Among the most significant aftereffects of the trade deadline, annually, is the shake-up that happens across the bullpens of many teams. There is always a team or two, or seven, that opt for a complete shake-up of closer and/or setup roles as a result of the trades they made.
This year has been no different, as in fact 10 teams — the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays — made trades during the past week-plus that had some sort of bearing on their respective closer roles.
Several new opportunities for saves and/or holds coming from eighth-inning/primary-setup roles, have presented themselves. Today, let’s go through the most prominent names available in a majority of ESPN leagues. Bear in mind that, while some of these relievers play for non-contenders and others are far from guaranteed to emerge as their teams’ singular ninth-inning options, each could have a meaningful impact nevertheless. After all, remember that our standard game awards two points per hold.
Ben Joyce, RP, Angels (7.7% rostered): The most exciting of the “closer role is now his to lose” crowd, Joyce has long been regarded the Angels’ future in the ninth inning. His stuff certainly has that “closer look” to it, between his 101.9-mph average fastball and slider he uses nearly 20% of the time that generates a 30%-plus whiff rate.
The Angels will initially go with a committee to close games, following their trades of Carlos Estevez and Luis Garcia, with Hunter Strickland and Roansy Contreras also having gotten save chances within the past week, but Joyce is a stronger fit and has been one of the most effective relievers in baseball over the past seven weeks. He’s riding a streak of 18 consecutive scoreless appearances spanning 22 2/3 innings, during which time opponents are batting just .110 against him.
Joyce is a strong speculative pickup in all formats with the new opportunity ahead.
Lucas Erceg (2.4%) and Hunter Harvey (8.6%), RP, Royals : These two are listed in conjunction, because it’s currently unclear which one might emerge as the Royals’ new closer following their respective acquisitions, but either could be an top-half fantasy RP option if they secure the job exclusively.
The Royals remain a wild-card contender, with a roster that leans towards a good number of save chances (+95 run differential). Erceg is an underrated reliever who can throw 98-99 mph while generating 30% whiff rates with three pitches (four-seam fastball, slider, changeup), while Harvey is a fellow hard thrower (a 97.8-mph average four-seamer) with both a splitter and a curveball to generate swings and misses. Thus far, the Royals appear to be going with an Erceg-in-the-eighth, Harvey-in-the-ninth strategy.
A.J. Puk, RP/SP, Diamondbacks (20.7%): Friday’s announcement that Paul Sewald has been removed from the closer role (after he blew four out of nine save chances with a 10.80 ERA in the month of July), gives the newly acquired Puk a golden opportunity to soar to the front of what initially is shaping up as a closer-by-committee.
Puk has been excellent since the Marlins shifted him to the bullpen following a failed experiment in their rotation, posting a 2.10 ERA, an 0.79 WHIP and a 30.0% strikeout rate over 33 relief appearances. He closed out Arizona’s 6-5 victory on Sunday. While wildness has been an issue for him in the past, his combination of swing-and-miss stuff and an ability to neutralize hard contact gives him a high ceiling.
Chad Green, RP, Blue Jays (10.2%): Following the trades of Yimi Garcia, Nate Pearson and Trevor Richards, the Blue Jays are thin on ninth-inning options while Jordan Romano continues to recover from elbow surgery, leaving Green as the clear full-time guy. Green’s injury history is a bit checkered, but he’s riding an active streak of eight scoreless appearances and has successfully converted all six of his save chances since the beginning of July.
How are they still available?!
Jackson Holliday, SS/2B, Baltimore Orioles (47.1% rostered): Recalled by the Orioles the day after their trade-deadline bonanza, Holliday shapes up as the team’s every-day second baseman going forward, especially in light of the injuries to both Jorge Mateo and Jordan Westburg. While Holliday struggled mightily in his first taste of the bigs, batting .059/.111/.059 over 10 April games, he has delivered a pair of home runs — including a grand slam — and a trio of multi-hit games over the first five contests since his recall.
Nothing has changed for Holliday as far as his fantasy ceiling following his failed first MLB chance, and his combination of contact, speed, power and regular role makes him a universal must-add.
Colton Cowser, OF, Orioles (32.1%): Discussed in this very space one week ago, Cowser’s role doesn’t appear to have suffered in the slightest despite the Orioles’ deadline acquisitions. The team brought in Eloy Jimenez and Austin Slater on Tuesday and, in the five games against right-handed starters since, Cowser has started each one as Baltimore’s leadoff man, with Jimenez slotting in at DH at Ryan Mountcastle‘s expense (Sunday’s game) and Slater handling the leadoff chores in the team’s only game against a lefty starter (Saturday).
Deeper-league add
JP Sears, SP, Athletics (19.4% rostered): A bit of a forgotten man, due to his team’s “rebuilding status” as well as his own lackluster career rates (4.79 ERA, 1.26 WHIP), Sears has certainly had his moments this season, like his most recent start against the San Francisco Giants (seven shutout innings, nine K’s). Most notably, he has been an excellent matchups type, going 6-0 with a 2.16 ERA in seven starts against sub-.500 teams.
Feel free to cut
Paul Sewald (53.0% rostered), Brice Turang (69.4%), Max Scherzer (47.3%), Luis Rengifo (57.5%).