While you might want to run away from Wandy Peralta with his 1.38 WHIP and 4.53 xFIP, right now he seems to be the only reliever Aaron Boone fully trusts in high-leverage spots.
While the walks are a concern (13.8% BB rate) and he doesn’t do a great job missing bats (26.3% CSW), there is something to be said about his consistency in A. just being available for a team that’s lost multiple relievers the past year and B. doing an above average job at limiting hard contact. With the Yankees bullpen thin, don’t be shocked to see Peralta get the bulk of save+hold opportunities in the near future, and if you don’t mind the potential ratio ding, he could be worth the add in deeper leagues.
Notes
- Hector Neris has been on a roll as of late, not allowing a run over his last 12 innings of work while striking out 15. He’s walked six over that timespan, which is a bit high but he’s allowed just two hits so he’s been able to keep that scoreless streak going. With Rafael Montero struggling lately, Neris should be one of the top three options in this bullpen with Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu, and someone to roster in all holds leagues.
- A.J. Minter continues to struggle and while I know it’s hard to hold on right now, I think there is hope still. Despite the terrible ratios currently, Minter still has a 3.51 xFIP, 16.9% SwStr rate, and his stuff is still grading out well with a 5.48 PLV. The concern is how long will the Braves trust him in high-leverage spots with plenty of other options in that bullpen to turn to. I think he’s a hold for now, but we may need to reevaluate at the end of the month.
- Jorge López is off to a great start this season with the Twins, and while he’s firmly entrenched as one of the team’s top three relievers, I don’t love the lack of swing-and-miss stuff from him. The 11.2% SwStr and 21.5% K rates are both way below average for relievers and only his curveball has a Whiff rate over 25%. Still, there are some Seth Lugo qualities here as a reliever who throws five pitches, so at the end of the year, we may not care about the inability to miss bats.
- We got three lefties back this week Brandon Hughes, Brooks Raley, and Garrett Crochet. Hughes and Raley figure to jump right back into high-leverage roles for their respective teams but it will be interesting to see what Crochet’s role will be coming back from Tommy John surgery. The team had talked about using him in a multi-inning role, which might make sense to keep him from working in back-to-back games and also potentially stretch him out to be a starter next year.
- Luis García got off to a horrible start this season, but he’s turned things around a bit lately and this Padres bullpen really needs him as there aren’t a ton of relievers for Bob Melvin to trust at the moment. There’s still plus swing-and-miss stuff here (the slider remains really really good) and he hasn’t allowed an earned run over his past nine innings.
- On the flip side, I think I’m giving up on Michael Fulmer for the time being at least as he just hasn’t been able to turn things around and there’s nothing here to suggest he will do so anytime soon. I think Fulmer is safe to drop for now, but maybe check back in at the end of June to see where he’s at.
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