An increasingly valuable commodity in fantasy baseball are middle relief pitchers. These quiet contributors have largely been in the background over the course of our favorite game, toiling in relative obscurity for years, stuck in that middle ground between starter and closer. Astute players began to recognize years ago that these pitchers could very well be unsung heroes on your staff, contributing to the control of your ratios in ERA and WHIP. In the last few years, we have seen the popularity of the save statistic wane, while some leagues are playing what are generically called “SAVES + HOLDS.”
Still other leagues have gone purely to holds. According to MLB’s website, a hold occurs when a relief pitcher enters the game in a save situation and maintains his team’s lead for the next relief pitcher, while recording at least one out. One of two conditions must be met for a pitcher to record a hold: 1) He enters with a lead of three runs or less and maintains that lead while recording at least one out. 2) He enters the game with the tying run on deck, at the plate, or on the bases, and records an out.
The season is not here yet, but why not get a head start and jump in a Fantrax Classic Draft contest? Get a jump on the season with a Best Ball league or maybe a Draft and Hold. Or put some green on the line with a new season-long league to try and conquer. There’s no better time than now to get your baseball on!
Relief Pitcher Targets for Holds Leagues
Here is a quick list of relief pitchers you could target in holds leagues. Or you may be looking for pitchers who could be anointed as the next closer in their current bullpens. Let’s dive in and look at some potentially undervalued pitchers in the 2023 bullpen arms race.
Andres Munoz: This is not the first time we have touted Munoz on these pages, and it likely will not be the last. With Paul Sewald seemingly entrenched as closer in Seattle, Munoz may have to settle for a setup role. No matter what role he is in, Munoz has tremendous value to a fantasy team. Munoz had 22 holds for the Mariners in 2022 and should get more than that this season unless he ascends to the closer role. The 96 strikeouts in 65 innings really jump off the page at you.
Jhoan Duran: Duran was a revelation last year for the Minnesota Twins with two wins, eight saves, and 89 punchouts in 67.2 innings. A whopping 33.5 K% works well in the bullpen, huh? The Twins traded for Jorge Lopez at the trade deadline last season, and he appears to be the favorite for the closer job in the Twin Cities. You might ask yourself why Duran might not be the closer. My friend Greg Jewett gets the credit for the thought on this one: the Twins will likely seek to control Duran’s salary by not making him the closer and leveraging that as a price point control. Also, he is extremely valuable as the stopper in the middle of a rally at any point in a game. Duran had 18 holds last year, as did lefty Caleb Thielbar, another strong candidate for holds in the Minnesota bullpen.
Reynaldo Lopez: Besides Munoz and Duran, there is no other relief pitcher that I get more queries on than Lopez. The folks in Chicago refer to him as ReyLo. Lopez was acquired by the White Sox to be in the rotation years ago in the Adam Eaton trade which also netted them Lucas Giolito, but Lopez has found a home in the bullpen after largely failing as a starter. Many fantasy players ask if he will be the closer in Chicago due to Liam Hendriks’ absence due to cancer treatments, but the best guess here is the Sox keep Lopez in his stopper role. I believe Kendall Graveman will get the first crack at closing but this is largely due to the weapon Lopez has become as the stopper. In 2022, Lopez had six wins, a 2.76 ERA, .95 WHIP, and 63 strikeouts.
AJ Minter: The lefty has found a home in the Atlanta bullpen. In 2022, Minter contributed five wins, five saves, and a whopping 94 punchouts in 70 innings with a 2.06 ERA and .91 WHIP. With Raisel Iglesias stepping into the spot vacated by Kenley Jansen’s departure to Boston, Minter looks to be in the topo setup role for the Braves. Grab him if you need holds or are looking for a handful of saves and ratio controls. Minter led all of MLB last season with 34 holds.
James Karinchak: He’s almost been forgotten about in Cleveland with the emergence of Emmanual Clase as the ninth-inning guy. But at this time last year, many folks thought Karinchak might be the closer for the Guardians. Karinchak had two wins, three saves, and an eye-popping 62 strikeouts in 39 innings in 2022, good for a 38.8 K%. Beware: Karinchak has been known to walk a few batters along the way with a career 13.3 BB%. Karinchak had eight holds in 2022.
Erik Swanson: This name might be under the radar, but Swanson was terrific in Seattle last season. This year he finds himself on what could be a surging Toronto Blue Jays team in the middle of their contending window, and he should have a large role. Jordan Romano will close here, but Swanson should get many holds opportunities. Swanson had three wins, three saves, a sparkling 1.68 ERA, and .91 WHIP, chipping in 70 strikeouts in 53.1 innings. Swanson had 14 holds in 2022.
Giovanny Gallegos: I still like to make the argument (which may be fallacious) that Gallegos could be the closer in St. Louis. After all, he didn’t lose the job last year by being ineffective; rather, he lost it because Ryan Helsley had one of the greatest half-seasons in the history of bullpen usage. Gallegos had 14 saves last year, but only one after August 28th. He had three wins, a 3.05 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 73 strikeouts in 59 innings. Gallegos also had 12 holds in 2022.
Jason Adam: This one is pretty simple. While Pete Fairbanks appears to be the closer in Tampa Bay this year, we know two things to be true here:
- Fairbanks is an injury risk.
- Kevin Cash is going to Keven Cash it: the Rays will have multiple pitchers with saves. Let’s set the over/under at 10 guys.
Because of that, a valuable arm like Adam will likely get a healthy combination of holds and saves. Adam had 22 holds to go along with eight saves. A valuable arm, indeed.
Seranthony Dominguez/Jose Alvarado/Gregory Soto: Alvarado had 22 holds last season, Dominguez 15, while Soto closed games for the Detroit Tigers in 2022. This bullpen will have lots to sort out, but as stated in an earlier article, it appears right now that Craig Kimbrel will have first shot at the closer role in Philadelphia. My best guess if you wanted to gamble on one guy to have more holds than the others, right now, would be Dominguez. But we also saw that Rob Thomson liked to play matchups last year in the postseason, and of that continues in 2o23, we could see a mishmash of bullpen usage.
Other Notes:
I didn’t put any Los Angeles Dodgers on here. On the Fantasy Baseball Beat, a podcast on the Triple Play Fantasy baseball network (hosted by Carlos Marcano and Chris Torres), Dodgers’ beat reporter Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic indicated that manager Dave Roberts was unlikely to name a closer for 2023 and would go based on matchups. Thus, it’s tough to pick one reliever who would have more value in holds than the others. If you want to speculate, the names here would be Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Daniel Hudson and Alex Vesia. I would give a slight edge to Hudson as the closer based on his experience (32 career saves), which would make the other three have value as holds options. but buyer beware here.
Other names that bear consideration: Trevor Stephan, Bryan Abreu, Joe Kelly, John Schreiber, Joe Mantiply, Jonathan Loaisiga, Adam Ottavino, Robert Suarez, Matt Bush.
Guys coming off injury who could be good targets: Lucas Sims, Teejay Antone, Drew Pomeranz, Michael King.
Do you have other relievers you target in holds leagues? Drop some names in the comments below. For more great analysis check out the 2023 FantraxHQ Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit!
The Big Guy in Baltimore will be a successful closer next season Batista, in my opinion.
Yes Bautista should easily be the guy once he is ready. A knee issue and sore shoulder have him a little behind at the start of camp. Word on the street is that he will be fine. If not Cionel Perez looks like he could step into a larger role in Baltimore.