5 years agoSan Diego Padres reliever Andres Munoz impressed in his MLB debut. Munoz finished with a 3.91 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 23 innings. The ERA doesn't represent how good the young reliever was for San Diego after finishing with a 3.17 FIP. Upon his promotion, Munoz caught everyone's attention with a 100mph fastball. His slider was also a vital part of his arsenal as it generated a 28.2% swinging-strike rate, which ranked tenth amongst all sliders thrown last year (minimum 100 pitches). Munoz had a 1.69 ERA with a 2.09 FIP and 0.94 WHIP heading into the final two appearances. That is until he struggled, allowing three runs in each of those final two outings. The rough outings were likely caused by fatigue, as the Padres ultimately shut him down after he more than doubled his inning total from 2018. One thing to keep an eye on will be his walk rate. He walked 11.8% of batters on the year, which has also been an issue throughout his minor league career. Munoz will go into the season as one of San Diego's top setup men behind closer Kirby Yates. With a current NFBC ADP of 532.44, he should be a valuable reliever in holds leagues, in the same vein as guys like Adam Ottovino and Colin Poche. The acquisition of Emilio Pagan does hurt his chances to be next in line to close. Though, you can expect Munoz to accumulate plenty of holds, an ERA in the low threes, and good strikeout numbers for the Padres.--Jorge Montanez