Lucas Sims had been having a great season up until the All-Star break, but since then has a brutal 7.20 ERA (7.36 xFIP), 2.00 WHIP, and 1.9% K-BB rate over his last 14 outings (10 IP total). The walk rate (21.2% BB rate since the All-Star break) has become the biggest issue as Sims has just lost his feel for the strike zone.
He still somehow leads the team in SV+HLDs since the break with eight, but I can’t imagine that continues as others in this bullpen have been pitching well lately (Ian Gibaut and Fernando Cruz come to mind).
Notes
- It’s been a disappointing season for the Yankees, but one bright spot lately has been Michael King, who has been dominant after having back-to-back rough outings coming out of the All-Star break. Over the past 11.2 IP, King has 35% K-BB and 39.6% CSW rates with an xFIP south of 2.00 and just a 0.86 WHIP. He also has 5 of his 8 holds over that span, the second most on the team during that time behind only Tommy Kahnle.
- Matt Moore had a rough first outing back from the IL following the All-Star break, but since that game, he’s been lights out allowing just one earned run. Over his past 12.1 IP, Moore has a 39.6% K rate to go with a 0.89 WHIP and six holds. The Angels continue to trust Carlos Estévez in the closer role for the time being, but it could be a matter of time until we see Moore or Reynaldo López take over there.
- Brusdar Graterol has been excellent over his past 10.2 IP with a 23.7% K and 61.5% GB rates to go with a 0.75 WHIP and 5 holds. With Joe Kelly on the IL now, Graterol will be leaned on for high-leverage work moving forward and could rack up holds to end the year.
- Hunter Harvey returned to the Nationals bullpen earlier this week, and while it doesn’t look like he will get back into the closer role this season, he should still see plenty of hold chances moving forward. How much value that will give him in fantasy leagues remains to be seen, but he had been a fairly consistent performer prior to his IL stint.
- Gregory Soto has been very inconsistent over his past 13.1 IP with the Phillies, and while it’s nice to see his walk rate low (6.8%), he’s still struggled to miss bats (15.3% K rate) and has a 6.08 ERA (5.01 xFIP) and 1.43 WHIP. He’s already starting to lose some high-leverage work and once José Alvarado returns, could find himself on the outside looking in for holds.
- He may not be a huge asset for holds leagues this season, but Abner Uribe is definitely a name you want to keep an eye on (if not roster by now) in most dynasty formats. He’s been fine so far this year, but I think it’s evident there is even more swing-and-miss upside here and as long as he can continue to improve his command, the upside is unlimited.
If you would like more daily reliever updates, please check out our Reliever Ranks series.
Why is Minter ranked 7? He has 1 hold on the past 30 days
Why is Tyler Holton not ranked?
Two weeks ago, the Yankees were talking about getting ready to use King in high leverage roles on back-to-back nights and it looked like his holds chances were on the upswing. A week later the Yankees are using him as an opener and talking about stretching him out into some kind hybrid bulk-starter role. This may be necessary to improve the dwindling chance that the Yankees might make the post-season, but I think it will be a disaster for his fantasy value. Bummer, because I was seeing the same under-the-hood improvements and had just picked him up in my holds league.
Thanks for the great work, as always.