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 are an attempt at quantifying a mixture of both short term and rest of season value. The formula isn’t concrete but it considers general ratio and strikeout potential + pure hold totals and potential. 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.
Please do 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. Andrew Miller (New York Yankees)
2. Dellin Betances (New York Yankees)
3. Tony Watson (Pittsburgh Pirates)
4. Kelvin Herrera (Kansas City Royals)
5. Pedro Strop (Chicago Cubs)
6. Will Harris (Houston Astros)
7. Jake Diekman (Texas Rangers)
8. Nate Jones (Chicago White Sox)
9. Felipe Rivero (Washington Nationals)
10. Hector Neris (Philadelphia Phillies)
TIER 2
11. Ryan Buchter (San Diego Padres)
12. Nick Vincent (Seattle Mariners)
13. Seung Hwan Oh (St. Louis Cardinals)
14. David Phelps (Miami Marlins)
15. Addison Reed (New York Mets)
16. Kevin Siegrist (St. Louis Cardinals)
17. Koji Uehara (Boston Red Sox)
18. Darren O’Day (Baltimore Orioles)
19. Daniel Hudson (Arizona Diamondbacks)
20. Joaquin Benoit (Seattle Mariners)
21. Sean Doolittle (Oakland Athletics)
22. Joakim Soria (Kansas City Royals)
23. David Hernandez (Philadelphia Phillies)
24. Neftali Feliz (Pittsburgh Pirates)
TIER 3
25. Joe Smith (Los Angeles Angels)
26. Ken Giles (Houston Astros)
27. Matt Bush (Texas Rangers)
28. Pedro Baez (Los Angeles Dodgers)
29. Junichi Tazawa (Boston Red Sox)
30. Brad Brach (Baltimore Orioles)
31. Cory Gearrin (San Francisco Giants)
32. Fernando Salas (Los Angeles Angels)
33. Will Smith (Milwaukee Brewers)
34. Kyle Barraclough (Miami Marlins)
35. Mychal Givens (Baltimore Orioles)
36. Brandon Maurer (San Diego Padres)
37. Tyler Clippard (Arizona Diamondbacks)
38. Bryan Shaw (Cleveland Indians)
39. Hansel Robles (New York Mets)
TIER 4
40. Luke Hochevar (Kansas City Royals)
41. Tyler Thornburg (Milwaukee Brewers)
42. Fernando Abad (Minnesota Twins)
43. Xavier Cedeño (Tampa Bay Rays)
44. Hunter Cervenka (Atlanta Braves)
45. Justin Wilson (Detroit Tigers)
46. Josh Osich (San Francisco Giants)
47. Carlos Estévez (Colorado Rockies)
48. Louis Coleman (Los Angeles Dodgers)
49. Shawn Kelley (Washington Nationals)
50. Hunter Strickland (San Francisco Giants)
51. Vidal Nuno (Seattle Mariners)
TIER 5
52. Zach Duke (Chicago White Sox)
53. Mark Lowe (Detroit Tigers)
54. Matt Albers (Chicago White Sox)
55. Miguel Castro (Colorado Rockies)
56. Fernando Rodriguez (Oakland Athletics)
57. Adam Warren (Chicago Cubs)
58. Pat Neshek (Houston Astros)
59. Joel Peralta (Seattle Mariners)
60. Jim Henderson (New York Mets)
61. Justin Grimm (Chicago Cubs)
62. Erasmo Ramirez (Tampa Bay Rays)
63. Oliver Perez (Washington Nationals
64. Jerry Blevins (New York Mets)
TIER 6
65. Gavin Floyd (Toronto Blue Jays)
66. Blake Treinen (Washington Nationals)
66. John Axford (Oakland Athletics)
67. Enny Romero (Tampa Bay Rays)
68. Drew Storen (Toronto Blue Jays)
69. Jose Alvarez (Los Angeles Angels)
70. Jason Grilli (Toronto Blue Jays)
71. Tony Barnette (Texas Rangers)
72. Antonio Bastardo (New York Mets)
73. Tony Sipp (Houston Astros)
74. Andrew Bailey (Philadelphia Phillies)
75. Zach McAllister (Cleveland Indians)
75. Jonathan Broxton (St. Louis Cardinals)
75. Trevor May (Minnesota Twins)
77. Derek Law (San Francisco Giants)
78. Matt Barnes (Boston Red Sox)
79. Adam Liberatore (Los Angeles Dodgers)
80. Greg Mahle (Los Angeles Angels)
81. Alex Wilson (Detroit Tigers)
INJURED
– Sergio Romo (San Francisco Giants)
– Yimi Garcia (Los Angeles Dodgers)
– Tony Zych (Seattle Mariners)
– Michael Blazek (Milwaukee Brewers)
– Boone Logan (Colorado Rockies)
– Bryan Morris (Miami Marlins)
– Jim Johnson (Atlanta Braves)
– Jason Motte (Colorado Rockies)
– Corey Knebel (Milwaukee Brewers)
– Brett Cecil (Toronto Blue Jays)
– Carson Smith (Boston Red Sox)
NOTES
– All in once again on Felipe Rivero, 6 holds in 5.1 scoreless, 8 ks and .38 whip in the last two weeks.
– Josh Osich is a decent lefty specialist, Cory Gearrin is the #2 in San Fran. Sergio Romo is dealing with some arm fatigue and I still love Hunter Strickland. Not sure what to make of the Giants pen.
– Will Smith back in business. Sort of a bullish ranking coming off a major injury but I trust rebuilding teams more since they have less than zero reason to worry about reinjury. And Michael Blazek hit the DL with a sore right elbow.
– Joakim Soria rolling after a rough start and probably deserves to be higher. OG, 5 holds the last two weeks
– Hansel Robles minor ankle sprain and got shelled last week. Sucks but I still like him a lot.
– Xavier Cedeño is pretty intriguing if he actually learned how to manage the long ball and get weak contact.
– Hunter Cervenka hype? Feels like a Kyle Barrclough situation with a lot of K’s and walks, but there is no real competition for the 8th.
– Justin Wilson and Mark Lowe are wildcards in Detroit.
– Boone Logan DL with shoulder inflammation, Carlos Estevez is the guy to own in Colorado. Chad Qualls is a vet who will get fed but not a fan. Miguel Castro could start pimping again.
– Jason Grilli dealt to Toronto, meh, I don’t really like anyone in that pen.