Starting Pitching Qualified Relievers, Take Advantage of a Starting Pitcher’s Day Off
On the days that not all of your starting pitchers (SP) are not pitching, the SP qualified reliever can be inserted and be used to rack up some strikeouts, lower rate stats and pickup a win or save here and there. Last season, J.P. Howell fit this mold perfectly. He became even more valuable when he became the full closer for the Rays. J.P. is no longer SP eligible, but here are a few players that fit the mold. All percent owned number are from Yahoo.
Joba Chamberlain (31% owned) – Probably the best SP,RP option. The Yankees are going to score some runs, so he has a great chance for some wins.
Dustin Nippert (2%) – He has not had much luck as a starter and going to the pen should help him. As Tom Tango has noted, pitchers going to the pen have an average drop in ERA of 1 point. A projected ERA for 5.13 as a starter would be 4.13 as a closer.
Robinson Tejeda (2%) – Not a good start of the season for Mr. Tejada, but he should be respectable out of the pen. Don’t look to pitch him as starter, just out as a reliever.
Chad Gaudin (1%) – I really like Chad as a reliever and is a great option. He is in line to be a starter for the A’s if needed and if he does, look to place him on the bench.
Chan Ho Park (1%) – Another pitcher that got roughed up in his first outing. He should be able to get a few wins being the relief man when the Yankee’s starter blows up and he is pitching when the Yankee’s offense retakes the lead.
Chris Narveson (1%) – Not a great reliever, but good enough in deep and NL only leagues to steal a few wins as a RP
Nate Robertson (1%) – He is now starting, but was planned to be in pen. Don’t use him unless his role changes and he moves back to pen.
Jose Contreras (0%) – I think he could be a nice sleeper. He fits into the mold of Park, where he comes in for long relief and the Phillies offense gets going enough to get him a win. Chone is projecting a decent ERA as a reliever of 3.84.
I am sure I missed a few so let other know if anyone else stands out.
Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.
Kris Medlen