SAGNOF: Deep League Dudes 2025

What’s poppin’, Razzpimples?

Got just a little nibbler for y’all this week. Won’t beat around the bush; I’m plumb tuckered. Long week at work, had a visitation service to attend one night, then the next night had a late night for parent-teacher conferences (you may or may not know I’m a high school teacher), and all that has been compounded by transitioning my two-year-old son from crib to bed. Been a doozy.

This week, it’s just a list of names to pay attention to in the deeper pools. Whether it’s a 16- or 20-team league or an AL/NL-only, I’ve got some names most folks would probably overlook in SVHD. Maybe not, and I don’t pretend to be smarter than the average fantasy baller, it’s just I probably pay more attention to relievers than most, at least. I mean, how many of y’all are in paid RP-only fantasy leagues?

Don’t forget to keep that Razzball Bullpen Chart bookmarked. It’s been updated with the latest, and I’m usually quick to get it touched up once any type of news drops. And if you’re not a subscriber, I do highly, highly, highly recommend it. The tools are — how do you say? — bussin’. If’n you’re of the mind to consider it, you can find all the info here. I’m partial to the Relievonator Game Log Tool. So dope.

Welp. Let’s do it to it, pardner.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Make sure to sign up for a Razzball Commenter League or two, drafts are happening all the time, including THIS ONE (<<–Click the link and you’re in!), happening Monday (3/10) at 9 PM ET.   Check out all the leagues available HERE.  Don’t miss a chance to compete against other commenters and your Razzball writers (like JKJ!).

Cole Sands is a stud in that RP-only league I mentioned in the intro. We do a roto format with SVHD, RW (reliever wins), BAA (Batting Average Against), IRS (Inherited Runners Stranded), ERA, K/9, and BB/9. Guy just pretty much does it all, but with Duran and Jax ahead of you, the actual SVHD are gonna lag behind. But make no mistake, he’s a great professional baseball thrower. In 71.1 IP, he struck out 85 dudes and had a cool 1.00 WHIP. Also won 9 games. Boasted a 4.1 BB% as well. Seems that making a cutter his most-used pitch in ’24 when it was his least-used pitch in ’23 made a world of difference — shaved 52 points off his WHIP.

Dennis Santana quietly kicked ass in 2024. I kinda overlooked him, actually. Told y’all I ain’t that smart. He’s one of those soft contact kings. Middle of the road as far as K% and BB% go, but no one’s barreling anything against this dude because he gets ’em to chase after that dang ol’ slider of his. I reckon Santana could work his way into more mainstream format relevancy if he can duplicate his ’24 success. The Pirates pen ain’t deep and I just don’t super love what Colin Holderman has to offer.

Erik Miller is a hard-throwing lefty specialist for the Giants. Actually the only southpaw they’ve got in the pen at the moment, so you can bet on some high-leverage innings over the course of the season. The WHIP isn’t encouraging thanks to a 2nd-percentile walk rate, but me likey a .190 xBA and 87 K in just 67.1 IP. Fastball/changeup combo keeps hitters off kilter, then he puts ’em away with purty good slider.

Bryan Hudson is another lefty specialist worth his weight in chewin’ tobacco. Also had an xBA under the Mendoza line like Miller but with, like, half the WHIP (0.72). Jared Koenig is another lefty who might be in line for more high-leverage innings at first, but really it’s hard to say. Can’t argue that Hudson had the better season by a good margin.

Dylan Lee has one of the redder Statcasts you’ll see for an RP you may have never thought more than two and half times about. Had himself a banger of a ’24 season: 4-2, 9 SVHD, 2.11 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 33.7 CSW%, and 76 K in 59.2 IP. Aaron Bummer just kinda sucks and Pierce Johnson is so meh. Don’t think it’s crazy at all to think Lee could knock them down a peg in a jiffy.

Tim Herrin happens to pitch in one of the greatest bullpens maybe ever, otherwise he’d probably be higher up on someone else’s depth chart. Finished last year with an ERA under 2.00 and a WHIP under 1.00, with the only blue line on his Statcast being next to BB%. This dude is one of the unsung heroes of my RP-only league, finishing as the league’s 19th best player. Guy’s got a grody curveball that had an xwOBA of .197 last year (i.e. it’s filthy…for comparison, Devin Williams’s changeup was .211 and Mason Miller’s fastball was .249).

Kevin Ginkel has 17 W over the last two seasons, so that right there goes to show he’s getting the ball late in games, even if RP wins are entirely spontaneous. In 2023, he had a sub-2.50 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. Last year he was at 3.21 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. Lil bit of a step back, but the overall quality matriculated into a #8 — yarp, that’s right; #8 — overall ranking in that there RP league. Sure, that’s spiked by random reliever wins, but whatever. The Diamondbacks love this guy late in games. Ryan Thompson screams lucky to me. Martinez, Puk, and Ginkel are the Three Musketeers out in the desert.

Ryan Fernandez just might be in a position to bring massive SVHD value this year. That was Andrew Kittredge for St. Louis last year (and also JoJo Romero, to be fair, but he also screams lucky). Now Kittredge is gone. And to his credit, Fernandez was fantastic down the stretch. Wouldn’t have guessed it, but he was the 4th best RP in terms of K/9 (15.2) among everyone who pitched at least 10 IP in September. I had just happened to run a list of September numbers to see if any names popped out, and Fernandez’s did. He had a nice stretch of collecting holds there for a while, too. Might just turn out to be a pretty little butterfly flittering in the field mostly full of cow turds that is the Cardinals bullpen.

Tyler Kinley gets one last shoutout from me in my preseason content lol. I just want to be right about him so bad, is that so wrong?! But seriously, the guy was one of the best SVHD sources of anyone from July onward. For real! His 17 SVHD since July 1 were more than the likes of Hodge, Holton, Jax, Hoffman, Iglesias, Williams, the Diazes, Miller, Uceta, and so many more. And they weren’t just fluky doo doo SVHD, neither! Came with an 11.2 K/9 and a .195 BAA. I’m tellin’ y’all, Tyler Kinley is not bad. Don’t get it twisted, pard; I ain’t sayin’ he’s great. I will say I think he can be a great value. Ain’t hardly a soul drafting him anywhere.

That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading. Leave me a comment below so I feel all warm and fuzzy.