We’ve had 13 relievers pick up three SV+HLD’s since Opening Day: Bryan Abreu, Jason Adam, Ryan Borucki, Robert Garcia, Josh Hader, Porter Hodge, Jeff Hoffman, Luke Jackson, Brendon Little, Chris Martin, Andrés Muñoz, Tyler Rogers, Robert Suarez. Most of the names here are names we are used to seeing in the SV+HLD realm, but we do have some surprises here in the likes of Borucki, Jackson, and Little. I touched on Borucki in yesterday’s Hold Up article, and I also talked about Jackson’s future value in Tuesday’s Closing Time. I will add to Jackson though, that it’s interesting seeing two of his teammates on this list with him and I wouldn’t entirely rule out this turning into more of a committee over time.
Little is the interesting name that I’ll admit I didn’t put too much thought into this spring, despite being the Jays’ only left-handed option reliever outside of rookie Mason Fluharty. If you are just interested in holds only, you can go bullpen by bullpen and if there is just one lefty there, there’s a good chance that guy will work his way into 10+ holds just based on him being the only lefty. That’s where Little fits in, as his stuff is by no means overpowering, but the curveball is pretty tough, especially on lefties so expect him to continue seeing plenty of high-leverage usage against left-handed pockets of opposing lineups.
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