The Hold Up 5/11: Ranking The Top 70 Relievers For Holds Every Week

If the RP position couldn’t get any more volatile, we saw another slew of injuries this past week to complicate matters even further. For those in deep leagues that have 60+ relievers owned, any waiver pickup at this point is basically just a coin flip. You are probably better off steaming relievers at that point, going with who is hot at the moment and/or playing match ups for the week. Nevertheless, we’ve ranked 70 non-closer relievers for you again this week, with the bottom 30 or so essentially being more watch list or streamer types to hold you over while we wait to see some pitchers get healthy.

TIER 1: Good Vibrations

1. Andrew Miller (Cleveland Indians)

2. Dellin Betances (New York Yankees)

Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances continue to pay dividends for those who drafted them early this year. The K numbers are there for both and the holds are starting to show up now as well.

TIER 2: I’ll Be There For You

3. Addison Reed (New York Mets)

4. Hector Rondon (Chicago Cubs)

5. Adam Ottavino (Colorado Rockies)

6. Felipe Rivero (Pittsburgh Pira tes)

7. Trevor Rosenthal (St. Louis Cardinals)

8. Cory Knebel (Milwaukee Brewers)

9. Chris Devenski (Houston Astros)

10. Carl Edwards Jr. (Chicago Cubs)

11. Mychal Givens (Baltimore Orioles)

12. Will Harris (Houston Astros)

Carl Edwards Jr. has been as good as advertised to begin the season, only allowing 4 hits in 14 innings to go along with 19 K’s. Joe Maddon will have to start using him in more hold situations if he continues this dominance.
Of the names in this tier, the 3 most likely to end up saving games later in the year have to be Felipe Rivero, Corey Knebel and possibly Trevor Rosenthal. Rivero and Knebel are good trade targets in dynasty or keeper leagues, but your opportunity to buy low may be closing fast.

TIER 3: Torn

13. Kyle Barraclough (Miami Marlins)

14. Ryan Madson (Oakland Athletics)

15. Arodys Vizcaino (Atlanta Braves)

16. Luke Gregerson (Houston Astros)

17. Daniel Hudson (Pittsburgh Pirates)

18. Joe Smith (Toronto Blue Jays)

19. Archie Bradley (Arizona Diamondbacks)

20. Michael Lorenzen (Cincinnati Reds)

21. Hunter Strickland (San Francisco Giants)

22. Joaquin Benoit (Philadelphia Phillies)

23. Tommy Kahnle (Chicago White Sox)

24. Darren O’Day (Baltimore Orioles)

25. Pedro Baez (Los Angeles Dodgers)

26. Kevin Siegrist (St. Louis Cardinals)

27. Koji Uehara (Chicago Cubs)

28. Blake Parker (Los Angeles Angels)

29. Pedro Strop (Chicago Cubs)

30. Jacob Barnes (Milwaukee Brewers)

31. Brett Cecil (St. Louis Cardinals )

32. Brad Hand (San Diego Padres)

33. Tyler Clippard (New York Yankees)

34. Grant Dayton (Los Angeles Dodgers)

35. Hansel Robles (New York Mets)

36. Brad Ziegler (Miami Marlins)

37. Joakim Soria (Kansas City Royals)

38. Mike Dunn (Colorado Rockies)

Kyle Barraclough has been disappointing all year, with Tuesday night being a complete disaster for him. He was too good last year for it to be just an anomaly, so I’d expect him to turn things around soon.
Joe Smith is the set up man to own in Toronto right now. He’s staging some comeback this season, striking out 23 in 16 innings while only allowing 17 baserunners. The Jays are starting to pick things up now, so the holds will come.

TIER 4: You Get What You Give

39. Bryan Shaw (Cleveland Indians)

40. Alex Wilson (Detroit Tigers)

41. Anthony Swarzak (Chicago White Sox)

42. Ryan Buchter (San Diego Padres)

43. Shane Green (Detroit Tigers)

44. Matt Strahm (Kansas City Royals)

45. Jeremy Jeffress (Texas Rangers)

46. Nick Vincent (Seattle Mariners)

47. Matt Barnes (Boston Red Sox)

48. Drew Storen (Cincinnati Reds)

49. Matt Albers (Washington Nationals)

50. James Hoyt (Houston Astros)

51. Liam Hendriks (Oakland Athletics)

52. Chase Whitley (Tampa Bay Rays)

53. Jake McGee (Colorado Rockies)

54. Jose Ramirez (Atlanta Braves)

55. David Phelps (Miami Marlins)

The White Sox seem to just be turning journeymen pitchers into stud relievers this season, with the latest being Anthony Swarzak. Hold’s may not be in abundance, but the ratios and K’s right now make him very interesting in deep leagues.
Welcome back to the list, Matt Strahm and Nick Vincent. Both relievers need to be effective and play a big role at the end of games for their respective teams to be successful going forward. Strahm has been better, but not great since being called back up in late April, while Vincent has pitched well but has yet to tally a hold on the year.
If the Astros bullpen wasnt already loaded, it looks like James Hoyt could be another weapon for them. He’s only pitched in 4 games so far, but the stats are eye-popping. 13 K’s in 5.2 IP and only 1 BB + 3 hits. He may not see too many hold chances, but he can still be useful for the ratios and K’s. Brad Peacock and Michael Feliz also probably deserve a spot on this list as well.

TIER 5: There She Goes

56. Fernando Salas (New York Mets)

57. Pat Neshek (Philadelphia Phillies)

58. Ryan Dull (Oakland Athletics)

59. Jonathan Holder (New York Yankees)

60. Luis Avilan (Los Angeles Dodgers)

61. Tony Barnette (Texas Rangers)

62. Heath Hembree (Boston Red Sox)

63. JJ Hoover (Arizona Diamondbacks)

64. Jerry Blevins (New York Mets)

65. Mike Minor (Kansas City Royals)

66. Donnie Hart (Baltimore Orioles)

67. Matt Bowman (St. Louis Cardinals)

68. Keone Kela (Texas Rangers)

69. Tony Zych (Seattle Mariners)

70. Jose Alvarez (Los Angeles Angels)

Jonathan Holder is an intriguing deep dynasty option, as I’d imagine he will move into a set-up role as early as next season if he continues to pitch well at the MLB level. He definitely has + stuff to be effective in a high leverage late inning role.
When Zach Britton was out earlier in the year, Donnie Hart had plenty of fantasy relevance in holds leagues, and he could see a big jump in these rankings in the following weeks if that continues to be the case.