What’s poppin’, Razzpimples?
Even though it was a partial week, Week 1 of the baseball season is in the books. SAGNOF Bullpen Report time!
Don’t forget to keep that there Razzball Bullpen Chart bookmarked. It’s been updated with the latest, and I’m usually quick to get it touched up once any type of news drops. And if you’re not a subscriber, I do highly, highly, highly recommend it. If’n you’re of the mind to consider it, you can find all the info here. I’m partial to the Relievonator Game Log Tool. It shows the last two weeks of relief appearance game logs. Every single one. And the inning they were called in. It’s gold.
Welp. That’s enough of that. Let’s do it to it, pardner.
Player Rater Top 15 (5×5 Standard)
Player Rater Top 15 (6×6 w/ Holds)
2026 SVHD Leaders
Weekly SVHD Leaders
Weekly BS+L Losers
Weekly Notes:
Note: All stats and Player Rater values are accurate through Sunday’s games.
Okay, so first, a note on the Player Rater screenshots above. I filtered out guys with bloated values due to random wins. I won’t be doing that down the road, but it’s necessary this early. Wanted to try to whittle it down to where only guys earning high-leverage decisions got included. It’ll level out as the season moves on, of course. The #1 RP right now is A.J. Blubaugh…that’s, um, bound to change.
Alrighty. Saddle up, pard. Time for my notes on the first bit of games thus far in 2026:
Carlos Estevez headlines due to a disastrous debut. Folks were worried about his truly dismal Spring Training numbers, in which he did basically everything except record outs. Velocity was down about 5 points. Bad velocity this early is very normal for him, but we only got marginally better in his first outing: 91.2 avg mph. That’s better than the sub-90s we were seeing in ST, but still not up to par. And frankly, Estevez is just not a good enough pitcher if he doesn’t have that velocity. His control was all over the place, and ultimately, he gave up a walk-off grand slam. The real kicker is before that, he took a comebacker off his ankle. Postgame everything sounded fine and manager Matt Quatraro wasn’t shying away from using Estevez as closer moving forward. But then the next morning, Estevez is in a walking boot and Quatraro is saying Estevez probably needs some low leverage to find his mojo again. You most assuredly need to grab Lucas Erceg for the time being if you still can. I do think Estevez rounds into shape and ends up being one of the better sources of saves out there…assuming he’s not actually hiding an injury. The ankle still doesn’t sound serious even if a short IL stint is in order, but if there’s something much more concering that’s causing that velocity suffer, it’ll be game over. I’m personally choosing to believe he’s just been lazy this offseason and isn’t truly in game shape yet. Time will tell, I s’pose. As for Erceg, it’s early…but those metrics ain’t looking promising. Of all RP with 2 SVHD, Erceg is the only one with a single-digit CSW%. Said before the season I like Matt Strahm more, and I reckon he’s the better SVHD option by the end of this year.
Edwin Diaz is off to a nice start in his tenure with the reigning champion Dodgers. He definitely has the coolest intro in all of sports. 2-for-2 in SV opps thus far, striking out a pair.
Pete Fairbanks is also 2-for-2 as closer for his new team. The Marlins have a pretty fun team this year, and as long as Crazy Eyes can stay healthy, I reckon plenty of saves will be headed our way. Averaging just under 97mph on the FB, and a nice 2:0 K:BB to start the year.
David Bednar hasn’t looked his sharpest, yet he’s been able to get out of it thus far, converting both save opportunities. His crystal clear 0.00 ERA is not supported by his 5.14 FIP and 6.04 SIERA, however.
Ryan Helsley has impressed me the most in the early goings. Maybe my lingering man crush from his Cardinals heyday is partly at fault, but it’s hard to find fault with how he’s began as the Orioles closer. Yet another 2-for-2 man with his new club: 2 SV, 0.00 ERA, -0.86 FIP, 44.4 K-BB%, 15.4 SwStr%, and 30.8 CSW%.
Jordan Romano is a thing again, thanks to a surprise IL stint for Kirby Yates. To his credit, Romano has looked pretty good as an Angel. In 2 IP, he’s struck out three with good swing-and-miss stuff. He’s gotta be rostered everywhere for saves until further notice. Could easily just keep this job if he keeps looking like his peak Blue Jays self, Yates/Joyce/Stephenson/Pomeranz be damned!
Trevor Megill got the first and only Brewers save of 2026. Nice to see one of my preseason calls go my way. Then again, could be Uribe the next 10 times in a row, who knows. Megill was excellent: 50 K%, 40 SwStr%, and 53.3 CSW%.
Mason Miller did Mason Miller things in his debut as the Padres closer. Threw the ball very hard and struck out a pair. Also walked one and needed 18 pitches, but hey. Overall looked just as you’d expect.
We got a handful of guys with 2 HLD already. I’ll cherry pick a few to talk about. Firstly, Erik Sabrowski, who’s stepping up while Hunter Gaddis is sidelined. Sabrowski looked stellar in his first outing. His second one was a hair shakier. Overall, he’s racked up 4 K, striking out exactly half of batters faced. Gotta love a 25 SwStr% and 38.9 CSW%, no matter how small the sample.
Next is his teammate, Shawn Armstrong. Dude rocked it in 2025 and looks to be on his way to a potentially strong 2026 campaign: 2 HLD, 2.22 SIERA, 42.9 K%, 20.7 SwStr%, and 41.4 CSW%. Yeah, I opted to show his solid SIERA while ignoring the 8.14 FIP and 14.3 BB%, but the metrics I chose show the stuff is playing well so far. Has 3 K in 2 IP. The FIP is inflated due to the walks — I’ll give the benefit of the doubt early on to a guy who posted just a 7% walk rate in 70 IP last year.
