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Relief pitchers to monitor for holds or as closer handcuffs for Week 10. Rick Graham analyzes under-the-radar RP as deep league targets or waiver wire adds.
Today and every Tuesday moving forward throughout the 2018 MLB season, we will take a deep dive into some of the lesser-owned relief pitchers on the market that are worth keeping tabs on.
This can be a good tool for those in deeper holds leagues, although any pitcher in a position to make a move on their respective team's closer job will get priority.
Today we'll take a look at three relievers with SP eligibility who are gaining value in leagues that value holds.
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Under-the-Radar Relievers to Watch - Week 10
Kevin McCarthy, Kansas City Royals - 0% owned
With Brad Keller moving into the rotation, sinkerballer Kevin McCarthy seems to be the biggest beneficiary as the new top set up option for closer Kelvin Herrera. While he won't blow you away strikeout numbers or extremely low ratios, he also won't hurt you in ERA/WHIP while providing some hold upside.
Adam Cimber, San Diego Padres - 0% owned
Cimber, who has been pretty dominant all season long, is finally starting to see some more hold chances, picking up two of his four holds this season over his past three outings. While not overpowering, he still gets plenty of swings and misses with his funky sidearm delivery and fastball/slider combo. Even with a cool 2.93 ERA, there's a good chance that number continues to fall as he has been getting some tough BABIP luck (.359) to go along with his 36/6 K/BB ratio.
Kyle Crick, Pittsburgh Pirates- 4% owned
Another week, another Pirates reliever to watch for as the rest of the bullpen has seemed to fizzle out. Crick has stepped up and is now currently working as the teams top set up man, and could potentially work his way into some save chances with Felipe Vazquez struggling. Crick isn't a tremendous talent by any means with just a 9.4 SwStr%, but he has been getting more arm side run and sink on his fastball this year, which has helped his groundball rates.
Jose Leclerc, Texas Rangers - 0% owned
Leclerc was one of my favorite sleepers at the beginning of the season and now that he is starting to show better command of the strike zone, is becoming worth a look in deeper holds leagues. The SwStr% still remains above 15%, due to his new fastball/changeup combo, with that changeup being a whole 15 MPH difference from the fastball. The BB%, while still high (5.4 BB/9), is still much more reasonable than before when he was throwing more fastballs and breaking balls. He's starting to get more hold opportunities and should have a chance to surpass the likes of Chris Martin and Alex Claudio to work his way into more high leverage situations.
