Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza, S1 Ep. 14 — Week 20 with Sonja Chen

In this installment of Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza, Evan Thompson — Editor-in-chief, National Writer, and Athletics Writer at Sport Relay — gives in-depth coverage of the new BBWAA awards, AL & NL Reliever of the Year. It includes committee chairman Jayson Stark's mention in Episode 2510 of the committee and of the reasons they recommended the addition of these awards as well as an exclusive phone interview with BBWAA President Bob Nightengale regarding these new awards. In addition, Evan goes through the Week 20 Power Rankings for teams, middle relievers, setup men, and closers. He also updates the Drew Pomeranz Ticker, gives injury updates, and discusses the recent relief unit meltdowns of two teams in the playoff hunt. Plus, special guest Sonja Chen (Dodgers Beat Writer for MLB.com) comes by for a visit, discussing the ups and downs of the oft-injured Dodgers relief corps. Plus, Sonja plugs Project ALS and their "Baseball Is the Best" T-shirts in support of finding a cure for this awful disease, one that plagues our friend Sarah Langs.

Statistics for this episode go up to the end of play on Wednesday, August 20.

Ranking methods explained: https://rumble.com/v6xfp8u-reliever-roundup-and-bullpen-bonanza-stats-and-rankings-explained-reshoot.html

https://sportrelay.com/mlb/

Order Evan's Books!
Volume I: https://a.co/d/0NhADyf
Volume II: https://a.co/d/2gi2F2Z

Support Sarah Langs and Project ALS: https://rotowear.com/products/baseball-is-the-best-shirt

Chapters
00:00 Front Matter
00:26 Teaser
01:25 Intro
02:38 Breaking News: BBWAA to Add Reliever of the Year in 2026
03:24 Flashback: Jayson Stark Tells Us about Study Committee, Reasons to Add Reliever Award
06:28 Exclusive: BBWAA President Bob Nightengale on Adding Reliever of the Year Awards
12:49 Rangers and Mets Relief Corps Woes
25:24 Injury Updates
27:36 Drew Pomeranz Ticker
28:12 Wk 20 Team Power Rankings Explained
29:26 Wk 20 Team Power Rankings Revealed
33:39 Wk 20 Scatter Plot
33:49 Special Guest Sonja Chen
36:38 Sonja Chen on How the Dodgers Have Navigated Their Relief Corps Injuries
38:02 Dodger Reliever Injury Updates (Sonja Chen)
41:49 Sonja Chen on A Weird August for the Dodgers
45:11 Sonja Chen on the Dodgers Relief Corps Ranking
47:38 Has Sonja Had to Delete Her Entire Story and Start Over during Any Games This Season?
49:00 Sonja Chen Reviews the Late-inning Blowups against the Angels
51:23 Sonja Chen on Alexis Diaz as a Dodger
55:50 Sonja Chen on How Dave Roberts Uses His High-leverage Relievers
58:24 Sonja Chen on Jack Dreyer
59:54 Sonja Chen's Observations on the Padres Relief Unit
01:03:45 End ALS - Sonja Chen on the Cause and Sarah Langs
01:06:18 Wk 20 Indiv Power Rankings Revealed
01:12:24 Outro