I went in and revamped the ranking section for this week and separated true relievers from SPARP’s in an effort to give reader’s a better picture of who is slotted where. I believe strongly we have a responsibility to be as transparent as possible in providing weekly rankings and the truth is, there were some flaws in my process prior to this week. It is my hope that as I continue to fine tune my ranks it will give you the best opportunity to invest in certain players while also jumping off the train before its too late on others. Let’s dig in.
Reliever Update
Drew Pomeranz - San Diego
Drew Pomeranz went on the DL Friday with a shoulder strain which is really unfortunate for both him and the Padres. Pomeranz had yet to allow a run this year and was one of the few relievers on their roster who had proven to be effective. Now, San Diego will almost certainly be looking for bullpen help at the deadline to bolster a unit that ranks 26th in FIP (5.46) and 27th in ERA (6.08). I was high on Emilio Pagan coming into this year and he did get the save Friday night in Pomeranz’s absence but he has been up and down. If I had to add someone, Pagan would be my first choice but this is likely an ugly committee for now.
Aroldis Chapman - New York Yankees
Zach Britton went on the DL just in time for Chapman to be activated so the Yankees effectively won’t miss a beat. Chapman’s velocity has dipped in recent years but he is still an elite option. It doesn’t appear that the Yankees will limit him at all so he should be good to close beginning Monday. Adam Ottavino would now be next in line in New York and he has been an effective arm so far with 10 strikeouts in nine innings. Still, Chapman is a stud and should soak up the overwhelming majority of save chances here.
Brandon Workman - Philadelphia
In acquiring Brandon Workman (and Heath Hembree) from the Red Sox, Philadelphia was able to shore up the league’s worst bullpen. Workman will be an immediate upgrade to Hector Neris who has been a gas can so far this year. Hembree should also help, though for fantasy purposes he won’t be of much value. I dropped Neris down my rankings this week and upgraded Matt Barnes who should see more ninth inning opportunities for Boston. That said, I’m not sure I would unload the FAAB on Barnes this week. There are some rumors he will be traded which would effectively sink his value. The Red Sox bullpen piece I am most interested in is Phillips Valdez who has averaged a strikeout an inning this year with just a 1.17 ERA. He should be virtually free and would help with strikeouts and ratios.
Devin Williams - Milwaukee
If I told you Milwaukee has a reliever who is averaging 18.6 K/9, you would probably say his name was Josh Hader. You would also be incorrect. Devin Williams has been straight fire so far out of the Milwaukee bullpen racking up 20 strikeouts in 9.2 innings but there is more:
XBA: .115
XSLG: .253
XWOBA: .232
xERA: 2.11
That, my friends, makes Williams arguably the most dominant relief arm in baseball. It is due to my own blind loyalty to save opportunities that I haven’t had him on my radar but he has been too good to ignore. He makes his top-100 debut this week and I will be trying to spend the FAAB others will be spending on Matt Barnes to acquire Williams at a fraction of the cost.
Daniel Bard - Colorado
One of the better stories of this COVID season has been Daniel Bard. He is back and throwing hard (averaging 96.7 MPH on his fastball) but he is also using his slider almost 36% of the time. He is generating plenty of swings and misses with it and now that Colorado seems intent on closing by committee, Bard may find himself with some ninth inning chances.
SPARP Update
Seth Lugo - New York Mets
In what has become an annual tradition, Seth Lugo will be transitioning to a starting role for the Mets. Despite being their most effective reliever, the Mets are hoping he can help stabilize a rotation that has been defined by the magnificence of Jacob deGrom and the mediocrity of everyone else. Lugo should get that coveted SPARP eligibility in a few weeks and would likely have it for 2021 as well. He will slide into the top-20 once he gets there.
Kenta Maeda - Minnesota
Minnesota has been propped up by the addition of Kenta Maeda who spun a gem Monday night against Milwaukee. He carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning and struck out 12 in lowering his ERA to 2.27 on the year. One the more overlooked stats from Monday is that Maeda threw 115 pitches. This is welcome sign as he had yet to throw more than 85 in his first four starts. If Maeda starts working deep into games, he may end up being the top SPARP on the list by the first week of September.
Ross Stripling - Los Angeles Dodgers
Stripling didn’t make it out of the third inning against Seattle on Monday as his ERA ballooned to 5.61 after giving up seven runs. Outside of his first start of the year, Stripling has been very pedestrian and in categories leagues he is a drop at this point. I would only be holding in points leagues that don’t have negative scoring so you can get him on two-start weeks. Outside of that, he is hard to trust right now.
Elieser Hernandez - Miami
Hernandez has moved up my SPARP ranks for this week. He doesn’t go deep into games (he has yet to go beyond 5.1 innings in a start) but he gets strikeouts and he doesn’t walk anyone. I’ve been underrating him for too long but much of the fantasy community has as well. In fact, Hernandez has led a Miami pitching staff that has quietly been much better than most anyone anticipated this year. Hernandez checks in at #16 on the SPARP rankings this week and could continue to climb if he is consistently effective.
The Rankings
You’ll notice I changed the look of the table a bit. It should be a little more smooth to navigate and as I continue to fine tune this, there may be additional rows to account for risers and fallers. Major risers this week include Matt Barnes, Daniel Bard, and Devin Williams. Some guys I moved down quite a bit were Hector Neris, Zach Britton, Keone Kela (he’s got forearm tightness again), and Jairo Diaz. I didn’t move Drew Pomeranz much because I don’t know enough about the severity of his injury. If he makes a short trip to the DL, it doesn’t move the needle for me.