Scheming For Relief: Osuna, Baez and Smith

A new baseball season is upon us, so it’s time to start mining those bullpens in search of middle and late-relief arms that will provide value for those in holds or solds (saves +holds) leagues, as well as those who run out relievers regularly in deeper mixed or “only” formats to pad strikeout or ratio categories.

Just a few quick notes about this column. I’ll typically rotate topics between waiver wire considerations, tiers and tier updates and arms with both starting pitcher and relief pitcher eligibility among others. If there’s anything you’re looking to be covered or have feedback on the column, please drop a note in the comments or hit me up on Twitter.

Lastly, I typically provide two ownership percentages for each player discussed. For the purpose if this column I will note Yahoo! followed by ESPN’s ownership rate, simply because those are the outlets I find myself on the most.

For today I looked for a couple of younger middle relievers that were owned in 2% or less in leagues that could contribute in at least the holds and strikeout categories.

Roberto Osuna | Toronto Blue Jays | 2% (Y!), .2% (E)

The Blue Jays bullpen has been a hot topic in the first week of baseball. I touched briefly on their current situation in last evening’s Bullpen Report and Paul Swydan ran a great piece today going much more in depth for the main site. If you haven’t read those pieces yet, please do. But the crux of the situation is that the Jays’ assumed closer, Brett Cecil, suffered from shoulder soreness this Spring and experienced a dip in velocity during his outing this past Wednesday. Cecil was pulled from the closer’s role to work out the kinks.

The next-in-line guys are a pair of 20-year-old hurlers that posses electric stuff, Roberto Osuna and Miguel Castro. Early indications from the skipper’s comments lead us to believe that Castro will be the ninth-inning man for the time being. Castro is still available in close to 65% of Y! leagues at the time of this writing and should be added as long as you’re not dropping a significant piece.

Osuna, on the other hand, may be more of the middle reliever that Gibbons leans on for multiple innings of work, if need be. Osuna can heat up the gun almost as hot as Castro can, hitting close to 96 mph on his fastball, then mixes in a change and a slide piece that hit the glove at roughly 82 and 86 mph, respectively. The potential for multiple innings of work leading up to the ninth provide decent opportunity for the youngster to lock down some holds. Additionally, through his brief stint on the farm, Osuna posted fine strikeout rates, despite walk rates and ratios leaving a bit to be desired. There’s a decent chance Osuna is still available on your wire, so those in solds leagues may want to make a move since his name was mentioned for both middle relief and closer roles with some nice strikeout potential.

Pedro Baez | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1% (Y!), .1% (E)

Twenty-seven year-old Pedro Baez is a converted third baseman that quickly found himself dishing in the backend of the Dodgers’ bullpen. Baez mixes up to four pitches (fourseam, sinker, change and slider) and can hit 97 mph on the gun with his fastballs and show a nice change in velocity on his slider and offspeed offerings.

Baez posted a 14.4% K-BB% in 20 games in relief for the Dodgers in ‘14 to go along with a 2.63 ERA (3.88 FIP) and a 0.88 WHIP. Small samples, I know. But he’s once again off to a sizzling start in two appearances this season. He’s spent 2.1 innings on the bump in those two appearances, holding opposing batters to just one hit, while striking out three and notching two holds.

Carson Smith | Seattle Mariners | 1% (Y!), .2% (E)

Smith is a hard throwing, lanky, right-hander that has more than 40 successfully converted saves on his minor league resume. In his nine game (8.1 IP) debut for the Mariners in ‘14, Smith racked up a 24.1% K-BB%, a 0.00 ERA (1.81 FIP) and a 0.60 WHIP with three holds. Impressive. He’s already appeared in two games for the M’s this season, picking up two holds while striking out four and walking just one.