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 20 (5×5 Standard)
Player Rater Top 20 (6×6 w/ Holds)
2025 Leaders
Weekly Leaders
Weekly Losers
Weekly Notes:
Arizona Diamondbacks:
Justin Martinez is officially donezo. Slated for surgery. Probably won’t see him until July or August 2026. Huge bummer. Shelby Miller is the only guy I’d tussle with in most formats…1 SV and 2 K this week; great metrics.
Athletics of Sacramento?:
Mason Miller 1 W, 1 SV, 5 K. That’s more like it, bucko! No else did anything I care to mention.
Atlanta Braves:
Raisel Iglesias 1 HLD. Yep, one hold! Fun. It was a good inning of work at least. No other SVHD from a Brave this week.
Baltimore Orioles:
Felix Bautista 2 SV, 3 K. Bryan Baker led the team with 3 HLD, striking out 3. Dominant stuff according to the metrics. Gregory Soto 1 HLD, 4 K. Andrew Kittredge 1 HLD, 1 K.
Boston Red Sox:
Bunch of saves this week from Boston, and three dudes were in on the action: Aroldis Chapman (2 SV, 5 K), Greg Weissert (2 SV, 2 HLD, 2 K), and Garrett Whitlock (1 W, 1 SV, 1 HLD for the trifecta, 6 K). Justin Wilson had 3 HLD and 4 K. Viable in a deeper format but I don’t think we get regular weeks like this from that guy.
Chicago Cubs:
Daniel Palencia 1 SV, 1 HLD, 4 K. Ryan Pressly 1 SV, 1 HLD, 4 K as well. Palencia’s WHIP was about half of Pressly’s, and Pressly had some boring af metrics. Porter Hodge is rehabbing in AAA, so a return in imminent barring a setback. Any Pressly owner remembers his 5 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 1 BB performance back on May 6. But you might not realize he hasn’t given up another ER since then…and if you erase that game, he’s had 0 ER in his other previous 26 outings. That’s actually incredible. The dude has only given up an earned run in three outings total. I still think he’s crazy boring, and his H/9 is an even 9.0 since his 8 ER debacle. But he still deserves some credit for being mostly very effective for the majority of 2025.
Chicago White Sox:
Brandon Eisert 1 SV, 1 K. Cam Booser 1 HLD, 0 K.
Cincinnati Reds:
Emilio Pagan 1 HLD, 1 K. Laaaame. No other SVHD to speak of.
Cleveland Guardians:
Cade Smith, Matt Festa, and Hunter Gaddis all had 1 HLD. Smith and Festa (3 and 4 K, respectively) impressed the most. Emmanuel Clase earned a BS+L.
Colorado Rockies:
Another trifecta alert! Seth Halvorsen with 1 W, 1 SV, and 1 HLD. Struck out 3. Jake Bird finally made it onto my roster after weeks of hesitation only to cough up two blown saves with ratio-wrecking outings. Did have 7 K at least. Metrics were also very strong, so I’m gonna keep on keepin’ on with him for now.
Detroit Tigers:
Will Vest 2 SV, 1 BS, 1 L, 4 K. Left his last outing with a pinky injury. Haven’t seen an update since, so stay tuned for any news there. Hoping it’s not serious. Tommy Kahnle 1 HLD, 1 K. Same for Tyler Holton.
Houston Astros:
Josh Hader with yet another damn near perfect week: 2 W, 1 SV, 5 K, 45.5 K-BB% (zero walks), 23.4 SwStr%, and 38.3 CSW%. Doesn’t get much better than that, pardner. Bryan Abreu 1 HLD, 1 L, 4 K.
Kansas City Royals:
Good news, Lucas Erceg is back! Bad news, promptly took a loss. Still gotta like him ROS. Carlos Estevez also took a loss.
Los Angeles Angels:
Two saves from Angels this week and neither went to Kenley Jansen. Fun times. He did have 5 K and baller metrics at least. Reid Detmers got one of the saves and also snagged a dub, striking out 5. Hunter Strickland picked up the other, randomly. Ryan Zeferjahn had 1 W and 1 HLD, striking out 2.
