Over the last half-decade, relief pitchers have had increased importance in baseball. Starters are going fewer innings than ever as MLB managers attempt to keep their starters’ workloads down and play matchups in those 6th and 7th innings when the starter is usually going through the opposing team’s lineup for the third time.
We’ve seen this trickle down into our fantasy baseball world as well. On top of figuring out what one-third to one-half of Major League teams are going to do in the back-end of their bullpen, we’ve seen the cost of relievers skyrocket to unthinkable heights with the top names going higher and higher every season. About a month ago, I saw Josh Hader (RP – MIL) taken in the FIRST ROUND (14th overall) in a 15-team NFBC DC.
With the reliever market constantly changing and evolving, it’s essential to do your due diligence with this position and put the research in. Hopefully, this primer can help you out in that regard.
And check out our other position primers:
- Catcher Primer
- First Base Primer
- Second Base Primer
- Shortstop Primer
- Third Base Primer
- Outfield Primer
- Starting Pitcher Primer
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2022 Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Primer
Relief Pitcher Tiers & Rising Costs
Tier 1: Josh Hader (MIL) and Liam Hendriks (RP – CWS)
Tier 2: Raisel Iglesias (RP – LAA), Edwin Diaz (RP – NYM), Emmanuel Clase (RP – CLE), Ryan Pressly (RP – HOU)
Tier 3: Aroldis Chapman (RP – NYY), Kenley Jansen (RP – LAD), Jordan Romano (RP – TOR), Giovanny Gallegos (RP – STL), Craig Kimbrel (RP – CWS)
Tier 4: Blake Treinen (RP – LAD), Mark Melancon (RP – ARI), Camilo Doval (RP – SF), Scott Barlow (RP – KC), Corey Knebel (RP – PHI)
Tier 5: Taylor Rogers (RP – MIN), Gregory Soto (RP – DET), Joe Barlow (RP – TEX), David Bednar (RP – PIT)
Tier 6: Dylan Floro (RP – MIA), Lucas Sims (RP – CIN), Matt Barnes (RP – BOS), Devin Williams (RP – MIL), Andrew Kittredge (RP – TB), Lou Trivino (RP – OAK)
Tier 7: It gets really ugly here.
If you want one of the two in Tier 1, you will have to pay up a top-50 pick without question. And the deeper the league, the higher the price tag will be. These are the top two relievers without question this season, with firm holds on their team’s closer role along with elite ratios and strikeouts. Hendriks has a league-best 52 saves since the start of 2020 and has seen his already stellar walk and strikeout rates improve in each of the last two seasons. Hader is only five saves behind him over the previous two seasons. He has a slightly higher strikeout rate over the previous few seasons and had a 3.79 ERA in the shortened 60-game 2020 season. These two are a coinflip. If you don’t want to use a top-50 pick, you can usually get one of the options from tier two a couple of rounds later. All four are safe in their roles and provide near-elite production.
Tier 3 is where the question marks begin to set in. At least slightly. Can Romano hold the role all season? Will Gallegos lose some save opportunities as it’s been rumored? Will Kimbrel remain with the White Sox and lose value in a setup role for Hendriks? So many questions and the answers aren’t overly apparent yet.
I’m okay taking Jansen, Romano, and Gallegos, but Chapman and Kimbrel are the two I’ve avoided in drafts. Chapman remains the closer in New York, but several metrics concern me entering 2022. If you’re looking for strikeouts, Chapman still provides plenty of those thanks to his slider (43.1% whiff) and splitter (66.7%), but his four-seamer registered a .306 BAA, and Chapman’s 15.6% walk rate and 16.2% barrel rate don’t exactly inspire confidence. The Yankees also have several other capable arms behind Chapman in that pen, like Jonathan Loaisiga (RP – NYY), Chad Green (RP – NYY), and Clay Holmes (RP – NYY) that could step in if Chapman isn’t performing well.
