Pitcher usage in baseball has been undergoing significant changes that impact starters and relievers. This is the relief pitcher primer, though, so the changes that impact relievers are what is of importance in this piece. The most noteworthy change is that clubs and their managers appear to understand the importance of using their best relievers in the highest leverage situations, and not merely saving them for save chances.
Furthermore, a team’s primary closer isn’t always their best reliever. For instance, the Diamondbacks used Brad Boxberger as their primary closer last year despite the fact Archie Bradley was a better relief pitcher by every measure. While a relief ace can help fantasy squads regardless of how they’re used thanks to contributing to strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP, gamers still need to hunt out saves (unless a gamer chooses to punt the category — more on that to come).
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Saves
Last year, Edwin Diaz led MLB with 57 saves. He was the only reliever to record more than 50 saves, and no one cracked the 50-save threshold in 2017. You have to go back to 2013 for a season in which more than one closer reached the 50-save threshold. Only three relievers bested 40 saves last year. That total was identical to the 2017 total of closers reaching the 40-save threshold.
| Year | RPs with 40+ saves | RPs with 50+ saves |
| 2018 | 3 | 1 |
| 2017 | 3 | 0 |
| 2016 | 6 | 1 |
| 2015 | 5 | 1 |
| 2014 | 7 | 0 |
| 2013 | 7 | 2 |
| 2012 | 5 | 1 |
| 2011 | 8 | 0 |
| 2010 | 7 | 0 |
No reliever has led MLB in saves for two separate years since Jim Johnson led the way in 2012 and tied for the MLB lead in 2013. In short, saves are a volatile category, and relievers are volatile players.
ADP
Unsurprisingly, the high degree of volatility has made it difficult for closers to return value. According to Alex Chamberlain’s research, only the first two closers by ADP have consistently made for good investments. The top two closers in ADP currently are Edwin Diaz (47.7) and Blake Treinen (61.7). Craig Kimbrel (63.0) and Kenley Jansen (67.7) are the only others with a top-70 ADP. Nine relievers have a top-100 ADP, with Josh Hader (100.3) nearly making it 10. A top-50 pick is a steeper price than I’m willing to spend on a closer, but Treinen and Jansen are enticing options at their respective prices. In Alex’s linked tweet, he advocates fading closers and waiting to grab scrap heap relievers.
I’ll second that advice, though, as I already noted, I’m not opposed to selecting one of Treinen or Jansen around their ADP depending on how your draft is shaking out. If you are picking off of the scrap heap, you’ll need to be active on the wire. Also, if your league uses FAAB instead of (or in addition) to waiver priority, you’ll want to avoid overspending your FAAB on non-closers if you’re churning through scrap heap options or you’ll run the risk of missing out on in-season closer changes due to an insufficient FAAB budget.
Head-to-Head and Roto
I should’ve stated above, Treinen and Jansen are enticing at their respective prices in roto leagues. I previously seconded Alex’s suggestion to fade early closers and pluck options off of the scrap heap, yet I love the strategy even more in head-to-head formats than in roto. Digging an early hole in saves in roto leagues while churning through scrap heap options can be tough to overcome. However, in head-to-head formats, outright punting saves during the draft and vigilantly attacking the wire for relievers promoted to closer during the season is a viable strategy. It’s also possible to win in head-to-head leagues by punting saves and never securing them from the waiver wire.
Expanding on that, gamers who have opted to punt saves in the draft shouldn’t just grab any reliever promoted to close if their ratios do more damage than their saves offset. Relief aces who don’t rack up saves can be very valuable in head-to-head leagues by enhancing a fantasy squad’s odds of winning ERA and WHIP.
Holds (or Saves/Holds)
As reliever usage changes, gamers could (and should) consider changing their league’s scoring categories. In recent years, one home league I’m in with more scoring categories than the traditional 5×5 format has added holds as a category. Additionally, another home league has transitioned from saves to saves/holds as a category.
By either using holds or saves/holds, it increases the value of baseball’s best relievers and smooths out some of the volatility attached to the position — and there’s already plenty of volatility inherent with relievers due to the lower number of innings they work relative to starters. I’ve personally enjoyed the scoring change in my home leagues, and my leaguemates were open to the changes and have enjoyed the transition, too. The change isn’t necessarily for everyone, but it’s at least food for thought.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
