Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza

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July 27, 2026

Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza, Week 16 Rankings

Welcome to Reliever Roundup and Bullpen Bonanza! These analyses and rankings take it to a different level than the other reliever rankings and coverage you’ve seen. We will separate our rankings by closers, setup men, and middle relievers. (We aren’t going to worry about ranking long relievers; instead, we’ll lump them in with the middle relievers.)

Statistics are up to the end of play on Wednesday, July 22 unless otherwise noted and exclude position pitchers.

To the reader: we use some statistics you do might not recognize. To help you out, we have a glossary page. Furthermore, if a stat name is linked, click/tap it to see, in a new tab, the definition of that stat.

Click/tap here to see the ranking method.

Away we go!

Deadbolt Delivered

First, we will honor the relief units that slammed the door and threw away the key. Here are the updated totals for Door Slams!

To get a Door Slam, a team must close out the game with at least three consecutive Goose Eggs. This string must be completely uninterrupted — there cannot be any Broken Eggs in there, there cannot be any Mehs in there, and there can’t be any situation where the score differential is such that the pitcher doesn’t get any of the three. It must be Goose Egg-Goose Egg-Goose Egg. Bang, bang, bang. At least three in a row.

Why is this important? If a team gets a door slam, they completely shut the opponent down en route to a narrow victory. When the last outs are on the line, it’s lockdown only. The Door Slam celebrates those nights when the back end doesn’t just protect the lead — it shuts the door, throws the deadbolt, and walks away with the key.

Door Slam Totals

Here is the list of each team’s Door Slam totals at the end of Week 16. At this point, the Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros had each played 104 games, and the remaining 28 teams had played between 101 and 103 games. As you can see from the numbers here, Door Slams are not easy to get and are not common. They aren’t un-common — we typically get at least one per day — but they aren’t common, either.

Door Slams by team, Week 16. A Door Slam is defined as a game that ends with a team getting three or more consecutive Goose Eggs without interruption of any kind. Statistics run through the end of play on July 22.

Door Slam Summary

The leaders in all of Major League Baseball at the end of play on Wednesday, July 22, were the Cincinnati Reds, with nine. In second place were the Seattle Mariners with eight. Four teams had seven Goose Eggs each: the Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and St. Louis Cardinals. Eight teams had six door slams each: the Athletics, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, and Toronto Blue Jays. Three teams each had five door slams: the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Guardians, and Houston Astros. Six teams each had four: the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, and San Diego Padres.

A pair of teams had three each: the Baltimore Orioles and Minnesota Twins. The Tampa Bay Rays were the only team with two. Finally, four teams had one each: the Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, and Washington Nationals.

In summary, over the first 16 weeks of the season, there were 144 total Door Slams league‑wide. The Reds led the pack with nine, followed by the Mariners with eight. The Mariners also led the American League. Splitting it up by league, the National League had 76 Door Slams; the American League had 68.

Week 16 Team Relief Corps Power Rankings

Now it is time for the team relief corps power rankings for Week 16. These rankings include every pitch thrown in relief by a player wearing their team’s uniform — excluding position players — through the end of play on July 22. This table shows the scoring breakdown. Teams are ranked in Clutch, Run Prevention, Baserunner Prevention, and Command, weighted as shown.

The final score determines the ranking. Zero means right at league average. Positive is better than average, negative is below average. A score of 100 means the team is 100% better than league average; a score of 50 is 50% better; a score of -50 is 50% lower, and so on. Each whole number equals one percentage point.

Here’s a look at this week’s Scatter Plot.

Through end of play July 22. Chart, rankings, and ranking methods created by Evan M. Thompson.

And the line graph of every team’s rankings in the season so far, week by week.

Week 16 Individual Power Rankings

Here are the Individual Power Rankings for Week 16. Statistics include every regular-season game up through the end of play on July 22. To qualify for the rankings, there is a minimum of 21 relief appearances, and for the GE/BE-plus statistic, which forms 2/3 of the “Clutch” category we use to rate setup men and closers, there is a minimum of 10 GE+BE. A note on the roles: if a team is using Co-Closers, we list both as closers. If it is “Closer by Committee,” we list all members of that committee as setup men.

AL Middle Relievers

#10: Ian Seymour (TB) — 10.0
#9: Steven Cruz (KCR) — 11.8
#8: Eduard Bazardo (SEA) — 13.7
#7: José Fermin (LAA) — 14.0
#6: Grant Wolfram (BAL) — 14.5
#5: Gabe Speier (SEA) — 15.5
#4: Jovani Morán (BOS) — 19.7
#3: Spencer Miles (TOR) — 20.0
#2: Erik Sabrowski (CLE) — 20.8
#1: Yennier Cano (BAL) — 23.0

NL Middle Relievers

#10: Ryan Thompson (ARI) — 12.0
#9: Edgardo Henriquez (LAD) — 19.1
#8: Jack Dreyer (LAD) — 20.4
#7: Huascar Brazobán (NYM) — 20.9
#6: Juan Morillo (ARI) — 21.6
#5: Brennan Bernardino (COL) — 24.6
#4: Jonathan Bowlan (PHL) — 25.2
#3: A.J. Minter (NYM) — 29.7
#2: Dylan Dodd (ATL) — 30.0
#1: Brandyn Garcia (ARI) — 53.8

AL Setup Men

#10: Sam Bachman (LAA) — 106.7
#9: Hunter Gaddis (CLE) — 107.0
#8: Rico Garcia (BAL) — 110.0
#7: Brent Headrick (NYY) — 116.8
#6: Tyler Rogers (TOR) — 124.7
#5: Daniel Lynch IV (KCR) — 125.8
#4: Grant Taylor (CHW) — 142.4
#3: Bryan Hudson (CHW) — 166.2
#2: Garrett Whitlock (BOS) — 171.4
#1: Steven Okert (HOU) — 179.4

NL Setup Men

#10: Jacob Webb (CHC) — 62.9
#9: Aaron Ashby (MIL) — 77.3
#8: Brooks Raley (NYM) — 80.3
#7: Dylan Lee (ATL) — 87.5
#6: Orion Kerkering (PHL) — 92.8
#5: Michael Petersen (MIA) — 95.5
#4: Brock Burke (CIN) — 104.1
#3: Abner Uribe (MIL) — 113.5
#2: Adrián Morejón (SD) — 124.7
#1: Luke Weaver (NYM) — 297.2

AL Closers

#5: Bryan Baker (TB) — 102.4
#4: David Bednar (NYY) — 115.4
#3: Jacob Latz (TEX) — 141.0
#2: Louis Varland (TOR) — 145.7
#1: Cade Smith (CLE) — 171.5

NL Closers

#5: Jhoan Duran (PHL) — 122.6
#4: Riley O’Brien (STL) — 134.9
#3: Tanner Scott (LAD) — 140.5
#2: Gregory Soto (PIT) — 156.0
#1: Mason Miller (SD) — 331.2

League Averages

AL — 1.324 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 12.8 K–BB%, 70.4 ScOtg% (ER), 2.7 GE/BE, 3.25 GE, 30.5 IS%.
NL — 1.322 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 12.6 K–BB%, 70.7 ScOtg% (ER), 3.1 GE/BE, 3.1 GE, 31.8 IS%.