Saves in fantasy baseball are at a premium. If your team is lacking there, here are 5 options to consider picking up who could help your team down the line.
Saves in fantasy baseball are very hard to come by if you didn’t draft some of the elite closers early on. Many people don’t pay much attention to closers because they believe they are just affecting their teams ability to collect saves. However, a closer is very valuable in fantasy baseball because they can help your team in multiple categories.
Closers can affect your team in almost every single pitching category in standard leagues (Saves, Wins, K’s, ERA, WHIP). Unlike many other positions though, there is hardly ever an option available on the waiver wire who you could scoop up to reap the benefits from. Injuries of course can occur, but those would only be short term pickups and you’ll find yourself back in the same situation sooner rather than later.
Sure you can always try to make a trade, but owners of elite closers might be asking for too much since they know how scarce they are. With that said, there is still hope to help your teams with this dilemma that many fantasy baseball teams face. There are relief pitchers who could take over closing duties for a closer who is struggling, or because of a trade occurring.
Here are five options to consider picking up off the waiver wire who could potentially help with saves down the line, and still give you value now.
5. Tommy Kahnle, White Sox (ESPN: 4.2 percent owned)
Current Chicago White Sox closer David Robertson has been one of the better closers in baseball since 2014. However, the White Sox are clearly in rebuild mode after they traded away their best player in Chris Sale this passed summer, and Robertson is most likely the next one to be dealt.
If the latter is traded, that would open up an opportunity for current set-up man Tommy Kahnle to get a crack at the closer role. If Nate Jones was healthy then this would most likely be him in this spot, but Kahnle has been spectacular this season in his own right.
Kahle currently sports a sparkling 0.77 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, and has struck out 23 batters in only 11.2 innings pitched. What’s more amazing is his average pitch speed on his four-seam fastball has been at 98.02 MPH so far, which is the kind of repertoire you want in an elite closer.
He has legit swing-and-miss pitches, and would definitely be much higher on this list if his current set-up role wasn’t in doubt once Jones makes his return. With that said though, Kahnle can still help owners with their ERA, K’s, Whip, and could pick up the occasional win or save.