SP Eligible Relievers
Using elite, non-closing relievers was probably the first fantasy specialty I developed. In the good ol’ days, an astute owner could gain a substantial advantage by using Sergio Romo and Mike Adams. The emergence of a thousand elite relievers has put the strategy on the map. Everybody is doing it, and the sheer quantity of substitutes strips away the advantages.
If we want to stay ahead of the competition, we have to take it another step. One of my favorite fantasy tactics is to use relievers in a SP slot. Relievers post better ratios than starters, and their wins per inning are usually comparable to waiver wire starters.
In certain league types, starter eligible relievers are a core component of a winning roster. Jeff Zimmerman and I share a points league where the best relievers post 10 points per inning compared to six points per inning for starters. When we squeeze eight relievers into the starting lineup on a given day, we’ve created a serious advantage.
While Yahoo and CBS use innings caps, many ESPN leagues use a games started cap. That means you have unlimited relief innings – it’s just a matter of finding the spots. Other league types and platforms confer similar advantages.
The poster child in 2014 was Wade Davis. Alas, he’s lost his starter eligibility. He posted nine wins, 109 strikeouts, a 1.00 ERA, and 0.85 WHIP in 72 innings. A Cy Young caliber starter wins about 20 games in over 200 innings. Davis out earned that pace. Obviously, the other three stats were also huge, and he even added three saves to the mix.
Acquiring a Davis is easier said than done, but it helps to be prepared. Below is a list of all relievers with starter eligibility in Yahoo. Some pitchers will slip through the cracks using this methodology, so let’s discuss those in the comments.
As your little eyes can see, I’ve created some halfassed categories. As you might intuit, “Yes” means I would use these players if they receive the proper role. Not all are created equal nor are they in any particular order. For example, McAllister is one of my favorite sleepers. If he’s used as a reliever, he’s the first SP eligible RP I’ll target. The other roles are equally self explanatory. Maurer also ranks near the top of the list, although he’s not nearly as sleepy.
More starters will land in the bullpen by the beginning of the season. For example, I included Roark above because we know he’s blocked in the rotation. A guy like Tsuyoshi Wada or Odrisamer Despaigne could wind up in long relief, but it’s still up in the air (they would be classified as “Eh”). Others like Cory Luebke and Josh Tomlin are probably midseason options.
That about does it. Analysis of the above relievers is a subject for another day. Let’s chat about who you do and don’t like in the comments.
You can follow me on twitter @BaseballATeam
We outlawed this in our ESPN points league which had 5 SP slots and 2RP slots. I was very guilty of abusing it.
The worst thing ESPN lets pass is the way start limits can be worked around. Any starts accumulated on a the day you reach the limit are counted. So, if you have 7 possible starts and go into Sunday with 6 starts, you could start 7 pitchers (5 starters and two starters with relief eligibility) and end up with 13 starts. This is especially problematic in the finals when there is no tomorrow.
But that’s a pretty small and rarely-used advantage (assuming there aren’t a ton of great SP hanging around on waivers for you to pick up). Carrying a SP eligible RP on your roster has it’s own disadvantages.
Yep…but if you aren’t playing a public league, it can be managed.
When we played at ESPN it was a free LM league and I subtracted the points for the extra starts. Penalty: You got the worst start of the day on the day you exceeded the 8 starts.
Everyone got the message and didn’t abuse the system.
Pomeranz is in the rotation, at least until Griffin and Parker come back, no? I think he is a decent sleeper option this year if he starts.
I thought so, but a lot of my colleagues think it will be Hahn, Chavez, Graveman. Either way, one of Pom or Chavez should be in the pen.
I am one of those who don’t think he will cut it as a starter. The lefty has just two pitches and by the time he gets to the third time through the order, his K/BB is under 1.0 for his career. I just don’t see much upside beyond a 5th starter.
Though I shouldn’t share him with you Brad, Jenry Mejia is another.
Thanks.
Brad, who would you rank your top 10 likely SP-eligible relievers for 2015? Including guys who may not gain reliever eligibility, but possibly could. I am doing a draft soon with a $200 cash pool for the winner and I REALLY want to incorporate this strategy big time this year. (Plus it is a league with friends, so I’d like to show off my SABR smarts.)
Same list as above for now. Ordered something like: Mejia, Maurer, Petit, McAllister, Roark, Treinen, Rasmus, Hochevar, Scheppers, Delgado. Keep an eye on the DBacks.
The real value, in my league anyway, is when these guys become the closer. Zach Britton was extremely valuable because of this last year. Jenry Meija was ok as well.
