Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report: Fulmer Surprises in Relief

We fantasy baseball managers predominantly rely on the relief pitchers we roster to help us in the saves and holds categories. Our goal is to try to climb the ranks in those categories, but at the same time we want to avoid blowing up our fantasy team’s ERA and WHIP. This week, as we always do, we’ll focus on some of the league leaders in saves and holds.

However, relief pitchers who tend to work multiple innings per week and have high K/9 rates and solid ratios have additional value as possible streaming options in place of some of our slumping starting pitchers. We’ll identify some of these types of pitchers later in this article. We hope you enjoy this week’s Bullpen Report!

Weekly Save Leaders

Kenley Jansen , Liam Hendriks , Alex Reyes , Mark Melancon and Tyler Rogers all recorded three saves last week. Let’s focus in on Rogers.

Tyler Rogers, Giants

Last week we talked about how Jake McGee started pitching better after manager Gabe Kapler had suggested that Tyler Rogers would get more opportunities to work the ninth inning for the Giants. Unfortunately, McGee’s resurgence was short lived. Since last week McGee has made four appearances and pitched 3.2 innings. He has pitched to a 4.91 ERA and picked up a save, blew a save, picked up a loss, and recorded a hold during that time frame. During that same period Rogers has pitched five scoreless innings and picked up three saves. He has five saves on the season and hasn’t given up a run in 23 of his 25 appearances this season. Last week at this time it looked like McGee was battling to hold on to his role as the Giants’ closer. As this article is being written it appears that Rogers has won that battle, for now.

Five other pitchers notched two saves last week. One name in particular stands out:

Michael Fulmer , Tigers, 2

As a pitcher that Tigers’ manager A.J. Hinch has referred to as a “closet adrenaline junkie,” Fulmer has thrived when asked to work in high leverage situations out of the bullpen. Fulmer isn’t afraid of challenging himself and has told Hinch that if he’s going to be used as a relief pitcher he wants “to be thrown in the fire.” In 12 2/3 IP as a starting pitcher, Fulmer has a 4.97 ERA and has struck out seven batters. However, in 18 IP as a reliever Fulmer has posted a 2.00 ERA and struck out 22 batters. He has two saves, a hold, and a win over the past week, and three saves and four holds on the season. Being used predominantly as a relief pitcher has helped Fulmer rare back and add just over two MPH to the average velocity on his fastball. He’s also posted the highest swinging strike rate of his career (13.2%). Hinch has not committed to using Fulmer exclusively out of the bullpen for the rest of the season but pitching in relief in high leverage situations seems to be a natural fit for the 2016 Rookie of the Year.

Weekly Holds Leaders

Daniel Hudson , Craig Stammen (who we’ll talk about later), Zack Littell , Caleb Baragar and Victor González all recorded three holds last week. Let’s put the spotlight on Baragar.

Caleb Baragar, Giants                  

Entering Wednesday night’s action, the Giants’ bullpen led the major leagues in both total saves and total holds. Baragar, walked four batters in his four appearances last week, but he did record three holds, giving him a total of seven on the season. Walks allowed have been an issue for Baragar this season. He’s given up nine in 13 IP this season, contributing to his robust 1.46 WHIP. However, at the same time he’s only allowed one run in his 17 appearances.

As this article is being written 15 other pitchers recorded at least two holds this past week. Three of them pitch for the Cubs. The Cubs were second in the major leagues behind the Giants with 28 holds entering Wednesday night’s action.

Andrew Chafin is regarded as the next man up behind Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel . He has nine holds on the season and has pitched to a 0.82 ERA in his last 10 appearances, spanning 11 innings pitched. His slider is particularly effective. It has generated a 51% whiff rate over the past three seasons.

Ryan Tepera is widely considered the second man up in the Cubs bullpen. He’s given up two earned runs in his last 12.2 IP, lowering his ERA from 6.75 to 3.26. Including his two holds last week, he has a total of six on the season. Armed with a cutter that has generated a 53.1% whiff rate over the past two seasons, Tepera has struck out 19 batters in 19.1 IP this season.

Dan Winkler is another Cubs pitcher who notched two holds last week. He has four on the season. Winker has given up just one earned run in 13.1 IP for a 0.68 ERA. Walks have been an issue for Winkler. He’s given up seven on the season.

Relief Pitcher Streaming Options

Sometimes a solid reliever who pitches a few innings per week and provides your fantasy team with a solid ERA and a generous number of strikeouts is a better option to use in your weekly lineups than a weak starter who has a bad matchup and can potentially blow up your weekly stats. The following pitchers can help you if you’re in a pinch and are likely widely available on your league’s waiver wire. We’ve listed each pitcher’s overall season stats, (as of Wednesday morning), as well as examples of the type of weekly production that you can expect from them based on their recent history. You may wish to stream these pitchers, but with some of them potentially having an eventual direct path to a closer’s role, you may decide to hold on to them for a while.

Craig Stammen , Padres

 Two wins, one loss, one save, three holds, 1.82 ERA, 0.93 WHIP

Scott Barlow , Royals

One win, one loss, one save, seven holds, 2.45 ERA, 1.23 WHIP

John Curtiss , Marlins

Two wins, one loss, 3.15 ERA, 1.15 WHIP

Tyler Matzek , Braves

Zero wins, two losses, six holds, 3.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP

Emilio Pagán , Padres

Three wins, zero losses, five holds, 3.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP

Drew Rasmussen, Brewers

Zero wins, one less, one save, 4.24 ERA, 1.47 WHIP (0.66 ERA in his last 11 appearances)

Austin Adams , Padres

Zero wins, zero losses, five holds, 3.29 ERA, 0.88 WHIP

If you've been a subscriber here at Fantasy Alarm, you've seen the Fantasy Baseball Closer Grid before. If you're new, it's very simple. We not only list who the closer is for each team, but we then go another two-deep into the bullpen to let you know who would be next in line to accrue saves should there be an injury or a change, as well as which relievers you may want to target if your league scores for holds. This isn't about how the teams' depth charts always reads, so keep that in mind. Sometimes the heir-apparent is an obvious one, but in many cases it is not. We look for things like skill set, contact rates, pitch-command, pitch-mix, how many lefties are in the bullpen, who has worked as a closer before and who has the experience in high-leverage situation among other things.

GREEN will be those with strong talent, abundant opportunities and a high-level of job security. The tier below will be in YELLOW followed by ORANGE and lastly RED to indicate who may have the job right now but could lose it with one bad hiccup.