Greg Holland and the Predictability of Top Closers
Oct 15, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Greg Holland (left) celebrates with catcher Salvador Perez (right) after defeating the Baltimore Orioles in game four of the 2014 ALCS playoff baseball game at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals swept the Orioles to advance to the World Series. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Since the Kansas City Royals are the talk of baseball and relief pitchers are the focus on Fantasy Baseball Crackerjacks this week, I figured that Greg Holland was deserving of an article.
At this point, it is well established that the Royals closer is one of the best in the game. Holland was one of the first closers drafted in every single league because of the fact that he is an immense contributor in four categories.
Greg Holland came into 2014 ranked as one of the big four relievers that represented almost complete safety in terms of performance, job security, elite strikeout rate, and microscopic ERA and WHIP. The only drawback for me is that Greg Holland would probably set you back one of your first six picks.
Prior to the Cincinnati Reds’ flamethrower taking a line drive to the face, my closer rankings were Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, and Greg Holland for my 2014 fantasy baseball drafts. After the scary Spring Training incident, I dropped Chapman to fourth, but still put him in the big four elite tier because he actually strikes out most of the hitters he faces.
Despite Chapman having to miss some time in the beginning of the season, the highest ranking closers according to ESPN’s player rater for the 2014 season were as follows:
- Craig Kimbrel
- Greg Holland
- Aroldis Chapman
- Kenley Jansen
Clearly, you can see all four pitchers lived up to the billing and were probably worth the draft pick, especially if you landed Chapman in round seven or eight. Jansen’s ERA and WHIP were a slight disappointment and Chapman notched “only” 36 saves, but that is really nitpicking.
See why all of the elite closers are some of the safest picks you can make at that point in the draft:
[table id=1283 /]
Greg Holland posted the worst K/9 of the bunch at 12.99 strikeouts per nine, but that was still good enough to find himself fifth among all primary MLB closers in that category. As you can see, the top four closers are really an elite bunch.
As for next year, I would draft Holland first out of the four options considering his ADP. I think he will go a round or two cheaper than Craig Kimbrel or Aroldis Chapman, so I would take the slight decrease in numbers for better value.
Out of the top four closers, I would probably avoid Kenley Jansen because his ERA and WHIP were not as impressive as the other three lockdown closers. I would rather take a chance on strikeout-inducing Sean Doolittle, Dellin Betances, or David Robertson if they have ninth inning gigs because they could offer similar numbers at a discounted price.
Like most years, I will probably not be willing to shell out the fairly high draft pick or auction dollars to get a top-flight closer, but Greg Holland of the AL winning Kansas City Royals will do wonders for your fantasy pitching staff.