Crooked Pitch

I received an e-mail from Gary asking about tips for exposure and linking to his new fantasy baseball blog. I told him I was happy to let him show off his chops right here at Crooked Pitch. He did just that, and with a topic that is near and dear to my heart. When you’re done reading this, check out his blog at Gary’s Fantasy Baseball Info.

As we all very well know, relief pitching is a vital aspect of any winning fantasy baseball squad.  Closers are often scarce, and with the exception of a few key players, not always very reliable.  However, there is a solution to this ongoing problem, and that solution is MIDDLE RELIEF!

In this article, I will review some middle relievers who are achieving higher point totals than their closing counterparts, as well as some closers who have not been pulling their proverbial weight.  The middle relievers I will discuss have been putting up well above average numbers so far, yet they are not owned in the majority of fantasy leagues.  Before analyzing why these players would be valuable on any fantasy team, we must first discuss why they are still available in the first place.

I have noticed that many fantasy players tackle the subject of relief pitching with the idea that they should get as many saves as possible, while having the least amount of blown saves.  Why this is obviously true, there is a lot more going on than that when it comes to relief pitching.  What many players fail to notice is that a top notch middle reliever who throws a lot of innings, with a good K/BB ratio, is very capable of putting up just as many points as a mid-level closer.  Some may scoff at the concept of a “top notch middle reliever,” however, in an age when starting pitchers depart after 5 innings; this is a concept that surely exists. 

If your league awards points for holds, PTW’s, or innings pitched, these players become even more important.  In addition, in rotisserie leagues, solid middle relief can really increase a team’s strikeout rate, as well as significantly lowering that teams ERA.  One effective technique is to rotate, on an everyday basis, your middle relievers who are considered droppable, and are pitching against teams with bad records.  For example, if your droppable middle reliever pitched two innings last night and is just starting a series against Boston, you may want to drop him for someone of equal or greater value, who has had two days rest, and is starting a series against the Nationals.  This is a technique that requires daily evaluation of your roster, and one that applies more to deeper leagues.  The larger the free agent pool in your league, the less effective this technique becomes.

Let’s first discuss some closers who have not lived up to their hype so far this year, but still remain owned in the majority of leagues:

1. “Bad” Brad Lidge, Phillies -  After going 41-0 in save opportunities for the world champion Phillies last year, Lidge started this season by blowing four of his first twelve save attempts. He has an ERA of 7.27, and has given up 33 hits in 26 innings. His 14 walks aren’t much help either. It looked like he had begun to turn it around last week, converting five consecutive opportunities, however, he was charged with blown saves on both Friday and Saturday.  I suppose any thoughts of a turnaround went right out the window, along with those two missed saves.  Furthermore, although Lidge has never blown more than 8 saves in a season, he already has 6 so far this year.  At this point, I can come up with 3 bright sides for Lidge.  One is his 28 strikeouts in 26 innings, while the second is that he still has the support of manager Charlie Manuel, according to a recent interview.  The third bright side-I guess he can’t get any worse!
2. Matt Capps, Pirates - I know. I know.  Capps had decent seasons in 2007 and 2008.  I’ll tell you what I don’t know.  I don’t know if I would keep a player who is not pitching well a third of the way through the season, for a team playing less than .500 baseball.  Capps has given up 24 hits and 9 walks in only 18 2/3 innings, while only accumulating 12 strikeouts during that time.  He has a record of 0-3, although he has 13 saves and only 2 blown chances.  With the loss of Nate McLouth and the less than expected performance of Nyjer Morgan so far, I’m not sure if I would hold a closer with a 5.30 ERA and a WHIP of 1.77.  In Capps’ defense, he has converted his last four opportunities, but I think we’re gonna need more proof than that.  Strangely enough, Capps is still owned in 92% of fantasy leagues.
3. B.J. Ryan, Blue Jays - In 2008, Ryan had 32 saves, and only four blown saves with a 2.95 ERA.  In 2009, fantasy owners are wondering what happened!  So far this season, Ryan has only two saves to go along with two blown saves.  Even more depressing is his 16 hits and 9 walks in 13 1/3 innings pitched, which is accompanied by a 7.43 ERA.  However, the question we must ask ourselves is why would 72% of fantasy owners still own him? This is especially true since he’s lost his ninth inning duties in Toronto.

That covers some of the players who have not really held their own this season.  I will now look at three players who have put on impressive performances coming out of the bullpen, but still remain unowned in a great majority of fantasy leagues.

1. Andrew Bailey, Athletics - Here we go - 36.1 innings pitched, 20 hits, 14 walks, and a 1.98 ERA to go along with 44 strikeouts.  Those are big time numbers for a pitcher who is only owned in only 28% of fantasy leagues.  Due to various shortcomings in the Oakland bullpen, coupled with being labeled as the “best reliever” by manager Bob Geren in a recent interview, Bailey may have just taken over the closer job for the Athletics.  He has earned two saves since last Wednesday, and clearly appears to be the new go to guy in Oak-town.
2. Ryan Madson, Phillies - Madson is a pitcher who has been steadily improving over the last few seasons, but he really seems to have found his groove this year.  Madson flaunts a 2.22 ERA with a WHIP of 1.06, while only giving up 21 hits and nine walks in 28.1 innings.  These impressive numbers go along with his two saves, 13 holds, and 31 strikeouts.  Brad Lidge has to be skating on thin ice, regardless of what Charlie Manuel says, and if he should fall through, Madson will most likely take over closing duty.  After hearing all this, you would imagine that he would be owned in more than 5% of fantasy leagues, but he is not!
3. Rafael Soriano, Braves - Soriano has had a very impressive start to the season sporting a 1.04 ERA, as well as a WHIP of 0.92.  He has only given up 13 hits and nine walks in 24.2 innings, while fanning 33 batters during that time.  Soriano does receive save opportunities from time to time, and has four saves this season already.  He’s a solid relief option who can get you innings and strikeouts, while not giving up many runs.  With the additions of Nate McLouth and Tommy Hanson, the Braves are hoping to generate a lot more wins, which may open up the door for Soriano to receive a few more save opportunities.  He is owned in only 28% of fantasy leagues.

As you can see, there is clearly more to relief pitching than just simply being named a closer.  Solid middle relief can make or break a team in certain cases, and it is a subject that fantasy owners should not take lightly.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 8th, 2009 at 11:01 pm and is filed under Fantasy Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.