Top SP/RP Relievers
One group of players that are usually under utilized are relievers that have SP qualification. For leagues that have daily transactions, these pitchers can fit in nicely for real starting pitchers on their off days. They are must haves in leagues that count holds. Also, they may vulture a save or win here and there and help pad your rate stats.
Today I am going to look at what I feel are the top SP/RP relievers. To make my cut, I was looking for relievers with a K/BB rate over 2 and a chance of possibly being the closer during the season.
All owned rates are from ESPN.
Aaron Crow (Kansas City) – 2.63 K/BB, 0.5% owned – Aaron was a starter his entire career until the Royals moved him to the bullpen this season. He has responded spectacularly with an ERA of 0.84 and a WHIP of 1.078. I would expect these numbers to come up, especially since his FIP and xFIP stand at 2.66 and 3.02. His strand rate of 97.2% will not be maintained.
Even if his ERA goes up, his strikeout numbers will still accumulate nicely. Also, he is the set up man for Joakim Soria. Soria has had a couple of DL stints in the last few years and is the talk of trade rumors. Crow has a chance of stealing a few saves this season.
David Hernandez (Arizona) – 2.20 K/BB, 0.4% owned – David has been decent this season with a WHIP of 1.21 and an ERA of 1.74. Like Crow, I would expect his ERA to go up near his FIP (2.85) and xFIP (3.66).
He is currently the setup man for J.J. Putz, so he looks to be next in line for saves if Putz goes down.
David Pauley (Seattle) – 2.80 K/BB, 0.1% owned – David has been lights out in the 24.1 innings he has pitched for Seattle this season. Even though I didn’t look for players with an ERA lower than their FIP and xFIP, he also fits into this group with Crow and Hernandez. His ERA sits at 1.11 while his FIP (2.49) and xFIP (3.38) are higher.
He started out the season as the long reliever for Seattle, but now looks to be one of the setup men in the pen. I would not be surprised to see him close at some point in the season in Seattle
Marc Rzepczynski (Toronto) – 3.60 K/BB, 0.0% owned – Marc’s ERA (2.75) is more inline with his FIP (2.80) and xFIP (2.77), so I don’t expect much correction. His K/BB ratio was the best of the 4 pitchers I looked at today, so his strikeouts will be there.
Shawn Camp looked to be Toronto’s main setup man to start the season, but it seems like Marc is possibly taking over that role. An injury to Francisco, and Marc could could possibly jump in the closer role.
*Side note: Each of the four of these relievers have accumulated 0.4 WAR so far this season.
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.
JP Howell qualifies at SP in Yahoo leagues. Would he make this list if he hadn’t just made his first appearance? Crow, Hernandez, and Rzep are all taken in my 16-teamer 6×6 with holds, but I’ve been stashing Howell on my DL. Should I drop him for Pauley/Camp? My top priority with this decision is holds.
I would try to game the system a bit here. Keep Howell in the DL slot and keep Pauley. See how Howell pitches in his first game or two. Same speed, no re-injury. If Howell is a 100%, keep him because he has less chance of being the closer. It seems like the closer situation is more stable in Tampa than in Toronto.
Interesting. And yes, I have still not removed him from my DL. Thank you Mr. Zim.
Kameron Loe qualifies in Ottoneu leagues. 8 holds…
I’d also submit Lecure from CIN. Began the year as a starter and was very mediocre but since moving to the bullpen has been just as dominant as the above.
Marco Estrada for the Brew Crew is another name to keep an eye on. He took the loss earlier this week but that was the first run he’s given up since moving to the bullpen. In the process he’s racked up 4 holds already this month and looks to be moving into a setup role.
That’s just eerie…
I’ve made use of Marco Estrada since he was bumped from the Brewers rotation by Zack Greinke. His K/9 has dropped — which seems counter-intuitive — but his FIP as a reliever is 2.38.
Experiment over. It looks like Estrada is headed back to a spot start or two.
Also, he was not great in relief.
In my league we have a name for RP/SP pitchers…”Swingmen”