Everyone likes maximizing stuff, hell, it’s the reason we shop at Costco for wholesale BJ’s. [Jay’s Note: They have that at Costco? I thought it was just hot dogs and slices… I’ve been doing it wrong.] Wait that’s not right, not completely wrong, but off-topic slightly. So maximizing, we are all looking to divest our teams with the best stat stuffers as possible, and the K department is tough to make up when you are chasing it. So how can you make it up slightly? Well relax, I am here to point you in the right direction like a well-trained German Shorthair. So everyone knows the top guys and then the handcuffs, but what about the guys who are owned tiny amounts in almost every format, but have been lighting it up the last few weeks? (And they are just as good as the known guys.) Sounds good to me, though, I did just write it so I kinda have to believe it. The trick is getting you to buy into it. If you’re losing, and not everyone is in first place in every league, you may wanna peer at what I have to say. So bullpens are where we need to focus and sometimes it gets tricky because of the limitations on roster size sometimes. So analyze your roster and keep that in mind with space and such. The relievers that have SP eligibility and give you the best stats are like a chick who has a sense of humor. So stick around, it’s a bit of a change up on the week’s review of holds fellas.
So relievers that can help with a decent K/9 and have enough usage to make them rosterable in almost all formats aren’t as few and far between as you may think. We get sucked into the whole percentage owned thing and then mentally bypass them as usable options. First thing to look for is usage. Usage period, doesn’t have to be just in games with a lead, though that does get a bonus in my opinion. Second, look at K% of batters faced. Lastly is the best one of all and we all have it and don’t have to go to sabermetric school to figure it out. It’s called common sense. Let the stats and numbers speak to you not the ownability of the guy in leagues. Because stats are stats my friends whether you are owned in .2% of leagues or 25%. So I am focusing on relievers that aren’t closers and don’t really have a true identity as a hand-cuff, because in the save chase most of those guys are owned and just being sat on. Here is a chart comparing the top 10 non closers to some of the better hand-cuff/Wade Davis types….note Wade Davis is included. Chart is the last 30 days of games ending on 7/7, and owned percentage is for RCL leagues though they aren’t the end all be all factor for rostering just a useful tool.
| Player | App. | K/9 | K% | Owned % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wade Davis | 13 | 11.08 | 32.8 | 63.8 |
| Carter Capps | 12 | 19.06 | 53.3 | 6.3 |
| Justin Grimm | 13 | 13.50 | 36.6 | 0.6 |
| Mark Lowe | 11 | 16.55 | 44.2 | 1.9 |
| Brian Matusz | 10 | 15.43 | 42.1 | 0.2 |
| Tommy Kahnle | 12 | 13.15 | 33.9 | 0.1 |
| Darren O’Day | 11 | 14.66 | 44.2 | 12.6 |
| Zach Putnam | 10 | 15.00 | 40.5 | 0.4 |
| Aaron Loup | 15 | 12.71 | 34.1 | 0.4 |
| Mike Dunn | 11 | 18.47 | 38.2 | 0.8 |
| Justin Wilson | 11 | 12.19 | 35.2 | 3.2 |
So as you can see from the chart there is plenty of value to be had and stat wise are comparable if not better than the standard bearer of Wade Davis. I by no means am telling you to drop or devalue Wade Davis because he should be owned and for my money he is the most valuable relief pitcher over the last year and a half in all of baseball. I am just using this chart as the guys to use for a rotational basis and get them in and out of your line-ups to maximize your innings pitched every day.
