The third and final relief pitcher rankings for today are our cumulative saves plus holds (SV+HLD) list. While the opportunity for these counting stats is certainly taken into consideration, it’s typically hard to gauge with bullpen usage being so fluid throughout the season for most teams. The bulk of the rankings are derived from swing-and-miss ability, expected outcome stats, and a little bit of HOTEL mixed in. Also, keep in mind that holds are much more volatile and harder to predict. We’ve only seen 11 seasons from a pitcher with more than 30 holds since 2016, while 49 closers have gone over 30 saves in that same time frame. Last year 10 relievers had 10 or more saves, while 8 had 10 or more holds, so perhaps the gap is closing but we should also take into account the small sample size.
Change in rankings is in comparison to last years final list (9/25/2020).
For those in super deep leagues, here are 50 more names to keep an eye on.
Ryan Tepera, Matt Foster, Keone Kela, Oliver Drake, Burch Smith, Darwinzon Hernandez, Jose Alvarado, Dellin Betances, Corey Knebel, Hansel Robles, Sean Doolittle, Tony Watson, Tyler Clippard, Craig Stammen, Jeremy Jeffress, Joe Kelly, Ryan Helsley, Ty Buttrey, Luke Jackson, Keynan Middleton, Kyle Zimmer, Dylan Floro, Jace Fry, Anthony Misiewicz, Brett Martin, Ryne Stanek, Jairo Diaz, Joe Jimenez, Tyler Matzek, David Phelps, Tyler Kinley, Jose Cisnero, Bryan Garcia, Shane Greene, Duane Underwood Jr.
SP’s: Tejay Antone, Alex Reyes, Matt Andriese, Bryan Abreu, Josh James (IL), whoever doesn’t earn the 5th spot for LAD
PROSPECTS: Garrett Crochet (SP), Sam Delaplane, Demarcus Evans, Alex Vesia, Andres Munoz (IL)
IL: Seth Lugo, Colin Poche, John Brebbia, Seranthony Dominguez, Scott Oberg