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Kirby Yates 2020 Outlook: One of the Safest Closers In Fantasy
5 years agoIf you thought San Diego closer Kirby Yates was nasty in 2018 after taking over as the Padres closer – finishing with 12 saves and a 36% K-rate – wait until you get a load of what he did in 2019. Yates wasn’t just fire; he was pure, elemental heat, burning white-hot while burning down opposing batters with a 41.6% K-rate and a .228 wOBA that was in the top-1% of baseball. That was in addition to the 4.1% barrel-rate that was in the top-5%, and a .259 xSLG that was also in the top-1%. Oh, and there was also his 41 saves that led the league. Yates gets it done with a mid-90 mph fastball and an 86 mph split-finger fastball that falls off the table, making batters look foolish. While San Diego will be trotting out some serious reliever filth – with Yates being preceded by Drew Pomeranz and Andres Munoz – he won’t have any real competition for his closing job and should be one of the safest relievers in fantasy baseball.
