Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza

Left-handed Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Brandyn Garcia in the stretch. The Diamondbacks had the top team relief score in the NL from September 1 through 16 in the Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza rankings.

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

September 19, 2026

Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza, Week 24 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 16, the league-wide AL ERA was 4.14. 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 4.22. As for the rest of the stats, statistics are up to the end of play on Wednesday, September 16 unless otherwise noted, are for relief appearances only, and exclude position pitchers. As a bonus, at the very end of the article, we’ve included tables that show the current team relief standings for the month of September, again through the end of play on the 16th.

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 — 1.317 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 13.0 K–BB%, 71.0 ScOtg% (ER), 2.9 GE/BE, 3.976 GE, 30.6 IS%.
NL — 1.320 WHIP, 2.7 HR%, 12.6 K–BB%, 70.5 ScOtg% (ER), 3.0 GE/BE, 3.757 GE, 32.7 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 24. 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 16.

Door Slam Totals

Here is the list of each team’s Door Slam totals at the end of Week 24. At this point, the Rays had played 151 games. The other 29 teams had played either 152 or 153 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 Pittsburgh Pirates led both the majors and the NL at the end of play on Wednesday, September 16, with 13. Second place saw a tie between the Cincinnati Reds and the AL-leading Houston Astros, each with 12. The Milwaukee Brewers stood alone in fourth with 11. Five teams had ten each: the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and St Louis Cardinals. An additional five had nine Goose Eggs each: the Athletics, Cleveland Guardians, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers. Five more teams had eight each: the Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, and Toronto Blue Jays.

Two teams had seven each, the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees. An additional two — the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays — had six Door Slams each. One team had five door slams: the Miami Marlins. Three teams had four each: the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies. The Los Angeles Angels and Washington Nationals each had three. Finally, the San Francisco Giants still had one.

Door Slam Totals

In summary, over the first 24 weeks of the season, there were 233 total Door Slams league‑wide. The Pirates led with 13, followed by the Reds and AL-leading Astros with 12. Splitting it up by league, the AL had 118 and the NL had 115.

Week 24 Team Relief Corps Power Rankings

Time now for the post-Trade Deadline Power 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 16. (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 23, despite Week 23 being full season and not post-Trade Deadline. (Note: That was a conscious decision, not an oversight.) “N.C.” means “no change.”

Biggest Gains:

Houston Astros (+5)
Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays (+4)

Biggest Plunges:

Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies (-7)
Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies (-3)

Here is this week’s Scatter Plot.

From Trade Deadline through end of play Sept 16. Chart, rankings, and ranking methods created by Evan M. Thompson.

Now here is the Scatter Plot with the Guardians removed.

And here is the Scatter Plot with the Guardians, Pirates, and Padres all three removed.

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

Week 24 Individual Reliever Power Rankings

Statistics include every regular-season game up through the end of play on September 16. To qualify for the rankings, there is a minimum of 29 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, unless only one team name appears in parentheses.

AL Middle/Long Relievers

10. Chase Silseth (LAA/TEX) — 11.8
9. Mason Fluharty (TOR) — 12.6
8. Gabe Speier (SEA) — 12.9
7. Jovani Morán (BOS) — 13.0
6. Grant Wolfram (BAL) — 14.9
5. Paul Sewald (ARI/TOR) — 18.3
4. Colin Holderman (CLE) — 20.4
3. Craig Yoho (MIL/CLE) — 23.7
2. Drew Sommers (DET) — 25.4
1. Cam Booser (TB) — 34.2

NL Middle/Long Relievers

10. DL Hall (MIL) — 10.8
9. Austin Warren (NYM) — 11.8
8. Lake Bachar (MIA/PIT) — 11.8
7. Yuki Matsui (SD) — 13.0
6. Yohan Ramírez (PIT) — 13.5
5. Tim Mayza (PHL) — 14.0
4. Jack Dreyer (LAD) — 15.0
3. Brooks Raley (NYM/PHL) — 18.5
2. Jonathan Loaisiga (ARI) — 21.9
1. Dylan Dodd (ATL) — 25.1

AL Setup Men

10. Erik Sabrowski (CLE) — 75.8
9. Erik Miller (SF/BOS) — 76.8
8. Bryan Abreu (HOU) — 87.1
7. Kevin Kelly (TB) — 90.6
6. Jeff Hoffman (TOR/MIN) — 105.9
5. Brent Headrick (NYY) — 106.0
4. Hunter Gaddis (CLE) — 110.4
3. Garrett Whitlock (BOS) — 129.4
2. Paul Blackburn (NYY) — 131.6
1. Tyler Rogers (TOR) — 181.9

NL Setup Men

10. Ryne Stanek (STL) — 100.7
9. Didier Fuentes (ATL) — 102.0
8. Brandyn Garcia (ARI) — 120.5
7. Brock Burke (CIN) — 124.6
6. Abner Uribe (MIL) — 130.1
5. Juan Morillo (ARI) — 132.9
4. Gregory Soto (PIT) — 135.9
3. Tanner Scott (LAD) — 138.1
2. Adrián Morejón (SD) — 201.4
1. Luke Weaver (NYM/PIT) — 223.8

AL Closers

5. Bryan Baker (TB) — 149.6
4. Jacob Latz (TEX) — 155.1
3. Cade Smith (CLE) — 204.2
2. David Bednar (NYY) — 214.4
1. Josh Hader (HOU) — 412.4

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 — 1.317 WHIP, 2.8 HR%, 13.0 K–BB%, 71.0 ScOtg% (ER), 2.9 GE/BE, 3.976 GE, 30.6 IS%.
NL — 1.320 WHIP, 2.7 HR%, 12.6 K–BB%, 70.5 ScOtg% (ER), 3.0 GE/BE, 3.757 GE, 32.7 IS%.