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The Baller Ranks: Weekly Top 101 Relief Pitcher Rankings

The second half of May means the weather is getting warmer and we're going from 25% of the season down to 33% in the books. You should know how aggressive to be in targeting prospective saves as well as how loosely you can play it with your ratios. This is geared towards traditional 5x5 roto leagues with some mentions for hold candidates and ratio anchors. This week has been exceptionally busy but the ranks are here for you.

I decided to leave off most injured players because throwing darts at potential return dates and roles is usually a poor use of time. Each name below comes with the weekly rank, their movement compared to last week, their current value with my salary-cap lens, Earned Value per Fangraphs, and then many have some notes with brief thoughts.

This article comes complete with a Baller Ranks google sheet where you'll find the usual 5x5 categories, saves, holds, strikeout rates, Called + Swinging Strike rates, and so on. Please note that those stats are exported from Fangraphs.

Be sure to check all of our preseason fantasy baseball rankings for Roto, Points, H2H, dynasty, best ball, prospects and more:

 

Top 101 Relief Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

Tier Player Rank (+/-) EV $ $PV Trend Notes
1 Josh Hader 1 0 6.8 15.0 15.0 0.0 ▬ MIL has lost 5 of 6 but SVs will come
1 Aroldis Chapman 2 0 9.4 15.0 15.0 0.0 ▬ Over 2 Ks per inning, wowzers
2 Liam Hendriks 3 0 3.3 13.5 13.5 0.0 ▬ Trio of clean saves this past week, excellent
2 Craig Kimbrel 4 0 6.1 13.0 13.0 0.0 ▬ Rebounded from May 15 hiccup w/ 2 great SVs
2 Matt Barnes 5 0 9.4 12.0 12.0 0.0 ▬
2 Raisel Iglesias 6 0 0.9 12.0 12.0 0.0 ▬ The lofty BABIP, HR/9 rates are dropping; looks good
2 Edwin Diaz 7 0 4.6 11.5 11.5 0.0 ▬ Worked 3 straight, 2 SVs; he looks healthy
2 Kenley Jansen 8 0 0.8 10.0 10.0 0.0 ▬ Were you ever worried that LAD wouldn't generate save opps?
2 Ryan Pressly 9 0 5.5 9.0 9.0 0.0 ▬
2 Mark Melancon 10 0 3.7 8.0 8.0 0.0 ▬ A real late-round RP savior
2 Richard Rodriguez 11 0 6.0 8.0 7.5 0.5 ▲
3 William Smith 12 1 4.4 5.5 5.5 0.0 ▬
3 Hector Neris 13 1 1.7 5.0 5.0 0.0 ▬
3 Brad Hand 14 -2 -0.5 5.0 6.5 -1.5 ▼ Has yielded at least 1 run in 4 of last 5
3 Ian Kennedy 15 2 2.8 5.0 4.5 0.5 ▲
3 Cesar Valdez 16 0 6.7 4.5 4.5 0.0 ▬ 3 ER in his last 2 games, needs to steady
3 Alex Reyes 17 2 3.1 4.5 4.0 0.5 ▲ Hitters are whiffing or walking, 12/7 K/BB in last 6 IP
3 James Karinchak 18 3 8.0 4.5 3.5 1.0 ▲ Back-to-back SVs May 18-19
3 Yimi Garcia 19 1 0.7 4.0 4.0 0.0 ▬ No walks since April 12, it's his job
4 Emmanuel Clase 20 -5 3.6 4.0 4.5 -0.5 ▼ Lost the zone lately, 6 BB in last 3.2 IP
4 Jake McGee 21 -3 1.8 4.0 4.5 -0.5 ▼ Still solid but Rogers has joined the action
4 Kendall Graveman 22 0 6.0 3.5 3.5 0.0 ▬
4 Josh Staumont 23 7 3.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 ▲ 3 SVs 4/24-28; then 0 'til 5/18, then B2B SVs
4 Diego Castillo 24 0 1.3 3.0 0.0 3.0 ▲ Solo HR in May 16 return but he looks solid
4 Lucas Sims 25 -1 0.8 2.5 2.5 0.0 ▬ Inconsistent, 3 BBs in 2 of his last 6
4 Jake Diekman 26 0 2.5 2.5 2.5 0.0 ▬
4 Stefan Crichton 27 0 1.0 2.5 2.5 0.0 ▬
5 Lou Trivino 28 0 0.0 2.0 2.0 0.0 ▬ 4 straight scoreless after 5 ER meltdown
5 Rafael Dolis 29 0 0.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 ▲ Ugly Thursday, likely committee in TOR
5 Michael Fulmer 30 45 5.8 2.0 0.5 1.5 ▲ SVs on May 5, 13, 17; 5 straight walkless games
5 Tyler Rogers 31 10 2.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 ▲ 3 SVs since 5/13, only 2 ER all year
5 Tejay Antone 32 1 3.0 1.5 1.5 0.0 ▬
5 Daniel Bard 33 -1 0.6 1.5 1.5 0.0 ▬ Only 1 ER, 6/1 K/BB in last 5
5 Giovanny Gallegos 34 -3 5.3 1.5 2.0 -0.5 ▼
5 Hansel Robles 35 29 0.8 1.5 0.5 1.0 ▲ 11/2 K/BB, 2 SVs last 5. ugly 1/5 K/BB previous 5
5 Jordan Romano 36 -7 1.9 1.5 2.0 -0.5 ▼
6 Taylor Rogers 37 -14 3.9 1.5 3.5 -2.0 ▼ 6 runs (5 ER) in 6 May games, not ideal
6 Gregory Soto 38 -13 0.8 1.5 2.5 -1.0 ▼ Still in late-inning mix but Fulmer has edge
6 Michael Kopech 39 -5 7.6 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
6 Daniel Hudson 40 -5 1.2 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬ Looks great, won't be shocked if Hand gets a break soon
6 Austin Adams 41 7 3.2 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬ 13/1 K/BB over scoreless 6.1 IP in May
6 Pete Fairbanks 42 -3 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬ Notched ugly SV on 5/19, wasn't Castillo right away
6 Rafael Montero 43 -5 -0.4 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
6 Jonathan Loaisiga 44 8 3.6 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬ Looks like the backup to Chap over Green
