“Relieve” me of thy bad ERA/WHIP

Have you ever wondered why your team always has a high ERA or WHIP even though you think have a solid rotation? Chances are you are using several solid starters and then a couple of starters you would rather not admit that you even have on your roster. If you are consistently starting those couple of bad starters without considering who they play or any other factors, that can really hurt your team ERA/WHIP and can also be the difference between winning and losing your league. I know what you are thinking; but I need those innings they provide, especially in a head-to-head league. I agree, you do need those innings, but I do not agree with sacrificing both ERA and WHIP to get them. Believe it or not, you can get pitchers that will get you K’s, have low ERA, low WHIP, and are almost always available in abundance. Have you guessed who they are yet………….? Of course you know! I’m talking about middle relievers.

Middle relievers are the most undervalued and underappreciated commodity in fantasy baseball, yet they are often times could be the difference between winning and losing fantasy baseball owners. The owners that understand the usefulness relief pitchers can provide, will use them to their advantage to keep their ERA and WHIP down, not to mention the extra K’s and W’s solid relievers often provide. Here is a statistical comparison of 5 of the top non-closer relievers so far this season as compared to 5 lower tier starters often used to “fill” innings:


Relievers
IP
Wins
Strikeouts
ERA
WHIP
Brian Bruney
9.0
2
13
3.00
0.56
Chris Sampson
38.0
3
20
2.37
1.24
Takashi Saito
22.1
2
22
2.42
1.25
Rafael Soriano
29.2
1
37
1.52
1.01
Todd Coffey
31.1
1
24
2.59
1.24

Honorable Mention Middle Relievers: Tony Pena, Aaron Heilman, Arthur Rhodes, J.J. Putz, Jason Fraser, Michael Wuertz, etc.
Starters
IP
Wins
Strikeouts
ERA
WHIP
Bronson Arroyo
82.1
7
41
5.36
1.43
Fausto Carmona
60.2
2
36
7.42
1.81
Ian Snell
72.0
1
49
5.25
1.61
Todd Wellemeyer
75.1
5
46
5.50
1.61
Andy Sonnanstine
70.1
5
38
6.65
1.55
Honorable Mention Overused Starting Pitchers: Aaron Cook, Josh Lannan, Jose Contreras

Without question, the relievers have the statistical edge. If you can find a way to use solid middle relieves while maximizing inning potential, you create a huge competitive advantage over the rest of the league.

The best thing about middle relievers is their availability which also allows you the freedom to drop and add them as you choose. You are also blessed with the flexibility to go the extra mile, if you so choose, do your research and watch for favorable match-ups that will help you gather wins with this strategy (that is the only near sure fire way this strategy will work). In many cases you will be better served to look for the best of both worlds. By this I mean, look for favorable match-ups for lower tear pitchers and also those match-ups with which a reliever might look enticing in your line-up. Obviously this is just food for thought and I clearly would not sell the farm over the strategy. However, if you play your cards right you can use non-closer relief pitchers to your advantage; you just might find that it is what you were looking for to get your team over the hump. Just remember, this is not a long term fix for bad pitching, it is just a way to boost your statistics while relieving you of the guys that are killing yours.

FBU,
Sean Bauer

Stats updated as of: 6/14/09