It felt like many baseball fans thought the MLB Trade Deadline this past Tuesday would be embedded with big stars getting moved to other teams. While that did happen in the cases of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, many of the trades we witnessed were quite smaller in nature yet involved lots of useful bullpen arms switching teams, and in some cases, roles. Let’s catch up here.
Be sure to look at the accompanying chart. Keep in mind these things will likely be fluid as we move further along in the season; roles change, players step up or step back, and the one constant in many bullpens is change. We will keep you posted weekly on these issues. The DMs are always open on my end too: @mdrc0508, the dumbest Twitter handle (or is it X now) in the world.
By the numbers:
- A whopping 166 pitchers have saves this year.
- An equally amazing 273 pitchers have had at least one save opportunity this season.
- We have 14 pitchers with 20 saves.
- We have 29 pitchers with at least 10 saves.
- We have 43 pitchers with at least 5 saves.
And these numbers will continue to grow!
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Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report
AL East
Surprisingly to me, Baltimore’s only bullpen addition was Shintaro Fujinami two weeks ago. He will pitch in a setup role for the Orioles. Felix Bautista continues to be a cheat code: six wins, 29 saves, and an absurd 101 strikeouts in 51.2 innings.
With Jordan Romano sidelined by a balky back, the Toronto Blue Jays went out and nabbed Jordan Hicks from the disappointing St. Louis Cardinals. Hicks got the save last night, while Erik Swanson got the save on Wednesday night, in a game where Hicks got the eighth inning. Let’s face it: Hicks is a risk to your carefully sculpted ratios. It looks like manager John Schneider might mix and match until Romano is healthy again. Romano reportedly played catch on flat ground Wednesday, so that is a first step toward getting him on the mound.
AL Central
The Chicago White Sox were active in dealing pitchers over the last week. They moved relievers Joe Kelly (Los Angeles Dodgers), Keynan Middleton (New York Yankees), and Kendall Graveman (Houston Astros). Who will close? It looks like Gregory Santos has the job, as stated on the Fantasy Baseball Beat podcast by beat writer Scott Merkin. The Sox held on to lefty Aaron Bummer and now have veterans Bryan Shaw and Tanner Banks in higher-leverage roles. It would appear that Santos will have a long leash on the South Side. If he is available on your waiver wire, he should get the bulk of whatever save opportunities the moribund White Sox have the rest of the way.
Kansas City moved Scott Barlow to the San Diego Padres, where he will slot into a middle relief role. What’s interesting here is the emergence of Carlos Hernandez this year, where he has been a revelation in the bullpen. Hernandez picked up a win and a save this week, and has 65 punchouts in 55 innings, with a 3.60 ERA and tidy 1.00 WHIP. If he’s floating on your waiver wire, grab him. Best yet, in some leagues like ESPN, he has both SP and RP positional eligibility. Other relievers in the Kansas City mix that could get holds: Austin Cox (who earned a save last night), Nick Wittgren and Dylan Coleman.
Minnesota flipped Jorge Lopez to the Miami Marlins in exchange for Dylan Floro two weeks ago. Floro has not been used in any high leverage roles since the trade.
AL West
Last week the Los Angeles Angels added Reynaldo Lopez to their bullpen mix, and he earned an adventurous save for them on Monday night. The Angels went all in at the deadline and have lost four in a row. Last night Lopez took the loss. It wouldn’t appear that he will unseat Carlos Estevez, so Lopez and lefty Matt Moore will be the primary high-leverage arms here. As shown with the White Sox, Lopez is not cut out for a closer role but is best used as a multiple-inning weapon who can rack up strikeouts when he is on his game.
Adding Kendall Graveman to their bullpen mix, Houston gave themselves insurance as former bullpen standout Rafael Montero has struggled this season. Ryan Pressly will continue to close, and Hector Neris and Bryan Abreu will be the top eighth-inning guys. Graveman brings a wealth of experience and can serve a variety of different roles in the bullpen.
In Seattle, there has been some question as to who will get the save chances with Paul Sewald moved to Arizona. The most logical choice would be Andres Munoz. To that end, Munoz earned two saves this week. However, on Friday night, Matt Brash earned the save. Justin Topa could be in this mix too. We have seen that manager Scott Servais is unabashedly unafraid to mix and match his bullpen in his managing career, and that could continue here. Brash earning the save more likely had to do with giving Munoz a day of rest on Friday night. Still, the Mariners have three guys capable of getting saves. And that being side, I would guess that Munoz gets three of every four save chances the rest of the way depending on how Servais deploys his bullpen.
Texas Rangers: now here is an interesting bullpen. Will Smith has been the closer most of the season. But after adding Aroldis Chapman to the mix, manager Bruce Bochy suggested he would use co-closers. Well, Smith earned both saves this week with Chapman getting holds in both of those games. The Rangers added veteran righty Chris Stratton and also got Jake Sborz back from injury. This will be one to watch in the coming weeks. Smith lack the strikeout power of Chapman but also never allows walks; his WHIP is .83 and his BB% is 5.3; Chapman’s WHIP is 1.23 (which is fine) but he also has a BB% of 13.6. Maybe that weighs on Bochy’s mind as he determines usage.
NL East
The Atlanta Braves and GM Alex Anthopoulos made it known that they were looking to add to their bullpen, and they did that by grabbing lefty veteran Brad Hand from the Colorado Rockies after adding Pierce Johnson, also from the Rockies, last week. The Braves look stacked for a deep playoff run if their starting pitching can hold up. They really needed a second lefty to pair with AJ Minter since losing Tyler Matzek to Tommy John surgery. Hand and Johnson slot in with holdovers Kirby Yates, Collin McHugh, and Joe Jimenez all behind Raisel Iglesias. That’s quite an arm barn, isn’t it folks?
The Miami Marlins picked up closer David Robertson from the New York Mets, and he will close in South Florida. Expect Adam Ottavino to get the bulk of the save opportunities in New York.
The Philadelphia Phillies have one of the deepest bullpens in baseball, and they needed it this week. Seranthony Dominguez is back in the mix and got two saves this week, sandwiched around a Craig Kimbrel tenth-inning implosion. Kimbrel should retain the job, but with Dominguez and Gregory Soto having closing experience, this could be one to watch too.
NL Central
The Chicago Cubs pulled Jose Cuas from the Kansas City Royals. Cuas should slot into a middle relief role for the Cubs. Julian Merryweather and Mark Leiter Jr. should continue to get eighth-inning looks. We also learned this week that lefty Brandon Hughes is playing catch; formerly the team had said he was done for the season after knee surgery, but Hughes might be quietly trying to make it back for a September playoff run.
The Cincinnati Reds traded for lefty reliever Sam Moll from the Oakland Athletics. He will be a middle relief option for them as they fight for a playoff spot.
The St. Louis Cardinals give the closer role to Giovanny Gallegos with a little bit of JoJo Romero mixed in; I expect Gallegos to get 75% of the chances here with Jordan Hicks moved to Toronto.
NL West
The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Paul Sewald from the Seattle Mariners; they also moved Andrew Chafin to the Milwaukee Brewers for Peter Strzelecki. Sewald will secure the saves moving forward for the Dbacks, while allowing the trifecta of Scott McGough, Kevin Ginkel and Miguel Castro to each bump down a spot. This could be a very effective move for team fighting for a playoff spot in the tough NL West. Sewald has always been unheralded but steady, and this is a nice move for Arizona.
The aforementioned Barlow slots into San Diego’s bullpen in a middle relief role; do not expect saves for him as the Padres have Josh Hader. Barlow should get holds supporting Steven Wilson and Robert Suarez.