MLB: Top 5 relievers in the AL and NL Championship Series
With starting pitchers exiting early, relievers are taking over the MLB postseason. These are the top five relief aces remaining in the playoffs.
When it comes to the playoffs, relievers are the new starters. Managers have quicker hooks in the postseason when their starting pitchers just aren’t getting it done. The margin of error is too slim to let a struggling pitcher work through a bad day.
During the regular season, managers require length from their starters. For example, Yankees pitchers threw 1448.2 innings in the regular season and 903.1 of them were thrown by starting pitchers, which comes to 62.4%. In their six playoff games, Yankees starters have thrown only 27.1 of the 56 innings the staff has pitched, which works out to 48.8%.
While it’s true that managers just can’t afford to leave a struggling starter in a playoff game, there’s another reason for the increased workload of bullpens. These relievers are seriously good. The remaining playoff teams have some of the most outstanding pitchers in baseball working out of their respective bullpens. What follows are the five best relief pitchers we’ll see in the upcoming AL and NL Championship Series.
Kenley Jansen
Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen has been a stud reliever since his MLB debut in 2010. However, he took his game to a new level in 2017. His 1.32 ERA and 1.31 FIP are both personal bests over a full season. He struck out 109 of the 258 batters he faced while walking only 7, leading to an unbelievable 15.57 K/BB ratio. In fact, in the past 25 years only Evan Scribner of the 2015 A’s had a better K/BB ratio among qualified relievers.
Jansen channels Mariano Rivera as well as any current pitcher. Rivera famously became a future Hall of Famer by throwing only one pitch: an unhittable cutter. Jansen has a devastating cutter of his own and he relies on it heavily, throwing it 88% of the time. The results would make even Mariano proud. His 3.5 fWAR was the highest among all relievers in 2017. It’s also the eighth best mark for a reliever in the last 25 years.
Aroldis Chapman
By most measures 2017 was the worst year Chapman has had since his rookie year of 2011. He re-signed with the Yankees last off-season for $86 million over five years, the largest contract ever given to a relief pitcher. (They had traded him to the Cubs in 2016 where he earned a World Series ring.)
He missed five weeks in May and June with an injury. Then in August his fastball command abandoned him, and opposing batters burned him for a .961 OPS. He regained form in September and hasn’t allowed a run to score since August 25.
Most importantly, Chapman is on top of his game as the Yankees prepare to take on the Astros. His legendary fastball averages 100 MPH and tops out at 104 MPH. His unparalleled velocity must be seen to be believed.
Chad Green
Most casual baseball fans don’t know Yankees righty Chad Green. He was unspectacular as a rookie in 2016, starting 8 of 12 games pitched and bouncing between the majors and AAA. This year started in the minors again.
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He was called up in early May and never looked back, registering a 13.4 K/9 along with a 1.83 ERA and 1.75 FIP. He yielded only 4.4 H/9, less than one hit per every two innings. Of all relievers remaining in the playoffs only Jansen had a higher fWAR than Green’s 2.3.
With starting pitchers frequently getting hooked early in games during the postseason, relievers who can throw multiple innings are of tantamount importance. Green proved himself capable of this all year, throwing 69 innings in only 40 games. He recorded four or more outs in 30 of those appearances. If such a thing as a fourth inning relief ace exists, Green is the man for the job.
Ken Giles
Ken Giles burst onto the scene in 2013 as a previously unheralded prospect with the Phillies and posted a 1.18 ERA. After a second impressive season in the city of brotherly love, Giles was traded to Houston for a haul of prospects.
After a disappointing first season in Houston last year he regained form in 2017, posting a 2.30 ERA and stellar 11.9 K/9.
Giles features a devastating fastball/slider combination. His heater averages 98.5 MPH and frequently exceeds 100 MPH. His slider is a his put-away pitch, as he throws it more often with two strikes. Opposing managers won’t be able to gain a platoon advantage against him, since right-handed hitters batted .200 vs. Giles but lefties hit only .196.
David Robertson
David Robertson came up in the Yankees system and learned at Rivera’s knee, then jumped to the White Sox via free agency in 2015. The Yankees reacquired him along with fellow relief ace Tommy Kahnle and third baseman Todd Frazier before the trade deadline this past July. He’s excelled since his return to New York with a 1.03 ERA and 0.743 WHIP. He’s allowed only 14 hits in those 35 innings, good for a ridiculous 3.6 H/9.
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Robertson mostly features a cutter/curveball combination, but mixes in other breaking balls as well. The curve is his most dangerous offering, inducing a 26.6% whiff rate. That pitch earned him a third strike on 67 of his 98 strikeouts this season.
The addition of Robertson to the Yankee bullpen at the trade deadline is also a big reason why they are still alive in the postseason.