Paul Sewald led all relievers with 4 SV+HLD’s this past week. Sewald has settled in for the Diamondbacks since blowing his first save chance, picking up four straight saves this past week while allowing zero runs and striking out five. He was never in trouble to lose the closer role, even after that blown save against the Twins, but it’s interesting to note what’s going on in the rest of that bullpen as both Scott McGough and Miguel Castro have imploded (the lefties haven’t pitched well either) while Kevin Ginkel has flourished in a set up role. With both Ginkel and Sewald off last night, the team turned to rookie Justin Martinez for the save chance in his first game with the big club since July, and he converted despite allowing two walks. If they start trusting Martinez, he could definitely move into a setup role quickly based on how the rest of the bullpen has looking recently.
Notes
- Jordan Hicks has been (mostly) fine in a Blue Jays uniform and even added three saves prior to Jordan Romano’s return. He’ll now return to a setup role and compete with Erik Swanson and Tim Mayza (maybe Yimi García too) for holds. I still like Swanson more than Hicks, as he feels a bit more reliable (outside of one outing against the Dodgers in July) while Hicks has a 1.40 WHIP, and just a 11.5% SwStr rate since June.
- It’s hard to make out what the Cardinals bullpen pecking order is right now between JoJo Romero and Giovanny Gallegos, although it may not matter much anyway. Gallegos has struggled against the Royals and Athletics his last two times out, allowing 5 hits and 2 ER while striking out no-one (1 IP). Romero on the other hand has a 14/1 K/BB ratio in August while allowing 3 ER on hits over 9.1 IP. Even when Ryan Helsley returns, these two should still have value in holds leagues, and I’d expect all three to factor in to save chances to finish the season.
- We are more than halfway through August and Tyler Rogers has totaled just 2.2 IP for the month with only one hold (3 hits, 1 ER, 0 K’s). His brother Taylor Rogers only has one hold as well, but at least it comes with 6 strikeouts I suppose. This is part of the problem with rostering Tyler though, if the Giants aren’t playing well, he becomes fairly useless unlike other relievers who can still atleast rack up strikeouts even in losing efforts.
- Andrew Nardi has been fine since returning from the IL earlier this month (outside of Wednesdays game against the Astros), adding 2 holds and striking out 6 this month, but the addition of David Robertson has seemed to completely remove A.J. Puk from any SV+HLD’s opportunities for now. Outside of a HR to Kyle Tucker, Puk has been lights out in August so far, with just 3 hits (that 1 HR included) allowed and a 10/0 K/BB rate over 5.2 IP. Puk has an absurd 33.3% HR/FB rate (2.93 HR/9) and .446 BABIP since the start of July, numbers that are obviously not sustainable, so I still have faith he can finish the year strong once luck gets on his side. The luck already seems to be turning around (mostly) and as much as I like Nardi, I think Puk could jump him for hold chances.
- I dropped Caleb Thielbar last week because I wasn’t sure what his role would be in the Twins bullpen, but he went out and picked up 2 holds this past week and based off the other options in that bullpen, Thielbar should be relied on as their left handed set up man. For the month of August, Thielbar has allowed just 2 hits, 1 ER and has 9 K’s over 6.1 IP.
- I originally thought the Diamondbacks moving Andrew Chafin at the deadline made no sense for them, but perhaps they saw some concerning signs with Chafin’s stuff because he has not pitched well in Milwaukee since the move. The command has been an issue most of the season, but he still had swing and miss stuff (that slider) that gave me hope. Over his last 10.2 IP though, he has just a 22% K rate (and 22% BB rate) to go with a 1.88 WHIP and 9.28 ERA (6.44 xFIP) and has 0 SV+HLD’s with the Brewers so far.
And if you want more daily reliever updates, please check out our Reliever Ranks series.
Injured List
| PITCHER | TIER | INJURY (SURGERY DATE). NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Helsley | 3/4 | Forearm. Rehab has stalled do to soreness, but he is back on track now and will pitch at AAA tonight. |
| José Alvarado | 3/4 | Elbow. In the middle of his rehab assignment, could return within a week. |
| Brock Stewart | 4/5 | Elbow. Had a setback in his side session, back to playing catch though. ETA is early September now. |
| Danny Coulombe | 4/5 | Bicep. Hopefully able to return after 15 days. |
| Joe Kelly | 4/5 | Forearm. Already scheduled to throw a bullpen, and could return in two weeks. |
| Chris Devenski | 6/7 | Hamstring. Currently on his rehab assignment and could return any time now. |