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
- Thursday’s slate was light as only eight games were played, including the makeup of the August 21st matchup between the White Sox and Guardians.
- Fourteen teams had yesterday off, including BAL, BOS, NYY, DET, LAA, SEA, TEX, ATL, WSN, CHC, MIL, COL, LAD, and SFG.
- All 30 teams play today, three of which have yet to announce a starter: TOR, MIN, and CIN.
- The Blue Jays will probably go with a bullpen game today, with Yusei Kikuchi the most likely to throw multiple innings.
- The Twins are likely to start Bailey Ober on Friday. Jharel Cotton is expected to be DFA’d in a corresponding move.
- The Reds just put Justin Dunn on the IL and have a doubleheader against St. Louis tomorrow. They will activate Hunter Greene for one of the Saturday games, but it is unclear who will start the other two contests. Reiver Sanmartin is the most likely to see several innings today or tomorrow.
- The Yankees are likely to activate Aroldis Chapman today. It’s doubtful they’ll put him into high-leverage situations immediately, but he could be in the mix for holds.
- Pittsburgh activated Dillon Peters yesterday, then DFA’d him. The Bucs also DFA’d Tyler Beede as they apparently want to look at some younger players down the stretch.
- Colorado released Rockies legend Jhoulys Chacín, which isn’t all that relevant, but we felt it was worth noting.
Yesterday’s Performances
TBR 11 – TOR 0
- Shane McClanahan came off the IL and did what he’s done all year – shut down his opponent. The Rays pulled him after five innings, but the pen continued to dominate the Blue Jays, throwing four more scoreless frames. JT Chargois gave up a couple of hits in the sixth, but other than that, Tampa’s relievers only allowed one hit. Jason Adam was the only one to earn a hold as the game got out of hand. Javy Guerra and Kevin Herget also got some exercise.
- Kevin Gausman had an uncharacteristically lousy showing, allowing five runs over seven innings. Zach Pop threw a scoreless eighth, but Trevor Richards struggled in the ninth. After he allowed three more runs to plate, David Phelps tried to pick him up. Unfortunately, he walked Taylor Walls to load the bases, then Manuel Margot cleared them with a double. The Blue Jays will try to forget this one.
CHW 8 – CLE 2
- Lance Lynn pitched into the seventh, leaving with a 7-1 lead and a runner on second. Aaron Bummer finished the inning but allowed the inherited runner to score. Reynaldo López and Kendall Graveman closed the game out with a scoreless inning each.
- Hunter Gaddis’s second career start did not go well. The Chisox pounded him for seven runs in four innings and hit a whopping five dingers. Ouch! The relief trio of Bryan Shaw, Eli Morgan, and Kirk McCarty pitched fine – only McCarty gave up a run – but it hardly mattered.
MIA 5 – PHI 3
- Pablo López shut the Phillies out through five, but after a Kyle Schwarber homer in the sixth and a Bryson Stott two-out double in the seventh, his night was through. Steven Okert replaced him and promptly allowed another run to score on a Brandon Marsh double. Okert still earned a hold, though, after he retired the next batter. Tanner Scott also recorded a hold with a scoreless eighth, and Dylan Floro closed the game with his fifth save despite giving up a run.
- The Marlins took Noah Syndergaard deep twice, scoring four runs off him over six innings. Philadelphia turned to Andrew Bellatti in the seventh, and he walked the bases loaded with two outs but got the final out. Sam Coonrod allowed another Marlin to score in the eighth, which gave Floro a nice cushion in the ninth.
NYM 7 – PIT 1
- Carlos Carrasco cruised through six innings for the Mets, striking out 11 Pirates and only allowing one run. Seth Lugo struck out the side in the seventh, and Joely Rodríguez covered the final two frames without allowing a baserunner.
- The Mets knocked JT Brubaker out of the game after three innings, roughing him up for five runs off seven hits and two walks. Eric Stout covered the fourth and fifth, allowing another Met to score, and Robert Stephenson was Dr. Jekyll this time, pitching a scoreless sixth. Next up for the Bucs was Yohan Ramirez, who you don’t mess with. He finished the game but not before the dreaded bases-loaded HBP inflated his ERA a bit.
MIN 3 – KCR 2
- Dylan Bundy only lasted four innings for the Twins, allowing two runs. However, the bullpen brought their “A” game yesterday as five hurlers tossed a scoreless inning to close out the victory. Trevor Megill got the win after throwing the fifth. Following him were Griffin Jax, Caleb Thielbar, and Michael Fulmer, who all earned holds. Jhoan Duran took the ninth and walked away with his seventh save of the season.
- Daniel Lynch dropped to 4-11 after allowing a couple of Twins’ dingers that led to three runs. Collin Snyder took over in the sixth and fired a clean inning. Last up for the Royals was Dylan Coleman, who retired all six batters he faced.
CIN 3 – STL 2
- Chase Anderson held the Cardinals to one hit and one run over five innings. Ian Gibaut relieved him in the sixth, and Buck Farmer pitched the seventh and eighth. Neither allowed a hit or a run, and both earned holds. Alexis Díaz struggled a bit in the ninth, giving up a run, but pitched out of a jam to earn his seventh save.
- The Reds hit two homers off Miles Mikolas to give them their lead. Andre Pallante and Jake Woodford didn’t allow further damage, but the Cards couldn’t complete the comeback.
HOU 5 – OAK 2
- Lance McCullers Jr. struck out 11 A’s over six innings but did allow two runs. He left with the score tied, but the bullpen did not allow any runs over the last three innings, and the offense came through. Seth Martinez got the win, while Will Smith and Héctor Neris earned holds. With Ryan Pressly unavailable, the Astros turned to Rafael Montero in the ninth, and he cruised for his 13th save.
- James Kaprielian matched McCullers, giving up two runs of his own over six innings. The A’s bullpen, however, did not come through. Joel Payamps lasted three batters, with the last one, Aledmys Díaz, hitting a two-run home run. Sam Moll followed and also faced only three batters, giving up another run off two singles and an HBP. Norge Ruiz restored order for the Athletics, finishing the seventh and the eighth, but the damage was done.
ARI 4 – SDP 0
- Drey Jameson had an impressive MLB debut, tossing seven shutout innings to earn the victory. Kevin Ginkel, Joe Mantiply, and Reyes Moronta followed the rookie, who combined to complete the shutout. Ginkel and Mantiply earned holds, but Moronta was denied as the D’Backs increased their lead to four before he entered. Mantiply has thrown in two straight but only threw four pitches on Thursday.
- Sean Manaea dropped to 7-9, though he didn’t pitch too poorly, allowing only two solo HRs over five innings. Robert Suarez followed and got into a bit of trouble but managed to keep Arizona from scoring. Nick Martinez pitched the seventh, and Carson Kelly took him deep. The Diamondbacks plated one more in the eighth after Steven Wilson put a couple of men on and Christian Walker knocked them in off Luis Garcia. As Martinez came into this one in the seventh, we dropped him to the setup slot and promoted Josh Hader back to closer.
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)