What’s poppin’, Razzpimples?
Bullpen recap time!
Don’t forget to keep that 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. The tools are — how do you say? — bussin’. 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. Truly a godsend for my nerdy backside.
Welp. Let’s do it to it, pardner.
Note: All stats and Player Rater values are accurate through Monday’s games.
Player Rater Top 15 (5×5 Standard)
Player Rater Top 15 (6×6 w/ Holds)
2025 SVHD Leaders
Weekly SVHD Leaders
Weekly BS+L Leaders :'(
Weekly Highlights:
Quick author note: Bullet points annoyingly break the links to player pages, so I’m ditching them.
My headline probably makes no sense to anyone. It’s my own inside joke inside my head: I refer to Raisel Iglesias as “Raise The Church” cuz I Spanglishify it. And since he’s been sucking it up, I flipped to it “Lower The Church.” Boy howdy, am I a clever sonuvagun. But seriously, I wasn’t worried, but now I’m a little bit worried? This week he earned 2 W but was mostly terrible, and it’s now three straight poopy outings, in which he’s combined for 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 HR, and 2 K over 2.1 IP. To his credit, he has been mostly really good this year, and while FIP agrees with his 6.06 ERA, his SIERA does not (2.90). Plus all the metrics I track are at least some shade of red. Hard to shake three straight doo doo appearances, though. I’m cautiously optimistic he’ll rebound. Those of you playing the “Who’s Next?” game, I would guess a committee led by Pierce Johnson and Dylan Lee.
Jhoan Duran led the way with 3 SV. Also snagged a W and had 6 K, so it was a real nice week for climbing up the Player Rater. Everything looked just dandy, all said and done.
Much to my chagrin, it was Louie Varland leading all RP with 3 HLD this week. Only had 2 K, but the ratios were mostly crystal clear. I say to my chagrin cuz y’all should know by now that I have a massive man crush on Griffin Jax, and despite his ballooned ratios I’ve been screaming “ADD! ADD!” or “HOLD! HOLD!” all year. Jax had more good metrics this week and overall good numbers, but it was marred by another tally in the BS column. Make no mistake, I think he’s one of the very best in the game and have no concerns whatsoever about his up-and-down start to 2025.
Jeff Hoffman had 2 SV but also 1 BS and 1 L. Ratios were as useful as a bucket full of holes, but under the hood things looked much better. Had 7 K in just 2.2 IP with just under a 38 CSW%. It’s all gucci.
Carlos Estevez added 2 SV with mid ratios. Kinda his MO at this point.
Ryan Helsley collected 2 SV while striking out 3 in 2 IP. Very healthy 20 SwStr% and 31.4 CSW%. Hasn’t been the prettiest start to a campaign for him, but I reckon more weeks like this are ahead.
Aroldis Chapman had 2 SV and 3 K. The discouraging news is that his 17.6 CSW% was…bad. That’s a really bad number. But anywho, nice to see him picking up some saves finally, eh?
Trevor Megill also had 2 SV, striking out 2 in 2 IP. Called/swinging strikes were on point. Been a fan of this guy for quite a while now.
Ryan Walker is on very thin ice as far as I’m concerned. Posted an 11.57 ERA and 3.00 WHIP this week. Having a real hard time replicating last year’s dominance. Maybe his job ain’t in jeopardy yet, but Camilo Doval is looking way better.
Jordan Leasure had himself a good week despite earning a loss: 2 HLD, -0.89 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, 4 K, 50 K-BB%, 24.1 SwStr%, and 41.4 CSW%. You gotta be real hard up to consider this guy, but I’m just giving the guy his weekly due. Not only does he pitch for the White Sox, he’s not the most consistent pardner out there.
Dylan Lee added 2 HLD (and 1 BS) this week, striking out 6 in 3 IP. Metrics were delightful. Really like this guy as a sneakier SVHD source ROS.
Robert Suarez finally had his first blowup of the year. Ah well, all good things come to an end. Can’t wait for the “Jeremiah Estrada When?!” headlines.
Porter Hodge has both disappointed and delighted me. The former because I expected a potentially top tier type of season from him, the latter because as a Cards fan I just gotta soak up any Cubs demise I can. Hodge looks pretty bad right now. I can’t recommend dropping, but I do recommend benching until the weather clears.
Drew Pomeranz always finds a way to be on the fringe of relevancy. Here he is again after tallying 1 SV and 1 HLD this week, striking out 4 in 3.1 IP. I’ll say the same thing I’ve pretty much always said about Pomz: I like him if he’s healthy, but I don’t expect him to be healthy for long.
Danny Coulombe deserves more than 4 SVHD so far in 2025. Dude has been so good, so quietly. My RP-only team isn’t doing as well as I’d hoped, but I was bang-on for drafting Coulombe late at least. Being the only lefty in a bullpen really caps the consistent SVHD opps, sadly. Picked up 1 W and 1 SV this week, striking out 8 in 4 IP. Not usually a strikeout guy, but he should keep your ratios in check if you can afford a depth RP.
Jordan Romano has looked much better the last couple weeks: 1 SV, 1 HLD, 0.00 ERA, 1.11 FIP, 0.75 WHIP, 26.7 K-BB%, 10 SwStr%, and 32 CSW% over the last 14 days. That save came this week in a game where Jose Alvarado converted a hold opp in the 8th. Might have ourselves a split gig again.
David Bednar had 1 HLD and 1 L, so SV-only owners are probably grumbling again. But I wanted to point out his 7 K in 3.2 walkless IP. Robust 38.5 CSW%, too. His last two weeks look like this: 2.70 ERA, 0.41 FIP, 1.05 WHIP, 9 K, 32.1 K-BB%, 13.3 SwStr%, and 36.2 CSW%.
Injury Updates:
Evan Phillips has elbow inflammation and is back on the IL. Dang. Just might be cooked after all.
Justin Martinez has been bullpen-ing and will be throwing in the Arizona Complex League if he ain’t already. Sounds like all systems go for now. Stay tuned.
Hunter Harvey rehabbed, but then felt sore and has been shut down. Ruh roh.
Ben Joyce moved to the 60-day IL. Oof.
Michel Otanez broke out a lil bit last year and has been rehabbing in Single and Triple A. Not the prettiest numbers but the important thing is he’s had no setbacks and he’s had 5 K in 4 IP. Bound to be some rust needing shedding.
Luke Jackson took a comebacker off his hand and hasn’t pitched. It’s a wee bit swollen; an IL stint is up in the air.
Chris Martin left his most recent outing with dreaded elbow tightness. Ruh roh. I never like the sound of anything related to a pitching elbow.
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 ELL teacher (formerly a regular 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.
