Fantasy baseball 2020 tiered relief pitcher rankings

These four relievers are the best of the best. They have their role locked and aren’t giving it up anytime soon.

Roberto Osuna, HOU

Osuna has been a better reliever since coming to Houston from Toronto. In his three-and-a-half seasons with the Blue Jays, he had a 2.86 ERA, 0.919 WHIP, 253 strikeouts and 104 saves. In his 1.5 seasons with the Astros, Osuna has a 2.46 ERA, 0.878 WHIP, 92 strikeouts and 50 saves.

Osuna has yet to post a WHIP over 1.00 in his career. Only a handful of closers have their jobs locked up and Osuna is one of them. He also has one of the best offenses to give him the run support late in games. He will once again be a four-category closer as a top-90 pick.

Aroldis Chapman, NYY

Chapman is still one of the best relievers in the game but there is some separation between him and the two guys above him. Chapman still has a high strikeout rate and can reach 40 saves but there are some negatives.

He hasn’t pitched in over 60 innings since 2015. His fastball velocity has decreased by 2 MPH over the last two seasons. Batters are making more contact against him. Chapman is the closer for one of the best teams in baseball and will get his opportunities. However, he is prone to a couple of bad outings in a season.

Kirby Yates, SD

After the trade of Brad Hand, Yates took over the Padres closer role and did an amazing job. In 60 appearances, he finished with a 1.19 ERA, 0.890 WHIP, 1.9 BB/9 and 15.0 K/9. He led the league with 41 saves.

The Padres may surprise a lot of people this season. The offense is good and the starting rotation has upside but it’s the bullpen that will be the anchor. Yates is the fourth Padres reliever I have in my rankings. He’ll rack up the saves and strikeouts while keeping his ratios at an elite level.

I’m not a fan of drafting closers too early but if you want to not worry about it for a few rounds, Yates should be a target.

Josh Hader, MIL

Hader started his career as a middle reliever for the Brewers before taking over the closer role in 2018. Last year, Hader dominated opposing hitters. In 75.2 innings, he posted a 2.62 ERA, 0.806 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9 and a ridiculous 16.4 K/9.

Hader threw his fastball 84 percent of the time and had a 22.7% swinging-strike rate. That pitch could be at 100 percent usage and batters would still have a hard time hitting it. The Brewers offense lost a couple of pieces but the team is still solid.

He will lead all relievers in strikeouts this season. The negative is that he may pitch multiple innings in games, taking away from some save chances.

This is it. This was the final position rankings post. We still don’t know if and when baseball is returning this season. Until a date is announced, continue to practice your strategy in mock drafts. Draft from different positions. See what happens if you wait on starting pitching. It’s all to help you be a better fantasy baseball manager.

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