RADIO
Today and every Tuesday moving forward throughout the 2018 MLB season, we will take a deep dive into some of the lesser-owned relief pitchers on the market that are worth keeping tabs on.
This can be a good tool for those in deeper holds leagues, although any pitcher in a position to make a move on their respective team's closer job will get priority.
Today we'll take a look at three young relievers making a name for themselves as well as an underrated veteran with plenty of holds league value.
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Under-the-Radar Relievers to Watch - Week 8
Seranthony Dominguez, Philadelphia Phillies - 19% owned
Dominguez, the Phillies 10th ranked prospect via MLB.com, has moved through the team's farm system rather quickly since last season after dealing with multiple injuries early in his career. He spent most of his 2017 in A ball, then after 15 innings at AA and AAA combined this year, he finally got the call-up in early May. He has done nothing but impress so far, even gettting in on the late-inning action, picking up a two-inning save on Sataurday. Unlike Edubray Ramos ,who I talked about last week, Dominguez does have a closer type profile and I believe does have a chance to supplant Hector Neris as the teams closer for now (and the future). He features a fastball that sits around 98 MPH and a sharp breaking slider that he throws about a quarter of the time. His SwStr% sits at 14.9 right now, and I think we will see his current K/9 (9.45) rise closer to or above ten over time. At this point, he should at least be owned in all dynasty leagues and leagues that count holds, and he is one of my favorite speculative adds in standard 12 teamers due to the upside he brings.
Jace Fry, Chicago White Sox - 2% owned
Fry, not a top prospect by any means (29th on MLB.com), has been a pleasant surprise this year for a White Sox bullpen that has been desperate for some consistency. The lefty has yet to allow an earned run over 8.1 innings while striking out twelve and posting a shiny 0.24 WHIP. It shouldn't come as a huge surprise, as he posted quality numbers last year at AA and was dominating AAA this season before his call-up. He was even trusted with a save opportunity on Sunday, however, I don't think he is quite in the closer mix for Chicago just yet. He's not overpowering, sitting around 92 with some sink and mixes in a slider/cutter and curveball nicely to keep hitters off balance. He like Seranthony comes with significant injury baggage, as he had Tommy John his freshman year of college, then had his elbow reconstructed and missed the entire 2016 season. I don't see too many saves in his future, but he looks like someone who could become a quality set up man to rely on in holds leagues.
Michael Feliz, Pittsburgh Pirates - 2% owned
Feliz lost his prospect status two years ago, but he's still just 24 years old, the same age as Fry and a year older than Seranthony. Once hyped as a future front-line starter while in the Astros organization, Feliz was transitioned into a reliever full time in 2016, where he has actually been better than the numbers would imply. This season, however, he has been terrific, and finally the numbers back it up. He didn't start out all too hot, allowing four runs in his first outing, but since then has been one of the better relievers in all of baseball. Since that game in March, he has allowed just two earned runs over 20 innings, to go with a 26/6 K/BB ratio and just 13 hits allowed. He also has nine holds now on the year and should overtake George Kontos as the team's 8th inning set up option in due time. With Felipe Vazquez struggling time to time, who knows, maybe we even see Feliz earn some saves before the seasons over. For now, he should be owned in dynasty formats as well as those counting holds.
Kirby Yates, San Diego Padres - 5% owned
I constantly get a ton of comments regarding why I am ranking Kirby Yates so high in my weekly holds rankings, and it still comes as a surprise to me after what he was able to do last year. I know he is kind of in that journeyman mode, as he was a 30-year-old waiver pick up by the Padres last April, but still, we can't ignore what the numbers said of him for last season. He had an insane 88 strikeouts in 56 innings and while the ERA was close to four, a lot of that came from a really poor August. Every other month he held an ERA of 2.53 or lower, and August's woes could be explained by a large increase in his walk rate from out of nowhere which may have been related to being placed on the paternity leave list in late July followed by the family leave list in early August. Now this season, following an ankle injury that delayed him in April, Yates has picked up where he left off, with 21 strikeouts over his first 16 innings, to go with a 1.13 ERA, .94 WHIP, and seven holds. With Brad Hand in the picture, it would likely take an injury for Yates to see some save chances, but for the time being, Yates should be treated as a top 12 holds option.
