When it comes to saves and holds, playing the guessing game is never fun. Unless a team has a clear-cut number-one closer, like Emmanuel Clase or Raisel Iglesias, plenty of opportunity lies in the successes of relievers unheard of. As an example, the Los Angeles Dodgers were without the name-brand closer. The departures of Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel after back-to-back years left the closer position wide open. Evan Phillips, a middle reliever with few save opportunities on multiple teams stepped in. Phillips was a starter turned reliever, with high strikeout numbers and high walk rates in the minors. Our task today is to find similar pitchers that have quality pitches with promising ability. It does not matter the age or the path. It just matters that they do one thing; get outs.
Middle Relievers Primed for Save Opportunities
There are plenty of teams looking for players to fulfill that dominant role. I will be using Roster Resource by Fangraphs to pick out middle relievers from the closer depth chart.
DL Hall (BAL, LHP, 24)
The lefty has had reliever written all over him over and over again throughout the last few years as a major prospect in the Orioles system. Although the signing of Craig Kimbrel, and the rise of Yennier Cano would normally signal a lack of opportunity, Hall has the stuff to get saves and holds.
Based on Baseball Savant’s pitch data, Hall has three above-average pitches. His fastball sits well above the average left-handed pitcher at 96 mph. Also, he generates whiffs 30% of the time with these fastballs. He uses his above-average slider and changeup to keep hitters from sitting on that fastball. Hall may not be an easy get in dynasty leagues, but taking a chance on him in an interesting bullpen may pay dividends.
He already had a chance at a save, and succeeded in nailing down two holds. Expect more opportunities for the young Oriole as they look to continue their organizational success.
Garrett Cleavinger (TBR, LHP, 29)
Cleavinger has been an interesting pitcher throughout his career. Before 2020, his statistical pattern left much to be desired. Since then, Cleavinger has not had a season with an ERA north of 4.00 in either the minors and majors. Interestingly, the lefty has three above-average offerings. First, a high-spinning slider. Second, a breaking sinker he throws predominantly to left-handed hitters. Finally, a rising four-seam fastball thrown to mostly right-handers. Although Cleavinger is technically better against right-handed hitters than he is against lefties in his career, his career opposing batting average of .210 speaks for itself.
The only downside is that Cleavinger just does not have a ton of time on the bump. He has 53.0 total innings in three seasons. That would be scary to place a bet on. However, the Tampa Bay Rays are not orthodox. If his continued success wins them games, he will get opportunities.
Tyler Holton (DET, LHP, 27)
Tyler Holton is the second favorite option on this list to sneak into a save-opportunity role. Last season, he put together 14 holds and was the team’s best left-handed reliever. With four plus pitches in expected run value, it is no wonder he is a top-percentile soft-contact pitcher with the potential to strike hitters out.
In his major league career, he’s limited batters to a .188 batting average, with a 0.89 WHIP and 3.62 FIP. He struck out a lot more hitters in the minors, being over 25% in his minor league career. Unfortunately, that has not been the case in the big leagues. Consistency for him is key. It stands to reason that as the Tigers aim to improve, an increase in opportunities for performing relievers will be expected.
Alex Lange, the current closer, has too much variance. He blew six saves last year and four the year before. On the other hand, Jason Foley does not get enough strikeouts OR soft contact to dominate. Will Vest is the only option in the top three projected bullpen arms that profiles enough to reach that closer threshold but that is not the purpose of this experiment. Holton should get more than a handful of opportunities.
Orion Kerkering (PHI, RHP, 22)
Kerkering is a strikeout king and a top prospect for the Phillies, a team where the bullpen is not completely set in stone. It is more likely that it will be by committee as they look to win the division, with a very low threshold for failure.
Kerkering features a deadly sweeper/sinker combo that generates a ton of whiffs. Although he does not have much experience as a big league pitcher, it would not shock me given his minor league track record if he ends up in a closing role. This is the highest gamble with the lowest sample size. Based purely on potential, I would rather gamble on Abner Uribe featured below
Abner Uribe (MIL, RHP, 23)
Another member of the youth movement. Uribe had a breakout 2023 season, dazzling baseball fans with his high-speed sinkers and wipeout sliders. With two plus pitches, it stands to reason that he will get a major opportunity to prove himself. I would not say the Milwaukee Brewers are necessarily rebuilding, but if they were, Devin Williams is 29 with one more year of control after 2024. Uribe has the best pure stuff in the bullpen besides Williams.
Taking a look at some numbers, Uribe has not had an ERA above 3.00 since 2021, or a strike rate south of 26.7%. Even though he does walk a lot of batters, that is the only way opponents are going to score runs. Hitters cannot hit him, at all. A lot of people may say, “This is self-explanatory, Uribe is a shoo-in fantasy pick for most leagues based on hype alone!” and they may be right. That said, Fangraphs has him as a middle reliever, so his value may be hit or miss depending on the knowledge base of the platform or league.
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