SAGNOF: Kenley Blandsen

What’s poppin, Razzpimples?!

Remember to bookmark that Razzball Bullpen Chart, y’all! I update it obsessively.

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Let’s do it to it.

Note: All stats and Player Rater values are accurate through Sunday’s games.

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Player Rater Top 20 (5×5 Standard)

Player Rater Top 20 (6×6 w/ Holds)

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2024 SVHD Leaders

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Weekly Saves Leaders

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Weekly Holds Leaders

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Weekly Blown Saves Leaders :'(

Arizona Diamondbacks:

• Paul Sewald 2 SV. Pitched well. Ryan Thompson 2 HLD. Didn’t pitch as well, but good enough. Ginkel and Mantiply also had holds but didn’t impress otherwise. Martinez was pretty bad. I only care about Sewald. Wouldn’t bother rostering anyone else unless we’re talking deep NL-only.

Atlanta Braves:

• Joe Jimenez led the team with 3 SVHD. Vultured save and had a pair of holds. Raisel Iglesias 2 SV. Dark red metrics: 50 K%, 0 BB%, 33.3 SwStr%, and 47.6 CSW%. AJ Minter is rehabbing, so it’s only a matter of time before you probably want to plan on replacing your Jimenez shares.

Baltimore Orioles:

• Craig Kimbrel 1 W, 1 BS. He ain’t perfect, pards, and I challenge you to look in the mirruh and see perfection! I’ll hear no Kimbrel slander! Yennier Cano 1 HLD. Bad metrics. Hardly a whiff and 0 K. Not really his specialty, in fairness. Danny Coulombe hit the IL with elbow inflammation. I’m picturing lots of little Minesweeper red flags right now. IYKYK. If desperate for a secondary Orioles holds source, I’d look at Cionel Perez. Probably could do better.

Boston Red Sox:

• Kenley Jansen earned headline status this week, bustin out for 4 SV to lead everyone. I call him Kenley Blandsen cuz he gets the saves you want and really nothing else. Just one ding dang ol strikeout, but also no runs and 0.60 WHIP on the week. Justin Slaten 3 HLD, 4 K. Chris Martin 2 HLD, 3 K. Slaten started the year on fire, then sucked, and now he’s pitchin purty well again. Still like Martin best for holds ROS, but Slaten just might have a place in most SVHD leagues regardless if he keeps this up.

Chicago Cubs:

• Two saves this week from Cubbies relievers, and Hector Neris was neither of them. All he did was earn a BS and an L. It was Keegan Thompson and Colten Brewer getting the saves. I don’t give a soggy bail of hay about either of them yet but was impressed by Thompson’s 5 K and 0 ER (but also walked three). Tyson Miller had 1 W and 1 HLD, and Drew Smyly had 1 HLD, 3 K, and nice metrics. Y’all know them plastic bag fly traps where you add water to this funky powder and it smells somethin awful but attracts flies? That was Mark Leiter Jr. this week. I don’t know that I’d bother with a single arm back here if I could afford not to.

Chicago White Sox:

• John Brebbia 1 SV. Steven Wilson 1 HLD. Michael Kopech no decisions, 3 K, 0 ER, 1 BB in 2 IP. Good metrics. That’s really all I got to say about these guys. Wouldn’t want em on my teams, fantasy or real life.

Cincinnati Reds:

• Alexis Diaz 2 SV, 2 K, 0 ER, and some shade of red in every metric I track. Not bad. Fernando Cruz 2 HLD but 1:2 K:BB. No runs at least.

Cleveland Guardians:

• Emmanuel Clase 3 SV, 3 K, 0 ER. Y’all know how good he’s been. Harley sure does. Dunno if he bothers to read my stuff anymore, but “WOO PIG” if you’re reading, Mr. Earl! Cade Smith 3 HLD, while no one else had more than one. Hmm. He K’d 5 over 3.2 IP, allowing 1 H, 1 ER, 1 HR, and 2 BB. Scott Barlow didn’t even have a hold while there were a total of six to go around. Hmm again. Wouldn’t overreact to this yet, but I reckon it’s something to keep a corner of an eyeball on. Hunter Gaddis 1 HLD, 5 K, 0 ER, 0 BB. That’s the guy I want, pards. Been saying it for weeks.

Colorado Rockies:

• No saves this week for Coloraduh. Jalen Beeks is technically the most valuable with 2 W, but he sure wasn’t lights out. If Leiter was a plastic bag fly trap, Tyler Kinley was two of em side by side. Another situation I’m avoiding at all costs.

Detroit Tigers:

• Jason Foley 1 SV. No hits/runs/walks with 1 K in 1.1 IP. Good enough. Beyond that, don’t care about Tigers arms at the moment.