Which of these relievers has the best path to becoming their teams closer? I’m guessing Petit or Delgado.
Scheppers (#3) and Mauer (#2) are the closest according to our depth charts.
If they relieve, McAllister and Treinen could quickly work their way into the 7th/8th inning. Then it’s just a matter of injuries. McAllister is more likely to reliever than Treinen.
Thanks for the list! I was thinking about this very issue recently, and thought of Maurer, but not these other guys.
This reason alone, is more than enough cause for paying for a custom rules league. Just an absurd loophole.
Why do you care about wins per inning? Do you have daily roster changes and an innings cap?
In a pool with weekly roster changes where you’re pretty much stuck with a certain number of starts (unless you put starters in a RP slot), wins and K per inning is pretty much meaningless. However, this strategy is still a decent way to win your rate stats.
Yea this doesn’t translate well to weekly leagues. The concept is meant for daily moves leagues.
I have seen it used in a 5X5 league H2H league with no min. innings The team goes all offense and trys to win Saves and the two rate stats.
But have you seen it work. Because it either doesn’t work or the competition is nonexistent. Offensive stats are too easily contested in one week spurts.
It’s not a bad tactic in certain scenarios. If I see an opponent is throwing 8 Kershaws at me, I’ll punt the W’s/K’s and go with relievers.
Yep, I saw somebody use this strategy in a 5 x 5 league a few years ago, and it’s like Brad said: you have to win 3-4 categories in the offensive department and that fluctuates too much from week to week.
As I recall, the guy finished with a large number of ties and a record around .500.
Yeah, someone above mentioned this, but it would be interesting to name a few more guys who really aren’t expected to be in the bullpen, but could end up there throughout the year and have the stuff that could play up in shorter stints. Also wouldn’t mind seeing a list of minor league starters who we could anticipate getting a call up early on to be used out of the bullpen. Most of those guys will probably be SP eligible if they were already in the sites database.
It’s really hard to create a list of minor leaguers with SP eligibility who may get called up to pitch in relief. Yahoo, ESPN, CBS, etc all seem to have a different methodology for deciding eligibility for players that have yet to make their MLB debut, and Yahoo anyway has changed eligibility when a player was called up for a different role. Best bet is to check your player list every now and then and see if any SP have recently accumulated some relief innings. I found Neil Ramirez that way last year.
It’s an interesting strategy, but I’d want to know more info about your points settings before I jump on board.
How many moves are you allowed per week? How many starts? I’m in two ESPN points leagues where you’re allowed 12 and 11 starts through Saturday; then you can start as many SPs as you like on Sunday. At 3 pts./IP I can snow you under with points as long as I pick starters who have low walk rates, good K rates and don’t give up a lot of HRs (park factors come into play here).
The other caveat I see with this strategy is Roark and Petit. They’re next in line to become starters on their teams. With Cain’s injury problems last year and he and Lincecum being really mediocre starters, I think there’s a good chance Petit gets 14-15 starts this year. Then wins per inning goes out the window. Same with Roark. Fister has missed good chunks of the season 2 out of the last 4 years and Gio had shoulder problems last year. And there’s a good chance Zimmermann or Fister gets moved at the trade deadline—who needs five good starters for the playoffs and holes are likely to develop in the bullpen or the lineup.
Finally, there’s the old adage: “You’re durable until you’re aren’t.” Even if the starters you’ve picked have a history of durability and consistency, we’ve seen plenty of starters who’ve met those criteria either lose velocity (e.g., Verlander, Sabathia) or durability (e.g., Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay).
If you draft 7 or 8 relievers, you leave yourself perilously thin at the SP position.
But as I said, I’d like to see the settings before I pass judgment on your strategy. If the settings fit, I like Treinen, Maurer and Nicasio for this type of role.
To be fair, I usually grab these types of players off the waiver wire. I probably should have said as much in the article.
I’m in one league where SP-eligible RPs have inherent value, and another where RP-eligible SP’s have inherent value, so I’ve been focusing on these groups in my annual scouting for at least 5 years. Here’s my unsolicited additions for those who want a little more on this topic:
Radhames Liz might find a nice spot in the Pirates pen, seems to have just as much chance of producing viable fantasy stats as Maurer.
Robbie Ross will compete for primary LHP in the Red Sox pen, could be more in line for more holds than most guys on this list.
Cesar Ramos is the only lefty in the Angel’s pen. Even though he doesn’t have good RHB/LHB splits, it would seem he could stumble into 10-15 holds with potential for more.
