Tuesday has arrived and with it comes updated setup men rankings. This is a great day for hold leagues, and therefore the world. These rankings are based on about 50% general ratio and strikeout potential, 50% pure hold totals. Holds are pretty volatile so in most cases your best bet is to focus on ratios, take advantage of the RP + P slots by rolling out a hefty number of setup men, and let the holds naturally trickle in.
The framework is still in limbo a bit but I think the plan is to track ranking changes and point out arms that get a boost in K/9 and points leagues. Save speculation will be reserved for the Thursday Closer rankings.
Share your questions and critiques in the comments. Follow me on twitter @HisDudenessOfNY for the rare tweet regarding secondary players most people don’t care about and the occasional timely injury news snippet.
TIER 1
1. Tony Watson (Pittsburgh Pirates)
2. Dellin Betances (New York Yankees)
3. Pedro Strop (Chicago Cubs)
4. Andrew Miller (New York Yankees)
5. Nate Jones (Chicago White Sox)
6. Kelvin Herrera (Kansas City Royals)
7. Hunter Strickland (San Francisco Giants)
8. Sam Dyson (Texas Rangers)
TIER 2
9. Kevin Siegrist (St. Louis Cardinals)
10. Drew Storen (Toronto Blue Jays)
11. Felipe Rivero (Washington Nationals)
12. Tony Zych (Seattle Mariners)
13. Darren O’Day (Baltimore Orioles)
14. Seung Hwan Oh (St. Louis Cardinals)
15. Mychal Givens (Baltimore Orioles)
16. Ken Giles (Houston Astros)
17. Justin Wilson (Detroit Tigers)
18. Joakim Soria (Kansas City Royals)
19. Neftali Feliz (Pittsburgh Pirates)
20. Koji Uehara (Boston Red Sox)
21. Tyler Clippard (Arizona Diamondbacks)
22. Hansel Robles (New York Mets)
23. Mark Lowe (Detroit Tigers)
24. Addison Reed (New York Mets)
25. Matt Albers (Chicago White Sox)
26. Pedro Baez (Los Angeles Dodgers)
27. Jake Diekman (Texas Rangers)
28. Hector Neris (Philadelphia Phillies)
29. Daniel Hudson (Arizona Diamondbacks)
30. Blake Treinen (Washington Nationals)
31. Brad Brach (Baltimore Orioles)
TIER 3
32. Junichi Tazawa (Boston Red Sox)
33. Brett Cecil (Toronto Blue Jays)
34. Justin Grimm (Chicago Cubs)
35. John Axford (Oakland Athletics)
36. Bryan Shaw (Cleveland Indians)
37. Joe Smith (Los Angeles Angels)
38. Joel Peralta (Seattle Mariners)
39. Pat Neshek (Houston Astros)
40. Ryan Buchter (San Diego Padres)
41. Antonio Bastardo (New York Mets)
42. Shawn Kelley (Washington Nationals)
43. Will Harris (Houston Astros)
44. Chris Hatcher (Los Angeles Dodgers)
45. Mike Morin (Los Angeles Angels)
46. Nick Vincent (Seattle Mariners)
47. Oliver Perez (Washington Nationals)
48. Tyler Thornburg (Milwaukee Brewers)
49. Michael Blazek (Milwaukee Brewers)
50. Boone Logan (Colorado Rockies)
51. Fernando Salas (Los Angeles Angels)
52. David Phelps (Miami Marlins)
TIER 4
53. Trevor May (Minnesota Twins)
54. Kevin Quackenbush (San Diego Padres)
55. Greg Mahle (Los Angeles Angels)
56. Josh Osich (San Francisco Giants)
57. Jim Henderson (New York Mets)
58. Jose Alvarez (Los Angeles Angels)
59. Zach Duke (Chicago White Sox)
60. Brandon Maurer (San Diego Padres)
61. David Hernandez (Philadelphia Phillies)
62. Jim Johnson (Atlanta Braves)
63. Adam Warren (Chicago Cubs)
64. Xavier Cedeño (Tampa Bay Rays)
65. Vidal Nuna (Seattle Mariners)
66. Derek Law (San Francisco Giants)
67. Johnny Barbato (New York Yankees)
Injured Setup Men – Top 4 are strong stashes, bottom have less upside and more fluid timelines
– Carson Smith (Boston Red Sox)
– Sergio Romo (San Francisco Giants)
– Joaquin Benoit (Seattle Mariners)
– Miguel Castro (Colorado Rockies)
– Jason Motte (Colorado Rockies)
– Corey Knebel (Milwaukee Brewers)
NOTES
– Hunter Strickland and Ken Giles are still a bit shaky. I’m trying not to overreact to small sample sizes, and they should get going soon.
– The Cardinals have 4 holds in total and Kevin Siegrist still sitting at 0. Seung-hwan Oh and Siegrist are the top dogs in that pen and the opps will come.
– I have been openly anti-Koji Uehara but he sits at the top with 7 holds and a sub 1 WHIP. Carson Smith is expected to begin a rehab assignment today so we’ll see how the bullpen shakes out if he comes back strong. Junichi Tazawa is also rolling but the Red Sox always seem to overwork him and he often fades in the 2nd half.
– Journeyman Matt Albers hasn’t given up a run since August 4th of last season. He closed out 2015 with holds in his final 5 appearances and has kept it rolling this year. White Sox are racking up a ton of opps so his total is a bit inflated but the late bloomer’s 6 holds are only one behind teammate Nate Jones and his league leading 7.
– Keone Kela is out for about three months, Miguel Castro and Joaquin Benoit are also on the DL with shoulder discomfort/inflammation.
– With Kela out of the picture Jake Diekman moves up the totem poll. He’s a beast of a lefty with 95+ MPH heat.