Houston Astros:

• Josh Hader 2 SV, 5 K, sizzling red on my spreadsheet. Midseason form for Mr. Hader. Finally doing what you paid the man to do. Bryan Abreu 1 SV, 2 HLD, and also a good amount of red. These two, when they’re cookin, are the finest sumbitches you could ever ask for to close out a ballgame. I’ll give Ryan Pressly a shoutout for 3 HLD. He’s got a place in most leagues that count holds, but Abreu’s my pride and joy.

Kansas City Royals:

• Vulture SV from Chris Stratton was the only one all week. Angel Zerpa got the HLD. Unbolded names tells you how much esteem I hold for them. John Schreiber made the naughty list with 1 BS and 1 L. James McArthur got a W, but it took a 4.00 WHIP to make it happen. No K either.

Los Angeles Angels:

• Carlos Estevez is a brand new man. The Wile E. Coyote TNT blast ain’t happened yet, which just makes me feel like it’s gonna be all the bigger when it finally does. He had 2 SV this week, with 3 K, elite whiffs, and high-end CSW%. Ain’t allowed a hit or walk since May 21. We’re closing in on a month of literal perfection. Maybe entertain the idea of selling high? Can’t shake the way he ended 2023. Luis Garcia 1 W, 1 HLD. But like I’ve been saying, I don’t really care who’s getting holds back there right now, cuz it doesn’t seem like anyone’s getting the lion’s share. Estevez has 14 SV, while Matt Moore leads the team with 9 HLD. Moore used to be good, but he ain’t got it anymore.

Los Angeles Dodgers:

• Evan Phillips 2 SV, 3 K, and a surprising dark red line across my sheet for metrics. Usually great with BB% and CSW%, but the strikeout/whiff prowess flashed this week. We’ll see if he can do that again. Alex Vesia 2 HLD, 4 K. Blake Treinen 1 HLD, 2 K.

Miami Marlins:

• Tanner Scott 1 W, 1 SV. Had 4 K and 0 ER, but he also walked three and allowed three hits. Whiffs were good and CSW% was above average, so I’m happy enough. Even during his roughest patch at the start of the year I was saying to hold tight and keep the faith. He’s pretty much delivered…as much as he can on this team, anyway.

Milwaukee Brewers:

• Trevor Megill 2 SV. Looked great. Bryan Hudson 1 HLD, 3 K. Looked purty good himself. That’s a nice duo. How many times have I said that? Feels like several. Devin Williams is ready for mound work. Then it’ll be lengthy rehab stint to get back into game shape. All goes to plan, we’re lookin at a latter half of July return.

Minnesota Twins:

• Only SV went to Griffin Jax. He also earned an L this week, but overall he looked great and remains a borderline elite SVHD piece. Jhoan Duran 1 W, 1 BS, 1 L. Did have 4 K and great metrics, so don’t be too shook up about it.

New York Mets:

• Edwin Diaz, on primetime television, got the boot for sticky stuff. Ruhhh rohhh. That’s an automatic 10-game suspension unless appealed. At the time of writing, I’ve seen no indication there will be an appeal, so I’d plan for him to ride your bench or IL+ or whatever your league accommodates. Don’t go dropping him, now. That’s just foolish. In the meantime, I’d wager Reed Garrett gets the primary save chances — had 1 W, 1 HLD, and 2 K this week without allowing a run. Jake Diekman got the SV after Diaz got booted, so he may factor into the mix. Been super up and down, which is really what his whole career has looked like. Dedniel Nunez has the best stuff and has been mostly awesome since he’s become a regular in the pen. I reckon he might get a stab at it. If not save chances, then surely hold chances. So in SV-only, add Garrett. In SVHD, add either Garrett or Nunez.

New York Yankees:

• Clay Holmes 1 L. Did have good metrics and a 3:0 K:BB, but then again also coughed up 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, and 1 HR. Seems like every closer goes through a dry spell. This is Holmes’s. Not a single SVHD for the Yanks all week. Tommy Kahnle looked the best: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, -1.14 FIP, 27.5 SwStr%, and 42.5 CSW%.

Oakland A’s:

• Mason Miller 2 SV, 4 K, 1 BB, 0 ER. Had the whiffs and elite CSW%. Yeehaw, pards! That young’n is gunslingin once again! Said last week it felt like he was in a weird spot where both selling and buying made sense. Kinda still feel that way. There were four holds from four different dudes and Lucas Erceg wasn’t one of them. That’s annoying.

Philadelphia Phillies:

• Zero SVHD in Philly this week. Ouch. Only positive decision was a win from Jeff Hoffman. There was also a negative decision, a loss charged to Orion Kerkering. Both Jose Alvarado and Matt Strahm pitched very well when they got the call, so at least there’s that.

