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Every year, I like to use the All-Star Break to shift focus. This column is usually future-oriented. What players did in the past is cool, but, as fantasy managers, we really only care about future performance. This pause in the baseball calendar gives us a chance to step back and celebrate who has helped us the most.
Today, we’ll check out the 32 best fantasy relievers to date. There will be some surprises. The methodology I use assigns a dollar value to each of the five main roto categories. If your league uses non-standard stats, then values could differ. Wins are an important but volatile category for relievers. If your league uses quality starts, then relievers are deprived of a key source of production. In some cases like Adam Cimber, their best category is wins.
What I like about this approach is it highlights the importance of production outside of the saves category. When it comes to relievers, fantasy analysts are saves-obsessed. It’s just one of five stats we need to compile. Obviously, saves are the most important reliever category, but they aren’t everything.
The King (1)
Ryan Helsley, St. Louis Cardinals
Helsley has outperformed the next-best relievers by roughly 18.5 percent. While he’s contributed across the board, his 0.69 ERA and 0.67 WHIP in 39 innings have provided the bulk of his value. If you happen to manage Helsley, around five percent of your innings have been near-perfect.
A couple weeks ago, Josh Hader would have held the top spot. A few bad outings can really ruin a reliever. Just something to keep in mind.
The Princes (4)
Clay Holmes, New York Yankees
Jorge Lopez, Baltimore Orioles
Edwin Diaz, New York Mets
Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians
When it comes to outcomes, Holmes and Class are nearly identical pitchers. They both induce wild ground ball rates, rarely allow hard contact, eschew walks, and record plenty of strikeouts. It’s fitting that they have extremely similar stats. Lopez is cut from the same mold, though I’m less confident about his ability to sustain his current success in part because his ground ball rate is less extreme. To be clear, he should remain effective in the second half even if he doesn’t maintain his pace. Diaz has struck out over two batters per inning, a truly absurd total. If not for a .407 BABIP and 17.6 percent home run to fly ball ratio, he would rank alongside Helsley.
The Dukes (5)
Kenley Jansen, Atlanta Braves
Daniel Bard, Colorado Rockies
Scott Barlow, Kansas City Royals
Paul Sewald, Seattle Mariners
Michael King, New York Yankees
With the third-most saves in the league, Jansen has performed exactly as expected. Bard has exceeded our wildest dreams, making Coors Field look like a normal venue. Still, there are cracks in the facade that could make this the perfect time to sell high.
Barlow and Sewald were popular preseason targets who got off to rocky starts both in terms of their early outings and roles. They’ve since settled in as the closers for their respective teams while posting positive value in ERA and WHIP.
King is the first non-closer to show up. With only one save, his production has been driven by a friendly ERA, WHIP, and six wins.
Lesser Nobles (12)
Ryan PresslyHouston Astros
AJ Minter, Atlanta Braves
JP Feyereisen, Tampa Bay Rays
David Robertson, Chicago Cubs
David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates
Matt Wisler, Tampa Bay Rays
Liam HendriksChicago White Sox
Brock BurkeTexas Rangers
Jordan Romano, Toronto Blue Jays
Jason Adam, Tampa Bay Rays
Eli Morgan, Cleveland Guardians
Taylor Rogers, San Diego Padres
The Rays contributed three pitchers to this tier including one who hasn’t pitched since June 2. Feyereisen tossed 24.1 scoreless innings before landing on the injured list. He also posted a 0.49 WHIP. Had he stayed healthy, he would have had an opportunity to accrue some saves. Wisler has what appears to be a fluky-lucky ERA driving his value in 42 innings. Adam has pitched well in a more believable way. He’s the closest thing they have to a closer at the moment.
Several top closers show up in this tier. Pressly seems to be back on top of his game after a couple knee-related stints on the injured list. Robertson might be the most impactful closer to be dealt at the trade deadline. Bednar, Hendriks, and Romano should be staying in place, though there’s a chance the Pirates are enticed by an offer or the White Sox fall far enough out of the race to consider themselves sellers. Hendriks overcame a terrible start to the season and a stint on the injured list. He’s contributed across the board. Like Hader, Rogers was on top of the world at one point this season. He struggled from late-May through early-July.
