{"id":7023,"date":"2023-07-28T21:05:14","date_gmt":"2023-07-29T04:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?p=7023"},"modified":"2025-12-09T10:09:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:09:02","slug":"reliever-roundup-bullpen-bonanza-individual-rankings-20230728","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2023\/07\/28\/reliever-roundup-bullpen-bonanza-individual-rankings-20230728\/","title":{"rendered":"Reliever Roundup and Bullpen Bonanza \u2014 Week 16 Individual Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza \u2014 Week 16 Individual Rankings<\/h2>\n

We are near the end of Week 16 of the season. Here are the top ten 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.)<\/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 20 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 16 (Midweek) Individual Reliever Rankings<\/h3>\n

AL Middle Relievers<\/h4>\n

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Brock Stewart<\/a><\/strong> of the Minnesota Twins<\/a> remains atop the leaderboard with an overall score of 37.8. Second place goes to Tim Mayza<\/a><\/strong> of the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>, with a score of 36.0. Jake Diekman<\/a><\/strong> of the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> and Andres Munoz<\/a><\/strong> of the Seattle Mariners<\/a> are third and fourth with scores of 28.8 and 26.6, respectively. Coming in fifth is Gabe Speier<\/a><\/strong>, also of the Mariners, with a score of 23.0. Sixth and seventh place go to Kevin Kelly<\/a><\/strong> of the Rays and Ian Hamilton<\/a><\/strong> of the New York Yankees<\/a>. Their scores are 19.2 and 17.5, respectively. Eli Morgan<\/a><\/strong> of the Cleveland Guardians<\/a>, Gregory Santos<\/a><\/strong> of the Chicago White Sox<\/a>, and Will Vest<\/a><\/strong> of the Detroit Tigers<\/a> round out the top ten. They came in at 16.0, 15.9, and 15.9, respectively.<\/p>\n

AL Setup Men<\/h4>\n

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Jason Foley<\/a><\/strong> of the Tigers leads the AL setup men for a second straight week with an overall score of 165.6. Runner-up Yennier Cano<\/a><\/strong> of the Baltimore Orioles<\/a> is second with an overall score of 119.4. Aroldis Chapman<\/a><\/strong> of the Texas Rangers<\/a>, who began the season with the Kansas City Royals<\/a>, is in third with a combined total of 111.3 between his two teams. Fourth place is another Blue Jay, Erik Swanson<\/a><\/strong>. His score is 105.8. In fifth is Matt Moore<\/a><\/strong> of the Los Angeles Angels<\/a>, with 95.5. Coming in sixth is Hector Neris<\/a><\/strong> of the Houston Astros<\/a>, scoring 91.1. Chris Martin<\/a><\/strong> of the Boston Red Sox<\/a>, with 90.9, followed by Jason Adam<\/a><\/strong> of the Rays, with 86.2, are in seventh and eighth. The final two spots of the top ten are taken by Justin Topa<\/a><\/strong> of the Mariners (84.9) and Trevor Stephan<\/a><\/strong> of the Guardians (77.6).<\/p>\n

AL Closers<\/h4>\n

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The leading closer is Will Smith<\/a><\/strong> of the Rangers, with a score of 241.3. Number two is Felix Bautista<\/a><\/strong> of the Orioles, who scored 198.5. Paul Sewald<\/a><\/strong> of the Mariners and Alex Lange<\/a><\/strong> of the Tigers are third and fourth with scores of 156.3 and 143.3, respectively. Carlos Estevez<\/a><\/strong> of the Angels rounds out the top five with a score of 121.0. In sixth is Clay Holmes<\/a><\/strong> of the Yankees (104.5), followed by Jhoan Duran<\/a><\/strong> of the Twins (95.4). Emmanuel Clase<\/a><\/strong> of the Guardians, with a score of 91.2, is in eighth. Ryan Pressly<\/a><\/strong> of the Astros and Jordan Romano<\/a><\/strong> of the Blue Jays finish off the top ten. Their scores are 89.3 and 71.4, respectively.<\/p>\n

NL Middle Relievers<\/h4>\n

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Of NL middle relievers with at least 20 appearances, the injured Jesse Chavez<\/a><\/strong> of the Atlanta Braves<\/a> comes in first with a score of 26.5. Steven Okert<\/a><\/strong> of the Miami Marlins<\/a> (25.3) comes in second. Third and fourth belong to Steven Wilson<\/a><\/strong> of the San Diego Padres<\/a> (23.41, rounded to 23.4) and another Marlin, Andrew Nardi<\/a><\/strong> (23.38, rounded to 23.4). Angel Perdomo<\/a><\/strong> of the Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> (22.3) rounds out the top five. Taylor Rogers<\/a><\/strong> of the San Francisco Giants<\/a> (22.2) is narrowly in sixth, while Dauri Moreta<\/a><\/strong> of the Pirates (20.1) is in seventh. Hoby Milner<\/a><\/strong> of the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> is in eighth, with a score of 18.7. Scott Alexander<\/a><\/strong> of the Giants (13.8) and Shelby Miller<\/a><\/strong> of the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> (11.6) complete the top ten.<\/p>\n

NL Setup Men<\/h4>\n

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Joel Payamps<\/a><\/strong> of the Brewers leads all eligible NL setup men by a commanding margin with a score of 233.7. Brooks Raley<\/a><\/strong> of the New York Mets<\/a>, with 139.8, is in second. Tyler Rogers<\/a><\/strong> of the Giants, twin brother of Taylor, is third, with 135.1. Fourth and fifth are Giovanny Gallegos<\/a><\/strong> of the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> and Lucas Sims<\/a><\/strong> of the Cincinnati Reds<\/a>, with scores of 115.6 and 109.2, respectively. Kyle Finnegan<\/a><\/strong> of the Washington Nationals<\/a> is sixth, scoring 103.0. At seventh and eighth are Tanner Scott<\/a><\/strong> of the Marlins and Caleb Ferguson<\/a><\/strong> of the Dodgers. Their scores are 99.7 and 91.6, respectively. Evan Phillips<\/a><\/strong> of the Dodgers and Elvis Peguero<\/a><\/strong> of the Brewers finish off the top ten with scores of 87.1 and 81.3, respectively.<\/p>\n

NL Closers<\/h4>\n

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The highest-scoring closer in the NL is David Bednar<\/a><\/strong> of the Pirates, with a score of 279.6. Devin Williams<\/a><\/strong> of the Brewers is the runner-up, with 235.6, while Alexis Diaz<\/a><\/strong> of the Reds is third, scoring 174.6. Josh Hader<\/a><\/strong> of the Padres is fourth, with Raisel Iglesias<\/a><\/strong> of the Braves in fifth. Their scores are 113.6 and 109.3, respectively. In sixth and seventh are Justin Lawrence<\/a><\/strong> of the Colorado Rockies<\/a> (108.8) and Camilo Doval<\/a><\/strong> of the Giants (100.3). David Robertson<\/a><\/strong>, recently traded from the Mets to the Marlins, is eighth (92.0). Rounding out the top ten are the injured Ryan Helsley<\/a><\/strong> of the Cardinals and Craig Kimbrel<\/a><\/strong> of the Phillies. Their respective scores are 76.3 and 64.4.<\/p>\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