6 Mychal Givens 45 -9 -2.7 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
6 Jose Alvarado 46 -2 -0.1 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
6 J.P. Feyereisen 47 -4 0.6 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
7 Trevor May 48 2 2.8 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
7 Chad Green 49 -9 3.8 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
7 Andrew Kittredge 50 1 2.8 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
7 Aaron Bummer 51 2 2.1 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
7 Blake Treinen 52 6 4.2 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
7 Chris Martin 53 6 0.8 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬ 3 perfect innings since return
7 Joely Rodriguez 54 -5 3.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
7 Garrett Whitlock 55 -9 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
7 Mike Mayers 56 -9 -0.9 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
7 Emilio Pagan 57 5 -0.7 1.0 0.5 0.5 ▲
8 Tanner Scott 58 -2 0.5 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
8 Yusmeiro Petit 59 -2 4.9 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
8 Jeffrey Springs 60 -15 1.2 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬ TB is committee paradise but he's third at best
8 Dylan Floro 61 -7 4.9 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
8 Sean Doolittle 62 -7 0.6 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
8 Devin Williams 63 -21 -1.7 1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬ Not overwhelming, no SVs, no interest
8 Sam Coonrod 64 -3 3.4 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
9 Paul Fry 65 0 5.9 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
9 Greg Holland 66 0 -2.5 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
9 Victor Gonzalez 67 1 0.9 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
9 Alex Colome 68 1 -1.1 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬ May: 7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 8 K; Robles surging but could regain 9th
9 Scott Barlow 69 1 6.5 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬ Plenty of Ks but periphery of 9th opps
9 Jorge Alcala 70 -10 -1.5 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
9 A.J. Minter 71 -8 4.0 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
10 Tyler Chatwood 72 -1 4.8 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
10 Craig Stammen 73 -1 2.9 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
10 Josh Sborz 74 6 2.3 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
10 Tyler Matzek 75 6 1.7 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
10 Rex Brothers 76 6 2.4 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
10 Ryan Weathers 77 2 3.3 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
10 David Phelps 78 5 2.8 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
10 Andrew Chafin 79 14 2.4 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
10 Jordan Sheffield 80 0 1.7 0.5 0.0 0.5 ▲ Could creep into COL 9th
10 Sam Howard 81 0 0.6 0.5 0.0 0.5 ▲
10 Ryan Helsley 82 -6 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
11 Adam Plutko 83 4 -0.1 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
11 Jeurys Familia 84 1 2.2 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
11 Nick Wittgren 85 4 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
11 Aaron Loup 86 -13 4.3 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
11 Chris Rodriguez 87 -20 1.6 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
11 Tyler Duffey 88 -10 -0.4 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬ Suspended; nowhere near 9th
11 Joakim Soria 89 1 -0.7 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
11 Wander Suero 90 4 -0.2 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
11 Duane Underwood Jr. 91 -5 2.6 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
11 Ryan Tepera 92 0 1.4 0.5 0.0 0.5 ▲
12 Anthony Castro 93 2 2.7 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
12 Heath Hembree 94 -3 2.6 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
12 Miguel Castro 95 -3 1.8 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
12 John King 96 0 2.6 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
12 Adam Cimber 97 0 2.2 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
12 Cole Sulser 98 0 2.6 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬
12 Kevin Ginkel 99 0 -4.1 0.5 0.0 0.5 ▲
12 Amir Garrett 100 0 -3.2 0.5 0.0 0.5 ▲
12 Garrett Crochet 101 0 2.0 0.5 0.5 0.0 ▬



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