While a low home run rate has played a role in Minter’s success, he’s always done well with preventing long balls. He’s managed to reduce his walk rate while increasing his swinging strike and strikeout rates. With four wins and five saves, he’s done a little to help every category. He had a chance to hit 10 wins and 10 saves, a rough standard of excellence for non-closer, high-leverage relievers.
Burke and Morgan have possibly escaped your notice. Burke, at southpaw, has pitched 47 innings in 30 appearances. His stuff has played up in his first season as a reliever. In particular, his fastball is 3.1-mph faster than when he started last season. He currently has a 1.15 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. Morgan, another starter-turned-reliever has followed a similar blueprint. His 0.65 WHIP in 41.1 innings is his most valuable category. He’s an extreme fly ball pitcher with a tiny walk rate so he could well maintain this excessively good WHIP. I do worry about home runs sullying his ERA.
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Core Performers (10)
Evan Phillips, Los Angeles Dodgers
Seranthony Dominguez, Philadelphia Phillies
John SchreiberBoston Red Sox
Josh Hader, Milwaukee Brewers
Adam Cimber, Toronto Blue Jays
Devin Williams, Milwaukee Brewers
Jalen Beeks, Tampa Bay Rays
Rafael MonteroHouston Astros
Gregory Soto, Detroit Tigers
Felix Bautista, Baltimore Orioles
We have a mixed basket in this tier. Hader has a 24.92 ERA since July 4, most of which came in his last two outings (nine runs, 0.1 innings). He’s caught a nasty case of homeritis, allowing seven homers over his last 12.1 innings.
Phillips is, surprisingly, the top-performing reliever on the Dodgers. While he’s their most trusted arm at the moment, there are some aspects of his success which are… shall we say… fragile. He doesn’t have much margin for error.
Dominguez was a hot fantasy target back in 2018 and 2019. He quietly returned to relevance this spring after two lost seasons. He’s not only picked up where he left off, he’s also staked his claim to the highest leverage innings. While I suspect the Phillies will try to acquire a closer to push Dominguez back into a more flexible role, he should remain helpful to fantasy managers.
Schreiber is using the same blueprint as Holmes, Clase, and Lopez – lots of ground balls, rare hard contact, few free passes, and more than a strikeout per inning. He’s a player to stash in the second half. Although both Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock might be ahead of him at the moment, they could have a future in the rotation.
Cimber is an example of the value of relieving wins. With eight wins, four saves, a 3.15 ERA, and 1.03 WHIP, he’s positively affected four of five fantasy categories. Unfortunately, this is a fairly fluky-looking performance. You can try to continue riding the bandwagon if you’re already on it, but I wouldn’t bother climbing aboard now.
Williams is regularly among the most-drafted non-closers. The changeup specialist would rank among the Top 10 closers if Hader wasn’t in his way. He already has six saves and could nab a few more if Hader continues to slump. Mostly, he’s rosterable for strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP.
While I excluded Jeffrey Springs and Garrett Whitlock from this list since much of their production came while starting, I’ve opted to include Beeks. He’s made five starts, but they account for only 9.2 of his 40 innings. He started the season on a high note but has since settled in with merely acceptable stats. Where he’s most disappointed me is in wins (1) and saves (1). Entering the year, I thought he had a shot at 10 of each.
Montero got a brief run as the Astros closer while Pressly was sidelined. Since Pressly’s injury is liable to recur, Montero might get another chance. He’s another ground ball guy.
If you don’t need the saves, consider selling high on Soto. He’s pitched to a 2.59 ERA largely by avoiding home runs. However, he’s never shown a talent for dodging dingers in the past. I anticipate regression ahead – the bad kind. He has a 4.50 xFIP and 3.86 SIERA (two ERA estimators) and projects for a 1.40 WHIP due to a high walk rate.
Last up is Bautista, a late-blooming hard-thrower who’s learned there’s value in not issuing free passes. At least, there is when you have nasty stuff that can play in the middle of the strike zone. I expect him to be a frustrating fantasy player going forward – good enough to roster and inconsistent enough to cause some headaches.
For those curious, next on the list are Jhoan Duran, Joe Barlow, Camilo Doval, and Raisel Iglesias followed by a slew of middle relievers.