Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza

Mason Montgomery of the Pirates celebrating a win. Montgomery finished as the #2 NL Closer for Week 23 in the Reliever Roundup and Bullpen Bonanza rankings.

Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images

September 12, 2026

Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza, Week 23 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 September 9, 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 4.20. As for the rest of the stats, statistics are up to the end of play on Wednesday, September 9 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 — 1.316 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 13.1 K–BB%, 71.0 ScOtg% (ER), 2.9 GE/BE, 3.9 GE, 30.5 IS%.
NL — 1.316 WHIP, 2.7 HR%, 12.7 K–BB%, 70.6 ScOtg% (ER), 3.0 GE/BE, 3.7 GE, 32.5 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 23. 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 Sept 9.

Door Slam Totals

Here is the list of each team’s Door Slam totals at the end of Week 23. At this point, the Nationals had played 148 games. The other 29 teams had played 145, 146, or 147 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 Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates were tied for the Major League Baseball lead — and National League lead — at the end of play on Wednesday, September 9, with 12. In third place were the Milwaukee Brewers, with 11. The Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, and Los Angeles Dodgers were tied for fourth with 10 each. Five teams had nine each: the Athletics, Cleveland Guardians, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers. Four teams had eight Goose Eggs each: the Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, and Toronto Blue Jays. Two teams had seven each: the Arizona Diamondbacks and Kansas City Royals. Three teams — the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, and San Diego Padres — had six Door Slams each.

One team had five door slams: the Miami Marlins. Four teams had four each: the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and Tampa Bay Rays. The Washington Nationals still had three. Finally, two teams still had one each: the Los Angeles Angels and San Francisco Giants.

Door Slam Totals

In summary, over the first 23 weeks of the season, there were 220 total Door Slams league‑wide. The Reds and Pirates tied for the lead with 12, followed by the Brewers with 11. Three teams were tied for the American League lead with 10 each: the Red Sox, White Sox, and Astros. Splitting it up by league, they each had 110. This was the first time all season that both leagues had the same total at the end of a week.

Week 23 Team Relief Corps Power Rankings

We are in the second week of September. Several teams had a vast or nearly complete change of relief personnel after the Trade Deadline. Some greatly improved — namely the Pirates — and others dumped nearly everyone who was performing well — namely the Giants. Therefore, from here until the end of the regular season, we will use the post-Trade Deadline rankings.

These rankings include every pitch thrown in relief by a player wearing their team’s uniform — excluding position players — from August 3 through the end of play on September 9. (Note: the Trade Deadline passed before any August 3 games began.) The tables below show 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 22, despite Week 22 being full season and not post-Trade Deadline. (Note: That was a conscious decision, not an oversight.) “N.C.” means “no change.”

Pray for a Blowout Win:

30. Seattle Mariners (-21.7, -17)
29. Washington Nationals (-19.2, N.C.)
28. Miami Marlins (-19.1, -13)
27. San Francisco Giants (-18.5, +3)

Stock Up on Tums:

26. Tampa Bay Rays (-13.7, -9)
25. Kansas City Royals (-9.29, rounded to -9.3, +2)
24. Colorado Rockies (-9.28, rounded to -9.3, +2)
23. St. Louis Cardinals (-8.0, +1)

Lots of Work to Do:

22. Los Angeles Angels (-1.8, +3)
21. Chicago Cubs (-0.2, +1)
20. Athletics (3.8919, rounded to 3.9, +3)
19. Chicago White Sox (3.8920, rounded to 3.9, -5)

Biggest Gains:

Detroit Tigers (+14)
Minnesota Twins (+12)
Cleveland Guardians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers (+8)

Biggest Plunges:

Seattle Mariners (-17)
Miami Marlins (-13)
Tampa Bay Rays (-9)
New York Mets (-8)

Here is this week’s Scatter Plot. It gives a great illustration of how far ahead of the rest of the league the Pirates are.

From Trade Deadline through end of play Sept 9. Chart, rankings, and ranking methods created by Evan M. Thompson.

Now here is the Scatter Plot with the Pirates removed.

Here is the line graph of every team’s rankings in the season so far, week by week. It clearly shows how drastic some teams’ performances changed post-Trade Deadline.

Week 23 Individual Reliever Power Rankings

Statistics include every regular-season game up through the end of play on September 9. To qualify for the rankings, there is a minimum of 28 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 14 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. Tyler Kinley (ATL/DET) — 12.2
9. Chase Silseth (TEX) — 12.5
8. Sean Newcomb (CHW) — 12.5
7. Gabe Speier (SEA) — 16.5
6. Colin Holderman (CLE) — 20.3
5. Paul Sewald (ARI/TOR) — 21.6
4. Craig Yoho (MIL/CLE) — 26.8
3. Spencer Miles (TOR) — 27.5
2. Drew Sommers (DET) — 29.2
1. Cam Booser (TB) — 31.2

NL Middle/Long Relievers

10.Lake Bachar (MIA/PIT) — 11.5
9. Yuki Matsui (SD) — 12.1
8. DL Hall (MIL) — 12.6
7. Tim Mayza (PHL) — 13.6
6. Jack Dreyer (LAD) — 18.3
5. Graham Ashcraft (CIN) — 18.4
4. Alex Vesia (LAD) — 20.1
3. Jonathan Loáisiga (ARI) — 20.2
2. Brooks Raley (NYM/PHL) — 23.4
1. Dylan Dodd (ATL) — 24.2

AL Setup Men

10.Bryan Abreu (HOU) — 84.9
9. Erik Sabrowski (CLE) — 85.5
8. Kevin Kelly (TB) — 89.3
7. Jeff Hoffman (TOR/MIN) — 90.5
6. Brent Headrick (NYY) — 97.3
5. Hunter Gaddis (CLE) — 109.1
4. Paul Blackburn (NYY) — 116.3
3. Garrett Whitlock (BOS) — 130.6
2. Tyler Rogers (TOR) — 184.2
1. Erik Miller (SF/BOS) — 186.6

NL Setup Men

10.Aaron Ashby (MIL) — 94.8
9. Dylan Lee (ATL) — 96.6
8. Brandyn Garcia (ARI) — 105.2
7. Brock Burke (CIN) — 109.1
6. Juan Morillo (ARI) — 127.4
5. Abner Uribe (MIL) — 134.7
4. Tanner Scott (LAD) — 141.2
3. Gregory Soto (PIT) — 153.7
2. Adrián Morejón (SD) — 198.5
1. Luke Weaver (NYM/PIT) — 203.8

AL Closers

5.Louis Varland (TOR) — 154.2
4. Grant Taylor (CHW) — 161.2
3. Cade Smith (CLE) — 198.7
2. David Bednar (NYY) — 211.4
1. Josh Hader (HOU) — 386.9

NL Closers

5. Jhoan Duran (PHL) — 128.0
4. Riley O’Brien (STL) — 140.1
3. Trevor Megill (MIL) — 157.3
2. Mason Montgomery (PIT) — 207.8
1. Mason Miller (SD) — 308.9

League Averages

AL — 1.316 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 13.1 K–BB%, 71.0 ScOtg% (ER), 2.9 GE/BE, 3.9 GE, 30.5 IS%.
NL — 1.316 WHIP, 2.7 HR%, 12.7 K–BB%, 70.6 ScOtg% (ER), 3.0 GE/BE, 3.7 GE, 32.5 IS%.