Reliever Ranks – 7/15

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

 

• Thirteen games were played on Thursday, including the Tigers & Guardians makeup game from May 21. Everyone except the Orioles, Athletics, Phillies, and Diamondbacks were in action.
• All 30 teams play today in their final series before the all-star break.
• The Red Sox have not announced a starter for today’s game, so they could go bullpen heavy. Austin Davis, Phillips Valdez, and Hirokazu Sawamura could be in line for multiple innings.
• The Rangers are also undecided on a starter for tonight. The recently called up A.J. Alexy may have an opportunity to start or steal a win out of the pen as one of the few fresh relievers on the squad.

 

• Ten unvaccinated Royals were placed on the restricted list yesterday for their trip to Toronto. Only one, Dylan Coleman, is a reliever; however, starters Brady Singer and Brad Keller will miss the trip too. The Royals haven’t announced their rotation for the series yet. So we could see a lot of innings from the bullpen this weekend. Jackson Kowar, Wyatt Mills, and Joel Payamps are the most likely to see extensive work and possibly pick up a win in relief.
• The Giants released Jake McGee, making him a free agent. He had fallen out of relevance anyway, considering his 7.14 ERA this season. In another move, the Giants transferred José Álvarez to the 60-day IL. Based on this transaction, it is likely Alvarez won’t pitch again this year. San Francisco claimed Aaron Fletcher off waivers from the Pirates to fill his spot on the roster.
• Brusdar Graterol was placed on the IL by the Dodgers just when it appeared he was emerging as a vulture-save candidate. It’s unclear whether the injury, deemed shoulder inflammation, is serious or if the Dodgers are taking advantage of the all-star break to get him some extra rest. Reyes Moronta was recalled to fill his roster spot.
• The Yankees activated Jonathan Loáisiga from the IL yesterday after shoulder inflammation had him sidelined since late May. J.P. Sears was optioned to make room for him on the roster.

 

PIT 2 – MIA 1 (11 innings)

• Thursday’s earliest game took extra innings to complete, with the Marlins coming out on top. Braxton Garrett started for the Fish and gave them six scoreless innings before turning it over to Anthony Bass in the seventh. Bass did his job and earned a hold, but Steven Okert allowed an unearned run in the eighth off an error by Brian Anderson that should have ended the inning. Tanner Scott and Dylan Floro covered the ninth and tenth without surrendering runs before Richard Bleier came on for the 11th inning. Bleier allowed the inherited runner to score off a double by Ben Gamel but avoided further damage and ended up with the win after the Marlins walked it off in the bottom of the inning. Several of Miami’s key relievers have gone back-to-back, including Scott, Bass, Okert, and Floro, so seeing how Don Mattingly uses his tired bullpen tonight will be interesting.
• Bucs’ starter Zach Thompson pitched into the seventh before turning the game over to his bullpen down 1-0. Pittsburgh’s relievers held the Marlins down until the 11th after his departure with scoreless appearances from Chase De Jong, Duane Underwood Jr., and Manny Bañuelos. Wil Crowe was asked to close the game out in the 11th as David Bednar had pitched in four of the past five games. Unfortunately for Crowe, the Marlins needed only five pitches to walk the game off. A single by Avisaíl García and a Brian Anderson redemptive walk-off triple ended the contest. Crowe took the loss, and the blown save. Pittsburgh’s pen has been worked hard lately and will no doubt benefit from the upcoming break.

 

COL 8 – SD 5

• Kyle Freeland couldn’t get an out in the fifth inning and turned the game over to Jhoulys Chacín with the Rockies up 5-4 and a man on. Chacin couldn’t keep his inherited runner from scoring, which tied the game, but escaped without further damage and pitched a scoreless sixth. Chacin ended up recording the win as the Rocks’ plated three in the bottom of the sixth. Jake Bird earned his third hold covering the seventh and eighth innings; then Bud Black turned to Carlos Estévez in the ninth as Daniel Bard and Alex Colomé were unavailable. Estévez delivered for his first save of the season.
• Blake Snell fared even worse than Freeland, getting knocked out in the fourth after falling behind 5-2. Tayler Scott had to get the last out of the inning and followed with a scoreless fifth. Nabil Crismatt picked up in the sixth but had a rough go of it, leaving after six batters with two runs in and two men on. Luis Garcia was summoned and allowed one more run to come in before retiring the side. Garcia and Tim Hill held Colorado in check over the last two innings, but the damage was done. Crismatt took the loss and, along with Hill and Scott, has worked in two straight.