Pittsburgh Pirates:

• David Bednar earned a couple saves…and also a trip to the injured list. His side is buggin him. That’s never fun to hear from a baseball player. Aroldis Chapman has to be considered the lead replacement. Had 1 SV and 1 HLD this week. His strikeout upside is still up there with the very best, but sadly his walk rate is up there with the very worst. In SV-only, you gotta go get him and pray real hard. Like on your knees, elbows on the bed, hands clasped, and eyes squinted shut so hard you can’t see straight when you open em again. Colin Holderman is the guy to add for SVHD — 1 W, 2 HLD, 4 K this week. Did earn a loss, too.

San Diego Padres:

• Robert Suarez 2 SV, 1 BS, 1 L. Not his best, but it was fine enough I guess. Lots of holds to go around. Only pard I care about is Jeremiah Estrada. 1 W, 1 HLD, 1 BS, 9 K. In 3 IP!! That’s every out via strikeout if you’re keepin tabs at home. Ridiculodonkulous 31 SwStr% and 43.1 CSW%. Yeah, I don’t really care about the ratios if I’m getting a win, a SVHD, and 9 K from an RP in a given week. Of course I realize you can’t count on RP wins, I’m just sayin.

Seattle Mariners:

• Andres Munoz 1 SV. Kept runs off the board and only allowed a couple hits to no walks. Ryne Stanek 1 HLD, 5 K. Fantastic metrics as well. He’s one rootin tootin buckaroo right now: 1 W, 4 SVHD, 0 ER, and 8:1 K:BB over his last two weeks, and the metrics back it all up.

San Francisco Giants:

• Camilo Doval 1 SV. Pitched one single inning all week, but it was good’n. Whiffs and called strikes galore even if there was only 1 K to show for it. No one got a hold. Pound for pound, Ryan Walker had the best week, earning a -0.02 SIERA while striking out three in 2 IP.

St. Louis Cardinals:

• Ryan Helsley 2 SV, 4 K. Also ridiculodonkulous whiff rate and CSW%, almost identical to Estrada’s. Bang for my fantasy buck, Ryan Helsley is my #1 RP. Pretty much said he probably would be in preseason. You got him in the middle rounds and you’ve got the league leader in saves (and SVHD, at that) with near-elite ratios and good K. Not the elite K I would have figured, but still. He’s basically heavily-discounted Clase with merely good ratios, while Clase’s are disgustingly (and probably unsustainably) absurd. JoJo Romero and Andrew Kittredge each had 2 HLD and 1 BS. Kittredge also earned a win. Romero frankly looked terrible (27.00 ERA, 4.50 WHIP). Clearly not 100%. Whether that’s a lurking injury or dead arm, I haven’t the slightest. I’m giving him a little more time, but I’m not gonna hesitate to drop if we get another stinker of a week. Ryan Fernandez isn’t exactly lights out, but he does have 5 HLD over the last two weeks. He’s been Mariano Rivera relative to JoJo lately.

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Pete Fairbanks 1 W, 1 SV, 1 BS, 1 L. Had good stuff going for the most part, so I’m not sweatin 1 HR. Jason Adam 1 W, 1 HLD. The rest of this pen is pretty good but too messy for fantasy purposes. Poche can work depending on format and league size and whatnot.

Texas Rangers: 

• Kirby Yates 1 SV, 1 L. Looked mighty fine, though. K’d 4 and had great whiffs. David Robertson 2 HLD, 6 K, 41.7 CSW%. Looking like he’s turned back the clock a decade or two.

Toronto Blue Jays: 

• Jordan Romano was sounding like he was inching closer to rehab, and then he started to feel soreness in his elbow again. Been entirely shut down from throwing. No bueno, folks. I just gotta wonder if a very lengthy absence is ahead. Chad Green is the SV-only guy I’d get, as long as Yimi remains out. Nate Pearson probably takes a jump to must-own status in most SVHD formats. Had had the only SVHD all week, striking out three in 1.2 scoreless. Going back over his last 16.1 IP, he’s allowed just 5 ER and has a 23:5 K:BB. Granted, that’s not all high-leverage work.

Washington Nationals:

• Kyle Finnegan 2 SV, 1 BS, 1 L. Had a dud outing; he’ll do that from time to time. You need to get ready to sell high on this feller. He’s flown up rankings and Player Raters and what have you. Fantasy stock and real-life stock are sky high. Very high possibility he gets traded somewhere, and there aren’t hardly any situations where he doesn’t take a big hit. I could see maybe the Royals wanting him. Probably closes in that case. Maybe the Cubs want him, as they’ve blown more saves than some teams have even converted. Could also close there. I’m just a-speculatin. Anywho, only other guy who matters here is of course Hunter Harvey. Had 2 HLD this week. If you can afford to stash a potential handcuff closer, he’s the one.

 

 

That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading. Leave me a comment below so I feel all warm and fuzzy.

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