{"id":9940,"date":"2024-04-18T11:27:10","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T18:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?p=9940"},"modified":"2025-12-09T10:07:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:07:33","slug":"reliever-roundup-bullpen-bonanza-week-4-individual-rankings-20240418","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/04\/18\/reliever-roundup-bullpen-bonanza-week-4-individual-rankings-20240418\/","title":{"rendered":"Reliever Roundup and Bullpen Bonanza, Episode 1 \u2014 Week 4 Individual Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reliever Roundup & Bullpen Bonanza \u2014 Week 4 Individual Rankings<\/h2>\n

We are at the beginning of Week 4 of the 2024 season. We\u2019ve played enough games to publish our first reliever rankings of 2024. 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 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 six 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 4 Individual Reliever Rankings<\/h3>\n

AL Middle Relievers<\/h4>\n

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

Keegan Akin<\/a><\/strong> of the Baltimore Orioles<\/a> leads the first AL middle reliever rankings table of 2024 with 59.0. Second place goes to Nick Sandlin<\/a><\/strong> of the Cleveland Guardians<\/a> (45.4). Justin Slaten<\/a><\/strong> of the Boston Red Sox<\/a> (44.8) and Trent Thornton<\/a><\/strong> of the Seattle Mariners<\/a> (40.4) are third and fourth, respectively. Coming in fifth is Tim Herrin<\/a><\/strong> of the Guardians (35.6). Sixth and seventh place go to Tayler Scott<\/a><\/strong> of the Houston Astros<\/a> (33.2) and Angel Zerpa<\/a><\/strong> of the Kansas City Royals<\/a> (28.8). Jacob Latz<\/a><\/strong> of the Texas Rangers<\/a>, Seth Martinez<\/a><\/strong> of the Astros, and Tyler Holton<\/a><\/strong> of the Detroit Tigers<\/a> round out the top ten. They came in at 26.7, 25.5, and 24.8, respectively.<\/p>\n

AL Setup Men<\/h4>\n

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

Ian Hamilton<\/a><\/strong> of the New York Yankees<\/a> leads the AL setup men in the first rankings of 2024 with an overall score of 109.9. Runner-up Yimi Garcia<\/a><\/strong> of the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> has an overall score of 99.4. Brock Stewart<\/a><\/strong> of the Minnesota Twins<\/a> (90.0) is in third. Fourth place John Schreiber<\/a><\/strong> of the Royals (84.1). In fifth is Steven Wilson<\/a><\/strong> of the Chicago White Sox<\/a> (75.0). Coming in sixth is Shelby Miller<\/a><\/strong> of the Tigers (73.7). Chris Martin<\/a><\/strong> of the Boston Red Sox (45.4), followed by Phil Maton<\/a><\/strong> of the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> (41.78, rounded to 41.8), are in seventh and eighth. The final two spots of the top ten are taken by David Robertson<\/a><\/strong> of the Rangers (41.76, rounded to 41.8) and Jason Adam<\/a><\/strong> of the Rays (41.2).<\/p>\n

AL Closers<\/h4>\n

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

The leading AL closer is Kirby Yates<\/a><\/strong> of the Rangers, with a score of 123.2. Number two is Craig Kimbrel<\/a><\/strong> of the Orioles (101.3). Jason Foley<\/a><\/strong> of the Tigers (98.6) and Mason Miller<\/a><\/strong> of the Oakland Athletics<\/a> (93.9) are third and fourth, respectively. Clay Holmes<\/a><\/strong> of the Yankees rounds out the top five with a score of 93.4.<\/p>\n

NL Middle Relievers<\/h4>\n

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

Of NL middle relievers with at least six appearances, Matt Strahm<\/a><\/strong> of the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> comes in first with a score of 68.8. Bryan Hudson<\/a><\/strong> of the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> (37.4) is second. Third and fourth belong to Enyel De Los Santos<\/a> of the San Diego Padres<\/a> (35.3) and Victor Vodnik<\/a><\/strong> of the Colorado Rockies<\/a> (32.3). Robert Garcia<\/a><\/strong> of the Washington Nationals<\/a> (29.2) rounds out the top five. Yunior Marte<\/a><\/strong> of the Phillies (26.1) is in sixth, while Ryder Ryan<\/a><\/strong> of the Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> (23.2) is in seventh. Drew Smith<\/a><\/strong> of the New York Mets<\/a> is in eighth (23.0), narrowly beating teammate Jake Diekman<\/a><\/strong> (22.8). Roansy Contreras<\/a><\/strong> of the Pirates (18.8) completes the top ten.<\/p>\n

NL Setup Men<\/h4>\n

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

The top two reliever scores in the National League belong to setup men, Hunter Harvey<\/a><\/strong> of the Nationals (154.4) and Brooks Raley<\/a><\/strong> of the Mets (142.3). Mark Leiter Jr.<\/a> <\/strong>of the Chicago Cubs<\/a> is third, with 115.4. Fourth and fifth are JoJo Romero<\/a><\/strong> of the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> (113.9) and Yuki Matsui<\/a><\/strong> of the Padres (96.8). Ryan Thompson<\/a><\/strong> of the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> is sixth (95.2). In seventh and eighth are Aroldis Chapman<\/a><\/strong> of the Pirates (92.4) and Adam Ottavino<\/a><\/strong> of the Mets (83.9). Jeff Hoffman<\/a><\/strong> of the Phillies (82.5) and Tyler Rogers<\/a><\/strong> of the San Francisco Giants<\/a> (79.8) finish off the top ten.<\/p>\n

NL Closers<\/h4>\n

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

The highest-scoring closer in both the National League and all of Major League Baseball is Kyle Finnegan<\/a><\/strong> of the Nationals, with a score of 134.9. Edwin Diaz<\/a><\/strong> of the Mets (128.3) is the runner-up, while Robert Suarez<\/a><\/strong> of the Padres is third (125.9). Evan Phillips<\/a><\/strong> of the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> is fourth (123.6), with Jose Alvarado<\/a><\/strong> of the Phillies in fifth (114.3).<\/p>\n

Full Leaderboards<\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Middle Relievers (AL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/18. Minimum of 6 total relief appearances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Setup Men (AL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/18. Minimum of 6 total relief appearances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Closers (AL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/18. Minimum of 6 total relief appearances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Middle Relievers (NL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/18. Minimum of 6 total relief appearances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Setup Men (NL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/18. Minimum of 6 total relief appearances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Closers (NL), full leaderboard, through end of play 4\/18. Minimum of 6 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