Another reliever to avoid is Will Smith (RP – ATL). Before the Kenley Jansen signing, Smith was firmly in Tier 3 above as a top-100 overall selection. As someone with several Smith shares from earlier in the offseason, the Jansen acquisition stings, but Atlanta wouldn’t have brought in Jansen if it wasn’t too close. Smith can safely be avoided in 12-team mixed leagues unless you have holds as a category.
Non-Closer Relievers Who Can Help Your Fantasy Baseball Team
Thinking About Waiting? Don’t!
Remember when nobody considered a reliever in the top-100, let alone the top-50? Those were the days. However, those days are never coming back. In a 12-team mixed league or smaller, you can afford to wait a bit longer, but your deeper leagues like Draft Champions or Best Balls will see closers go earlier due to the lack of in-season waiver wires or FAAB. Trust me; I have no desire to take a relief pitcher inside the top-100. But in today’s fantasy landscape, you have to if you want to secure one of the top eight options or so.
You might be sitting there in your draft thinking, “Oh, I’ll just wait until later to get my saves.” That’s a mistake. If you “wait until later,” you risk having someone like Gregory Soto as your RP1 or having an unstable Matt Barnes as your RP2. Both situations are less than ideal, and I recommend avoiding putting yourself in a bind like that.
Mid-Round Targets
Don’t want to use a top-100 pick on a reliever? That’s understandable. Luckily, if you wait for a little on closers, several intriguing mid-round options are available. Just don’t wait too long, as mentioned above.
Blake Treinen, LAD: As long as the Dodgers don’t bring in another big-name reliever to close, Blake Treinen should at least get a chance to close games this season. Will it be a role that is solely his? Maybe not. But even if Treinen can get close to 20 saves for the loaded Dodgers, he has the potential to finish as a top-10 reliever this season, maybe even top-5 if he’s the full-time closer. Treinen was dominant last season, ending with a 1.99 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, a 29.7% strikeout rate, and elite metrics, including finishing in the top-7% of pitcher xERA, AVG EV, xSLG, xBA, hard-hit, xwOBA, and barrel rate. There’s not a single reliever I have more shares of this season.
Scott Barlow, KCR: Scott is a clear choice when deciding which Barlow to go after. Are the Royals going to be a contender? Probably not. But the notion that relievers on bad teams can’t get plenty of saves is pure poppycock. The Royals should settle in as a 70-win team, and when bad teams win games, it’s usually closer, which means more save opportunities. In 2021, Barlow racked up 16 saves, and 14 of those came after July 1st. That’s around a 30-save pace over an entire season. On top of the saves, Barlow recorded a 2.42 ERA and 29.7% strikeout rate. This season he’s in line to receive the lion’s share of save opportunities in Kansas City and can provide value as a solid RP2 in fantasy.
Camilo Doval, SF: Out of this quarter, Doval is the one I’m the least certain on for regular save opportunities. Before his late-season dominance, Jake McGee (RP – SF) was more than serviceable as the Giants closer and is still in the picture for 2022. I’m fully expecting McGee to grab plenty of save opportunities, but Doval is also in the picture. Even in the 10-15 save range, Doval could provide solid value with low ratios and plenty of strikeouts. Overall, his 3.00 ERA and 33.9% strikeout rate look good, but we should focus on the 2nd half of the season when he didn’t allow an earned run over 16.1 innings with a 40.7% strikeout rate.
Taylor Rogers, MIN: After recording nine saves in 2021, Taylor Rogers appears locked in as the Twins closer entering 2022. And having the closer role is half the battle. Rogers uses a sinker and slider with nearly split usage and recorded a 30.7 K-BB% last season with a 3.35 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. The slider doesn’t have a massive whiff rate at 38.8%, but Rogers mixes the two offerings well and gets hitters to chase outside the zone at a high clip. He’s a safe RP2 this season.
