Each week during the fantasy baseball season, I take a look at the relief pitcher landscape to aid in waiver wire and trade decisions. The trade deadline always provides winners and losers at relief pitcher.
- Fantasy Baseball Trade Analyzer
- Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Assistant
- Fantasy Baseball Lineup Assistant
- MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Fantasy Baseball Saves + Holds League Advice: Week 19
Saves + Holds Leaders
There are 14 pitchers with 24+ saves plus holds:
| Player | Team | SV+H |
| Bryan Baker | TBR | 34 |
| Cade Smith | CLE | 30 |
| Louis Varland | TOR | 29 |
| Mason Miller | SDP | 28 |
| Aroldis Chapman | BOS | 27 |
| Riley O’Brien | STL | 27 |
| Kevin Kelly | TBR | 26 |
| Tyler Rogers | TOR | 26 |
| Trevor Megill | MIL | 26 |
| David Bednar | NYY | 25 |
| Jhoan Duran | PHI | 25 |
| Dylan Lee | ATL | 24 |
| Paul Sewald | ARI | 24 |
| Raisel Iglesias | ATL | 24 |
Takeaways
- Bryan Baker finally surpassed Cade Smith as the league leader. Despite leading Smith by four and Mason Miller by six saves plus holds, Baker is firmly behind them in the top 40. Miller and Smith have much higher strikeout upside and longer track records.
- Louis Varland has continued his excellent season. He’s got a microscopic 1.11 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 33% strikeout rate, all of which are career highs. He ranks ninth among qualified relievers with a 25.7% strikeout-minus-walk rate.
- David Bednar‘s scoreless streak came to an end on July 28 at 24 innings. He then gave up two runs on July 28, but followed it up with three more scoreless appearances. Overall, he’s got a 2.54 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 10.3 K/9 for the second-place Yankees.
Saves + Holds Reliever Rankings
Here are my top 40 relievers for save-plus-holds leagues:
| Rank | Player | Team | Change |
| 1 | Mason Miller | SDP | – |
| 2 | Cade Smith | CLE | – |
| 3 | Bryan Baker | TBR | – |
| 4 | Josh Hader | HOU | – |
| 5 | Jhoan Duran | PHI | – |
| 6 | Aroldis Chapman | BOS | – |
| 7 | Louis Varland | TOR | +1 |
| 8 | Trevor Megill | MIL | +2 |
| 9 | Raisel Iglesias | ATL | -2 |
| 10 | Riley O’Brien | STL | -1 |
| 11 | Andres Munoz | SEA | – |
| 12 | David Bednar | NYY | +3 |
| 13 | Tanner Scott | LAD | -1 |
| 14 | Jacob Latz | TEX | – |
| 15 | Kevin Kelly | TBR | -2 |
| 16 | Tyler Rogers | TOR | +1 |
| 17 | Abner Uribe | MIL | -1 |
| 18 | Dylan Lee | ATL | +1 |
| 19 | Edwin Diaz | LAD | -1 |
| 20 | Luke Weaver | PIT | +2 |
| 21 | Adrian Morejon | SDP | +2 |
| 22 | Kenley Jansen | DET | -2 |
| 23 | Hunter Gaddis | CLE | -2 |
| 24 | Daniel Lynch IV | KCR | +2 |
| 25 | Jeff Hoffman | MIN | +9 |
| 26 | Eduard Bazardo | SEA | -2 |
| 27 | Juan Morillo | ARI | +1 |
| 28 | Alex Vesia | LAD | +1 |
| 29 | Garrett Whitlock | BOS | +1 |
| 30 | Grant Taylor | CWS | +7 |
| 31 | Emilio Pagan | CIN | +2 |
| 32 | Garrett Cleavinger | TBR | – |
| 33 | Fernando Cruz | NYY | +2 |
| 34 | Jeremiah Estrada | SDP | +4 |
| 35 | Ryan Zeferjahn | CHC | UN |
| 36 | Rico Garcia | BAL | UN |
| 37 | Hogan Harris | ATH | -1 |
| 38 | George Soriano | STL | UN |
| 39 | Devin Williams | NYM | – |
| 40 | Yoendrys Gomez | MIN | – |
Trade Deadline Winners & Losers
Winners
Jeff Hoffman (RP – MIN) | Previous: 34; Current: 25
Jeff Hoffman was traded from the Blue Jays to the Twins at the deadline and should figure into the late-inning mix right away. He’s striking out a career-high 14.1 batters per nine innings, and his hard-hit rate is a three-year low. He does everything you want in a reliever, but he’s struggled with allowing runs. The biggest issue holding him back was two other relievers ahead of him performing better, which shouldn’t be an issue in Minnesota. It’s not clear if he’ll immediately take over as the closer, but he should see high-leverage opportunities.
Ryan Zeferjahn (RP – CHC) | Previous: Unranked; Current: 35
Ryan Zeferjahn makes the move from Los Angeles to Chicago to join the Cubs. He’s been lights out since the beginning of June and posted nine saves plus holds in that time. Over the last two months, he’s put together a 1.33 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 14.7 K/9 over 27 innings. The Cubs need some help in the back of their bullpen, and Zeferjahn can hopefully be the solution.
Losers
Tyler Wells (RP – TB) | Previous: 25; Current: Unranked
Tyler Wells had been pitching well for Baltimore before heading to Tampa Bay. The biggest reason for his fall in the rankings is that he’s going to a team with multiple relievers who should continue to see opportunities. It’s very rare for a team to be able to sustain three relievers for fantasy, and four is a stretch. There’s just not enough holds to go around.
Through his first 54 innings, Wells has a 2.67 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 8.8 K/9 with 14 saves plus holds. It’ll be interesting to see where the Rays work him into their late-inning decisions.
JoJo Romero (RP – MIL) | Current: Injured List (IL)
JoJo Romero was traded from the Cardinals to the division-foe Brewers. He goes from being the second-best reliever and a sure setup role to a middle relief role with better options ahead of him. On top of that, he’s still dealing with his appendicitis injury, and it’s unknown how he’ll look when he returns to action. Before his injury, he was ranked 17, but he won’t be anywhere near that when he’s activated from the IL.
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