Top 100 Relievers for Save+Hold Leagues: 8/11

Notes

• The walks are starting to take a toll on Alex Lange’s season, as the Tigers closer may be on the verge of losing his role if he can’t shore up his command soon. Lange has a whopping 9 walks over 2.1 IP this month, but the problems go back further than that. Entering a game against the White Sox on June 4th, Lange had a 1.11 ERA and 0.90 WHIP on the season but since that game (20.2 IP): 7.40 ERA, 2.03 WHIP, and –0.9 K-BB rate (due to an absurd 24.3% BB rate). He still has two plus plus swing and miss offerings at his arsenal, but it won’t matter much if he keeps allowing free passes.
• On the flip side, Kyle Finnegan has really turned his season around since his early season struggles, as his ERA was at 6.75 on May 6th, with a WHIP of 1.90. Since then, he has a 1.23 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, and a respectable 22.4% K-BB rate. Finnegan doesn’t have the swing-and-miss ability that Lange has, and it’s not really even close to be honest, but he doesn’t allow free baserunners and has pretty steady job security at the moment.
• JoJo Romero continues to impress out of the Cardinals bullpen, now with a 3.93 ERA (2.27 xFIP) and 0.98 WHIP since being recalled in early July. He’s been able to get swings and misses from right-handed and left-handed hitters as both his changeup and slider have shown plus bat-missing ability. He’s been a top 30 reliever since July started, and should still see high-leverage work even once Ryan Helsley returns.
• I still see there being an opportunity for Reynaldo López to overtake Carlos Estévez in the Angels closer role, as the team can not afford any more blown saves if they want to have a chance to make the postseason. I’m not sure if López is the best man for that task (it may honestly be Matt Moore) but Estévez likely isn’t as he’s been showing some cracks for a while now. Going back to July, Estévez has the 4th worst xFIP (6.70) and WHIP (2.11) amongst 196 qualified relievers, and his 4.5% K-BB rate is obviously not what you want to see. López on the other hand has been fantastic since the All-Star break, with a 42.9% K rate, 0.89 WHIP, and 1.84 xFIP.
• It was assumed Adam Ottavino (or Brooks Raley) would be closing out games for the Mets after they traded away David Robertson, but at this point, the team may as well go with some of their younger options (as Buck Showalter has kind of alluded to recently) because Ottavino hasn’t exactly been great since the All-Star break with just a 9.3% K rate, 1.44 WHIP and 5.31 xFIP.
• Caleb Thielbar has pitched well this season, when available which has been the issue as he’s been limited to 13.1 IP. He’ll likely move back up this list, as long as the Twins start trusting him with hold opportunities again, as all seven of his holds came back in April.

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