Searching for the shiny new toy is always fun and occasionally highly profitable. But don’t overlook the reliable contributors who produce to little fanfare.
Those sturdy constants, unfortunately, are difficult to locate out of the bullpen. The task gets tougher when seeking middle relievers, as many veteran hurlers receive a closing duty out of familiarity. MLB teams will sample multiple options until someone sticks, and fantasy managers can do the same when chasing holds.
These first two options are intriguing choices despite limited track records. The other three, meanwhile, have been around the block and flourished away from the spotlight. Even if they’re not front-line choices, they can hold the fort down beyond shallow mixed leagues.
This isn’t the typical middle-relief roundup eyeing future closers. Instead, this column aims to help those in holds (or saves-plus-holds) formats. In some cases, they’re even useful for deep-league managers eyeing a strikeout and ratio boost beyond the obvious names.
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Only Chicago White Sox over-saturation blocked Anthony Swarzak from inclusion last week. The opportunity to grab him might have passed, as he’s owned in 11 percent of Yahoo leagues.
That’s a high rate for any middle reliever, particularly one with two holds. Yet the 31-year-old righty, who posted a 5.52 ERA last season, has not relinquished a run over 14.2 sensational innings, during which he has compiled 17 strikeouts and one walk.
The early data supports such dominance. His 22.1 swinging-strike rate ties Craig Kimbrel for second among all relievers behind the injured Jose Leclerc, and no reliever has drawn more hitters to chase outside the strike zone. When batters make contact, it’s weak. Half of his batted balls are grounders, and another quarter are infield fly balls.
Swzarak hasn’t allowed a baserunner since April 25, and his only three hits allowed this season were singles. He has harnessed his slider into a devastating weapon which has netted a 57.15 whiff rate.
Don’t start dreaming of saves if the rebuilding White Sox trade David Robertson. Tommy Kanhle has looked just as incredible, and Nate Jones likely remains the next-man up anyway. Nevertheless, Swarzak is too impressive to ignore.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has a quick hook for all starters besides Clayton Kershaw. Six other pitchers—consisting of injury-prone veterans and 20-year-old rookie Julio Urias—have averaged 5.4 innings per start as of Wednesday. Since someone needs to eat those extra innings, Ross Stripling has transitioned to a long-relief role.
On the surface, he hasn’t improved in shortened spots. After notching a 3.96 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 100 respectable rookie innings, the 27-year-old has a 3.79 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in the bullpen. He also, however, has registered 24 strikeouts and four walks in 19 innings. A .423 BABIP doesn’t match his 23.1 hard-hit rate.
Despite allowing a run in each of his last two outings, Stripling has also submitted nine strikeouts in five innings. He has a long way to go before becoming the next Chris Devenski, but he has more punchouts than the likes of Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, and Aroldis Chapman.
The stat-savvy Dodgers should resist moving him back into the rotation if possible. According to Baseball-Reference.com, his OPS rose from .616 to .798 in the first and second times through the batting order last year. In the rare instances when Roberts left him in for the third go-around, his OPS spiked to .867. Grab him in NL-only and deep mixed leagues.
A sidearmer who throws in the high 80’s, Joe Smith sports a tame 7.67 K/9 over his decade-long career. So it’s a head-scratcher seeing him strike out 25 batters over 17 innings.
He hasn’t changed his repertoire or harnessed a high-90’s heater, but the veteran has upped his swinging-strike rate to 14.1 percent. His career average is 8.3, and he has yet to maintain a double-digit tally through a full season.
With Jason Grilli getting fried and Joe Biagini shifting to the rotation, Smith stands tall as the Toronto Blue Jays’ setup man for Roberto Osuna. After picking up holds on Sunday and Monday, he tied Biagini’s team lead at four.
Smith has the role to thrive in holds leagues. Even if the strikeout uptick doesn’t last, he’s still a trustworthy veteran with a career 2.91 ERA and 55.9 ground-ball rate. He’s a safe choice in a highly fickle field.
If fantasy leagues used FIP instead of ERA, Liam Hendriks would be a middle-relief stud.
Since permanently moving to the bullpen in 2015, his 2.43 FIP ranks among the cream of the crop. His 3.35 ERA does not. Hendricks has also opened all of those seasons by torpedoing his stock with 24 runs relinquished in April. He surrendered two runs in three-straight outings during this season’s second week.
Following that rocky start, he has navigated 11 scoreless frames with 11 strikeouts and one walk. Despite his 3.45 ERA, the 28-year-old righty flaunts a 1.74 FIP and 59.4 ground-ball rate.
He also has four holds in an Oakland Athletics bullpen missing Sean Doolittle. If he stays hot while Ryan Dull remains cold, Hendriks can secure seventh-inning assignments before setup man Ryan Madson and closer Santiago Casilla. The wide range of outcomes makes his risky, but he’s a great option when in rhythm.
Bryan Shaw has conversely outperformed his peripherals. From 2014 to 2016, the crafty righty has consistently coughed up fewer runs than the metrics would estimate with a 2.91 ERA and 3.77 FIP.
At a certain point, gamers can’t assume he’s simply lucky. Only Zach Britton generated a lower hard-hit percentage than Shaw’s 21.3 during those three seasons. While the mark has risen to 25.6 early this year, his ground-ball rate makes amends by skyrocketing to 69.0.
Keeping the ball in the infield is a surefire way to avoid long balls. He has yet to serve up a home run, leading to a 2.40 ERA and six holds for the Cleveland Indians. As of Wednesday, opponents were slugging .283 against his primary cutter.
Shaw is no Miller or Cody Allen, especially not in the strikeout column, but he’s a solid add in deeper leagues where the elite middle-relief options are long gone.
Note: Advanced stats are courtesy of FanGraphs and Brooks Baseball unless otherwise noted.
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Andrew Gould is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrewgould4.
