No Twitter account required!Sign up here; it’s free. As is also the case with the rest of this tier, there’s not much harm to scooping up someone like Kintzler in the last round or two of your draft and seeing how things play out.Melancon’s 2.86 FIP and 3.06 xFIP from last year were the lowest they’ve been since he left Pittsburgh in 2016. I still like the thought of taking a gamble on Giles if he slides to pick 150 or so, but his current ADP (135) is just a bit too rich for me.Is there no fear about the Brewers moving Hader back to a fireman role once/if Knebel comes back healthy? That will only happen if he can find a way to stay on the field for a full season.The biggest difference last year for Robles was his increased changeup usage, going from almost non-existent in 2018 (4% usage) to 22.4% usage last year. Kansas City Royals — Ian Kennedy saved 30 games for the Royals last season and will return as the closer to start the 2020 season. While the swing and miss potential may limit his upside, it’s not a major concern, especially given his command of the strike zone, and ability to limit walks. While there was a lot of good, such as great FIP, WPA, GB%, K%, Whiff%, xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, and Hard Hit numbers, his walk rate (15.7%, 3rd worst among 158 qualified relievers) leaves something to be desired. Certainly, some regression is coming, but just how much is the question. With an improved rotation and a bullpen that’s absolutely loaded heading into next season, expect another monster season out of the Padres closer. So why is he ranked this low?
Volatility for one, as Giles real-life results seem to yoyo despite always having been backed by good peripheral numbers. Even with the higher curveball usage, his SwStr%, Z-Contact% and O-Swing% all ranked in the bottom third among 2020 closers, making it tough to imagine that 36.4% K rate being repeatable. He eventually turned things around by the end of August, and was his usual self by September. Hand ultimately graded out as a good, above-average closer across the board in most categories, but still failed to crack the top 10 closers outside of what was a career-low 2.80 FIP. In fact with the exception of 2018, his changeup has been a really good pitch for him that he keeps underutilizing.There are two caveats to this strategy, however. He also only focused on his plus pitches as he completely scrapped his changeup in 2019, going with a heavy fastball-cutter mix (68% and 15% respectably) while mixing in his curveball 15% of the time. An excruciatingly bad April (24.5% BB rate) makes it look worse than it really was, but he was still sitting around a 14% BB rate after the first month. Oh, and that signature wipeout slider of his had a .942 OPS against over 362 pitches (it had never been above .440 prior). NL East Closer Depth Charts.
RotoBaller's MLB closers, saves & holds depth charts are updated daily. But now that we’re at this point, it’s not as worrisome as I think we thought it’d be. When a new MLB closer is anointed, we send an immediate email alerting you, so you can pick him up in your fantasy baseball league. His current ADP (142) seems fair, and he’s definitely some to target around that part of your drafts.Will you be putting out a S+H list of relievers soon?The changes showed as his 2.99 FIP ranked 14th among all qualified relievers.
The pitch ended up having a pVAL of 7, the best pVAL for any offspeed pitch in Robles five year career.