We are in the thick of spring training and there are still several unsettled closer situations across the league. Additionally, there are always countless pitchers that emerge during the season to become a key source of saves. Injuries, poor performance, bullpen committees, and trades constantly shuffle the closer carousel. These future closers can be had practically for free on draft day.
There are also closer situations that seem settled right now, but will quickly prove to be unsettled come April. Here are a few relief pitchers that are currently dirt cheap in drafts and make for excellent save speculation targets.
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Hunter Harvey (BAL)
The Orioles’ bullpen is the epitome of an unsettled closer situation. Last season’s save leader was Mychal Givens, who had 11 saves compared to eight blown saves. Yuck.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has spoken at length during spring training about the back of his bullpen and he keeps mentioning Hunter Harvey as a potential ninth-inning option. Harvey is a former top-100 prospect that is a starter turned into a flame-throwing reliever. He hurls absolute gas. His average four-seam fastball last year was 98.3 MPH and he can top 100 MPH on the radar gun.
Harvey pitched 6.1 exceptional innings for the Orioles in September and tantalized with his potential. He is a high-makeup player with a bulldog ninth-inning mentality. Closing runs in his family. His father, Bryan Harvey, racked up 177 saves back in the late 80s and early 90s.
Check out this interview where Brandon Hyde talks up Harvey’s impact on Baltimore’s bullpen. Hyde states, “[Harvey] definitely has got closer stuff…[Harvey] is definitely an option.” The Orioles are rebuilding and might as well see what they have in Hunter Harvey. There is a very good chance that he leads the team in saves this year.
James Karinchak (CLE)
Cleveland’s closer situation is not exactly unsettled, but I would label the incumbent, Brad Hand, as “at-risk.” He has piled up 66 saves over the last two seasons, but something changed after the All-Star break. Check out Hand’s 2019 splits:
Pre-ASB: 37.1 innings, 2.17 ERA, 1.93 FIP, 0.99 WHIP, 37.4% K rate, 0.48 HR/9, .247 wOBA
Post-ASB: 20.0 innings, 5.40 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 1.70 WHIP, 30.5% K rate, 1.80 HR/9, .365 wOBA
He cratered in just about every meaningful pitching statistic during the second half of last season and is a few shaky outings away from the hot seat. Enter Karinchak, who is a strikeout machine with one of the filthiest fastball/curveball combinations you will ever see. In 27.1 combined innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year, Karinchak struck out a combined 58% of hitters. He was promoted to the Indians in September and struck out 36% of hitters in 5.1 dominant innings. Karinchak’s 97 MPH heat and knee-buckling curve is the stuff closers are made from.
Karinchak is slated to be one of the key arms in Cleveland’s bullpen and should Hand falter, Karinchak has a great chance to snag the closer role and run with it.
Yoshihisa Hirano (RP – SEA)
The Mariners’ closer situation may be the most unsettled in all of baseball. Their seemingly top two options (Matt Magill and Sam Tuivailala) are currently battling shoulder injuries, which are notoriously tricky for pitchers. Next up are a slew of uninspiring relievers battling it out for the coveted ninth-inning spot in Yoshihisa Hirano, Brandon Brennan, Carl Edwards Jr., Dan Altavilla, and Taylor Guilbeau.
Hirano is the most intriguing of the bunch – he is a 36-year-old with two years of big-league experience for the Diamondbacks. The Mariners signed Hirano from free agency at the end of January to bolster their bullpen. Hirano was a very serviceable reliever for the Diamondbacks and rocks a nasty splitter that he throws over 50% of the time and earns a disgusting 40% whiff rate.
Prior to his stint in Arizona, Hirano was a very successful closer in Japan for the Orix Buffaloes where he racked up 143 saves between 2013 – 2017. Hirano seems like the current favorite to get that all-important first save opportunity, which is sometimes all it takes for a pitcher to grab a closing gig and run with it.
Tampa Bay Rays
Nick Anderson is the prohibitive favorite among expert analysts to lead the Rays in saves and he is priced like it with an ECR of 155, which is ahead of established closers like Alex Colomé, Sean Doolittle, Hansel Robles, and Archie Bradley. However, the Rays have not formally announced a closer and I wholeheartedly disagree with the helium pumping up Anderson this offseason. He is a major draft-day fade at this exorbitant price.
Anderson has a two-pitch arsenal with a fastball averaging 96 MPH and a devastating curveball that he throws 40% of the time and generates a preposterous 54% whiff rate. He strikes out batters in droves – 110 Ks in 65 innings last season. His control is decent enough with a 6.8% walk rate, more than serviceable for a pitcher with such nasty stuff.
The concern with Anderson lies on his team and situation – the Rays are one of the most forward-thinking teams in baseball and do not abide by stereotypical closer usage. Even if Anderson is Tampa’s best reliever, the Rays will have no problem rolling him out there in high-leverage spots during the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings – leaving the save opportunities for the next man up.
Further, the Rays have an extremely deep bullpen. Should Anderson undergo a rough patch, the Rays will give him a shorter leash than typical for those high-leverage innings, opening up the door for someone else to save games in Tampa. Jose Alvarado, Diego Castillo, Oliver Drake, and Colin Poche all have tantalizing stuff and could emerge as a viable source of saves.
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Jarad Evans is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jarad, follow him on Twitter @jarad_evans.
