SAGNOF: Deep League Dudes, 2026 Edition

What’s poppin’, Razzpimples?

We’re into mid-March now, inching ever closer to the start of the 2026 fantasy baseball season. It’s an exciting time of year, what with the World Baseball Classic in full force and March Madness also right around the corner. We’re not far removed from American hockey dominance at the Olympics, and we have what will most likely be non-American dominance at the World Cup coming up, too!

For this week’s SAGNOF Bullpen Report, I’m gonna touch on some RP that the general public might overlook in a deeper SVHD format. Even if you’re not in one of those, I’d reckon it’s a good idea to get more names on your radar anyway. Injuries and lost jobs will indeed occur, so you gotta be ready.

Don’t forget to keep that there 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. 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.

Welp. That’s enough of that. Let’s do it to it, pardner.

Matt Svanson: 1.94 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 0.88 WHIP, 68 K in 60.1 IP in 2025. On paper, easily the best Cardinals reliever. I just haven’t given him a lot of fluff because I didn’t see him ahead of JoJo Romero and Riley O’Brien on the depth chart. Nothing I saw indicated he was being given much thought in the ninth. However, just three days ago, Derrick Goold reported that Svanson is indeed being considered in the closer mix. This dude probably needs to be added everywhere, but if you’re able to scoop him a deeper format, you might be in for a real treat. Not gonna be a strikeout machine, but has always shown pretty good control and been able to keep runs off the board throughout his professional career.

Gabe Speier: Said in earlier stuff this preseason that Speier was one of the quieter badasses of 2025: 4 W, 24 HLD, 2.61 ERA (both FIP and SIERA were lower), 0.87 WHIP, 82 K in 62 IP. How do you like a 33.7 K% paired with 4.5 BB%? Then sprinkle in a little 14 SwStr% and 31.4 CSW%. Yeah, I like it too. A lot. Pound for pound, that’s one of the better all-around season we got from a reliever. Mariners pen is just grody.

Bennett Sousa: Josh Hader’s injury means everyone bumps up a peg in the Astros pen depth chart. Sousa becomes a consistent 6th- or 7th-inning feller now after having what I consider a full-on breakout in 2025. There were spells last year where the guy looked like one of the premier arms in baseball. He finished with 11 SVHD, 2.84 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 59 K in 50.2 IP. Reallllllly nasty 18.1 SwStr% and 32.4 CSW%, two of the best marks among regular relievers. High-end deep league upside right here.

Drew Pomeranz: The veteran lefty finds himself in yet another bullpen, this time in Anaheim. Injuries to Ben Joyce and Robert Stephenson give Pomeranz a shot at early-season high-leverage opps. As I say way too often in this line of work, the guy is pretty good when healthy. That’s the kicker with ol’ DP. Last year’s 15 SVHD, 1.94 ERA, and 1.06 WHIP helped folks who were brave enough to roster him. He’s the type I’d add late and hope for the best, making sure I had a Plan B and C lined up.

Shawn Armstrong: Armstrong lived up to his surname last year — one strong arm, indeed! Busted out 21 SVHD, 2.19 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, and 68 K in 70 IP. So yeah, not elite strikeout upside by any means, but that’s some pretty serious overall quality from an afterthought reliever. Wasn’t even close to being on my radar. Cleveland is notorious as a fantasy RP value farm, and Armstrong could quite feasibly move ahead of Hunter Gaddis if he’s able to pick up where he left off.

Erik Sabrowski: Another Cleveland arm I like is Sabrowski. I’ve mentioned him before and gave him quite a bit of love throughout last year. Where Armstrong does not have elite K upside, Sabrowski certainly does. Punched out 34.7% of batters faced. Flip side is he walked 17.4%, too. Even with all them balls, he was north of the 30% milestone in the CSW department, which is a sweet spot if you ask me. If you’re able to turn almost a third of your offerings into a strike that’s either swung at and missed or just straight stared at, I’m paying attention.

Grant Taylor: Taylor got hyped pretty big in 2025, but didn’t quite set the world on fire after all. Sometimes he looked like he might, then he’d go on a stinker. You see that 4.67 ERA and 1.41 WHIP and probably slowly shake your head, lips pinched into a thin line. But, but! There are a few things I really like to see: no homers allowed, 34.5 K%, 31.3 CSW%, 13 SwStr%, 2.61 SIERA, aaaaaand 1.40 FIP. When both of those ERA predictors are that much lower than your ERA, you can point to bad luck more often than not. Especially given no one took him deep. You really just gotta look at his .422 BABIP, anyway. The stuff will certainly play, and I expect better luck in 2026. It’s not like his WHIP was inflated by free passes.

