What’s poppin’, Razzpimples?
Week 12 is in the books. SAGNOF Bullpen Report time!
Don’t forget to keep that there Razzball Bullpen Chart bookmarked. It’s been totally revamped into this awesome, dynamically-updated masterpiece! The calendar view of usage patterns is just pure gold.
Subscribers: Check out the Autopen for today/tomorrow projections (vulture SVHD, anyone?), which also has the same look at the Last 7 Days usage patterns. Another great tool is relief game logs from the last 14 days! Filter/sort/export to your needs.
Note: All stats and Player Rater values below are accurate through Sunday’s games.
2026 SVHD Leaders
Player Rater Top RP (5×5 Standard)
Player Rater Top RP (6×6 w/ Holds)
Weekly Notes:
Elvis Alvarado (2 SV, 1 HLD, 8:0 K:BB): The lazy Susan of fantasy relevant A’s relievers spun another name our way this week. As my headliner, you get a nice lil screenshot of how the metrics are playing out thus far for Mr. Alvarado. This accounts for all year, but really it’s a tale of two Elvises. He was sent down to the minors in mid April and wasn’t called back up until just a couple weeks ago. Boy howdy what a couple weeks it’s been: 5.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K. What I love about TJStats is that you can set a custom date range. So over those last two weeks, Alvarado looks like the best reliever in the game. I’ve also included a snapshot of the A’s bullpen via our Bullpen Chart so you can see how the deployment is shaking out. Alvarado seems to have a leg up for the ninth inning, and for a guy with this kinda stuff, you gotta take a shot. Hogan Harris has plenty of SVHD this year and will probably still see some save chances, but I really do love what Alvarado is doing right now. Priority add if you’re chasing saves.
2026 Metrics via TJStats
Last 14 Days Metrics via TJStats
Athletics Usage Matrix (Last 7 Days)
Jhoan Duran (3 SV, 1 BSV, 1 L, 2:0 K:BB): You don’t really need a blurb here, do you?
Yoendrys Gomez (2 SV, 2:1 K:BB): Still very firmly in the saves mix for Minnesota.
Pete Fairbanks (2 SV, 6:1 K:BB): Warmer weather usually means Fairbanks is locked in. The cold causes his Raynaud’s to flare up.
Paul Sewald (2 SV, 3:1 K:BB): A.J. Puk suffered a setback during rehab. Sewald shares are quite safe for the time being. Probably a good long time being.
Jacob Latz (2 SV, 6:1 K:BB): Man, what a year from this guy. Climbing the Player Raters.
Gregory Soto (2 SV, 1:0 K:BB): Ditto. Honestly floored this guy is a Top 10 RP asset in all formats.
Devin Williams (2 SV, 4:0 K:BB): I can’t get a read on whether he’s finally figured it out or if up-and-down is just his thing now.
Cade Smith (2 SV, 6:1 K:BB): I do know this guy is bonkers elite. I’m dabbling in card collecting again and pulled a base Smith card and got excited just cuz I love this guy so much these days lol.
Bryan Baker (2 SV, 3:0 K:BB): Still ballin.
Bryan Abreu (2 SV, 1 L, 1:0 K:BB): I also can’t tell if Abreu has figured it out or if up-and-down is just his thing now. The loss was in extras, so it’s hard to blame a guy too much for that when there’s a ghost runner (even if I am a big fan of the rule; sorry not sorry). One of the saves was also in extras.
Josh Hader (1 SV, 3:0 K:BB): Dude hasn’t missed a beat since coming back. As dominant as ever. Only bummer is I don’t think we’ll see back-to-back outings from him for a bit.
Mason Miller (1 SV, 8:0 K:BB): Nasty stuff this week. Sadly only 1 SV to show for it.
Andres Munoz (1 SV, 2:2 K:BB): Left his last outing with back issues. At least it’s not an elbow or forearm or shoulder. He’s DTD for now.
Jason Adam (2 HLD, 4:3 K:BB): Still one of the best holds guys out there.
Hunter Gaddis (2 HLD, 1 BSV, 0:1 K:BB): Been a nice fill-in for my team that lost Erik Sabrowski, who is due back pretty soon, yay! Gaddis is worth hanging onto in deeper formats probably.
Garrett Cleavinger (1 SV, 2 HLD, 5:1 K:BB): Don’t sleep on this dude. Was lights out in 2025 and looks healthy again. Could be a monster ROS.
Daniel Lynch IV (2 HLD, 0:1 K:BB): With Lange (whom I’ll get to below) and Erceg sucking it up, mayhap Lynch slides into the 9th? He’s been the best arm back there all season. Go take a peek at the Statcast if you feel like it.
Brad Keller (2 HLD, 2:3 K:BB): The results haven’t been the prettiest, but they’ve been good enough. Gobs of HLD lately — he’s the only player with 5 HLD over the last 14 days…it’s just the ratios haven’t been any kind of good.
Anthony Bender (2 HLD, 1 L, 7:2 K:BB): No! I refuse! I won’t believe Anthony Bender is finally for real. Some kind of…bender he’s on, though. Last 14 days: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 K.
Alex Vesia (2 HLD, 1:0 K:BB): As it should be, he’s been the #1 setup option to Tanner Scott lately. Why use Hurt or Klein or Dreyer when you’ve got Vesia? Don’t overthink it, Dave.
Notable bummers for the week:
Alex Lange (2 L, 4.86 ERA, 1.89 WHIP): Ah, the curse of the JKJ headline strikes again. To be fair, I did say I didn’t trust the guy. Impossible to anymore. And here we are, two stinkers in a row. Signs were always there, even while he was converting. Really do think Lynch deserves a chance. Doesn’t mean he’ll get it.
Matt Strahm (2 BSV, 15.65 ERA, 1.74 WHIP): Whatever magic Strahm had in 2024 has clearly run out. Not even close to the elite setup man I thought he might be. I’ll take the L.
Ryne Stanek (1 BSV, 1 L, 11.74 ERA, 1.30 WHIP): I wish the Cardinals would stop giving him the ball in key moments, but then I look at the rest of that pen and I kinda get it. They need some help. I love Stanek as a Razorback alum, but he’s not the answer. Don’t really know that Romero or Soriano are, either. Hell, O’Brien’s in hot water now, too.
Jose A. Ferrer (1 BSV, 19.57 ERA, 3.48 WHIP): Guy has been pretty bad for a few weeks now.
I’m going on vacation next week, so I’ll see all you lovely Razzbabes for Week 14!
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.
Gotta drop 1 Seranthony or Grant Taylor…saves only…trying to think long term over short term
Well…what if the Chi Sox are buyers at the deadline now?! I guess SV only means Taylor is the drop still.
Holds category
Morejon, Lynch, Ferrer, Abreau and Fuentes
Are you asking which? Morejon.
I think the Palencia news broke 5 seconds after you posted this lol. Elbow. Not bueno. They say 15 days eh that might be wishful thinking
do you have a pecking order for potential adds in the Cubs BP?
We submit articles for review the night before they publish, so that’s why stats are accurate through Sunday instead of Monday. But yeah, that’s brutal news. He’s been worthless this year, and now he’s likely cooked until next year. I just assume the worst when elbows are concerned. Maybe it’s a short stay after all.
I expect a committee back there. Webb and Milner have actually been the two most reliable, so maybe one or both of those. I don’t think Thielbar and Maton have the chops to close.