January 8, 2020

There are certainly some troubling numbers that hit you right off the bat from Cincinnati Reds closer Raisel Iglesias's 2019 campaign. He suffered a whopping 12 losses in 2019, a number that's almost unheard of for closers or any relievers really. He also blew a career-high six saves and posted career-worst clips in ERA (4.16) and WHIP (1.22). Still, there's reason to believe Iglesias can bounce-back in 2020 and deliver a top-10 relief pitcher season by the year's end. Despite some of the alarming 2019 numbers, Iglesias still recorded a career-high 34 saves over the season, improving on his 30-save 2018 campaign when he posted a solid ERA (2.38) and WHIP (1.07). 2019 also saw Iglesias post a career-high in strikeout rate (31.9%), up significantly from 2018 (27.5%). This feat was mostly driven by his lead pitch, his four-seam fastball, inducing a 12.9% swinging-strike rate in 2019 compared with 9.4% in 2018. Iglesias threw his four-seamer 45.6% of the time in 2018 and 40.3% of the time in 2019. Where Iglesias really suffered in 2019 was in some of his hard contact metrics. He allowed a launch angle of 20.2, which shattered his 2018 mark of 13.8. His exit velocity against increased from 85.9 in 2018 to 87.2 in 2019. These increases were also a result of his four-seamer, which induced a flyball rate of 50% in 2019, compared with 33.7% in 2018. Clearly, Iglesias has some work to do in terms of limiting hard contact. If he continues to trend in the wrong direction, his closing spot might be in jeopardy, but for now, his job is secure and should be able to notch 30-plus saves for the third straight season, which makes him a solid target as your No. 2 closer.--Andrew Ericksen - RotoBaller