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BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues
OWNED IN: 28% of leagues
ANALYSIS: Brad Ziegler's traditional numbers (0-3, 5.89 ERA, 1.36 WHIP) are pretty ugly for any pitcher, let alone a reliever. Despite that, he's retained a firm grasp on the closer role in Miami. The veteran submariner has converted all seven of his save opportunities, as virtually all of the damage done against him has come in non-save situations. There's also an argument that Ziegler hasn't earned those crooked numbers. His SIERA checks in at a tidy 2.40, he's running a strand rate below 60%, and he's given up three home runs already on just nine fly balls. That's after allowing just three home runs in the previous two seasons combined. Ziegler remains a ground ball machine at 38 years old and has a 0.37 HR/9 for his career; there's nothing in his profile to explain the inflated home run rate this season.
After notching only three saves in April, Ziegler already has four to his name in May and has allowed just two runs since the calendar flipped. As lousy as the Marlins are, even bad teams generate their fair share of save opportunities. With more and more teams embracing a committee approach to the ninth inning, Ziegler should definitely be owned in more leagues going forward.
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