Skip to main content

Fantasy Baseball Middle Reliever Targets: Week 14

Fantasy Baseball Middle Reliever Targets: Week 14

The All-Star break affords fantasy players a well-deserved reprieve to reassess their rosters for the second half. No longer bogged down by the mundanity of setting lineups, they can instead identify some dead weight and scour the waiver wire for upgrades.

Managers especially can’t grow complacent when supervising middle relievers in holds leagues. Aside from Andrew Miller, nobody should be considered a permanent member of the squad. Despite tying Taylor Rogers with an MLB-high 19 holds, Adam Ottavino’s ERA has skyrocketed to 6.00 after allowing 12 runs in his last six outings. Don’t be afraid to cast him aside, especially if Colorado Rockies teammate Jake McGee is available.

All-Star Brad Hand should be long gone, as should Midsummer Classic snubs Chris Devenski, Tommy Kahnle, and Blake Parker. The talent pool isn’t as promising as it once was when out-of-nowhere studs surfaced seemingly every week in April and May, but there are still burgeoning names to target near baseball’s hiatus.

Import your team to My Playbook for custom advice all season partner-arrow

Tommy Hunter (TB)

This week in “crummy old starters suddenly awesome in the bullpen” features Tommy Hunter, the Tampa Bay Rays’ bullpen leader in ERA (2.25) and FIP (2.86).

Danny Farquar tops the club with nine holds, but he has also issued 22 walks. Second on the leaderboard with seven, Jose Alvarado was optioned to Triple-A last week. So Hunter, who has picked up five of his six holds since June 7, could soon best that category as well.

The 31-year-old did not immediately flip a switch after his reliever conversion. Although he registered a 3.24 ERA from 2013 to 2016, a middling 6.82 K/9 accompanied above-average run prevention. Now that he has accrued 27 punchouts over 24 innings, and 17 of them since the start of June, he’s finally fantasy relevant.

Hunter is currently Tampa Bay’s most reliable option, and that includes struggling closer Alex Colome. The veteran probably won’t ascend higher than a setup role, but that’s primary real estate for gamers pursuing holds.

Brandon Morrow (LAD)

Hold on, there’s one more former starter to highlight. Unlike Hunter, Brandon Morrow commanded significant buzz as a starter with tantalizing strikeout appeal but had difficulty staying healthy. In hindsight, moving to the bullpen seems like the obvious solution.

Some may have forgotten about Morrow, who recorded 81.2 major league innings over the last three years. After battling valley fever in late 2015 into 2016, he has recovered and gained a few ticks of velocity. He has even touched triple digits on occasion for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Morrow had tossed 12.2 scoreless frames before relinquishing two runs on Independence Day. He still wields a 1.38 ERA with 15 strikeouts, one walk and a 14.7 swinging-strike rate. When asked about deploying his new weapon in a setup role, per the Los Angeles Times’ Mike DiGiovanna, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts kept his options open.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Roberts said. “I don’t want to put ourselves in a situation where we have a dedicated eighth-inning guy or seventh-inning guy. I like to manage the bullpen with respect to what part of the lineup is coming up. But Brandon has done a lot to build trust in me. What we’ve seen … it’s been electric.”

That’s a good start. He has notched just one hold since joining Los Angeles’ bullpen, but keep a close eye on Morrow’s usage as he settles into a well-fitting role.

Kyle Barraclough (MIA)

Five weeks ago, this column called Kyle Barraclough “no longer usable in any formats.” The fiery Miami Marlins reliever has since worked tirelessly to disprove that notion.

The advice initially felt prescient when he yielded two runs on June 1, the article’s published date. In 16 ensuing innings he has yielded just two runs with 21 strikeouts, showing signs of the unhittable setup man who submitted a 14.00 K/9 last season. More encouraging for those tired of his wild ways, he has doled out five free passes, a tolerable amount considering his stuff.

Never truly banished to Miami’s dog house, he had little trouble regaining the team’s’ trust. He has bolstered his hold tally to 10 with two in July’s opening week. Only David Phelps—a probable trade-deadline target—has maintained more leads for the Marlins.

The last Barraclough section warned fantasy players not to let loyalty steer their decision-making. That still applies, but they also shouldn’t hold grudges. Never rostering someone who once let you down is a surefire way to lose a league. Now that he’s back on the right track and recapturing his sky-high strikeout upside, Barracloguh deserves a second chance.

Luis Garcia (PHI)

Pat Neshek is not the only veteran rolling in the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen. Luis Garcia, a 30-year-old who entered the season with 112 career strikeouts and 81 walks, has a dozen strikeouts to three walks over his past 10.2 scoreless innings.

Six years ago, Garcia worked for MLB—Major League Barbers—cutting hair in New Jersey. He has stuck around the Phillies organization despite posting a below-replacement WAR in three of his last four seasons, with his best campaign featuring a 3.51 ERA but 5.00 BB/9. Although an elite ground-ball rate is typically his saving grace, his 46.9 percentage falls over 10 points behind his career clip.

He certainly does not fit the prototype for a dominant reliever, but Garcia also throws gas, yielding a 12.3 swinging-strike percentage. Throwing strikes is key for his lasting power, and a 60.0 first-pitch strike percentage represents a promising improvement he must sustain to empower his recent success.

Although currently no more than a deep-league add, midseason trades could boost his standing in Philadelphia’s bullpen. There’s no need to keep Neshek and Joaquin Benoit aboard, so the Phillies should stick with Garcia’s hot hand until it cools down.

Luke Weaver (STL)

Weaver deserves a starting spot. The 23-year-old hurler, who compiled 45 strikeouts in 36.1 big league innings last season, wore out his Triple-A welcome with a 1.93 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 3.75 K-BB ratio.

The St. Louis Cardinals promoted him but will initially use him as a reliever. As manager Mike Matheney explained to reporters, per Fox Sports Midwest, he wants to give the young righty regular work rather than risk him rotting away as an unneeded emergency option.

These things usually work themselves out. Most teams would love the problem of having five healthy starters blocking a major league ready rookie. But whether it’s an injury on ineffectiveness, an opportunity should eventually arise.

In the meantime, he’s an overqualified reliever who has thrown three scoreless innings since his promotion. As a command pitcher operating in the low 90s, Weaver doesn’t possess an arsenal conducive to short-inning dominance like Morrow. St. Louis should instead aim to apply him for longer stints as a high-impact long reliever. He’s worth using in deeper holds leagues while waiting for a rotation spot to vacate.


Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud | Google Play | TuneIn | RSS

Andrew Gould is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrewgould4.

More Articles

13 Bold Predictions from the Experts (2024 Fantasy Baseball)

13 Bold Predictions from the Experts (2024 Fantasy Baseball)

fp-headshot by FantasyPros Staff | 5 min read
Fantasy Baseball Injury Stash Rankings: Walker Buehler, Matt McClain, Josh Lowe (2024)

Fantasy Baseball Injury Stash Rankings: Walker Buehler, Matt McClain, Josh Lowe (2024)

fp-headshot by Joel Bartilotta | 4 min read
Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice: Players to Buy Low & Sell High (Week 1)

Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice: Players to Buy Low & Sell High (Week 1)

fp-headshot by Brett Ussery | 4 min read
One Breakout Player for Every MLB Team (2024 Fantasy Baseball)

One Breakout Player for Every MLB Team (2024 Fantasy Baseball)

fp-headshot by FantasyPros Staff | 1 min read

About Author

Hide

Current Article

3 min read

13 Bold Predictions from the Experts (2024 Fantasy Baseball)

Next Up - 13 Bold Predictions from the Experts (2024 Fantasy Baseball)

Next Article