{"id":10051,"date":"2024-04-27T19:13:37","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T02:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?p=10051"},"modified":"2025-12-09T10:07:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:07:33","slug":"reliever-roundup-bullpen-bonanza-week-5-individual-rankings-20240427","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/04\/27\/reliever-roundup-bullpen-bonanza-week-5-individual-rankings-20240427\/","title":{"rendered":"Reliever Roundup and Bullpen Bonanza, Episode 3 \u2014 Week 5 Individual Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza \u2014 Week 5 Individual Rankings<\/h2>\n

We are at the beginning of Week 5 of the 2024 season. Here are the top individual relievers in each league. But these rankings take it to a different level than the other reliever rankings you\u2019ve seen. We will separate our rankings by closers, setup men, and middle relievers. (We\u2019re not going to worry about ranking long relievers but will lump them in with the middle relievers.)<\/p>\n

Rankings are split into the following categories. These categories encompass what a relief pitcher\u2019s jobs are and are weighted according to importance. We don\u2019t want to get bogged down, so we\u2019ll keep it brief. (Author\u2019s Note: For full details, including the full leaderboards, leave a comment and I\u2019ll be glad to get back to you.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Setup Men and Closers<\/h4>\n

Clutch<\/strong> (45% of score) \u2014 How well they perform in late innings either while the game is tied or while holding a narrow lead.<\/p>\n

Run Prevention<\/strong> (35%) \u2014 How well they keep runs off the board, including inherited runners.<\/p>\n

Baserunner Prevention<\/strong> (13%) \u2014 Who has the lowest WHIP and lowest home run percentage (HR%). WHIP is 85% of the Baserunner Prevention score, and HR% is 15%.<\/p>\n

Command<\/strong> (7%) \u2014 Who has the best strikeout percentage minus walk percentage (K\u2013BB%).<\/p>\n

Middle Relievers<\/h4>\n

Run Prevention<\/strong> (60%), Baserunner Prevention<\/strong> (26%), Command<\/strong> (14%)<\/p>\n

Totaling Up the Scores<\/h4>\n

The total score in each category is based on the league average. Zero points equals the league average. Positive scores are better than league average; negative scores are worse. The farther their score is from zero \u2014 either positive or negative \u2014 the farther they are from the league average.<\/p>\n

In addition, a player must have at least seven relief appearances to qualify for these rankings.<\/p>\n

(Note: Due to weighting each score, adding the categories together won\u2019t equal the total score.)<\/em><\/p>\n

For a full breakdown of each category\u2019s score formula, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Week 5 Individual Reliever Rankings<\/h3>\n

AL Middle Relievers<\/h4>\n

\"Reliever<\/a><\/p>\n

Cole Sands<\/a><\/strong> of the Minnesota Twins<\/a> takes over the top spot in the AL middle reliever rankings for Week Five with 46.4. Second place goes to Justin Slaten<\/a><\/strong> of the Boston Red Sox<\/a> (40.0). Tim Herrin<\/a><\/strong> (35.9) and Nick Sandlin<\/a><\/strong> (34.8), both of the Cleveland Guardians<\/a>, are third and fourth, respectively. Coming in fifth is Trent Thornton<\/a><\/strong> of the Seattle Mariners<\/a> (32.6). Sixth and seventh place go to Cade Smith<\/a><\/strong> of the Guardians (28.5) and Tyler Holton<\/a><\/strong> of the Detroit Tigers<\/a> (27.97, rounded to 28.0). Luis Garcia<\/a><\/strong> of the Los Angeles Angels<\/a> (27.95, rounded to 28.0), Alex Lange<\/a><\/strong> of the Tigers (23.6), and Seth Martinez<\/a><\/strong> of the Houston Astros<\/a> (18.6) complete the top ten.<\/p>\n

AL Setup Men<\/h4>\n

\"Reliever<\/a><\/p>\n

Brock Stewart<\/a><\/strong> of the Twins has jumped to the top of the AL Setup Men rankings for Week Five with an overall score of 112.8. Runner-up Ian Hamilton<\/a><\/strong> of the New York Yankees<\/a> has an overall score of 109.8. Yimi Garcia<\/a><\/strong> of the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> (104.6) is in third. Fourth place belongs to John Schreiber<\/a><\/strong> of the Kansas City Royals<\/a> (103.2). In fifth is Hunter Gaddis<\/a><\/strong> of the Guardians (98.0). Coming in sixth is Gabe Speier<\/a><\/strong> of the Mariners (97.3). Jason Adam<\/a><\/strong> (89.2) and Phil Maton<\/a><\/strong> (74.0), both of the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a>, are in seventh and eighth. The final two spots of the top ten see Lucas Erceg<\/a><\/strong> of the Oakland Athletics<\/a> (57.4) and Shelby Miller<\/a><\/strong> of the Tigers (54.8).<\/p>\n

