Midseason Rankings and Tiers: Relief Pitcher (RP)

by Nick Mariano 7/16/17 7:07 AM Follow Nick

With the first half of the season in the books, it’s time for one last RotoBaller rankings update. As with our May edition, these rest-of-season rankings come from yours truly and all-around good fellow Kyle BIshop. We’ve each taken a position since Wednesday and that means that today wraps up the action, with the bullpen finishing things out.

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Shall we?

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2017 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Relief Pitchers (Midseason Update)

Ranking	Tier	Player	Position	Kyle	Nick	Composite
1	1	Craig Kimbrel	RP	54	50	52
2	1	Kenley Jansen	RP	51	58	54.5
3	1	Roberto Osuna	RP	62	104	83
4	2	Zach Britton	RP	124	59	91.5
5	2	Aroldis Chapman	RP	58	126	92
6	2	Wade Davis	RP	104	98	101
7	2	Raisel Iglesias	SP/RP	90	120	105
8	2	Corey Knebel	RP	85	127	106
9	2	Felipe Rivero	RP	73	160	116.5
10	2	Greg Holland	RP	82	156	119
11	3	Cody Allen	RP	114	128	121
12	3	Edwin Diaz	RP	134	110	122
13	3	Ken Giles	RP	108	152	130
14	3	Kelvin Herrera	RP	148	161	154.5
15	3	Alex Colome	RP	156	170	163
16	3	David Robertson	RP	165	169	167
17	3	Andrew Miller	RP	151	184	167.5
18	4	Chris Devenski	SP/RP	150	202	176
19	4	A.J. Ramos	RP	174	186	180
20	4	Justin Wilson	RP	131	252	191.5
21	4	Addison Reed	RP	205	183	194
22	5	Brandon Kintzler	RP	183	294	238.5
23	5	Seung-Hwan Oh	RP	246	234	240
24	5	Brandon Maurer	RP	228	280	254
25	5	Mark Melancon	RP	#N/A	259	259
26	6	Jeurys Familia	RP	289	#N/A	289
27	6	Hector Neris	RP	265	317	291
28	6	Dellin Betances	RP	#N/A	293	293
29	6	Matt Bush	RP	#N/A	328	328
30	6	Fernando Rodney	RP	#N/A	334	334
31	6	Jim Johnson	RP	#N/A	340	340
32	6	Santiago Casilla	RP	#N/A	345	345
33	6	Trevor Rosenthal	RP	#N/A	347	347

Midseason Relief Pitcher Rankings Analysis

Tier 1

Craig Kimbrel may have just blown his first save at Fenway Park, but he’s still performing like an absolute warrior out on the mound with an insane 16.25 K/9 and Major League-leading 1.04 FIP. The strikeouts give him the edge -- in my opinion -- over Kenley Jansen, whose 13.5 K/9 is still incredible but just not as insane. They both make Roberto Osuna’s 1.46 FIP, 12.09 K/9 and 0.77 BB/9 rates look pedestrian, but please believe he’s worth top-tier consideration.

Tier 2

Maybe I shouldn’t have this much faith in Zach Britton, but I trust him to return to form more so than Aroldis Chapman. Kyle and I practically have the two flip-flopped across a 70-slot gap, but I’ll take Britton’s sinker over Chapman’s heater -- especially now that Joe Girardi has hinted that maybe Chap’s postseason run with the Cubbies is causing him some serious wear in 2017.

Meanwhile, folks like Wade Davis and Edwin Diaz are doing their thing, as others like Raisel Iglesias, Felipe Rivero, Greg Holland and Corey Knebel have come from far down on the ADP charts (or from the unranked territory) to provide stellar value. I’m lower on mostly everyone here as I just have a large amount of hatred for non-elite RPs, though I realize that sort of goes against what rankings are about.

Tier 3

Ken Giles is doing well, though Houston scores too many stinkin’ runs to generate as many save opportunities as their hefty win total might hint at. The Astros’ stopper is sporting a 15 percent swinging-strike rate, which would be impressive if he hadn’t posted a ridiculous 19.9 percent SwStr rate last season alongside a spectacular 13.98 K/9.

Andrew Miller was just lifted with a “hot spot” so that would jack up Cody Allen’s value in my mind, and I should also be more afraid of Kelvin Herrera and Alex Colome’s lesser skill set (especially in the strikeout and walk departments). But for now, they’re still rather secure in their roles and that goes a long way. I would feel a lot better if I knew that David Robertson would close after being traded, but I’m just not there so the ranking reflects that. The same note goes for Brandon Kintzler down in Tier Five.

Tier 4

Chris Devenski is a tank but I can only go so far for those arms that don’t really have a shot at closing and also are pretty much out of the running when it comes to breaking into the rotation and shining (a la Alex Wood). A.J. Ramos and Addison Reed are plugging along, with Justin Wilson being one of Kyle’s favorites. I’m not entirely sold on him, but I’m not going to hold it against anyone who does considering all that he’s done so far and the lack of any internal threat.

Tier 5

Seung-Hwan Oh carried such high hopes, but he’s been absolutely torched this season and has Trevor Rosenthal breathing down his neck. Brandon Maurer has been excellent and it appears that Brad Hand is drawing most of the trade interest here, though nothing is safe in San Diego. Mark Melancon should be able to recover so I’ll keep on ranking him here -- it isn’t as though I fear Sam Dyson running away with things.

Tier 6

You don’t really want to be relying on any of these guys, with most of them being rather interchangeable with anyone who has an outside shot at the ninth inning. I still hold out hope that Dellin Betances conquers his walk demons, and the aforementioned Chapman fatigue has me thinking that he ends up back in the ninth inning at some point very soon. Matt Bush (and Alex Claudio) are looking alright, and sadly folks like Fernando Rodney, Jim Johnson and Santiago Casilla continue to turn in saves and demand you roster them.