Tony Santillan has 5 K through his first 2 IP. Bad news is that’s come with a 40 BB%. Guy was a SVHD monster last year, so you gotta trust the process!
Tyler Wells was on my watch list in my last piece. Picked up 2 HLD this week, though the results were mixed. He blew up your ERA a little, however both FIP and SIERA suggest he got a tad unlucky. Nowadays, I’m seeing leagues use P slots instead of differentiating between SP and RP. If you happen to be in one of the latter that also counts holds, Wells could be a cheat code.
The deadly Rays duo has brought the grim reaper to my fantasy teams rather than to real life opponents. Griffin Jax and Garrett Cleavinger both left much to be desired this past week. Jax got saddled with 3 BS+L, tanking your (my) ratios and failing to record a strikeout. Stuff didn’t look good either. I’m praying better days are ahead. Cleavinger did manage to wrangle 2 HLD with one measly strikeout, I guess. Also tanked your (my) ratios in the process. Meanwhile, Bryan Baker didn’t earn a decision but did throw two perfect innings with 2 K while beasting the metrics I like most: 33.3 K%, 0 BB%, 21.7 SwStr%, and 47.8 (!!!) CSW%.
Jeff Hoffman does already have a blown save to his name, but he’s also got 1 W, 1 SV, and 6 (!!!) K already. Just disgusting stuff so far. He has reportedly been planning to up his slider usage again in 2026, which for some reason was not the case last year. In 2023 and 2024, when he was awesome, he used his slider most. In 2025, he used his four-seamer most, and he ended up with 10 HR off his heater alone. And now, so far in 2026, the slider is once again king.
Cade Smith also blew a save but got bailed out for a win, while also earning another save. Not a pristine start to ’26. Should still be a top-tier option the rest of the way. Showing some good early swing-and-miss stuff.
Clayton Beeter has appeared a couple times. Once in the 8th, walking 2 and striking out 1 in 1 IP, then again in the 9th, collecting the SV in a clean outing. So clean it only took 6 pitches to do it. Would def scoop this guy if he’s still available in SV-only. Probably fringe for SVHD, depending on your wire.
Bryan Abreu is seeing a slight dip in velocity and is clearly not pitching his best right now. He’s already given up a homer and walked four. Woof. Too early to panic, but also can’t fully ignore back-to-back clunkers like that, even if he did strike out 3 in that first appearance.
Of the three Cardinals guys I spent the most time harping about in preseason, it was Ryne Stanek earning the save on Opening Day. It was ugly, and he’s just not very good, yet alas. Matt Svanson was atrocious in both appearances. Surely Oli Marmol gives him another crack at high leverage. Surely?! JoJo Romero picked up 1 HLD in a clean 8th with 1 K. Riley O’Brien is technically the most valuable Cardinals RP right now, earning 1 W and 1 HLD. No runs but got smacked around a little. I don’t know how to navigate these murky waters right now, but I’ll say I did already cut Svanson in a SVHD league because Sabrowski was staring at me after those 3 K on Opening Night.
Of the Athletics guys I care about (Hogan Harris and Justin Sterner), it’s Harris barely in the lead right now. He scored a hold in a shaky 8th (2 H, 1 BB) while Sterner has already been hit with a loss (3 H, 1 ER). Still feel like Sterner’s the one with any amount of upside here.
Cole Sands had the only Twins save. Walked one and K’d a pair. Taylor Rogers saw the 8th inning on Opening Day, allowing a hit and striking out one. Hmmm. Maybe this an anomaly or maybe I was flat out wrong about Rogers being the favorite. Ugh.
That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading. Leave me a comment below so I feel all warm and fuzzy.
Odds are quite good I was drinking either black coffee, dark beer, or some form of bourbon while writing what you just read. In the daylight hours, I’m a high school English teacher. I have completely left X/Twitter, so you can find me on Bluesky: @jkj0787.bsky.social, where I serve up daily bullpen recaps to my loyal tens of followers.
Bryan King replace Abreu if he doesn’t figure it out soon until
Hader is ready?
Yeah King’s been throwing it well so far
Thanks for the thorough review, JKJ. Gold!
I haven’t used the relievonator much, and reacquainting myself with it for the 2nd year, I am wondering what a (-) value means for ($).
For example, in the box you first provide at the start of your post, Trevor Megill = (-2.3) $
How do you interpret this, especially in terms of how many saves dudes with a value like this you would roster?
Hope it helped!
That’s just a screenshot of the Player Rater. A negative value technically means he’s hurting you more than he’s helping in any given area, but it’s only that low right now because it’s such a tiny sample. Things will level. Megill is going to be golden if healthy (and still a Brewer…there were trade rumors for a while).
Thanks JKJ. No doubt he’s a +, but my understanding of relievonator is so vague. Take is easy!
You talking about this?: https://razzball.com/relievers/
Yes, and specifically, the $ quoted in your initial post, with the (-) value, but I see what you mean, as it assesses a 2 week period, and the season is a bit younger than that !
Well the Relievonator makes projections. There’s a guess for today/tomorrow values and then a weekly version as well.
The screenshot above is from the 5×5 Player Rater that assesses performance to date, not the future.
And then we have the Game Log Tool that you can use to see game logs from every RP over the last 14 days to gauge usage patterns.
Yes, I see that now. Thanks, I’m pretty sure I have it now. Very helpful to work it out , naturally there’s a massive distinction between what you mention, that I had not quite realized . Thanks for helping me out!