The holds leaderboard has been basically demolished as guys have switched roles. Three out of the top-10 holds guys (Bettances, Herrera, and Watson) currently are holding down the closer roles for their respective teams. Add in two more from the top-20 (Andrew Miller and Ken Giles) and you can see that 20% of the entire holds leaders are double dipping in stats. Not always a bad thing, but when you are counting on one stat from a guy and then it switches to another, it detracts from the previous. Have no fear, because the bullpen aficionado is here to steer you through the muck and mire that is the bullpen shuffle. So for this week, we are going to look at guys who aren’t in a closing role. I have taken current closers out of the equation for the chart, because this is a holds piece and we don’t want “their kind” infiltrating the holds stuff. So be active on the waiver wire as we come down to the end of the season, there should be no commitment in the relief game.
- Addison Reed is the belle of the hold ball. If the Mets get a lead, he is usually almost as automatic an everyday pitcher as Familia is.
- I know this is a holds piece and I said nothing about closers, but Zach Britton hasn’t allowed a run since April. 34 straight appearances. For reference, he had 3 runs unearned in that span, but has only given up 18 hits in 39 innings.
- With all the David Robertson hate being tossed around for blowing saves in 3-of-his-last-7 appearances, he only has 5 on the year. Nate Jones, his heir apparent, has 7.
- With all the injury and shuffling in the Twins pen, Ryan Pressley has easily been their best pitcher all year, starter or reliever. He has 6 wins and is one off the team lead of 7, yet hasn’t started a game.
- Got lots of Derek Law love in last post, so I wanna dig further for you guys. Since his last earned run allowed on 6/30, he has 16 straight appearances with a K-Rate over 12, a win, and 5 holds. Caveat is that Josh Osich is due to return after a three week absence and was pitching brilliantly in high-leverage situations. A good LH/RH match-up thing for the Giants who will rely a lot on their pen to get them home.
- I think we see what Rasiel Iglesias has in the closer role every once and a while for the remainder of the season.
- Ken Giles will be away from team this weekend, grab some Neshek and Will Harris shares for speculation.
- The Braves may be, record-wise, awful, but they have an abundance of quality in the pen Arodys Vizcaino is due back shortly. With Cabrera popping a 100 and Johnson being claimed and taken off waivers, it could become a muddled up mess.
- Jason Grilli is the guy you want from the Blue Jays, 6 holds over last month and gets the off day save.
- The first place Indians have the same number as Holds as the Reds and less opportunities then the two of the worst teams in baseball the Minnesota and D-Backs.
Player | Holds/BS | App with Lead | IR Runners/IR Scored |
---|---|---|---|
Addison Reed | 27/3 | 37 | 20/3 |
Neftali Feliz | 25/2 | 35 | 28/7 |
Jake Diekman | 23/1 | 37 | 16/6 |
Nate Jones | 22/7 | 36 | 25/6 |
David Phelps | 22/6 | 38 | 10/1 |
Justin Wilson | 22/4 | 38 | 13/5 |
Hector Neris | 22/2 | 32 | 17/4 |
Kyle Barraclough | 22/2 | 31 | 12/1 |
Zach Duke | 21/3 | 32 | 29/10 |
Boone Logan | 20/2 | 31 | 36/6 |
Brad Brach | 19/4 | 35 | 19/1 |
Joe Blanton | 19/1 | 28 | 21/10 |
Felipe Rivero | 18/1 | 33 | 20/4 |
Josh Osich | 18/3 | 28 | 40/2 |
Bryan Shaw | 18/3 | 32 | 14/3 |
Will Harris | 17/3 | 32 | 6/2 |
Xavier Cedeno | 17/5 | 26 | 20/6 |
Ryan Buchter | 15/1 | 26 | 10/4 |
Daniel Hudson | 15/0 | 24 | 10/3 |
Junichi Tazawa | 15/1 | 26 | 19/12 |
Non holds league , which are the best for K’s and Era/Whip . Please pickup the best three, Thanks.
Brad Brach , Adam Warren, Mychal Givens , Felipe Rivero, Arquimedes Caminero , Erik Goeddel.
Excellent post, thanks a ton for this write up. Sad to hear Osich is back as I grabbed a share of Derek Law in the last couple days, but I’ll ride him for now. Hoping Mauricio Cabrera stays in the 8th inning role for now, who do you think surfaces from the mud as their closer, him or Arodys?
@Odor’s Odor-izzi spray: also, update on Law:
His warm up song is “I fought the law”. This guy is the best
@Odor’s Odor-izzi spray: good for Sf though, I think everyone there is in play with Atlanta. if they all get 3 saves the rest of the way would that sound looney. The entrance music is quite an awesome tidbit.
can you put these guys in order of holds for rest of season? Blanton, Grilli, Krol, T. Rogers, Knebel, Travis wood. Thanks
Oh add Ryan Pressley to the above list also. Thanks
@Jay: Grilli over all. Then a mixed bag of everyone else with blanton Pressly at the head of the list
just what i needed —- approaching too many innings so need a hold guy or two
so for THE REST OF THE YEAR WHO WILL GET THE MOST HOLDS
these ARE NOT available; reed phelps brach harris
PS ANY OTHER STUDS THROWING K’S THAT WILL ALSO COMPETE FOR LEADER BOARD IN HOLDS THAT ARE NOT ON THIS LIST PERHAPS BECAUSE OF CIRCUMSTANCES OR RECENT CALL-UP?
@luvdarooks: Diekman would be first choice
Hey Smokey.
Your post is most welcome with Rondon’s elbow issue making him temporarily unavailable and Watson no longer getting me holds.
I only have Dull now and can pick up MIN’s Pressly or Rogers, Blanton, Rivero, DET’s Greene or Wilson, Krol in ATL… Not a heck of a lot of obvious names. Anyone stand out?
Thanks!
Update: Grabbed Blanton who got me a HD on Saturday ftw!
@JakeTPE: sorry for slothful response, good call with Blanton. Hope you dumped and went to a new direction