It is that time of the year my good fellows, that allegiances and brand loyalty are thrown out the window. As stalwarts start to grow warts, and the season long compilers gather some moss. Allegiances and growing to fond of your roster for Holds is what sets apart first place and the rest of the standings. Who you roster on your team is your own business, but I am here to learn you something as the season long leaderboard for holds is kinda stale. The overall season leader, Taylor Rogers, has 2 in the past two weeks. It doesn’t get any prettier as you go down the top 5 either. Nick Vincent has 1, Jacob Barnes has 1, Jose Ramirez has 2, and Pedro Baez has 2. Not completely awe-inspiring returns for the top of the top for holds. On the contrary, the leaders in the past 14 days: Kyle Barraclough, David Hernandez, and Tommy Hunter all have 5. Far more significant returns for a reliever, and it brings me to my key point… Grab a hold and ditch, period. The names that are garnering late game situations is growing rapidly and will increase even more once rosters expand. This is the “what have you done for me lately” approach to hold accumulation down the stretch. Yes, the guys you roster may be great at K/9 and BB/9 and have stellar WHIP totals etc, but when chasing the one key cog stat for set-up men, that being the hold, no allegiances should remain.
- Remember what I said about Rogers above, well on his own team, there is a with the more Holds. Trevor Hildenberger has 4 and has more leverage situations then the aforementioned Taylor.
- Same as with the Brewers and Anthony swarzak. Barnes has the accumulation but Swarzak numbers as of late.
- Name me five better relievers right now that don’t get holds or saves better than Chad Green. I’ll wait.
- Juan Nicasio goes from a secondary figure for the Pirates to a closer possibly with the Phillies
- For all the swagger that the Yankees bullpen has with such expensive real life price tags, they have 3 holds over their last 15 games. THREE! Only worse team is the Padres with two.
- On the reflexive of that the D-Backs have 16 in the same period.
- Blake Parker and Carl Edwards JR. over the last two weeks are the only two relievers holding opponents to a zero BAA. 21 down with 2 walks for Parker and 14 down and 1 BB for Edwards.
- Sneaky reliever of the week; Scott Alexander of the Royals
Last 30 days Holds Chart:
| Player | Holds/BS | App with Lead |
|---|---|---|
| Tommy Hunter | 8/0 | 10 |
| Archie Bradley | 7/2 | 10 |
| Yusmeiro Petit | 7/0 | 9 |
| Marc Rzepczynski | 7/1 | 8 |
| Nick Vincent | 7/0 | 9 |
| Anthony Swarzak | 7/0 | 9 |
| David Hernandez | 7/1 | 10 |
| Wandy Peralta | 7/1 | 9 |
| Brian Duensing | 6/0 | 8 |
| Trevor Hildenberger | 6/1 | 8 |
| Jacob Barnes | 6/1 | 8 |
| Brandon Kintzler | 6/1 | 8 |
| Pedro Baez | 6/1 | 7 |
| Addison Reed | 6/0 | 8 |
| Tyler Lyons | 5/0 | 6 |
| Jose Ramirez | 5/0 | 6 |
| Blake Parker | 5/0 | 9 |
| Dominic Leone | 5/1 | 7 |
| Bryan Shaw | 5/0 | 7 |
