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2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Relief Pitchers

By Benjamin Chase

Jun 23, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Arodys Vizcaino (38) pitches against the New York Mets during the ninth inning at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Mets 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Arodys Vizcaino (38) pitches against the New York Mets during the ninth inning at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Mets 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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Aug 6, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Arodys Vizcaino (38) celebrates the final out of the game defeating the Miami Marlins 9-8 at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 6, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Arodys Vizcaino (38) celebrates the final out of the game defeating the Miami Marlins 9-8 at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /

2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Relief Pitching Overview

We come to the final position in our series, and once again, we close out with quite easily the most volatile position in the entire grouping. As recently as a week ago, Chapman was not a top-3 guy as he is in consensus rankings now, but rather he was floating between 7-12 in rankings as people hedged on how much time he’d miss due to a looming suspension. He still may face some time, but with no charges being filed in the case, the time he’ll miss now appears to likely be light.

A number of big-armed closers found new homes in the off season, most notably #1 closer Kimbrel, who may have given us the best example of just how fragile the closer position is in fantasy sports. Entering the night of April 18th, Kimbrel hadn’t allowed a run on the young season and looked to be a great acquisition for his new club, the San Diego Padres. Then Padres manager used Kimbrel in the 11th inning of a tie ball game on the 18th. Kimbrel walked 2, gave up a hit, and allowed his first run of the season. Black brought Kimbrel into a game 11 days later that the Padres trailed 3-1 at the time. Kimbrel wasn’t his sharpest for sure, giving up 3 runs on a walk and two hits, drastically inflating his early season ERA, even though it hadn’t been in the role he was brought over to do. On the season, Kimbrel had a 2.06 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, and 10.3 K/BB ratio in save situations but a 4.02 ERA, 1.98 WHIP, and 1.56 K/BB ratio in non-save situations.

Now, I’m not saying that closers should only ever pitch when there’s a save situation. Far from it, but I do believe that managers often misuse their pitchers and a fantasy owner who signed up for the save situation Kimbrel in 2015 also had to have non-save situation Kimbrel on his stat line. It’s one of the crazy parts of relievers is that so much is dependent on everything else in the game, not just the player himself.

As far as drafting, while I certainly like a lot of the guys I mention here, there’s one basic theory I stick to when it comes to relief pitching – don’t pay for saves! If you’re in the 9th/10th round and a guy like Kimbrel/Davis/Chapman is there, then sure, but otherwise, wait on your closers for your team. For instance, I would wager that the Toronto closer this season will be a top 5-10 closer position if you take the cumulative statistics of the guys on the team who hold the job. The issue is that Roberto Osuna returns after a very, very good rookie year only to find veteran closer Drew Storen recently acquired. Which one of the two is the guy who has the job will likely be determined in spring training, but that certainly doesn’t mean there couldn’t be a change somewhere within the season. Relievers are probably the position you need to be most diligent in reviewing team moves on from a day-to-day basis as the second a closer is injured, your league mates will be going to the waiver wire to claim his backup, and if you’ve already grabbed him, you’re going to be the guy who catches those saves, not your league mates.

2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Relief Pitching Rankings

More from Tomahawk Take

In my rankings this year, I’ll post first my rank, then the player’s name and team, followed by the PR rank for the position in 2015, and lastly, any other positions the player will be eligible at in 2016, based on 20-game eligibility.

1. Craig Kimbrel, Boston Red Sox, 9
2. Wade Davis, Kansas City Royals, 4
3. Aroldis Chapman, New York Yankees, 7
4. Trevor Rosenthal, St. Louis Cardinals, 6
5. Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers, 10
6. Jeurys Familia, New York Mets, 2
7. Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1
8. Ken Giles, Houston Astros, 23
9. David Robertson, Chicago White Sox, 11
10. Zach Britton, Baltimore Orioles, 5
11. Cody Allen, Cleveland Indians, 18
12. Jonathan Papelbon, Washington Nationals, 21
13. Hector Rondon, Chicago Cubs, 8
14. A.J. Ramos, Miami Marlins, 13
15. Arodys Vizcaino, Atlanta Braves, 56

2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Braves Relief Pitching Highlights

At first glance, it’d seem that the Braves have a set line of how guys should rank in the bullpen hierarchy. The problem is, how the Braves view the season could play into that. If the Braves would like to hang on to Vizcaino for a few more seasons, they may move Jason Grilli to the closer role and Vizcaino to the set up role to build Grilli’s trade value. They could do something similar with Jim Johnson as well. The bullpen in general has a lot more upside this season than the one that seemed to consistently be handing over ballgames (or putting the final nail into the coffin if the game was close) in 2015. Of course, the Braves could move Vizcaino as well at the trade deadline with the stock of power arms they have coming back in the early season – Shae Simmons, Chris Withrow, Paco Rodriguez, not to mention possible bullpen moves of high-velocity starters like Mike Foltynewicz.

Tomahawk Take Fantasy League Announcement

Last season, the Tomahawk Take staff put together two leagues each on Yahoo and ESPN. We had a lot of fun in those leagues, and there was great participation from writers and readers alike. We’ve decided to do the same thing this year. However, we’re going to have things set up a little more ahead of time.

This season, we will have two leagues on each site again, the size of each depending on the interest in each, however, the maximum for each league will be 14, so first come, first serve until the league fills up. We will have one rotisserie league and one head-to-head league on each site. I made a mistake in setting up one league last season, and that won’t happen this year – each league will have daily add/drop moves available. If you are interested in any of the leagues, please email me at gopherben@gmail.com and indicate in your email whether you would prefer ESPN or Yahoo and whether you would prefer roto or H2H. Thanks!

Next: Braves Top 100 Prospects Updated With Offseason Additions

That’s your break down of the relief pitchers for 2016. Like it, love it, hate it? Comment below, and let’s talk about what you think for 2016!

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