These Non-Closing Relievers Are Dominating — Apr 29, 2024

If you play in a shallow mixed league that only cares about saves and ignores holds, you rarely, if ever, have even considered picking up a non-closing reliever. However, in deep mixed, and especially mono leagues, or those that count holds in some form (as a separate category or combined with saves), non-closing relievers can accrue fantasy value. So it’s worth perusing your free agent pool and the FanGraphs leaderboards to find the next hidden gem. Ya never know, one of these names could end up finding themselves in the closer role if the incumbent hits a rough patch or the IL.

To find these names, I simply sorted relievers by SwStk% and removed the closers. Since it’s a very small sample size for relievers right now, I don’t care as much about strikeout rate, and I certainly don’t care about ERA. The most important skill to me at the moment is the ability to generate whiffs. Of course, control matters too, so I included xERA to incorporate the other skills so we’re not including a guy with a 15% walk rate.

Wow, Fernando Cruz! I have to be honest — I assumed he was some young flamethrower in that Reds bullpen, but man, I’m completely wrong! He’s already 34 years old, only recorded 80.2 MLB innings over his entire career spanning just two seasons and features averagish velocity for a reliever, with his fastball sitting at 94.7 MPH. This year, he’s throwing his splitter more than previously, at the expense of his four-seamer. Smart move, because that splitter has been INCREDIBLE. It sports a 38.7% SwStk% and has actually been over 30% in each of his first two seasons. If it’s that good, might as well throw it even more until the higher frequency reduces its effectiveness. His control ain’t great though, but it doesn’t matter when you’re striking out half of opposing batters.

Andrew Chafin’s SwStk% has surged this season, as he’s changed his pitch mix. He has nearly stopped throwing his two-seamer in favor of more of his slider. That’ll usually lead to more whiffs, which it has so far. With Jason Foley’s luck to turn at some point, I’d expect Chafin to pick up a save here and there and remain a solid deep league middle reliever.

Hello Reed Garrett! Our main page discussed his season so far, as he has not only thrown his splitter more, but also his slider more, essentially combining what both Cruz and Chafin have done with their repertoires. I wonder how long it’ll take for the projections to catch up to this new version of him.

With Emmanuel Clase firmly entrenched as the Guardians’ closer, you can’t expect Nick Sandlin to pick up many more saves, if any at all, this season. But he has upped his SwStk%, thanks to throwing his…splitter more often. Sounds like this is a common theme this year! Actually, depending on which source you consult, it’s either a splitter or changeup. Either way, it’s been elite, generating a 28.6% SwStk%, even though his four-seam velocity sits at a career low.

It’s weird to see Hunter Stratton’s SwStk% so high, but his strikeout rate merely good. So a lot of his success so far has been because of his tiny 1.7% walk rate, which won’t last. There’s no real change in his pitch mix this year to explain the spike in SwStk%, but his minor league performances are littered with lots of high SwStk% marks, so this is nothing really new.

For a time, it looked like Jeff Hoffman might become the new Phillies closer, but he recorded just one save and it’s clearly he’s just second in line. He’s gone from weak starter to dominant reliever as his fastball velocity has surged the past two seasons, while he has thrown his slider significantly more often. He’s actually throwing his fastball more this year at the expense of his slider, which usually isn’t great for strikeouts, but it hasn’t mattered. He should finish the season as one of the top non-closing relievers…if he does finish the season as the actual closer.

Yennier Cano was the perfect handcuff for Craig Kimbrel owners and as I type this, it is not yet known whether Kimbrel will miss any time. If he does, Cano should get the closer gig after saving eight games last year, and perform well. He’s not your prototypical closer, but more like a Clay Holmes that generates tons of ground balls, but with enough strikeouts to be an elite reliever.

Scott Barlow has struggled with his control this year, but his SwStk% is sitting at a career best. That’s pretty surprising actually, given that his fastball velocity is down two miles per hour. Interestingly, he has also become an extreme ground ball pitcher. So it’s been an odd start to the season for Barlow and I’m not sure where it’s going to go.

There have been a number of years when A.J. Minter was the poster boy for elite non-closing reliever, along with times he recorded a bunch of saves as well. He’s dominating once again this year, though his fastball velocity is down a touch, while he has thrown it more often, at the expense of his cutter. Personally, I wouldn’t want to see him throw a lower velocity fastball more often than a pitch that should generate more whiffs, but it’s worked so far!

Gabe Speier showed dominating stuff last year with a 15.1% SwStk%, and he’s continued putting his elite slider on display. I’m a bit perplexed how he has managed such high SwStk% marks with his four-seamer, given that its velocity is down 1.5 miles per hour versus last year, so it’s hard to believe he could maintain an upper teens mark. Still, the combination of his strikeout rate, even if it regresses some, and his control, make him a top option.

It’s only been 9.2 innings for Adrian Morejon, but he’s been fantastic. He has swapped out half his four-seam usage for some sinkers, apparently ditched his curveball, and has dramatically upped usage of his slider. So this has been a totally different pitcher so far. Unfortunately, his slider has been merely good, not great, with a 16.7% SwStk%, while it’s been his four-seamer carrying his whiffs, sitting at a crazy 25% SwStk%. That fastball is up nearly two miles per hour, but it’s still hard to believe he maintains anything close to that SwStk% mark with the pitch. Still, I’d speculate here in deep leagues given the increased velocity.