Reality is perception…

When it comes to strikeouts, Chris Sale had a huge 2015 season leading all MLB starting pitchers in K/9 (strikeouts per nine innings) at 11.82. In comparison, in Clayton Kershaw’s eight-year career, he has never had a K/9 higher than 11.64 (which, he ironically, also accomplished last season).

Beyond strikeouts, guys like Sale and Kershaw do much more than strike out a ton of batters. They routinely provide a solid ERA and WHIP and an outstanding chance at a win. If you’re looking to draft someone with the ability to achieve numbers that are even remotely close to a Kershaw or a Sale, you are most definitely going to be using a sizeable amount of your auction budget, or one of your early round selections.

It may surprise you when I say there were 10 relief pitchers that had a K/9 that was higher than Sale’s 11.82 in 2015 while only one of these relief pitchers had an ERA higher than Sale’s 3.41 (minimum 50 innings pitched).

The elite closers that fall under this category are going to be on everyone’s radar. That list includes Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Kenley Jansen, Craig Kimbrel, Cody Allen and David Robertson. However, there are also three under-the-radar names on the list that are primarily because of the fact that they are middle-relievers. If we expand the list to include any middle reliever that had a K/9 higher than 11 the list grows to seven.

Elite Middle Relievers + Kershaw/Sale (Based on 2015 Stats)

Name

IP

W

L

SV

K/9

ERA

WHIP

Dellin Betances

84.0

6

4

9

14.04

1.50

1.01

Will Smith

63.1

7

2

0

12.93

2.70

1.20

Carson Smith

70.0

2

5

13

11.83

2.31

1.01

Chris Sale

208.2

13

11

0

11.82

3.41

1.09

Clayton Kershaw

232.2

16

7

0

11.64

2.13

0.88

Brett Cecil

54.1

5

5

5

11.60

2.48

0.96

Darren O'Day

65.1

6

2

6

11.30

1.52

0.93

Sergio Romo

57.1

0

5

2

11.15

2.98

1.06

Shawn Kelley

51.1

2

2

0

11.05

2.45

1.09

 

There are many reasons why middle relievers matter in fantasy baseball.

A) They are cheap.

As mentioned, if you’re looking to draft a player like Kershaw or Sale, you must use one of your top draft picks or a significant percentage of your auction budget. In comparison, you will be able to snag the majority of these middle relievers with the last few picks in your draft, off the waiver wire, or for just $1 or $2 of your auction budget.

B) They can help you in all categories.

In a typical 5x5 league the five categories you will be using are wins, saves, strikeouts, ERA and WHIP. Since the last thing you’re going to be doing is predicting wins, any pitcher that you draft will be used to help your ERA, strikeouts and WHIP. Let’s face it, if you’re looking to draft a starting pitcher or a closer in the final round of your snake draft, or for $1 in your auction league, the odds are definitely against you picking someone that will help you in all three of those categories. Middle relievers are absolutely going to help you in all three categories, and will oftentimes have better numbers in those three categories than your entire rotation.

C) They are more than likely one of the top candidates to take over the closer job due to injury or lack of performance.

Many of the pitchers that are the announced closers on Opening Day are not going to be in that position by the end of the year. There are just too many injuries and other oddities that can occur throughout the 162-game season. If something does happen, and a replacement is necessary, you better believe that a team’s manager is going to be calling on their most reliable middle reliever to close out some ball games. If that does happen you’ll be able to avoid the crazy wild goose chase called waivers or using up your FAAB budget.

D) If you draft two or three middle relievers they can provide you with production that is similar to that of a top ace.

Many of the hurlers you turn to in the fantasy game will struggle to reach even 180 innings pitched. Only the cream of the crop are going to be throwing over 200 innings per season (last season, 28 starting pitchers threw for over 200 innings). It is quite clear that one middle reliever is not going to give you the production of one ace pitcher. However, if you combine two or three of them you have the blueprint of one of the best pitchers in the entire sport. You have to have the rosters spots available to roll multiple relievers, but the results can be spectacular.

While there are plenty of circumstances and league formats where you may want to avoid owning two or three middle relievers, just understand how much of an impact owning a trio of premium middle relievers can have. For instance, if you rostered Dellin Betances, Carson Smith, and Darren O’Day throughout the 2015 season, you would have produced the equivalent of a pitcher that gives you 219.1 IP, 14 wins, 28 saves, 305 strikeouts (!), a 1.77 ERA, and a 0.99 WHIP.