The Next Crop of Elite Relievers
Relievers have 47% of the wins so far this season. This is a figure that has been on the rise for a while, but this still represents a massive jump. It was at 40% a year ago and never above 40% prior to that (38%, 33%, 33%, and 31% the four years before 2019). Obviously, the wild 60-game COVID-fueled season is a driving force behind this starter/reliever win split, but we know that pitcher usage has been changing the last couple years in normal seasons so we might’ve seen another jump in RP wins even if we had played a standard 162.
Even before this rise in the share of wins, premium non-closing relievers have been viable in many league types as a ratios and strikeout source with the occasional save or win thrown in with the idea that 2-5 elite IP was a better bet than streaming a 4th-5th starter type hoping to snag a win and not hurt your ratios too much. The 2010s have seen a strong surge in these types of relievers and today I want to highlight a group of them you can consider this year.
The idea is to jump on the next Dellin Betances, Josh Hader, or Seth Lugo instead of paying full price for those guys once they’re known (see also: Anderson, Nick). Freddy Peralta is too well-known for this exercise, just to avoid anyone putting him in the comments. He’s on 86% of the Rotowire Online Championship NFBC teams which are 12-team leagues.
James Karinchak | CLE – 11.3 IP, 0.79 ERA & WHIP, 52% K, 0 W, 1 SV
He’s probably the most known of this group especially when Brad Hand had back-to-back bumpy outings in late-July and Karinchak started to get picked up as the heir apparent. Hand has settled a bit and Karinchak is windup up back on waiver wires. He’s their key fireman and will likely get the role if Hand does falter so I’d consider scooping him in leagues where middle relievers are viable and he’s available. He has strikeouts in all 10 of his outings, including more than one in four straight (3, 4, 2, and 3).