RADIO
Felipe Rivero Can Be An Ace Closer
7 years agoUnquestionably the Pirates' best reliever, Felipe Rivero took over the closer's role from Tony Watson last June and never let go, racking up 21 saves from that point on. He posted a dominant 1.67 ERA (3.03 xFIP) for the season while striking out 88 batters in 75.1 innings, setting himself up as one of the top relief options for fantasy owners in 2018. Rivero owns a 27.3 K% for his career and showed much better command last season, decreasing his walk rate to 6.7% from 10.1% in 2016. He also increased his groundball rate (52.9%) for the second year in a row, allowing only four home runs as a result. Even better, Rivero has one of the safer jobs among all closers. No one else in the Pittsburgh bullpen has extensive closing experience, and only the unproven Michael Feliz has stuff that competes with Rivero's. The high strikeout potential and lack of competition should make Rivero one of the first six or seven relievers off the board in most drafts and a solid dynasty closer moving forward.
