The Hold Up 4/20: Ranking the Top 70 Relievers for Holds Every Week

This week sees The Hold Up lose a few big name hold’s options in Matt Bush, Brad Brach and Shawn Kelley as all 3 will get a chance to close out games for their respective teams. This leaves the elite/great hold options a little thin, with their being only about a dozen or so at the moment. There are still some names lower on the list that are really intriguing as long as they can solidify a role in which hold’s can be obtained. And I’m not just talking about Chris Devenski.

Anyway, let’s take a look at how non-closer reliever options are looking so far this season.

TIER 1: Good Vibration

1. Andrew Miller (Cleveland Indians)

2. Dellin Betances (New York Yankees)

3. Hector Neris (Philadelphia Phillies)

• You could say Andrew Miller deserves a tier of his own, and maybe it will happen this season, but I still believe in Dellin Betances being a 4 category stud, as well as the newcomer to the tier…
• Hector Neris belongs here, posting stellar numbers so far in 7 games. He has yet to allow a run. while striking out 9 and deserves to get paid/ close out ball games for a MLB team.

TIER 2: I’ll Be There For You

4. Addison Reed (New York Mets)

5. Pedro Strop (Chicago Cubs)

6. Adam Ottavino (Colorado Rockies) 

7. Nate Jones (Chicago White Sox)

8. Luke Gregerson (Houston Astros)

9. Kyle Barraclough (Miami Marlins)

10. Arodys Vizcaino (Atlanta Braves)

11. Will Harris (Houston Astros)

12. Justin Wilson (Detroit Tigers) 

• Addison Reed filled in quite nicely for Jeurys Familia, only have one blown save. He now transfers back to being a great holds option. He led the league last year and it wasn’t even close.
• The rest of this list had fairly good weeks outside of a bad outing by Arodys Vizcaino. Jim Johnson has been OK recently, so his chances at closing out games anytime soon seem to be fading. It’s tough to predict holds for a team that will struggle to find a way to win even 75 games.
• Justin Wilson could find himself closing out games very soon, with K-Rod (can we find a new, more relevant nickname for him now?) really struggling to be effective at this stage of his career. A change is inevitable at some point this season, whether it be Wilson soon or Joe Jimenez later.

TIER 3: Torn

13. Felipe Rivero (Pittsburgh Pirates) 

14. Hunter Strickland (San Francisco Giants)

15. Trevor Rosenthal (St. Louis Cardinals)

16. Koda Glover (Washington Nationals) 

17. Michael Lorenzen (Cincinnati Reds) 

18. Mychal Givens (Baltimore Orioles)

19. Derek Law (San Francisco Giants)

20. Cory Knebel (Milwaukee Brewers)

21. Darren O’Day (Baltimore Orioles)

22. Ryan Buchter (San Diego Padres)

23. Daniel Hudson (Pittsburgh Pirates)

24. Koji Uehara (Chicago Cubs)

25. Grant Dayton (Los Angeles Dodgers)

26. Carl Edwards Jr. (Chicago Cubs)

27. Ryan Madson (Oakland Athletics)

28. Jason Grilli (Toronto Blue Jays)

29. Hector Rondon (Chicago Cubs)

30. Pedro Baez (Los Angeles Dodgers)

31. Mike Dunn (Colorado Rockies) 

32. Chris Devenski (Houston Astros)

33. Jeremy Jeffress (Texas Rangers)

34. Tyler Clippard (New York Yankees))

35. Joakim Soria (Kansas City Royals)  

36. Brad Ziegler (Miami Marlins) 

37. Blake Treinen (Washington Nationals)

• Trevor Rosenthal is probably one more Seung Hwan Oh blow up from getting another crack at being the Cardinals closer. He has looked like his once old dominant self this season outside of one bad appearance.
• Koda Glover and Darren O’Day may be “co-closers” in name, but neither is expected to earn the bulk of save opportunities, probably only seeing them when the other guy needs a day off. I like Glover’s upside the most obviously, being 1 or 2 bad Shawn Kelley outings away from maybe having the job to himself. Either way, he should be the primary set up man in Washington right now.
• I love Chris Devenski, and he should be higher on the list, I just need to see him used more. As is, he will be hit or miss every week (he threw just 1 inning in week 2). Realistically, the Astros should begin to consider him taking a rotation spot from Joe Musgrove or Mike Fiers.
• Jeremy Jeffress is now, according to most reports, probably next in line for saves in Texas shall Matt Bush falter. He should at the very least get slightly more hold chances than Tony Barnette for the time being, as he’s looked much better lately after a rough start to the year.

