Fantasy Baseball 2017: 3 relievers worth adding for ratios help

If you are in the fantasy baseball championship hunt and need help with your pitching categories, here are 3 relievers to add.

The fantasy baseball season is quickly ended so finding relevant players to talk about is getting difficult. Yet, there are owners competing for a championship that need all the help they can, and that’s why we’re here.

If you need some support in pitching categories, here are three relief pitchers that are widely available worth picking up for the final weeks. The typical stats are ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, earned runs, wins and saves. These pitchers help with the first four, the fifth once a week and the sixth two to three a week.

When you pick up a relief pitcher, you are looking for the elite that doesn’t even allow a base runner, let a lone a run to score. While those are rare at this point in the season, there are a few that can support your current staff.

Chad Green (NYY)

The New York Yankees solidified their bullpen with their trade with the Chicago White Sox. With the number of relievers in their ‘pen, it’s surprising that there is yet another pitcher standing out from the crowd. That man is Chad Green.

Green has a 2.00 ERA and 0.75 WHIP with 96 strikeouts and 15 walks for the season. Those are great numbers from a middle-inning reliever. He has the most innings pitched among all Yankees relievers.

Over his last 10 games, 18.2 innings, Green has a 2.41 ERA, 0.75 WHIP with 34 strikeouts and three walks. He has almost two innings per appearance, great for a reliever. The 16.39 K/9 is also a good sight. With his usage, you’ll get a lot of value from him.

Green is owned in just 14.4 percent of ESPN leagues.

Matt Belisle (MIN)

I wrote about Matt Belisle being a waiver add when Brandon Kintzler was traded to Washington back on July 31. Yet, over a month later and Belisle is still available in 73 percent of ESPN leagues.

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His overall season numbers aren’t the best, 4.36 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. Since taking over the closer role, though, Belisle has been better. In 11.0 innings, he has a 3.27 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 16:3 K:BB with seven saves in eight chances.

Belisle has three outings with at least one earned run in that span. One of them was a two-run blown save outing against the Detroit Tigers.

If you add Belisle, it’s because of his strikeout to walk ratio and save chances. The ratios have improved since taking over the ninth inning job, but it’s still too high to be a No. 2 closer. He will have value in AL-only leagues.

Bryan Shaw (CLE)

If the Cleveland Indians are going to keep on winning, they are going to need a lot of help from their bullpen. Bryan Shaw has been an important piece, especially with Andrew Miller on the disabled list.

Shaw has improved his ratio stats from last year to this year. He has a 3.19 ERA, 1.227 WHIP, two saves and 21 holds. Shaw also has an 8.1 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9.

He has a few outings with runs scored, including back-to-back 0.2 IP/2 H/1 ER games to start the month. However, Shaw doesn’t walk many batters. He has just three walks in his last 18 innings pitched. He does have 20 hits but only eight earned runs.

Shaw is also another reliever with a high strikeout rate, 11.5 K/9 in his last 18 innings. With a team that keeps on winning, there will be a lot of chances to pick up innings, strikeouts and holds if you use them. He’s owned in just 4.7 percent of leagues.

Next: Is Xander Bogaerts the worst fantasy shortstop?

There are a lot of relievers on the waiver wire. However, with the rosters expanding, it’s hard to find a pitcher that will get frequent usage and worth picking up. I mentioned three on successful teams that can be a difference maker down the stretch.

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