The Bullpen Report: Three Relievers Who Are Worth Adding (Ryan Madson & More)

by Nick Hutcherson

Are you looking for a reliever who has the potential to provide elite ratios as well as saves moving forward?  Here are a few different recommendations for you, based on the size league that you are playing in:

Three to grab

Shallow League-Brad Hand, San Diego Padres
Hand isn’t going to turn into a Top 10 option simply because of opportunities. However he has been brilliant this season and 25 saves with very strong ratios is something that you should not overlook. There are not a lot of threats to him in this bullpen, even though there theoretically could be:

• Carter Capps is still figuring out his mechanics (2 months later)
• Brandon Maurer has clearly shown he isn’t the solution
• Ryan Buchter is solid, but isn’t going to take the job away anytime soon.

A trade is the one potential stumbling block, as his name has already been bandied about, though time will tell.

Average League-Cam Bedrosian, LA Angels
Take note: Bud Norris left Friday’s outing after just three pitches with right knee soreness while Bedrosian is nearing a return. This sets up for Bedrosian to potentially slot right back in as the closer, and if you’ve watched him pitch you know that when he gets this job back health is the only thing that could take it away. His arsenal is elite and he has performed every time he was healthy enough to be the guy.

Deep League- Ryan Madson, Oakland A’s
If Madson is available in your league, take advantage of his dazzling ratios and wait this one out. While he is striking out just shy of a batter per inning, he has a sub-2.00 ERA, a WHIP hovering around 1 and a FIP and xFIP that say it is all legitimate. He is outperforming Santiago Casilla by a substantial margin and has closed for the A’s before. It is reasonable to think that Madson may find himself in the saves picture sooner than later.

The A’s will likely be sellers in the trade market and that could mean that Casilla, Madson or both are pitching in different cities (though time will tell). If you are searching for opportunity in a reliever, take a shot on Madson.

Make sure to check out all of our updated rankings: