Relief pitcher in fantasy baseball can be one of the most difficult positions to draft and also one of the easiest to find on the waiver wire throughout the season. Don't misconstrue that statement as a tip to punt saves on draft day. No, no, no — you're going to want a solid two or three closers if you expect to make it the long haul in your 5x5 or 6x6 leagues. Our list of potential RP sleepers and values can guide you to a handful of strong closers who can help you in multiple categories without costing an early or even mid-round draft pick.
Before we get into our sleepers, let's first contemplate the state of the closer position. Last season, the MLB saw 1,232 total saves — the most since 2018 — and a whopping 222 different pitchers logged at least one save throughout the season. These numbers are the product of a few different factors:
- Not many everyday closers exist anymore
- Many teams have closer "committees"
- Some teams employ "high-leverage" closers and "low-leverage" closers
- Relief pitching is about as deep as it's ever been
- Many former starting pitchers have now become closers
Looking over the closer charts leaguewide, we can say with confidence that 10 different teams have one true closer you can rely upon to get the vast majority of that team's save opportunities. The Guardians' Emmanuel Clase and the Padres' Josh Hader easily lead the list, but everyone in the top 10 is solid. Five other teams have above-average options who we would bank on being "that guy" or becoming that guy in short order.
2023 FANTASY RANKINGS & DOLLAR VALUES
Cs | 1Bs | 2Bs | 3Bs | SSs | OFs | SPs | RPs | Top 300
You're going to want to draft one of the top 10 closers on our RP rankings, and you should really be aiming for two of the top 15. Drafting a guy in a committee can lead to some extremely frustrating in-season scenarios, so for the sake of your sanity, you'll want one or two guys with proven, reliable roles at the backend of their bullpens. Plus, a good closer will help you in more categories than just saves. Many offer high strikeout upside, while a handful of others will significantly trim down your ERA and WHIP.
Now, you could go the route of the SPRP (pronounced "SPARP" by industry experts like our friends at CBS) and just punt saves. A bunch of solid starters have RP eligibility, including Jeffrey Springs and Tanner Houck. You can try that angle, but we suggest committing to the studs 100 percent and avoiding the borderline guys altogether.
Personally, we go for saves, but it's also a mistake to reach too high for closers and in turn miss out on upper-echelon offensive players. Look back at your league's past 10 draft results and take a look at how many owners who grabbed closers in the first 50 draft picks ended up hoisting fantasy trophies (hint: It's going to be close to zero). Many champions, however, probably bagged an RP sleeper or two in their title year's draft.
We find that more often than not we have been selecting a closer by the eighth or ninth round — we're looking at guys like the Cardinals' Ryan Helsley and the Orioles' Felix Bautista — and then we'll target a second closer around the ADP range of 150-180. From there, we often grab a sleeper third closer whenever we find a spot where they seem like the best value. If that third closer doesn't work out, we can always just dump him for someone who emerges early in the season.
Let's get into our favorite sleepers at relief pitcher, with a brief explanation as to why we value each of them well above their ADP.
2023 FANTASY SLEEPERS & VALUES:
Cs | 1Bs | 2Bs | 3Bs | SSs | OFs | SPs
Fantasy Baseball RP Sleepers 2023: Breakouts, values, draft-day steals
Position eligibility based on Yahoo's default settings. ADPs courtesy of Fantasy Pros.
Clay Holmes, Yankees (ADP: 120)
We almost had the Red Sox's Kenley Jansen as our top sleeper, but his ADP has jumped up to 94 and that just doesn't seem like great value for a bad team's sometimes-erratic ninth-inning guy. Alas, we're rolling with Holmes, who has looked great for the Yanks this spring (1.80 ERA, 0.400 WHIP, 10.8 K/9). He's coming off a 20-save season with a .196 batting average against and a 25-percent strikeout rate. The fact that former A's closer Lou Trivino starts the season on the Pinstripers' injured list makes us feel even better about Holmes' role. Holmes will never come close to the dominance of closer GOAT Mariano Rivera — in fact, he doesn't even throw a cutter — but his sinker is pretty damn lethal. The Yankees made it a priority to trade for Holmes, and they're committed to him locking down the majority of their tight games this season. How could you not want him by the 10th round?