Don’t understand all the love for Maurer. Dude can’t handle righties and his stats get dramatically worse in high-leverage situations or with runners on. Plus it’s among the deepest pens in the majors, Benoit, Quackenbush, Vincent, Thayer, Kelley all ahead of him. Black said he might try him as a starter. He also still has an option left! Strange to hear so much praise and optimism for him. A depth chart that shows Maurer as the #2 saves option is probably an incorrect one.
If Scheppers is in the “Yes” category because of the shallow Texas pen, then Estrada should be in the same category. Right now the Jays pen is deciding between a lefty and a prospect SP as their closer, with Steve Delabar as your likely 8th inning guy. They just lost a starter for the year and less than 10% of closers over the last 10 years have been lefties (I made that up but it seems generous.) With Estrada’s ability to get Ks and a possibility of lowering that HR rate, he’ll get opportunities for holds and maybe saves in that pen.
Tsuyoshi Wada is optionless, without a rotation spot, and playing o a team with a pretty inexperienced bullpen. Odrisamer, Carlos Martinez, David Phelps, and Trevor Cahill could also be big names on this list if they don’t end up in the rotation, Martinez maybe the biggest of all.
Thanks Brad, I love this subject. I hate calling it a “loophole” or an “exploit,” if it’s in the rules it’s part of the game. Feels the same as calling Castling a loophole in Chess. Learning how to fully utilize your roster helps you win leagues.
Fantastic article. I’d actually been googling this recently to try to find some sort of list. Question on eligibility… I’m not sure how Hochevar would be eligible? He didn’t start at all in his last season
You got me, but he has both in Yahoo.
Hochevar was a SP before his stint as the set-up RP two years ago (injured last year of course). I believe the position eligibility is awarded based on the likelihood that pitcher would snag a start during the season. In which case, Hochevar has a chance. A name you all should know by now that should carry dual position eligibility is Brandon Finnegan (same team ironically). Watch him close though, the Royals may elect to keep him @ AAA Omaha to develop into a legitimate SP. Or they choose to use his skills this year in the pen. Either way, he’d be a SP/RP.
Love this strategy. Was lucky enough to have Davis last year. And I remember a few years back Aceves was SP eligible while the Red Sox closer. ERA and WHIP weren’t great but with an extra closer in my lineup I won saves every week.
What are your thoughts on this strategy in QS league? No wins to be gained at a higher rate than starters, but still have the Ks and ratios….
Grumble. I keep writing out response then clicking post before the captcha stops pinwheeling…
In short, you’ll be punting QS. It’s the most puntable category, but you still have to be careful.
The biggest impact of this strategy in my league where all the competitive teams max out their innings pitched is with Strikeouts and Holds. Sure these guys help with ratios, but with a limited number of bullpen slots and needing to chase saves and holds, it is a huge advantage to have a guy who can produce on days the starters aren’t pitching. Also, the strikeouts category is usually very close (there was maybe a difference of 25 Ks between 1st and 4th place overall last year). This is a fantastic way to boost strikeouts while ‘spending’ fewer IPs. Thus a lot of these guys aren’t so helpful in such circumstances, because any reliever who doesn’t average a K per inning is a missed opportunity.
This is always useful in my league with both saves and holds as categories. H2H, 4 RP slots. Normally you would only be able to have 2 closers and 2 holders, but I am able to sneak in a 3rd holder. I can allocate resources to pick up 2 elite closers who have a good chance of winning each week, and have 3 holders who are cheaper to acquire on the wire and tend to be more common as SP/RPs.
Added bonus is the ratio gain from elite relief pitching. Well worth the roster slot of a back-end starter.
Usually I find the SP eligible relievers a little bit later in the season, but this year I drafted Tony Cingrani as my last pick in a couple drafts and I’m hoping he can be the 8th inning guy for the Reds. Also like Blake Treinen while Casey Jansen is out.
This is an interesting list, but it hasn’t held up so well a month into the season. I really liked Petit, but he has been struggling. Brad, you should make this a reoccurring list (maybe once a month) throughout the season for those of us that like to use relievers in our SP slots.
I’ve been doing this for years, but this year I am having trouble chasing holds. I kept Mejia in my auction keeper league (we can keep lots of players, so he cost me very little), but needless to say that didn’t work out. I also kept Wade Davis, but he lost his SP eligibility. I am playing Nicasio and Maurer, but I am tempted by both Scheppers and Ross Ohlendorf. I tried to trade for Cingrani, but he will cost too much. I am looking for holds, especially with the chance for saves, but I can’t seem to figure out a lot of these bullpens. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I’m hoping Mcallister can find some consistency to help me with this.
Liam Hendriks can safely be added to the “Yes” list I believe.