It’s getting ugly in the reliever market. Injuries, ineffectiveness, and promotions have wrung much of the top talent out of the scene. Much like the bazaar in Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle there’s stuff everywhere, but it’s hard to find what you need. Also, there’s a basket with a cobra in it. You just have to hope the Rock shows up and start throwing people through walls. I don’t actually know what the fantasy baseball equivalent of that is. I’ve gotten off track here thinking about the Rock’s ridiculous biceps, as per uzhe. I’ll wrap up this lede in ramble with a comparison Jumanji’s theme: the only way to win the game of relievers is to play and win.
- The Atlanta backend continues to be shaky. Luke Jackson is the preferred closer leaving holds opportunities up for grabs. Dan Winkler is the next man on the depth chart, but he’s had his own struggles. I’m turning an eye to Sean Newcomb. He’s earned a couple of holds in the last week. The biggest issue for Newk is an unsightly WHIP that gets him in trouble.
- Matt Barnes continues to be the better Boston reliever and Ryan Brasier continues to make a mess of things. I’m not sure this will change. The rest of the Boston pen is also pretty thin. Barnes is needed everywhere and will likely be deployed that way unless things with Brasier become untenable.
- It was pretty annoying having another horse in the Twins holds race with Trevor Hildenberger sticking his nose in things. Hildy was sent down after three straight disastrous appearances. Trevor May gets back in the elite setup conversation now.
- Roenis Elias laughs at your four-out save. He came into the seventh with two outs and the bases loaded on Tuesday and lasted until the final pitch of the ninth for a seven-out save. Things are so messy in Seattle that they won’t take you out if you start getting outs in relief.
- The Julio Urias story has started a bleak chapter. He was arrested for domestic battery and will deservedly be away from the team. Go ahead and drop him.
- The Cubs closer committee is really a committee of one. No one seems likely to get the job done besides Steve Cishek. I was excited by the return of Carl Edward Jr. who rewarded my scattered pickups with a game-tying home run in the eighth last night. He’d looked good priors and still offers some strikeouts, but the ninth just got much farther from his job description.
The next men up for saves. One break just needs to go their way.
- Ty Buttrey
- Scott Oberg
- Joe Jimenez
- Emilio Pagan
- Mark Melancon
- Sean Newcomb
- Andrew Miller
K It Up
Get a category enhancer from these high K/9 strikeout artists.
- Diego Castillo
- Nick Anderson
- Lou Trivino
- David Hernandez
- Tayron Guerrero
- Robert Stephenson
- Carl Edwards Jr.
Ratio Darlings
- Ryan Pressly
- Adam Ottavino
- Zach Britton
- Trevor May
- Jace Fry
- Adam Morgan
- Tony Watson