Los Angeles Dodgers:
Ahhhhh one of those infuriating weeks from Dave Roberts, giving a combination of 3 SV and 10 HLD to six different pitchers. Kirby Yates, Tanner Scott, and Alex Vesia all had 1 SV and 2 HLD apiece. Michael Kopech had 2 HLD. Then Jacob Dreyer and Anthony Banda each had 1 HLD. Yates/Scott/Vesia all looked real damn good. Vesia K’d 5 in 2.2 IP, and Scott K’d 5 in 3 IP with 25.7 SwStr%.
Miami Marlins:
Calvin Faucher 3 SV, 2 K. Not a bad cheap source of saves at all. Anthony Bender had 3 HLD, while Ronny Henriquez had 2 HLD but awful, awful ratios (11.57 ERA, 3.43 WHIP). Bender wasn’t much better, and Henriquez did at least have nice swing-and-miss stuff going on.
Milwaukee Brewers:
Trevor Megill 3 SV, 7 K. Grody stuff this week. Should be a stud ROS. Abner Uribe 3 HLD, 3 K. Expected him to have imploded by now, and he just won’t let it happen. Been a waiver gem thus far in 2025.
Minnesota Twins:
Jhoan Duran BS+L with 3 K. Only holds went to Brock Stewart and Louis Varland. Despite no decisions, Griffin Jax stood out with 5 K in just 2 IP (33.3 SwStr%, 50 CSW%).
New York Mets:
Edwin Diaz 1 SV, 2 K. Reed Garrett 1 W, 1 K. Nothing else worthwhile happened here.
New York Yankees:
Devin Williams 2 SV, 3 K. Love that 24.3 SwStr%. Jonathan Loaisiga 1 HLD, 1 L, 4 K. I’d say he’s maybe worth a look in deeper formats, but Luke Weaver seems to be recovering well from his hamstring injury and shouldn’t be far away.
Philadelphia Phillies:
Matt Strahm 1 SV, 1 HLD, 1 K. Didn’t have his best stuff going. Orion Kerkering 1 W, 1 SV, 2 K. Could be factoring into the saves mix moving forward…keep an eye on it. Jordan Romano 1 HLD, 3 K.
Pittsburgh Pirates:
David Bednar 2 SV, 3 K. Did take a loss but meh. Man’s been almost at his peak since his lil demotion. Dennis Santana 1 W, 1 HLD, 1 BS, 3 K.
San Diego Padres:
Robert Suarez took an ugly loss, only managing 0.1 IP this week. Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada each had 1 HLD and 2 K. Estrada struggled with command.
Seattle Mariners:
No SVHD in Seattle this week. Andres Munoz saw no action at all. Sad emoji.
San Francisco Giants:
Camilo Doval 1 SV, 0 K. Tyler Rogers, Ryan Walker, and Erik Miller each had 1 HLD. Walker struck out 5. Doval clearly didn’t have the goods. Command was an issue and he failed to record a strikeout.
St. Louis Cardinals:
Only two holds from a Cardinal this week, with Phil Maton and JoJo Romero each converting their opps. Ryan Helsley pitched an inning and K’d a pair.
Tampa Bay Rays:
Pete Fairbanks 1 SV, 1 K. Garrett Cleavinger 2 HLD, 1 K. Edwin Uceta and Mason Montgomery each with 1 HLD. Three of Uceta’s five outs were via strikeout.
Texas Rangers:
Luke Jackson 1 SV, 2 HLD, 3 K. Pitching better of late but I still don’t have high expectations ROS. Could mayhap prove me wrong. Robert Garcia 1 SV, 1 BS, 2 K. Chris Martin 1 HLD, 2 K. Martin hasn’t allowed an ER in nine straight outings, and he’s only given up 4 all year, with a sexy 26:3 K:BB in 22.1 IP (two of those walks were intentional).
Toronto Blue Jays:
Jeff Hoffman 1 SV, 0 K. Only pitched 0.1 IP. Yariel Rodriguez had the other Toronto save, striking out 2 in 2.1 IP. Brendon Little earned a hold with 3 K.
Washington Nationals:
Brad Lord earned 2 HLD, striking out 4 across 6 bulk IP. I guess in a format where bulk relievers can help you, he’s an okay option. Wasn’t anything to write home about for the first several weeks of the season, but since May 15 he’s only allowed 2 ER and struck out 17 in 19 IP. Kyle Finnegan blew a couple saves and got stuck with a loss.
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.