 

CLE 4 – DET 0

• The Guardians didn’t need much help from their bullpen in this game after Triston McKenzie tossed eight shutout innings. Emmanuel Clase closed the game out, which was a curious move as he pitched Wednesday also. He only threw 11 pitches yesterday and 12 the day before, but even so, his availability for tonight is questionable.
• Detroit turned to its bullpen in the sixth inning, bringing in Jason Foley for Elvin Rodriguez. Foley got the third out and then followed with a scoreless seventh. Tyler Alexander started the eighth and promptly gave up a HR to Andrés Giménez, which took the save opportunity away from Clase.

 

ATL 5 – WAS 4

• Kyle Wright continued his comeback-player-of-the-year campaign, spinning seven innings of two-run ball before turning it over to A.J. Minter in the eighth. Minter earned a hold but not before giving up a run on a couple of hits and, perhaps more embarrassingly, a stolen base to Nelson Cruz. Kenley Jansen closed the game out for his 21st save but surrendered a HR to Maikel Franco and a base hit, which made things interesting. Jansen has worked back-to-back nights and is likely not available this evening.
• Andres Machado relieved Aníbal Sánchez in the top of the sixth with his team trailing 4-2. Two batters in, the Nats were trailing 5-2 after Matt Olson took him deep. Hunter Harvey and Tyler Clippard combined for three scoreless innings to finish the game, but the Nationals’ comeback bid fell a little short.

 

TB 5 – BOS 4

• Drew Rasmussen gave the Rays six innings but left trailing 3-0. Tommy Romero, Brooks Raley, and Jason Adam held down the fort in innings seven and eight, which allowed Tampa’s offense to mount a comeback. As a result, Romero got the win, and Raley and Adam earned holds. Jalen Beeks closed the game out for his first save of the year but struggled to do so after Boston scratched out a run behind an Alex Verdugo RBI double.
• Kutter Crawford was cruising until the seventh when two doubles and a single to start the inning chased him from the game. John Schreiber came in but couldn’t stop the bleeding, allowing both inherited runners and two more to score before the seventh came to a close with the Sox down 5-3. Darwinzon Hernandez pitched a scoreless eighth in his 2022 season debut.

 

LAD 4 – STL 0

• The Dodgers shut out the Cards behind six innings from Tyler Anderson and an inning each from Yency Almonte, Evan Phillips, and Craig Kimbrel. Kimbrel and Phillips have both gone back-to-back, so it will be interesting to see how Dave Roberts handles his bullpen tonight if the game is close, especially with Graterol now on the IL.
• Dakota Hudson pitched into the seventh, but a two-out, two-run HR by Gavin Lux sent him to the showers down 4-0. Drew VerHagen and T.J. McFarland got in some work, but the Cardinals’ offense couldn’t get anything going.

 

NYM 8 – CHC 0

• Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Williams combined to shut out the Cubs. Williams pitched the last three innings and thus earned the old three-inning save. Williams threw 45 pitches in this one, so it’s doubtful he’ll be available this afternoon.
• The Mets knocked Keegan Thompson out of the game in the fifth inning, and Mark Leiter Jr. came in with the bases loaded and only one out. Leiter did his job well and got out of the inning without further damage; however, Brandon Nimmo homered off him to start the sixth, and Pete Alonso took him deep again in the eighth with a two-run shot. Daniel Norris came in for some mop-up duty in the ninth.

 

HOU 3 – LAA 2 (10 innings)

• Framber Valdez spun six solid innings, and Houston’s bullpen did the rest. Héctor Neris and Rafael Montero each pitched a scoreless frame before Ryan Pressly came on in the ninth and threw two innings for the win. All three Astros relievers have worked two of the last three days, so their availability is questionable for this evening.
• Reid Detmers matched Valdez and left after six with the score tied 2-2. Andrew Wantz, Ryan Tepera, and Raisel Iglesias kept the Astros off the board until the tenth when Aaron Loup took the hill. Loup didn’t pitch poorly but did give up an RBI single that scored the inherited runner and ultimately led to him taking the hard-luck loss.

