Marlins Kyle Barraclough: 2017 Deep Relief Pitcher Sleeper

By Bill Pivetz | Mar 10, 2017

Jul 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Miami Marlins relief pitcher Kyle Barraclough (46) pitches to a St. Louis Cardinals batter during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. The Marlins won 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

The Marlins have a knack to develop relief pitchers. While they have their closer for this season, Kyle Barraclough is a deep sleeper for 2017.

The Miami Marlins spent the offseason revamping their pitching staff. They signed two starters and a reliever for depth in the bullpen. The Marlins have a good bullpen anchored by a solid closer. Yet, there is a relief pitcher waiting in the shadows to take over and should be drafted this season. His name is Kyle Barraclough.

Barraclough was arguably the Marlins best relief pitcher last season. He made 75 appearances, tripling his 2015 total, and pitched in 72.2 innings. In that span, he posted a 2.85 ERA, 1.225 ERA, 14.0 K/9, and 5.4 BB/9.

In about triple the innings, Barraclough’s ERA rose just under three-tenths of a run as he lowered his WHIP. He was one of eight relievers to strike out over 100 batters and had the third-fewest innings among those pitchers.

If he can lower his walks even more, a 5.4 walk rate is too high for a reliever, then he can be the spotlight in the Miami bullpen. However, the Marlins bullpen is pretty crowded entering this season.

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A.J. Ramos is locked in as the team’s closer. David Phelps spent most of 2016 in the bullpen. Dustin McGowan made over 50 appearances. The front office also brought in Junichi Tazawa and Brad Ziegler.

Tazawa pitched in 52 innings while Zieger pitched in 68. The abundance of quality relievers will bury Barraclough, but his peripherals will make him stand out.

None of the other relievers I listed had a better strikeout ratio that Barraclough. They did have better walk rates, but Barraclough had a 2.11 FIP which shows that he did a good job limiting the damage of the runners he put on base.

Obviously, drafting closers is important to your success in your fantasy league. Though, I think having a couple of set-up men or middle relievers on your roster is important, too. Closers are not immune to injury or trade. If either one of those things happens during the season, it’s next man up and someone new will be taking to saves opportunities.

Look at what happened with Kansas City. Wade Davis was traded this offseason and Kelvin Herrera‘s fantasy value rises by being the Royals closer for 2017. Angels’ closer Huston Street is hurt, which means that Cam Bedrosian will get more looks from owners.

The Marlins front office was not sold on Ramos last year. There was competition for the job between Carter Capps and Ramos before Capps hurt his arm and was out for the year. The team traded for Fernando Rodney to support or possibly replace Ramos if he struggled. He could easily be pulled from the role if he struggles early.

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The Marlins bullpen is filled with talented relief pitchers. The majority posted ERAs under 3.00 and strikeout rates close to or over 10.0. I think Barraclough is young enough and has the right stuff to outshine the others. If he can continue the good and fix the bad, then he will be a closer in 2018. Right now, Barraclough is a solid depth option with a high ceiling.

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