Paddack so they only needed two relievers in the losing effort.  Caleb Thielbar pitched a scoreless sixth inning while Cody Stashak pitched the final two innings for the Twins without giving up any runs.
• Kansas City likewise got an excellent start from Daniel Lynch as he went five innings as well. Collin Snider walked a hitter in the sixth without repercussions to earn his second hold. Jake Brentz duplicated the feat in the 7th to gain his second hold as well. Josh Staumont came on in the 8th striking out two for his first hold of the year. He was facing Luis Arraez, Jorge Polanco, and Carlos Correa so I don’t know if this means he’s not making a move for the closer role or if he was simply being used in the highest leverage inning but either way Scott Barlow gave no reason to lose the job either as he pitched the 9th without failing, giving up just one hit and notching his first save of the season.

 

• Texas, much like Boston, only got four innings from starter Dane Dunning and tried to make up for it in bulk. First John King pitched in the 5th, giving up a run on two walks and two hits. Then Brock Burke threw two scoreless innings while striking out three.  Finally, Garrett Richards came in to pitch the final inning with a walk and no strikeouts.
• For Seattle Logan Gilbert was fantastic throwing 6.2 innings making it easy on the bullpen. Up by four, they turned to their holds options as Anthony Misiewicz finished out the 7th before Andrés Muñoz came on to pitch a scoreless 8th. Diego Castillo made it interesting in the 9th by giving up two runs (one earned) before shutting the door and ending the game.

 

 

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