Jhoan Duran, Twins (ADP: 147)
Duran has filthy stuff — he finished the '22 season with a 1.96 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, eight saves, and 89 strikeouts in just 67.2 innings. As Uncle Jesse would have said on Full House back in the day, "Have mercy!" Just take a look at one of his 1-2-3 frames from his rookie season last year:
A 1-2-3 frame for @Twins rookie 🔥thrower Jhoan Duran, on 11 pitches, including fastballs at:
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 15, 2022
101.6
101.5
100.7
102.0
And this nasty splinker. pic.twitter.com/BzWEyrGnlM
The only thing Duran doesn't have is the assurance from his manager that he'll be the everyday closer. For now, that role seems to be Jorge Lopez's to lose, so consider handcuffing them together, at least for the beginning of the season. Overanalyzing managers tend to use elite relievers in high-leverage, seventh- or eighth-inning situations, and they sometimes even utilize them in long relief or as openers. We think sanity will eventually prevail here and Duran will end up coming close to being Josh Hader 2.0. With a strikeout rate that ranks in the 96th percentile, the sky seems like the limit for the 25-year-old righty.
Daniel Bard, Rockies (ADP: 150)
Bard just got done helping the United States get to the World Baseball Classic Championship, so he should be plenty warmed up for the start of the 2023 MLB season. The veteran comes off a 34-save season with a 1.79 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings. Hell, the dude finished 16th in NL MVP voting last season (you can't make stuff like that up)! He won't likely replicate those insane numbers, especially if the humidors are out and the Coors Field effect is back in, but Bard still ranks among our top-three most targeted value closers in drafts.
Jose Leclerc, Rangers (ADP: 201)
Leclerc has plenty of upside if he can stay healthy, but neck tightness kept him from pitching for the D.R. in the WBC and we're already seeing his ADP slide because of it. Still, we feel like the risk is worth the reward, as he's coming off a campaign in which he posted a 2.83 ERA and 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings. He has yet to allow a run in six innings of preseason baseball, a span in which he's racked up an incredible 11 strikeouts. What neck tightness? We're talking 30-save upside if he can stay off the IL, and for the cost of a 16th- or 17th-round pick.
Evan Phillips, Dodgers (ADP: 216)
With Daniel Hudson rehabbing from surgery for a torn ACL, Phillips figures to be the Dodgers' clubhouse leader to close for the time being. Anything else would be a shocker even though Brusdar Graterol is pretty damn good. Phillips is better, as evidenced by his 33-percent strikeout rate, 1.14 ERA, and 0.76 WHIP last year. You can't go wrong grabbing this guy at around pick 200.
Adam Ottavino, Mets (ADP: 337 — but rising)
The closer we get to opening day, the more the window closes on Ottavino in the last rounds of drafts. Hell, we don't think we'll be able to scoop him in the 16th round or later as of next week. Mets closer Edwin Diaz recently suffered a torn patellar tendon while celebrating Puerto Rico's win over the D.R., further proof that player celebrations should be banned and the WBC is bad for everyone (I'm being facetious — that's something a miserable boomer would say. We love the WBC!). The Diaz injury is a bummer, but it does open the door for Ottavino to return to meaningful ninth-inning work. He's looked way better than David Robertson so far this spring, but keep your eye on both just in case the team makes any announcements.
Kendall Graveman (ADP: 242) and Liam Hendriks (ADP: 251), White Sox
We love the idea of drafting both White Sox closers. Hendriks notched 37 saves last season but dealt with a forearm injury and announced in January that he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He's a set-it-and-forget-it closer when active, and we're crossing our fingers that he returns to full health and gets back on the mound this season. Until then, fellow former Athletic Graveman should be the top candidate to fill his shoes. It's not always pretty with Graveman, but we can't complain if we can get an everyday closer for a pretty good team at pick 242. If your league has IL spots, Hendriks is the easiest late-draft handcuff stash of the year.
