Late Round Closers To Watch Part III

Acquiring saves in fantasy baseball is becoming more and more of a headache. The Tampa Bay Rays had 12 different pitchers notch a save in 2020. Imagine if it was a season of normal length? With the league trending towards using their best pitchers in high leverage positions instead of the conventional only ninth-inning role, it seems like grabbing saves are only going to get more complicated. Below you will see some closers that likely won’t be too popular but could help you in the long run. A quick side note, there are a lot of free-agent relief pitchers (ie. Brad Hand) so things can definitely change.

If you would like to read parts one and two you can check them out here and here.

Josh Staumont
NFBC ADP: 398

One of the best late-round relievers out there for 2021 is without a doubt Josh Staumont. In 2019 he was called up after impressing in AAA ball. He finished the season making 16 appearances, pitching 19.1 innings, and recording a 3.72 ERA. While those are decent numbers nothing here sparks excitement. Especially since it came with a 6.06 FIP and 17.0% strikeout rate.

Welcoming the offseason with open arms Staumont knew he had to go to work. Alec Lewis from the Athletic wrote a great piece on his offseason work and how he always had the elite skills it was just a matter of harnessing it. Pitching coach Dave Coggin was able to spot some minor flaws in Staumont’s delivery saying, “You could see the body was trying to throw the ball hard before it was in the right position.” Meaning Staumont wasn’t allowing him to get into the right position. Coming from his own mouth, “I threw a lot this offseason trying to get back to where I should be,” Staumont said. “It was as simple as it gets. We were just trying to make sure that (my) body was moving the right way.”

Stabilizing his body and making sure he was in the right position improved his performance tremendously. He finished 2020 with 26 appearances, 25.2 innings pitched, and a 2.45 ERA. Most notably his strikeout rate soared to 33.0%.

A major component to his rise in strikeout rate resulted from his four-seam fastball. Check out the differences from 2019 to 2020.

He was able to add almost a full two miles per hour which resulted in more vertical movement. This brought his fastball’s vertical movement from average to near elite. And of course, as you can see the fastball let up weaker contact, created more whiffs, and also created more chases.

Staumont also features a curveball, while its numbers aren’t the best it can become a very useful pitch. In 2020 he also upped the velocity on this pitch creating more downwards movement. In terms of hard contact, the results didn’t quite show but it still was slightly above average in SwStr%. What Staumont tries to do is hit the bottom of the zone with his breaking ball creating a north to south approach (which is great). He doesn’t always achieve that, but the approach is there, and if the command improves the hard contact will fall.

If you look at Staumont’s page one number will jump out at you and that is his 14.3% walk rate. That has always been an issue for him and one thing that could hold him back. The only reason why you shouldn’t worry too much is because of his home run rate. His HR/9 in 2020 was just .070. So yes he puts hitters on base but the lack of home runs he gives up should keep the damage to a minimum.

The Royals are going to give him the closer role, barring them signing anyone. The opportunities won’t be plentiful but with good ratios and a high strikeout rate grabbing Josh Staumont at pick 398 seems like a no-brainer.

Scott Oberg
NFBC ADP: 785

Scott Oberg is going at pick 785 for a reason and that reason is health. He has had a serious health issue for two years now, both being blood clots in his arm. He had to get thoracic outlet surgery to remove the clot, a surgery that usually doesn’t bode well for pitchers. But you never know in this world and people overcome amazing feats all of the time.

Take away everything that was just said and you have a pitcher who has proven his abilities in the past. Between 2018 and 2019 Oberg pitched 114.2 innings with a 2.35 ERA, 3.20 FIP, and 3.37 SIERA. Whilst pitching at Coors field half of the time.

Oberg features a stellar four-seam/slider combination. This combination lead to two straight seasons of above-average whiffs and weak contact. He too uses a north-to-south approach forcing hitters to change their eye level.

Coming into 2020 the Rockies signed Oberg to a three-year deal showing how much faith they had in his skills. He also was pegged to be the Rockies closer seeing as we all knew Wade Davis would give up the position quickly. The Rockies currently have Daniel Bard and Mychal Givens, two pitchers who are more than adequate. But if Oberg can stay healthy and prove his skills once again he could potentially get a shot especially if the other two struggle.