Bryan Baker: With Edwin Uceta on the shelf, Baker slots into the third notch of the Rays bullpen totem pole. Had a very up and down 2025, but end of the day, it was mostly up. Looked downright filthy for the Orioles at times, and then he struggled some after moving to Tampa. Ended the year with 22 SVHD and 83 K, which is pretty damn good as far as counting stats go. Good K:BB. His Achilles heel was the long ball. Bro gave up 13 taters. That’s a lot for a reliever. Besides that, the metrics painted a mostly red picture (the good kind of red, of course), and I believe there’s quite a bit of fantasy upside here.

Brendon Little: I had Little in my lineup last year and was extremely glad about it. Looking back, I’m still kinda surprised he hit 30 HLD (and even had 1 SV). Doesn’t feel like he did for some reason? Anywho, he did. And he struck out 91 professional hitters of baseballs. Little struggled a lottle with walks, issuing a free pass 15.3% of the time. So, yeah, that’s not great. But a 16.6 SwStr% and 32.9 CSW% sure are. Other closer depth charts I’ve seen slot Louie Varland ahead of Little (and don’t forget Tyler Rogers should be the main setup option to Jeff Hoffman). Might be because we saw very…little Little in the postseason, and when we did, he was terrible. Varland, meanwhile, played so much in October. Whatever. I say pish posh to all that. Little is much sexier in my book. Even if he doesn’t churn holds, he could churn strikeouts, and any 90+ K asset is worthwhile when deep leagues are concerned.

Jared Koenig: Koenig is basically the Brewers version of Varland. Not gonna take the world by storm, but he should get plenty of opportunities to provide counting stats for fantasy purposes. If something happens and Trevor Megill gets out of his way, Koenig could really blossom into something worthwhile. As is, he’s a really good deep league add and even a fringe standard-size type. Last year’s stats: 6 W, 29 SVHD, 2.86 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 68 K in 66 IP.

Mason Montgomery: Gotta mention Montgomery again. I don’t see high leverage in his immediate future, but the guys ahead of him in Pittsburgh aren’t superstars. Even Dennis Santana, one of my favorite closer bargains of them all right now, isn’t a lights-out stud. Monty has the potential to be one. We only got 46 innings out of him last year, but he managed 11 SVHD and 63 K. Got swinging strikes 16.3% of the time. He just…doesn’t have good control and also suffered from a gnarly BABIP (.384). It’s a mix of not great luck and not great pitching. Bad BB% has plagued him his whole professional life, it’s just that K upside is top tier. The kind like peak Devin Williams, where you know the annoying little sibling (the walks) have to come cuz mom said so, but you’re still excited about going to Hastings with your homies (the strikeouts). Kid had so much hype heading into 2025 because of his dominant cup of coffee in 2024. Maybe being around Paul Skenes every day rubs off on him.

Andrew Nardi: Once upon a time, Nardi was one of my favorite sleeper RP. Out of nowhere, he got 20 SVHD in 2023 and then kinda disappointed but still flashed upside in 2024. Then he got hurt, and we haven’t seen him since. Not a single pitch to his credit in 2025. But he’s back now! Aside from Pete Fairbanks, the rest of the roles in the Marlins pen are up for grabs as far as I’m concerned. No Ronny Henriquez this year, so things are up for grabs. I’ve slotted Calvin Faucher as the primary setup by default, but I don’t have tons of faith in him. Nardi has pretty serious strikeout upside if he can build that arm strength back up. Time will tell. Keep him on your radar and pounce on him the moment he looks like he’s got his groove back. Career 31.5 K% in MLB.

Brooks Raley: Only got 25.2 IP out of Raley in 2025, but they were good’uns: 3 W, 10 HLD, 2.45 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, and 25 K. Sounds like A.J. Minter will miss at least a few weeks, so Raley should be primed for some holds chances. No one could get any quality contact off this dude. Health is, of course, a huge concern with Raley, so have some backup options on hand if you decide to take the plunge.

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