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Fantasy Baseball: Relief Pitcher Rankings Tiers

Fantasy Baseball: Relief Pitcher Rankings Tiers

Above all, the value of relief pitchers largely comes down to how many saves they get. Generally speaking, if a reliever is able to hold the closer’s role all season, he’s probably put up a decent pitching line anyway (with some notable exceptions, of course – I’m talking to you, 2004 Shawn Chacon, with your 35 saves, 7.11 ERA, and 1.94 WHIP). So really, you should be looking for guys who are likely to compile a ton of saves, which is a combination of effectiveness, job security, and team situation.

This season, there’s a long list of relievers who have great job security and should put up fantastic all-around numbers. But there’s also an equally long list of closing situations that are nerve-wracking at best, and completely unsettled at worst. It’s almost essential to make sure you have at least one reliable closer on your team, and knowing where the tiers end could be the difference between winning the saves category and wasting all your FAAB on part-time closers.

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The Elite

Chapman and Jansen are two of the handful of relievers that have the ability to significantly impact your strikeout totals. And Britton might actually be the best pitcher of the bunch, but his oblique scare and lower strikeout totals puts him third of the group. Regardless, these three are clearly the total package.

The Pretty Elite

As I mentioned in the updated closer report, I have Melancon in his own mini-tier. He’s definitely a small step below the big three, but I have him a small cut above the next group. He hasn’t had an ERA above 2.23 or a WHIP above 0.96 in any of his past four seasons. He just landed a monstrous four-year deal, meaning there’s no chance he could ever lose his job in 2017, and goes to a team, the Giants, that are notorious for winning a lot of close games.

The guys in the following tier are awesome. But they all lack either Melancon’s reliability, strong peripherals, or total job security. So, Melancon becomes one of the few players in our tiers series that gets his own tier. Way to be, Mark.

The Awesomes

Although I generally advocate waiting on closers, I think you should try to have at least one of your closers come from this tier or higher. As you’ll see when we get a little further down the list, the closing situations become pretty murky soon. These guys all represent the two pinnacles of solid fantasy closers – good numbers and job security.

Just a note on the final two guys. For reasons I explained in the updated closer report, I’m higher on Herrera than the industry appears to be. I have almost no concerns that he’ll again be excellent and hold his job all year.

And I’m a little lower on Diaz than the industry. Yes, he is amazing, and could easily jump into the top tier if he keeps up his trajectory. But he’s young and the Mariners have other options. He’s still a great pick, but he’d be my last choice of this group.

The Solids

These guys should all help your numbers and, most likely, hold their job all year. Colome and Giles offer the most upside, but Colome was pretty mediocre prior to last year, and Giles didn’t perform well enough to get the closer’s job until the end of the season. Both carry some minor risk that keep them out of the tier above.

Familia also offers a tricky situation, since MLB has not yet decided what discipline (if any) he will get for his domestic violence arrest during the offseason. MLB has been pretty strict about punishments regardless of prosecution (charges were dropped against Familia), so the safe bet is that Familia gets somewhere around 30 games. But a) you can draft Addison Reed to tide you over for the first month or so and b) Familia can still challenge for 40 saves even with the suspension.

The Guys With Jobs

Not the most exciting group of names, to be sure. But they are all the named closer on their team, and that counts for something at this point. It would be a minor surprise if any of these guys held the job for the entire season, either because they’re sure to be traded or their skills/situations suggest they’ll eventually lose it. But guys with the job going into the season are certainly worth something.

The Guys Who Probably Have Jobs

Questions abound here, but we’re still hanging onto to the fact that these guys will probably start the season as their respective team’s closer. Paul Molitor has said that Kintzler will begin the season as the closer until Glen Perkins returns from injury, but who knows when or if that will happen?

Maurer performed well in the closer’s role last season, and although he will “compete” with Carter Capps for the job, Maurer should open as the closer. Capps is returning from Tommy John surgery and may have to change his delivery in light of new MLB rules.

Ottavino has to compete with Greg Holland, but the latter is also returning from Tommy John surgery and should be brought along slowly. Bedrosian should get the job to open the season with Street’s back injury. And although Gomez gets the first crack at closing, he’s unlikely to hold the job.

But all five of these guys should open as the closer, and could, if everything breaks right, hold the job all season.

The Question Marks

Some of these guys are going to get saves. We just don’t know which ones. To be clear, if the Nationals don’t make a trade (ahem, David Robertson), then Kelley would certainly move up a tier or two. But for now, I’m avoiding.

The Numbers Helpers

Yes, these guys will and should be drafted, and if you’re drafting them, you’re doing so before the likes of Ryan Madson at this point. But you can’t lump them in with any tier of closers. If you draft these guys, you’re doing it for their WHIP, ERA and strikeouts help.

Personally, I don’t draft either guy unless I’m in a head-to-head league, because I mostly just want saves from my relievers in rotisserie leagues. But certainly, they’re in their own separate tier, and you shouldn’t forget them.

More Tiers

First Base Rankings Tiers
Catcher Rankings Tiers
Second Base Rankings Tiers
Shortstop Rankings Tiers
Third Base Rankings Tiers
Outfield Rankings Tiers
Starting Pitcher Rankings Tiers


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Dan Harris is a correspondent with FantasyPros. For more from Dan, check out his archive or follow him on Twitter at @danharris80.

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