TIER 4: You Get What You Give

38. Brad Hand (San Diego Padres)

39. Sergio Romo (Los Angeles Dodgers) 

40. Brett Cecil (St. Louis Cardinals)

41. Drew Storen (Cincinnati Reds)

42. Tony Barnette (Texas Rangers) 

43. Bryan Shaw (Cleveland Indians)

44. Matt Barnes (Boston Red Sox)

45. Fernando Salas (New York Mets) 

46. Jacob Barnes (Milwaukee Brewers)

47. David Phelps (Miami Marlins)

48. Ryan Dull (Oakland Athletics)

49. Joe Blanton (Washington Nationals) 

50. Edubray Ramos (Philadelphia Phillies)

51. Kevin Siegrist (St. Louis Cardinals) 

52. Dan Altavilla (Seattle Mariners) 

• Jacob Barnes and Matt Barnes (no relation) have both been really good this year. Both are more secondary/7th inning set up guys when their teams are at full health, but Jacob could earn a bigger role if Knebel or Feliz (who both struggled yesterday) have a few more bad outings. Matt will be the Red Sox primary set up man until Tyler Thornburg is ready to return, which is still a bit of a mystery.
• Fernando Salas loses some value with Famila’s return. He could still have value as that secondary setup man, but Hansel Robles could still see some of those chances.
• David Phelps keeps being used in high leverage situations, he just hasn’t pitched well this season. He’s at least put up a 10/1 K/BB ratio thru 8 innings, so there’s reason for optimism.

TIER 5: There She Goes

53. Matt Belisle (Minnesota Twins)

54. Alex Wilson (Detroit Tigers)

55. Archie Bradley (Arizona Diamondbacks)

56. Carlos Torres (Milwaukee Brewers)

57. Joe Biagini (Toronto Blue Jays)

58. Ross Stripling (Los Angeles Dodgers)

59. Heath Hembree (Boston Red Sox)

60. Pat Neshek (Philadelphia Phillies)

61. Dan Otero (Cleveland Indians)

62. Matt Bowman (St. Louis Cardinals)

63. Ian Krol (Atlanta Braves)

64. Sam LeClerc (Texas Rangers)

65.Danny Farquhar (Tampa Bay Rays) 

66. Xavier Cedeno (Tampa Bay Rays)

67. Hansel Robles (New York Mets)

68. Jake McGee (Colorado Rockies)

69. Nick Vincent (Seattle Mariners)

70. Boone Logan (Cleveland Indians)

• Archie Bradley is probably, actually he is the most talented option in that Diamondbacks bullpen. He should begin to see some more opportunities going forward, at least until Jake Barrett is back.
• Ross Stripling has been great for the Dodgers as their long man, functioning as a Chris Devenski–lite of sorts for fantasy purposes. There can still value in that in deeper leagues.

Disabled List

Carter Capps (San Diego Padres)

Tyler Thornburg (Boston Red Sox)

Sam Dyson (Texas Rangers)

Sammy Solis (Washington Nationals)

Houston Street (Los Angeles Angels)

Steve Cishek (Seattle Mariners)

Glenn Perkins (Minnesota Twins) 

Carson Smith (Boston Red Sox)

Jake Diekman (Texas Rangers)

Jake Barrett (Arizona Diamondbacks)

Mauricio Cabrera (Atlanta Braves)

Brad Boxberger (Tampa Bay Rays)

Andrew Bailey (Los Angeles Angels)

JP Howell (Toronto Blue Jays)