5 years agoOakland Athletics relief pitcher Liam Hendriks had by far the best season of his career in 2019. The first-time All-Star took over the A’s closing duties in the second half of the season and converted 25 of 32 saves with a 1.80 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 37.4% strikeout rate. The 30-year-old relied mostly on a strong fastball (69.3% usage, 96.5 MPH) accompanied by a nasty 88.5-MPH slider. The combination provided plenty of swings and misses, with a 13.5% swinging-strike rate on the fastball and a 29% swinging-strike rate on the slider. His batted-ball profile left something to be desired; his hard-hit rate was in the bottom-22nd percent of baseball and his 20.3-degree launch angle was his highest since Statcast began recording it. On the other hand, he pitches in one of baseball’s most pitcher-friendly parks and had a stellar 2.58 SIERA, indicating his batted-ball profile is fine. Hendriks’ valuation is tricky because he has only had one half of a fantasy-relevant season in his career and his value is based in a position that is highly variable. However, if he can replicate what he did last season as a full-time closer, he could be a top-seven closer in 2020. Hendriks is currently being drafted at pick 117 as the fifth closer off the board. Given his potential upside, Hendriks could be reasonably be drafted as high as about pick 80, depending on each fantasy player’s willingness to gamble on a small sample size.--Connelly Doan - RotoBaller