Week 17 Bullpen Report

Another version of your weekly bullpen report! As a reminder, here’s the approach:

1. Closer/Speculative Adds – Players owned in less than 70 percent of Fantrax leagues that have a share of a closing role, or are worth a speculative pickup.
2. HOLDS!!! – If we do all this work to identify top relievers, we might as well surface the ones who provide value even if they aren’t earning saves. This will be guys who are worth an add to boost ratios or if you are in a league with Holds as a category.
3. A recap of the week prior – who earned saves, who blew saves, and what each pitcher’s peripherals were like over the past seven days. We’ll look at the top two or three options from each bullpen so we can also take a sneak peek at who is next in line for saves. We’ll also include Fantrax ownership in everything we do.
4. Bullpen Matrix – An interactive visual of bullpen usage for the past seven days. The bullpen report is dynamic so you can change the lookback period to your heart’s desire, but we’ll focus on how each team’s bullpen was managed over the past seven days.

I’m open to any and all feedback, and I hope this bullpen report evolves to maximize effectiveness for the readers. Don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments or on Twitter with comments, questions, suggestions about the article or fantasy baseball in general. Let’s get into it!

It’s time to multi-task! Keep up with all of our baseball coverage, but kick off your football prep and dig into our 2018 Fantasy Football Draft Kit. Then head on over to Fantrax and join a Fantasy Football league.

Week 17 Bullpen Report

Speculative Adds

Pedro Strop (CHC- 24% owned) – Brandon Morrow just hit the disabled list for the Cubs and Strop is my favorite pick for saves. He earned the first shot against St. Louis on Thursday and will likely get more opportunities then Steve Cishek and C.J. Edwards. Justin Wilson may poach the occasional save if the Cubs face a lefty-heavy lineup in the 9th.

Kirby Yates (HOU- 54% owned) – With Brad Hand moving to Cleveland, Yates is the guy to own now in San Diego. He’s an excellent reliever and should hold the role until the end of the year. Yates owns a 1.43 ERA with 48 Ks in 37.2 innings pitched.

Jose Alvarado (TB – 25% owned) – Alvarado has been a monster, and could be the next beneficiary of a deadline deal. Sergio Romo recently blew a save, and is a logical candidate for a trade to a contending team and Alvarado would easily slide into the closer role.

Ryan Tepera (TOR – 36% owned) – Tepera returns from the DL this week and will take over the closer role from Tyler Clippard. He’s surprisingly under-owned in Fantrax and should be closer to 70% owned going forward in Toronto.

HOLDS!!!!

Jesse Chavez (CHC – 3% owned) – Recently acquired by the Cubs and moves into a favorable holds situation. The Cubs will have a ton of leads in the second half of the year, and Chavez will likely rack up the holds.

Scott Alexander (LAD – 12% owned) – With seven strikeouts in five innings over the past 14 days, Scott Alexander is shining as the Dodger’s go-to lefty-reliever.

Seung Hwan Oh (TOR – 22% owned) – With Tepera sliding into the closer role and Clippard and Oh sliding back into the mid-relievers role, he will be primed to gather some holds for the Blue Jays. Oh is a great grab in holds leagues.

Prior Week Recap

Due to the short week, we’ll hold off on the prior week recap. This will return next week.

Bullpen Matrix

For more on how the Bullpen Matrix works head on over the dedicated page for the chart.

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