Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza

Josh Hader of the Astros, who led the AL Closers in the Week 17 Reliever Rankings

Photo by Ross Turteltaub/Getty Images

July 31, 2026

Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza, Week 17 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.)

For reference, at the end of play on July 29, the league-wide AL ERA was 4.16. This is for every pitch thrown by any player from an American League team. For the National League — over the same span and within the same parameters — it was 4.23. As for the rest of the stats, statistics are up to the end of play on Wednesday, July 29 unless otherwise noted, are for relief appearances only, 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.

League Averages:
AL — 1.318 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 12.9 K–BB%, 70.6 ScOtg% (ER), 2.7 GE/BE, 3.5 GE, 30.9 IS%.
NL — 1.325 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 12.6 K–BB%, 70.6 ScOtg% (ER), 3.1 GE/BE, 3.3 GE, 32.0 IS%.

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

Door Slams by team, Week 17. 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 29.

Door Slam Summation

Here is the list of each team’s Door Slam totals at the end of Week 17. At this point, the Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros had each played 110 games, and the remaining 28 teams had played between 107 and 109 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.

The leaders in all of Major League Baseball at the end of play on Wednesday, July 29, were the Cincinnati Reds, with 10. In second place were the Atlanta Braves and Seattle Mariners, in a tie, with eight each. Seven teams had seven Goose Eggs each: the Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, St Louis Cardinals, and Toronto Blue Jays. An additional seven had six door slams each: Cleveland Guardians, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Texas Rangers.

Three teams had five door slams each: the Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins, and San Diego Padres. Four teams had four each: the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, and Philadelphia Phillies. The Baltimore Orioles had three Door Slams. The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays were the only teams with two. Finally, three teams had one each: the Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants, and Washington Nationals.

In summary, over the first 17 weeks of the season, there were 158 total Door Slams league‑wide. The Reds led the pack with ten, followed by the Braves and Mariners with eight each. The Mariners also led the American League. Splitting it up by league, the National League had 81 Door Slams; the American League had 77.

Week 17 Team Relief Corps Power Rankings

Now it is time for the team relief corps power rankings for Week 17. 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 29. 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. You’ll notice there were some areas that clustered up this week.

Through end of play July 29. 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 17 Individual Power Rankings

Here are the Individual Power Rankings for Week 17. Statistics include every regular-season game up through the end of play on July 29. To qualify for the rankings, there is a minimum of 22 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 11 GE+BE. This week, Josh Hader and Emilio Pagan will seem to have suddenly appeared out of nowhere. There is a simple and innocent reason, though — they now enough appearances to qualify for the leaderboards.

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.

Also of note: if someone’s role has recently shifted, such as a middle man being moved to setup or closing, we kept him as a middle reliever if his GE+BE is too low for him to get a rating in GE/BE-plus. (Example: Brandyn Garcia)

AL Middle/Long Relievers

10. Trevor Richards (CHW) — 12.3
9. Ian Seymour (TB) — 13.5
8. José Fermin (LAA) — 13.5
7. Grant Wolfram (BAL) — 17.8
6. Rico Garcia (BAL) — 18.9
5. Erik Sabrowski (CLE) — 19.7
4. Spencer Miles (TOR) — 20.7
3. Gabe Speier (SEA) — 21.3
2. Jovani Morán (BOS) — 22.7
1. Tyron Guerrero (BOS) — 40.7

NL Middle/Long Relievers

10. Taylor Clarke (ARI) — 12.3
9. Jack Dreyer (LAD) — 17.6
8. Edgardo Henriquez (LAD) — 17.7
7. Huascar Brazobán (NYM) — 23.1
6. Brennan Bernardino (COL) — 24.7
5. John King (MIA) — 25.6
4. Alex Vesia (LAD) — 25.8
3. A.J. Minter (NYM) — 26.1
2. Dylan Dodd (ATL) — 28.8
1. Brandyn Garcia (ARI) — 51.1

AL Setup Men

10. Bryan Hudson (CHW) — 81.9
9. Hunter Gaddis (CLE) — 90.4
8. Kevin Kelly (TB) — 91.2
7. Sam Bachman (LAA) — 94.8
6. Daniel Lynch IV (KCR) — 126.1
5. Brent Headrick (NYY) — 130.0
4. Tyler Rogers (TOR) — 132.7
3. Garrett Whitlock (BOS) — 141.4
2. Grant Taylor (CHW) — 158.6
1. Steven Okert (HOU) — 220.3

NL Setup Men

10. Jacob Webb (CHC) — 75.0
9. Dylan Lee (ATL) — 81.6
8. Michael Petersen (MIA) — 90.6
7. Orion Kerkering (PHL) — 103.7
6. Juan Morillo (ARI) — 104.1
5. Abner Uribe (MIL) — 107.4
4. Adrián Morejón (SD) — 136.1
3. Tanner Scott (LAD) — 139.0
2. Brock Burke (CIN) — 145.7
1. Luke Weaver (NYM) — 303.5

AL Closers

We’ll include #6 and #7 also, since they both broke 100.

7. Bryan Baker (TB) — 102.3
6. Aroldis Chapman (BOS) — 111.0
5. David Bednar (NYY) — 125.2
4. Jacob Latz (TEX) — 130.4
3. Louis Varland (TOR) — 161.5
2. Cade Smith (CLE) — 176.6
1. Josh Hader (HOU) — 240.4

NL Closers

5. Mason Montgomery (PIT) — 107.0
4. Trevor Megill (MIL) — 107.8
3. Riley O’Brien (STL) — 134.4
2. Gregory Soto (PIT) — 166.6
1. Mason Miller (SD) — 352.3

League Averages

AL — 1.318 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 12.9 K–BB%, 70.6 ScOtg% (ER), 2.7 GE/BE, 3.5 GE, 30.9 IS%.
NL — 1.325 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 12.6 K–BB%, 70.6 ScOtg% (ER), 3.1 GE/BE, 3.3 GE, 32.0 IS%.