Thursday has arrived and with it comes updated setup men rankings. This is a great day for hold leagues, and therefore the world. These rankings mostly reflect rest of season value, and 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. Managers should always make decisions and alter this list based on their specific league setup.
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. Andrew Miller (New York Yankees)
3. Kelvin Herrera (Kansas City Royals)
4. Pedro Strop (Chicago Cubs)
5. Dellin Betances (New York Yankees)
6. Nate Jones (Chicago White Sox)
7. Will Harris (Houston Astros)
TIER 2
8. Sam Dyson (Texas Rangers)
9. Kevin Siegrist (St. Louis Cardinals)
10. Hunter Strickland (San Francisco Giants)
11. Koji Uehara (Boston Red Sox)
12. Darren O’Day (Baltimore Orioles)
13. Hansel Robles (New York Mets)
14. Seung Hwan Oh (St. Louis Cardinals)
15. Hector Neris (Philadelphia Phillies)
TIER 3
16. Justin Wilson (Detroit Tigers)
17. Addison Reed (New York Mets)
18. Mychal Givens (Baltimore Orioles)
19. Pedro Baez (Los Angeles Dodgers)
20. Jake Diekman (Texas Rangers)
21. Brad Brach (Baltimore Orioles)
22. David Phelps (Miami Marlins)
23. Nick Vincent (Seattle Mariners)
24. Ryan Buchter (San Diego Padres)
25. Daniel Hudson (Arizona Diamondbacks)
26. Kyle Barraclough (Miami Marlins)
27. Josh Osich (San Francisco Giants)
28. Carson Smith (Boston Red Sox)
29. Bryan Shaw (Cleveland Indians)
30. Neftali Feliz (Pittsburgh Pirates)
TIER 4
31. Joel Peralta (Seattle Mariners)
32. Fernando Salas (Los Angeles Angels)
33. Ken Giles (Houston Astros)
34. Brandon Maurer (San Diego Padres)
35. Joakim Soria (Kansas City Royals)
36. Tyler Clippard (Arizona Diamondbacks)
37. Shawn Kelley (Washington Nationals)
38. David Hernandez (Philadelphia Phillies)
39. Jim Henderson (New York Mets)
30. Mark Lowe (Detroit Tigers)
41. Trevor May (Minnesota Twins)
42. Blake Treinen (Washington Nationals)
43. Matt Albers (Chicago White Sox)
44. Junichi Tazawa (Boston Red Sox)
45. Adam Warren (Chicago Cubs)
46. Erasmo Ramirez (Tampa Bay Rays)
47. Sean Doolittle (Oakland Athletics)
48. Drew Storen (Toronto Blue Jays)
49. Kevin Quackenbush (San Diego Padres)
50. Jerry Blevins (New York Mets)
51. Oliver Perez (Washington Nationals)
52. Zach Duke (Chicago White Sox)
53. Felipe Rivero (Washington Nationals)
54. Antonio Bastardo (New York Mets)
55. Boone Logan (Colorado Rockies)
56. Bryan Morris (Miami Marlins)
57. John Axford (Oakland Athletics)
58. Pat Neshek (Houston Astros)
59. Mike Morin (Los Angeles Angels)
TIER 5
60. Tyler Thornburg (Milwaukee Brewers)
61. Michael Blazek (Milwaukee Brewers)
62. Zach McAllister (Cleveland Indians)
63. Justin Grimm (Chicago Cubs)
64. Jose Alvarez (Los Angeles Angels)
65. Vidal Nuno (Seattle Mariners)
66. Tony Cingrani (Cincinnati Reds)
67. Enny Romero (Tampa Bay Rays)
68. Greg Mahle (Los Angeles Angels)
69. Andrew Chafin (Arizona Diamondbacks)
70. Brett Cecil (Toronto Blue Jays)
71. Ross Ohlendorf (Cincinnati Reds)
72. Xavier Cedeño (Tampa Bay Rays)
73. Tom Wilhelmsen (Texas Rangers)
74. Chad Qualls (Colorado Rockies)
75. Cory Gearrin (San Francisco Giants)
76. Steve Delabar (Cincinnati Reds)
77. Chris Hatcher (Los Angeles Dodgers)
78. Carlos Estévez (Colorado Rockies)
INJURED
TIER A
– Sergio Romo (San Francisco Giants)
– Joaquin Benoit (Seattle Mariners)
– Yimi Garcia (Los Angeles Dodgers)
– Tony Zych (Seattle Mariners)
– Miguel Castro (Colorado Rockies)
TIER B
– Jim Johnson (Atlanta Braves)
– Jason Motte (Colorado Rockies)
– Corey Knebel (Milwaukee Brewers)
NOTES
-Officially all in on Will Harris. Houston is finally giving him high leverage opportunities and he has elite ratio upside. Trotting him out in daily 5×5 rotos too.
– Kevin Seigrist finally collected his first hold of the season. Maybe the total innings will be a bit lower this season but the holds will come and the general production will be sexy.
– Joel Peralta is tallying up a ton of holds lately. Joaquin Benoit should be activated next week, we’ll see how he looks and monitor bullpen usage since it is a bit crowded.
– Justin Wilson and Mark Lowe have been knocked around lately. Not worried about Wilson but Lowe’s velocity is down and I’ve been replacing my shares.
– Carson Smith is off the DL and back in business. Perhaps Boston eases him in slowly but the organization loves him and it is only a matter of time before he starts racking up holds.
– Bryan Shaw is finally starting to settle down after a brutal start and hasn’t given up a run in weeks.
– Brad Brach is fine after taking a comebacker off his leg
– Adam Warren is a strong converted starter with quality ratios, and he might have established himself as 3rd in line for the Cubs.
– Bailing on Drew Storen for now although he still may figure it out in which case he’ll earn a ton of holds as long as Toronto doesn’t blow everyone out.
– Tony Zych to the DL with rotator cuff tendinitis, out until sometime in June. Jim Johnson isn’t really relevant but he was placed on the DL with a right groin strain.