AL Closers<\/h4>\n

\"Reliever<\/a><\/p>\n

The leading AL closer is Kirby Yates<\/a><\/strong> of the Texas Rangers<\/a> (140.8), whose score also leads all of Major League Baseball. Number two is Clay Holmes<\/a><\/strong> of the Yankees (122.6). Mason Miller<\/a><\/strong> of the Athletics (120.3) and Jason Foley<\/a><\/strong> (119.0) are third and fourth, respectively, trading positions from where they were in Week Four. Craig Kimbrel<\/a><\/strong> of the Baltimore Orioles<\/a> rounds out the top five (113.6).<\/p>\n

NL Middle Relievers<\/h4>\n

\"Reliever<\/a><\/p>\n

Of those with at least seven appearances, Reed Garrett<\/a><\/strong> of the New York Mets<\/a> leads the NL middle reliever rankings with a score of 62.4. Enyel De Los Santos<\/strong><\/a> of the San Diego Padres<\/a> (52.7) is second. Third and fourth belong to Bryan Hudson<\/a><\/strong> of the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> (48.3) and Matt Strahm<\/a><\/strong> of the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> (47.2). Jake Diekman<\/a><\/strong> of the Mets (27.2) is in a distant fifth. Ryan Walker<\/a><\/strong> of the San Francisco Giants<\/a> (26.7) is in sixth, with Ryan Fernandez<\/a><\/strong> of the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> (24.8) is in seventh. Erik Miller<\/a><\/strong> of the Giants is in eighth (24.1), narrowly beating Dylan Floro<\/a><\/strong> of the Washington Nationals<\/a> (24.0). Brent Suter<\/a><\/strong> of the Cincinnati Reds<\/a> (21.7) finishes the top ten.<\/p>\n

NL Setup Men<\/h4>\n

\"Reliever<\/a><\/p>\n

Brooks Raley<\/a><\/strong> of the Mets (128.7) and JoJo Romero<\/a><\/strong> of the Cardinals (113.5) hold the top two NL Setup Man spots in the Week Five reliever rankings. Mark Leiter Jr.<\/a> <\/strong>of the Chicago Cubs<\/a> is third (112.6). Fourth and fifth are Colin Holderman<\/a><\/strong> of the Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> (99.1) and Jorge Lopez<\/a><\/strong> of the Mets (95.0). Joe Jimenez<\/a><\/strong> of the Atlanta Braves<\/a> is sixth (90.7). In seventh and eighth are Elvis Peguero<\/a><\/strong> of the Brewers (89.7) and Tyler Rogers<\/a><\/strong> of the Giants (83.2). Yuki Matsui<\/a><\/strong> of the Padres (80.8) and Hunter Harvey<\/a><\/strong> of the Nationals (80.3) finish off the top ten.<\/p>\n

NL Closers<\/h4>\n

\"Reliever<\/a><\/p>\n

The highest-scoring closer in the National League is Evan Phillips<\/a><\/strong> of the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> (133.3). Kyle Finnegan<\/a><\/strong> of the Nationals (132.6) is the runner-up by a narrow margin, while Robert Suarez<\/a><\/strong> of the Padres is third (125.3). Edwin Diaz<\/a><\/strong> of the Mets is fourth (122.6), with Jose Alvarado<\/a><\/strong> of the Phillies in fifth (107.5).<\/p>\n

Full Leaderboards<\/h3>\n
\"Reliever<\/a>
Middle Relievers (AL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/25. Minimum of 7 total relief appearances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Reliever<\/a>
Setup Men (AL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/25. Minimum of 7 total relief appearances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Reliever<\/a>
Closers (AL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/25. Minimum of 7 total relief appearances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Reliever<\/a>
Middle Relievers (NL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/25. Minimum of 7 total relief appearances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Reliever<\/a>
Setup Men (NL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/25. Minimum of 7 total relief appearances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Reliever<\/a>
Closers (NL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/25. Minimum of 7 total relief appearances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Full Score Explanation<\/h3>\n

For clutch, we will use both the Goose Egg total (33%) and the ratio of Goose Eggs to Broken Eggs (67%) due to the major flaws in Saves and Holds. Full details about Goose Eggs are here<\/a>. Otherwise, here\u2019s the elevator speech.<\/p>\n

A Goose Egg is like a save, except more restrictive. Here are the main points…<\/p>\n