It’s time to panic! No, it’s not time to panic, but no matter how many times we tell you that the season is a marathon, not a sprint, some just can’t help from over analyzing and heading to the waiver wire for the short-term solution in their middle reliever slots. Just see all the action over at the Bullpen Report. I can understand the chase to find the next guy for saves, but with all the early-season injuries and movement in the bullpens, is it worth risking a high-upside holds guy? Depends on you team’s needs I suppose.. At any rate, try not to panic too much.

This week we’ll take a look at a few middle relievers that may or may not be owned in your leagues, depending on depth, that could be relevant in holds, solds and standard leagues..

All ownership percentages reflect Yahoo! leagues.

Adam Ottavino | Rockies | 0%
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-Reds’ Manager Bryan Price indicated that Jonathan Broxton could be activated from the 15-day disabled list sometime next week, potentially during the St. Louis series. Broxton has been on the disabled list since last August when the veteran needed surgery on his right forearm to repair a torn flexor mass. Broxton, in the second year of a three-year, $21 million contract, could hold down ninth-inning duties until Aroldis Chapman is cleared to return to the bump. The veteran right-hander is the owner of 111 saves in 153 career chances with a 3.16 ERA (2.88 FIP) and a 28.5% K%. Chapman suffered fractures above his eye, nose and sustained a concussion after being struck in the head by a line drive off the bat of Salvador Perez. Initial report suggested that Chapman would be sidelined up to six-to-eight weeks, but reports today suggest he may be able to start throwing next week. In the meantime, those speculating for saves should snag Jonathan Broxton (9% owned in Yahoo!) off the waiver wire until Chapman’s return.
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A few brief notes out of the bullpens on Thursday:

-The St. Louis Cardinals’ inked veteran right-hander David Aardsma on Wednesday to compete for a spot out of the bullpen. The Cards are looking to carry five right-handers in the ‘pen to open the regular season, and with three of the five claimed by Carlos Martinez, Pat Neshek and Trevor Rosenthal, Aardsma appears to be battling three others for the last two spots. The fantasy-relevant (to some of us) odd-man out here could potentially be Seth Maness, who finished tied with Randy Choate for the second-most holds among Cardinal arms in twenty-thirteen. Maness’ 5-2 record, 2.32 ERA and 15 holds last season may not be enough to overshadow the righty’s struggles in Cactus League play. Southpaws Randy Choate and Kevin Siegrist along with flame throwing righty, Carlos Martinez, figure to be logging the majority of the holds in St. Louis this year.
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Yes, I’m late to the Bold Predictions party. What else is new? I’m going to be late for my own funeral, guaranteed.

Anyway, last year’s bold predictions didn’t fare entirely well, as discussed here, but the author feels that .400 is within the realm of possibility this time around.

10. Khris Davis will hit 25 homers and steal 15 bases.
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Well, the 2013 fantasy baseball season has come to an end. I’ve raised a few flags (hope you did, too!), but now it’s time to go back to my preseason “bold predictions” and put my money where my mouth is (or was?).

Let’s see how I did:

10. Despite injury, Adam Eaton will still steal 40+ bases.
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Jim Johnson surrendered a hit and fanned one in a clean inning of work to notch his 48th save of the season. The thirty-year-old has now saved nine in-a-row, making him 48-of-57 on the season. The Orioles will face the Red Sox in a three-game series to conclude the twenty-thirteen season, giving Johnson a few more opportunities to eclipse the 50 save mark for the second straight season. Aside from the lack of production in the strikeout category, Johnson paid handsome dividends for his fantasy baseball owners that were willing to reach for him at his average draft position of 123.

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Earlier in the week Rafael Soriano eclipsed the 40-save mark for the third time in his career with his third different team. In 2010 Soriano notched 45 saves with the Rays, in 2012 he successfully closed out 42 games for the Yankees and so far this season the 33-year-old has 42 saves under his belt. Pretty impressive if you ask me. Tonight’s save was the 42nd for Soriano in 48 opportunities on the year. It wasn’t a clean effort by any stretch — Soriano surrendered two walks — but he overcame the free passes with a ground out then fanned young Christian Yelich to end the game. To go with his 42 saves, Soriano owns a 3.20 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.
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Ernesto Frieri locked down his 33rd save of the year as the Angels clipped the Blue Jays 4-3 tonight in Toronto. He yielded a hit and a free pass, but fanned two Jays in a 35-pitch effort to seal the deal. Frieri is now 33-of-37 in save chances on the year with a 3.79 ERA (3.44 FIP) and a 1.26 WHIP. Considering the fact it took the right-hander 35 tosses to finish off the Blue Birds — just one night after throwing 17 pitches — fantasy baseballers may want to t take a chance on Dane de la Rosa as a streaming reliever on Friday in case Frieri needs the rest. De la Rosa is 2-of-5 in save chances this year with 16 holds and sports a whiff rate just barely north of 20%. But at this point in the year, a save is a save is a save.
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One of the closers that clearly exceeded expectations this season is Greg Holland. The Royals closer tallied his 42nd save of the season tonight while lowering his ERA to 1.35 (1.30 FIP). He needed just 15 pitchers to fan each of the three Indians he faced to increase his career-high whiff rate to 40.9%. Holland’s ability to hit the first-strike and keep barrels off the ball both in and out of the zone seem to be some of the factors leading to his improvement this year. Fantasy baseballers likely didn’t invest a whole lot into Holland this season — he was the 14th relief pitcher selected at an average draft position of ~145, according to FantasyPros — but that will surely change for next season. Holland is primed to start the 2014 year as a top ten reliever.
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-Earlier today I threw together a list of arms who have both starting and relief pitcher eligibility that you can see here. After a comment in the article and a few mentions on Twitter, I decided I should have included the Orioles’ Kevin Gausman and the Tigers’ Drew Smyly. So here is a quick addendum to said article:

Kevin Gausman | Orioles | 2%
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