Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza

Yankees right-hander Paul Blackburn, the #1 AL Setup Man in the Week 21 Reliever Rankings

Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images

August 28, 2026

Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza, Week 21 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 August 26, the league-wide AL ERA was 4.15. 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 4.17. As for the rest of the stats, statistics are up to the end of play on Wednesday, August 26 unless otherwise noted, are for relief appearances only, and exclude position pitchers.

To the reader: we use some statistics you 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 — 1.319 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 13.0 K–BB%, 70.8 ScOtg% (ER), 2.8 GE/BE, 3.8 GE, 30.7 IS%.
NL — 1.316 WHIP, 2.7 HR%, 12.6 K–BB%, 70.8 ScOtg% (ER), 3.0 GE/BE, 3.6 GE, 32.4 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 merely protect the lead — it shuts the door, throws the deadbolt, and walks away with the key.

Door Slam Table

Door Slams by team, through Week 21. 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 Aug 26.

Door Slam Totals

Here is the list of each team’s Door Slam totals at the end of Week 21. At this point, the Pirates and Nationals had played 135 games, and the Yankees had played 132 games. The other 27 teams had played either 134 or 133 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, August 26, were the Cincinnati Reds, with 12. In second place were the Milwaukee Brewers, with 11. The Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers were tied for third with ten each. Seven teams had nine each: the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers. Four teams had eight Goose Eggs each: the Athletics, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals, and Toronto Blue Jays. Three teams had seven each: the Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins. One team — the New York Yankees — had six Door Slams.

Four teams had five door slams each: the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, and San Diego Padres. An additional four teams had four each: the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and Tampa Bay Rays. The Washington Nationals had two. Finally, two teams still had one each: the Los Angeles Angels and San Francisco Giants.

Door Slam Summary

In summary, over the first 21 weeks of the season, there were 205 total Door Slams league‑wide. The Reds led the pack with 12, followed by the Brewers with 11. Five teams were tied for the American League lead with nine each: the Red Sox, White Sox, Astros, Mariners, and Rangers. Splitting it up by league, the National League had 103 Door Slams; the American League had 102.

Week 21 Team Relief Corps Power Rankings

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 August 26. 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.

As for the numbers or letters in parentheses, the first number is the team’s overall score. The second is that team’s change in ranking since Week 20. “N.C.” means “no change.”

Biggest Gains:

Boston Red Sox (+6)
Pittsburgh Pirates (+4)
Cleveland Guardians (+3)

Biggest Plunges:

Houston Astros (-9)
Miami Marlins, New York Mets (-4)

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

Through end of play Aug 26. 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 21 Individual Reliever Power Rankings

Statistics include every regular-season game up through the end of play on August 26. To qualify for the rankings, there is a minimum of 26 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 13 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.

Also of note: since the Trade Deadline has passed, there are several players in the leaderboards who have played on more than one team. Their scores are based on their combined totals for the whole season.

AL Middle/Long Relievers

10. Seranthony Domínguez (CHW/SEA) — 9.2
9. Michael Rucker (SEA) — 10.1
8. Mason Fluharty (TOR) — 11.5
7. Garrett Cleavinger (TB) — 11.6
6. Jovani Morán (BOS) — 13.3
5. Gabe Speier (SEA) — 18.3
4. Paul Sewald (ARI/TOR) — 19.5
3. Colin Holderman (CLE) — 26.9
2. Drew Sommers (DET) — 34.3
1. Cam Booser (TB) — 35.3

NL Middle/Long Relievers

10. Yuki Matsui (SD) — 10.9
9. Lake Bachar (MIA/PIT) — 11.4
8. Tim Mayza (PHL) — 12.9
7. Tejay Antone (CIN) — 16.2
6. Jonathan Loáisiga (ARI) — 16.2
5. Ryan Zeferjahn (LAA/CHC) — 16.7
4. Alex Vesia (LAD) — 17.5
3. Jack Dreyer (LAD) — 22.3
2. Brooks Raley (NYM/PHL) — 25.0
1. Dylan Dodd (ATL) — 25.9

AL Setup Men

10. Kevin Kelly (TB) — 91.2
9. Hunter Gaddis (CLE) — 93.4
8. Brent Headrick (NYY) — 94.0
7. Steven Okert (HOU) — 97.9
6. Sean Newcomb (CHW) — 103.6
5. Bryan Hudson (CHW) — 115.5
4. Grant Taylor (CHW) — 160.3
3. Erik Miller (SF/BOS) — 161.6
2. Tyler Rogers (TOR) — 173.8
1. Paul Blackburn (NYY) — 194.8

NL Setup Men

10. Michael Petersen (MIA) — 71.4
9. Brandyn Garcia (ARI) — 73.7
8. Ryne Stanek (STL) — 76.6
7. Didier Fuentes (ATL) — 80.3
6. Aaron Ashby (MIL) — 98.2
5. Dylan Lee (ATL) — 98.2
4. Juan Morillo (ARI) — 125.8
3. Gregory Soto (PIT) — 154.3
2. Adrián Morejón (SD) — 188.6
1. Luke Weaver (NYM/PIT) — 192.2

AL Closers

We’ll include #6-#8, since all of them also broke 100.

8. Yoendrys Gómez (MIN) — 100.7
7. Aroldis Chapman (BOS) — 117.2
6. Bryan Baker (TB) — 141.5
5. Jacob Latz (TEX) — 151.1
4. Louis Varland (TOR) — 159.1
3. Cade Smith (CLE) — 179.9
2. David Bednar (NYY) — 194.8
1. Josh Hader (HOU) — 334.8

NL Closers

We’ll include #6-#8, since all of them also broke 100.

8. Jacob Webb (CHC) — 100.9
7. Emilio Pagán (CIN) — 114.1
6. Jhoan Duran (PHL) — 126.1
5. Riley O’Brien (STL) — 139.6
4. Tanner Scott (LAD) — 140.9
3. Mason Montgomery (PIT) — 162.5
2. Trevor Megill (MIL) — 169.7
1. Mason Miller (SD) — 447.7

League Averages

AL — 1.319 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 13.0 K–BB%, 70.8 ScOtg% (ER), 2.8 GE/BE, 3.8 GE, 30.7 IS%.
NL — 1.316 WHIP, 2.7 HR%, 12.6 K–BB%, 70.8 ScOtg% (ER), 3.0 GE/BE, 3.6 GE, 32.4 IS%.