 

SEA 6 – TEX 5

• Marco Gonzales got knocked around by the Rangers and left after six innings trailing 5-1. His bullpen did its job, keeping Texas off the board the rest of the way and paving the way for the comeback. Matt Festa, Andrés Muñoz, and Diego Castillo pitched an inning each, with Festa getting the win, Muñoz a hold, and Castillo the save. Castillo will probably not be available tonight after throwing in back-to-back games.
• Martín Pérez held the Mariners to one run but only made it through five innings after throwing 102 pitches. So the Rangers bullpen had to take it from there and didn’t fare well. Garrett Richards was first up and put on a couple of batters in his second inning of work, giving way to Matt Moore. Moore allowed both runners to score but closed out the seventh and earned a hold. Dennis Santana started the eighth, but after four singles and a HBP, his night was done, and the lead was down to one. Brock Burke allowed two more runs to score before closing the inning, and the Rangers’ lead was gone. Josh Sborz threw a scoreless ninth, but Texas couldn’t mount a comeback.

 

CHW 12 – MIN 2

• Johnny Cueto went six, and Jimmy Lambert, Tanner Banks, and José Ruiz each pitched a scoreless frame in the lopsided victory. Only Ruiz gave up a run of the trio on a two-out Kyle Garlick HR in the ninth.
• After Sonny Gray got pounded for six earned runs over three and 2/3 innings, the Twins bullpen had a lot of ground to cover. Trevor Megill and Joe Smith got them to the seventh inning without further damage, but Andrew Vaughn homered off Jharel Cotton to start the inning. With the game out of hand, the Twins put outfielder Nick Gordon on the hill in the ninth, and Chicago plated three more with the big blow coming off a Seby Zavala three-run dinger.

 

KC 3 – TOR 1

• The short-handed Royals got five strong innings from Angel Zerpa, who allowed only a Matt Chapman home run. Jackson Kowar, Taylor Clarke, and Scott Barlow took it from there, combining for four scoreless innings to close the game out. Kowar and Clarke earned holds, and Barlow nabbed his 16th save. Barlow has gone back-to-back and in three of the last four games, so he’s likely out tonight.
• Kevin Gausman had another hard-luck loss after another quality start fell short. Gausman left after six, down 2-1, and the Blue Jays bullpen of David Phelps, Adam Cimber, Anthony Banda, and Sergio Romo covered the final three frames. The only run surrendered by the pen came via a Nate Eaton homer in the ninth.

 

CIN 7 – NYY 6 (10 innings)

• Luis Castillo pitched a gem and turned the game over to the Reds’ bullpen with a 4-1 lead. That didn’t last long, though, as home runs by Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres off Jeff Hoffman in the bottom of the eighth tied the game at four. Hunter Strickland had to come in and finish the inning, then gave way to Reiver Sanmartin with one out in the ninth. Sanmartin came back out in the tenth for an opportunity to get the win, and a save, but after a Matt Carpenter home run and a walk, David Bell had seen enough. Dauri Moreta was called on to get the final two outs and earned his first career save. Alexis Díaz could see another save opportunity tonight with Strickland pitching in the past two games.
• Nestor Cortes battled to a draw with Castillo, and the Yanks turned to recently activated Jonathan Loáisiga in the eighth. Loaisiga was rusty, though, and got whacked around by Cincinnati before handing the ball to Albert Abreu down 4-1. In the tenth, Lucas Luetge was tasked with keeping the Reds off the board, but he failed. Back-to-back doubles by Joey Votto and Tyler Stephenson, followed by a Donovan Solano single, gave the Reds enough to hold on for the win.

 

MIL 3 – SF 2 (10 innings)

• Corbin Burnes pitched into the eighth for the Brewers, allowing only two runs (one unearned). With one out, he was replaced by Hoby Milner. Milner covered the rest of the inning and part of the ninth. Trevor Gott finished the ninth and ended up getting the win when the Brewers scored in the top of the tenth. Devin Williams came on in the bottom of the tenth and earned his sixth save of the season. Williams has now pitched in three straight games, so it would be shocking if he were called upon again today.
• Carlos Rodón went only five innings but held the Brewers to one run. John Brebbia came on for the sixth and allowed three straight singles with one out, which tied the score at 2-2. There was no further scoring until the tenth as Jarlín García and Dominic Leone threw scoreless innings. Camilo Doval took over in extras, allowed the inherited runner to score on a Jonathan Davis infield single, and took the loss. Doval has pitched in back-to-back games, so his availability for tonight is in question.

 

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