7 years agoTexas Rangers reliever Keone Kela was a massive disappointment as a fantasy asset in 2017. While he did pick up two saves on three chances, owners flocked to grab him at the end of drafts expecting him to take the closer role and run with it at some point last season. Unfortunately, Kela was unable to take the step forward many were predicting for the 24-year old, and a 3.96 BB/9 took away from the effectiveness of his monster fastball. The righty certainly picks up a lot of swings-and-misses, 11.87 K/9 to be exact, but is wild and his nice 2.79 ERA was aided by just a .179 BABIP; that is the bad news. The good news is that, while he still walks way too many batters, he is showing signs of improvement. Kela brings two other pitches aside from his plus fastball: a changeup and a curveball. The change is terrible, but the curveball was actually his most effective pitch in 2017. He is also using it more often, 40.4% of the time to his heater’s 57.9%. When his curve is on, hitters struggle to time him as the velocity shifts from 96 mph on average to just 83. His swinging metrics are in line with an elite reliever of the Dellin Betances or Wade Davis mold, and if he can shave even just one walk off his BB/9, Kela could be the next top-10 closer. There is a lot of projection there, but as the 381st pick overall on average, there is also not much of a cost. Consider the fireballer as a cheap source of K’s at the end of your draft and hope for more.--Sean Scampton