As of 7 PM ET last night, the Anaheim Angels sit just a half game back of a wild card spot. Bud Norris gave them stability in the 9th inning up until the early days of August, but now has left the team scrambling for answers at the back-end of ball games. It would be a borderline miracle if they win that final playoff spot, given Mike Scioscia’s reluctance to trust in any of his relievers right now. I’m a clear believer that players will perform better, relief pitchers in particular, when they have a clear set role for their specific team. Instead, they have now used 4 different closers during their past 7 save chances. It’s not like the options at their disposable have pitched all that poorly either. They actually do have talent back there, enough so that they should be fine from the 7th inning on at the very least. We’ll see how it plays out for the rest of the season, and if Scioscia can make it work somehow and they make the wild card game, he probably becomes a likely Manager of the Year candidate. But for now, all things considered, there is no one reliever that is trustworthy or worth owning for fantasy purposes here.
TIER 1: Nothing Compares 2 U
1. Kenley Jansen (Los Angeles Dodgers)—Pedro Baez, Tony Watson
2. Craig Kimbrel (Boston Red Sox)—Addison Reed, Heath Hembree
- There’s a legitimate argument to be made that Craig Kimbrel deserves to be ahead of Kenley Jansen, which I get. I just still feel a slight bit more confident in Jansen. They really are 1A and 1B anyway, with the 2 being closer than possibly any other 2 consecutive name on this list.
TIER 2: Save Tonight
3. Felipe Rivero (Pittsburgh Pirates)—Juan Nicasio, Joaquin Benoit
4. Corey Knebel (Milwaukee Brewers)—Jacob Barnes, Anthony Swarzak
5. Dellin Betances (New York Yankees)—David Robertson, Aroldis Chapman
6. Ken Giles (Houston Astros)—Luke Gregerson, Chris Devenski
7. Wade Davis (Chicago Cubs)—Carl Edwards Jr., Justin Wilson
8. Sean Doolittle (Washington Nationals)—Brandon Kintzler, Matt Albers
9. Roberto Osuna (Toronto Blue Jays)—Ryan Tepera, Dominic Leone
10. Raisel Iglesias (Cincinnati Reds)—Drew Storen, Michael Lorenzen
11. Edwin Diaz (Seattle Mariners)—Nick Vincent, Tony Zych
12. Zach Britton (Baltimore Orioles)—Brad Brach, Mychal Givens
13. Alex Colome (Tampa Bay Rays)—Steve Cishek, Tommy Hunter
14. Cody Allen (Cleveland Indians)—Bryan Shaw, Joe Smith
15. Brad Hand (San Diego Padres)—Kirby Yates, Phil Maton
16. Arodys Vizcaino (Atlanta Braves)—Jim Johnson, Jose Ramirez
- Joe Giriardi was finally forced to pull the plug on Aroldis Chapman as his closer after his latest embarrassment on the mound against Boston over the weekend. Giriardi has yet to announce who exactly his replacement will be, but the odds on favorite should be Dellin Betances at this point. He earned the save on Saturday night and could be a potential game changer for fantasy owners if he can hold the role for the rest of the season.
- Arodys Vizcaino has been one of the better under the radar closers since taking over for Jim Johnson at the beginning of the month, allowing just 1 hit and 1 walk with a solid 7 K’s in 7.2 IP. He makes for a high quality 2nd RP to own for the stretch run.
TIER 3: Bound for the Floor
17. Kelvin Herrera (Kansas City Royals)—Brandon Maurer, Ryan Buchter
18. Greg Holland (Colorado Rockies)—Adam Ottavino, Jake McGee
19. Fernando Rodney (Arizona Diamondbacks)—Archie Bradley, David Hernandez
20. Seung Hwan Oh (St. Louis Cardinals)—Tyler Lyons, Matt Bowman
21. Hector Neris (Philadelphia Phillies)—Luis Garcia, Jesen Therrien
22. Shane Greene (Detroit Tigers)—Alex Wilson, Joe Jimenez
23. Alex Claudio (Texas Rangers)—Jose Leclerc, Jason Grilli
24. A.J. Ramos (New York Mets)—Paul Sewald, Jerry Blevins
25. Blake Treinen (Oakland Athletics)—Santiago Casilla, Ryan Dull
26. Brad Ziegler (Miami Marlins)—Kyle Barraclough, Junichi Tazawa
- The Cardinals got some tough news this past week, losing Trevor Rosenthal to a potential UCL injury. It’s a shame as he had been pitching like his old dominant self prior to the injury and now leaves the team in a tough spot as they try to keep their dim playoff hopes alive. Seung Hwan Oh is definitely the favorite for now to get the bulk of the save chances, and has pitched well enough recently to be worth an add in most leagues.
- Even with Jeurys Familia returning to the Mets bullpen within the next week or two at the latest, it sounds as though A.J. Ramos could continue to be the teams closer for the remainder of the season. I’m a bit skeptical on that, since the Mets won’t activate Familia unless he is fully healthy, and as long as he is healthy, he is by far the teams best option in the 9th inning. Nevertheless, it gives Ramos a nice boost for the time being, and makes Familia only an option for deeper leagues looking for saves to stash.
TIER 4: Better Days (and the Bottom Drops Out)
27. Sam Dyson (San Francisco Giants)—Mark Melancon, Hunter Strickland
28. Juan Minaya (Chicago White Sox)—Jake Petricka, Gregory Infante
29. Matt Belisle (Minnesota Twins)—Taylor Rogers, Trevor Hildenberger
30. Cam Bedrosian/Bud Norris/Kenyan Middleton/Yusmeiro Petit/Blake Parker (Los Angeles Angels)
- Sam Dyson continues to serve well as the Giants closer, and there is a possibility he will continue to do so for the rest of the season. Mark Melancon is contemplating surgery which would shut him down, although it is worth noting he was basically perfect his past week in 4 appearances. Melancon will probably finish out the year, and if I were to guess, would take back the closers gig by the end of the month.
Disabled List
Jeurys Familia (New York Mets)
Trevor Rosenthal (St. Louis Cardinals)
Andrew Miller (Cleveland Indians)
Ryan Madson (Washington Nationals)
David Phelps (Seattle Mariners)
Joakim Soria (Kansas City Royals)
Koda Glover (Washington Nationals)
Where did you get the intel that Ramos might keep the job? I’m currently holding Rivero, Greene, Ramos, Ziegler for 3 RP spots and just trying to rotate them in based on off days and usage (we have daily moves). But I might be able to use that roster spot if I could cut one. Greene’s had 3 SV chances in a month and both Ramos/Ziegler in jeopardy is the way I see it. So I’m forced to hold them all.
What do you think?
There is some talk out there that the Mets priority with Familia is to make sure he is healthy going in to the offseason. I take that as the team doesn’t want to use him often and probably would like to keep him out of high leverage situations. I’d keep all 4 for another week if possible.