Uncertain Situations
Buckle up because there are a lot of them.
Baltimore: Tyler Wells (RP – BAL) and Cole Sulser (RP – BAL) are in the mix, but my money is on Sulser. However, he’s merely an RP3 and barely on the 12-team mixed league radar.
Boston: As a Red Sox fan and fantasy analyst, I find it quite frustrating that a team like Boston doesn’t have a set closer. It looks like Whitlock will not be used in the role, and Boston hasn’t acquired anyone to unseat the wildly inconsistent Matt Barnes. If Barnes is the guy, he’s a back-end RP2 and one I’ve mostly avoided in drafts.
Chicago (NL): Following Codi Heuer’s (RP – CHC) season-ending surgery, the Cubs will likely go with a committee featuring Rowan Wick (RP – CHC), Mychal Givens (RP – CHC), and others. Both Wick and Givens are merely deep league options, and this is a bullpen to avoid entirely in 12-team leagues.
Cincinnati: This bullpen is an absolute MESS. Lucas Sims was gaining some buzz, but he’s currently hurt and will likely miss the beginning of the season. After him, it’s a hodgepodge of several arms, none of which stick out. Until Sims returns, it’s best to avoid this hot mess. And even Sims isn’t a lock once he returns.
Miami: Many sites project Dylan Floro as the guy, but Anthony Bender (RP – MIA) will also factor in. I’m still fine taking Floro as a back-end RP2 but don’t reach for him.
San Diego: Do you want to see something funny? Go to Roster Resource on Fangraphs and click on the San Diego Padres. They have a whopping SIX names listed in the closer committee. Roster Resource is 100% right for doing so also. There’s zero clarity in this bullpen, and there likely won’t be any time soon.
Seattle: Your guess is as good as mine. On paper, Seattle has one of the best bullpens in the Majors, headlined by the quintet of Paul Sewald (RP – SEA), Diego Castillo (RP – SEA), Drew Steckenrider (RP – SEA), Ken Giles (RP – SEA), and Andres Munoz (RP – SEA). Sewald excelled in a breakout 2021 campaign with some saves along the way; Castillo and Giles have plenty of experience. Hopefully, more clarity presents itself here before Opening Day. If not, we’re probably looking at 5-10 saves each for everyone but Munoz.
Tampa Bay: While it appears that Kittredge will lead this pen, this is Tampa Bay we’re talking about. Nothing is certain in this pen with Pete Fairbanks (RP – TB) and others in the mix.
Washington: It’s likely going to be Tanner Rainey (RP – WAS), but both Steve Cishek (RP – WAS) and Kyle Finnegan (RP – WAS) are looming. As with Floro above, I’m not opposed to taking Rainey as an RP3, but I don’t reach.
Hey, What about Those of Us in Holds or SV/HLD Leagues?
Don’t worry. I got you. Leagues with holds are a whole different animal. My home keeper league recently switched to Saves+Holds from Saves only, and it opens up additional strategies and plenty of other options to target. In that league, which had our offseason restocking draft in mid-February, I grabbed Will Smith as one of my relievers. In this format, him moving to a setup role doesn’t impact his value nearly as much as he’ll still be able to rack up plenty of holds pitching in the 7th or 8th inning for an outstanding Atlanta team. He’s a near-lock for 20+ holds and will likely sneak in 5-7 saves on nights when Jansen is being rested, or there are a few lefties due up for the opposing team.
This is a format where you target some of those messy bullpens I mentioned in the section above. Some of those top arms in Seattle, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, New York, etc. will rack up holds and their good ratios and strikeouts. A guy like Devin Williams vaults up into the top-10 if your league has holds and likely into that 2nd tier as he’s 4th in the Majors with 33 holds since the start of 2020 and a 1.78 ERA and 42.9% strikeout rate.
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Eric Cross is a featured writer at FantasyPros. You can check out more of his work on his Archive or Twitter @EricCross04.
