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So, your ERA is ballooning like it’s full of hot air. Instead of playing the free agent spot start game until you find a starting pitcher that you can live with, why don’t you look towards middle relievers to help out with your ERA and WHIP?

To make this work, you will want to find middle relievers who have already pitched at least 10 innings, have a knockout strikeout to walk ratio, and have sub 1.00 ERA’s and WHIP’s. These guys will help bring your ERA down, and if you’re lucky, may get you a few wins mixed in. If you also grab guys who have solid strikeouts per innings pitched ratios (close to one K per IP), you won’t see a drastic drop in your strikeout category.

Here are five guys who fit the bill, and may be available in your league on the waiver wire.

• Aquilino Lopez | Detroit Tigers - He’s notched 18.1 innings of work so far and has a dominant 14:1 strikeout to walk ratio. His ERA is 0.49 and WHIP is 0.81. And for some icing on the cake he’s already been the benefactor of two relief wins. (There are some pretty good starting pitchers out there who aren’t above two wins yet)
• Santiago Casilla | Oakland A’s - In 12.1 innings of work, Casilla has 16 strikeouts and only one walk. That’s super. So is his 0.00 ERA and 0.81 WHIP.
• Ramon Ramirez | Kansas City Royals - Ramirez has a 13:2 strikeout to walk ratio in 11 innings of relief work. His ERA is 0.82 AND HIS whip is 1.00.
• John Grabow | Pittsburgh Pirates - Grabow is a lefty specialist, but he’s still pitched 12 innings so far. His strikeout to walk ratio is 11:2 and he’s got an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.75.
• Jorge Campillo | Atlanta Braves - Not all the pitchers in the Braves pen are injured or performing at a sub-par clip. Campillo has a 11:4 strikeout to walk ratio in 11.1 innings of work. His ERA is 0.79 and his WHIP is 0.71.