Rostering elite middle relievers especially goes a long way in holds leagues. Drafting the top ones, however, can often backfire.

Around this time last year, fantasy players were getting acquainted with breakout hurler Tommy Kahnle. Drafted instead of added for free this season, he’s now on the disabled list after forfeiting seven runs and eight walks in six appearances. Everyone who invested a meaningful pick on fellow Yankee Dellin Betances, meanwhile, is watching one of the game’s premier setup men struggle mightily.

Rather than stomaching a faltering known commodity, holds-league players should target these relievers off the waiver wire. Even if the first one has experienced his own setbacks…

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Dominic Leone (STL): 10 Percent Owned
While a 10 percent consensus ownership rate typically disqualifies a middle reliever from waiver-wire consideration, consider Dominic Leone‘s circumstances. The offseason acquisition briefly looked like St. Louis’s closer when Luke Gregerson went on the disabled list. Then they signed Greg Holland on Opening Day. Bud Norris is currently handling save opportunities as Leone descends down the bullpen hierarchy with a 5.14 ERA. Idle managers who drafted or added him in March anticipating saves might be artificially bolstering his rate, so it’s possible an active investor has already moved on to the next reliever, even in holds formats.

The 26-year-old is no longer someone to target as a next-in line closer. Norris has converted all four save opportunities while stockpiling 17 strikeouts in 9.1 innings. If anyone is going to take his newly earned role, it’s Holland. Gregerson, a veteran who has previously worked the ninth, might cut the line if the other two falter.

Yet let’s not forget why so many drafters hoped Leone received the closing gig. Last season, he posted a 2.56 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 70.1 innings. He has already yielded four runs, and the damage could have been worse considering two of his three homers relinquished were solo shots. He has also, however, notched 11 strikeouts and no walks in seven frames while not allowing a baserunner since April 8. It’s time to abandon the preseason closing dream, but Leone should find his footing as a high-end middle reliever.

Josh Fields (LAD): 3 Percent Owned
Pedro Baez (LAD): 1 Percent Owned
Tony Cingrani (LAD): 1 Percent Owned
It’s getting harder to dismiss Kenley Jansen’s rough start as empty noise. The usually untouchable closer has ceded six runs (three homers) and three walks over 6.2 innings. Last year, he coughed up his sixth earned run on July 23 and third walk the following day. He has also lost two miles per hour on his cutter and slider, which factors into a 38.1 hard-hit percentage well above 2017’s 25.9 clip.

The 30-year-old’s reputation is too resounding to outright lose the closer’s job on merit, but one must wonder if he’s fully healthy. Besides, these three Dodgers relievers could all contribute in the role of preserving leads for baseball’s premier stopper.

Those thinking a DL trip – the Dodgers often used the 10-day DL to rest starters last year – is on the horizon will decide between Josh Fields and Pedro Baez. Fields, who has allowed one run over nine innings, brandishes a 2.64 ERA, 94 strikeouts, and 25 walks in 85.1 innings since joining the Dodgers in 2016. Although he has only recorded one hold, the 32-year-old has also vultured a win and worked scoreless frames in two one-run losses.

Despite also tallying one hold, Baez – who picked up 23 in each of the last two seasons – has also relinquished just one run with a dozen strikeouts this season. The 30-year-old righty has generated more ground balls (47.4 %) and swinging strikes (16.7 %) in 8.2 innings. Looking at a larger sample size instead, the lifelong Dodger sports a career 2.96 ERA and 9.62 K/9.

The most interesting of this trio is Tony Cingrani, who is beginning to fulfill the power pitcher turned mighty reliever prophecy. His 12 strikeouts come with a 20.9 swinging-strike percentage and 42.9 outside-swing rate. Eight of his 13 batted balls stayed on the ground, and the once erratic southpaw has yet to yield a walk. A change of scenery has worked wonders for Cingrani. Since he was acquired from the Reds last summer, he has posted 40 strikeouts and six walks in 26.1 dominant innings. That midseason lottery ticket has paid off handsomely for the Dodgers, and he should soon enter the limelight as an excellent source of strikeouts and holds. Yet based on current usage, it’s unlikely he jumps Fields and Baez in line unless they stumble.

Seung Hwan Oh (TOR): 4 Percent Owned
Who else selected Seung Hwan Oh in an NFBC draft-and-hold shortly after he reportedly signed with the Rangers? Nobody but me? OK, I guess I have to bury that hatchet. Instead of landing on a team rife with bullpen uncertainty, he signed with the Blue Jays as a bridge to stud closer Roberto Osuna.

Barring an injury, The Final Boss is no more than a middle-inning obstacle. A 1.71 WHIP and .333 opposing batting average don’t signal a return to 2016’s dominance, but there’s hope he can exceed last year’s downfall. Along with compiling seven strikeouts to one walk, he has thrown a first-pitch strike to 26 of 35 batters and amassed a 15.4 swinging-strike percentage. Because baseball is a rigid game of traditional conformity, the 35-year-old’s past tenure as a closer likely boosts his odds of settling into a meaningful setup role with better batted-ball fortune. In all fairness, it’s difficult to forget his 1.92 ERA and 103 strikeouts from 2016.

Sammy Solis (WAS): 0 Percent Owned
Washington’s once-decrepit bullpen is now … still not great, but a tad less awful than early last season. Prior to Wednesday night’s eight-inning collapse against the Mets, the unit collectively owned an NL-high 31.2 strikeout percentage. It owes most of the credit to Sammy Solis.

The 29-year-old has already registered 14 punchouts over 7.1 frames. Opponents have mustered a 66.7 contact percentage off the lefty, who also owns a 50.0 ground-ball rate and 16.0 swinging-strike percentage. Although Brandon Kintzler has one more hold and closer experience, he has also coughed up six walks and seven runs in nine innings. If those trends continue, Washington should have a new seventh-inning opener for Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle.

Of course, there’s good reason to doubt someone who recorded a 5.88 ERA in the majors and got tagged for nine runs in 12.2 Triple-A frames last season. He handed back much of 2018’s early progress by walking both batters faced (both of whom later scored after he left) on Wednesday night. Welcome to the wacky, unpredictable world of big league bullpens. For now, strikeouts and a 1.69 FIP keep him on the deep-league fantasy radar.

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