Top 10 relief pitchers in MLB

Buster OlneyNov 24, 2015, 10:11 AM ET

The collective work of relief pitchers is more important than at any point in baseball history, with an increasing number of teams -- especially ones with midlevel or lesser budgets -- relying more and more on deep bullpens and less on starting pitchers. The Kansas City Royals, of course, have become the working model of this, winning the World Series in a year in which their starting pitchers ranked 24th among 30 teams in innings. The team excelled largely because of a deep and versatile bullpen.

But at the same time, the perceived value of each individual bullpen piece seems to be diminished, as teams account for the volatility of reliever performance and the relatively short span of high-end excellence. By the time the winter is over, the highest-paid free-agent reliever, which is probably Darren O'Day, will get something in the range of $30-35 million -- more than a dozen starting pitchers will exceed that. The biggest contracts doled out to free-agent relievers in recent years are the $52 million contract signed by Jonathan Papelbon and David Robertson's $46 million deal, and both agreements are generally regarded within the industry as major mistakes.

This is probably because a lot of teams view relief pitchers in the way that NFL teams look at running backs: There are plenty of similar options. Pitchers train to throw high-end velocity in this era in a way they never have before, and almost every bullpen seems to have at least a few guys who throw in the mid-90s or faster.

According to FanGraphs, there were 93 relievers who posted an average fastball velocity of 92 mph or higher last season.

Veteran hitters will tell you that hitting has never been more difficult because of the parade of relievers they face after the fifth inning, with their triple-digit fastballs and cutters and sliders and splitters.

Today, as part of our ongoing positional rankings -- I ranked the top 10 starting pitchers Monday -- here are the top 10 relievers in the majors, based on the observations of rival evaluators and players:

1. Wade Davis, Kansas City Royals

Wade Davis Over the past two seasons, Davis has pitched 164 1/3 innings, and in those, he has allowed 23 extra-base hits. Think about that: That's one extra-base hit every seven innings or so. Among the 623 batters he faced in 2014 and 2015 (regular season and postseason combined), he allowed three homers. Three.

Hitters will tell you that Davis' stuff and command is so good that it seems as if they have nothing to swing at, and their chances of doing any serious damage is infinitesimal. The results reflect that.

2. Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds

Aroldis Chapman Some opponents aren't wild about how Chapman carries himself on the mound; they perceive him to have a look-at-me arrogance. But all of that is probably rooted in how hard he throws and how much they struggle to put the ball in play against him. The past two seasons, Chapman has faced 480 hitters and struck out 46 percent (222) of those. His average fastball velocity last season was 99.5 mph, and no one was really close to that.

No wonder the Astros are looking at Chapman (and Andrew Miller and others) as they try to improve the velocity in their bullpen, as Evan Drellich writes. Jayson Stark reported the other day that the Astros are "hell-bent" on upgrading their bullpen.

3. Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers

Kenley Jansen When you're on a team that includes Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez and you play a position that draws the most notice when you fail rather than succeed, it's not surprising that Jansen's work tends to go unnoticed. He deserves better, and might be the best example of a reliever who, like Mariano Rivera, succeeds with one pitch, his cut fastball, which swerves into the hands of left-handed hitters and darts away from right-handed hitters.

Last season, opponents batted only .176 against him, with a .215 on-base percentage. Only Wade Davis produced a lower OBP among all relievers with at least 40 innings.

4. Dellin Betances, New York Yankees

Dellin Betances His average fastball velocity last season was 97 mph and his average slider was 83.9 mph, and the canyon of difference between those two pitches is where hitters are lost, constantly. The past two seasons, Betances has thrown a whopping 174 innings and allowed only 91 hits, while amassing 266 strikeouts. The lingering concern about Betances is how his ridiculous workload might be affecting his command and results; Betances walked 40 hitters last season, and his strikeout/walk ratio declined from 4.05 in the first half to 2.57 in the second half.

Part of the reason why the Yankees are comfortable taking offers for Andrew Miller is that Betances is fully capable of taking over as the team's closer, but rival evaluators wonder how long Betances will hold up.

5. Andrew Miller, New York Yankees

Andrew Miller Chapman throws harder than Miller, but you could make a compelling case that Miller is the game's best left-handed reliever. Almost nobody can get hits against Miller and his ridiculous slider, which seems to travel on an arc that runs from the first-base dugout to the third-base dugout. Opponents batted .151 against Miller in 2015.

6. Craig Kimbrel, Boston Red Sox

Craig Kimbrel Kimbrel just had his worst statistical season, but that's actually a great compliment to him because even in what evaluators perceived to be a down year for the right-hander, he overpowered hitters constantly, whiffing 87 batters in 59 1/3 innings and holding opponents to a .569 OPS. (This was the first time in Kimbrel's career that he allowed an OPS over .500.) There was talk among some evaluators that Kimbrel's arm angle had dropped somewhat during the season, something the Red Sox undoubtedly will track in 2016, Kimbrel's first year in Boston.

7. Zach Britton, Baltimore Orioles

Zach Britton Britton is probably the most underrated reliever in MLB now that he has locked in his ridiculous sinker, which seemly dives straight down. Think about this: Last year, Britton generated a ground ball/fly ball ratio of 8.33-1, and there was only one other reliever in the majors with a ratio greater than 5 (Brad Ziegler). He allowed only 14 walks in 65 2/3 innings, with 79 strikeouts -- and a whole mess of balls bounced into the dirt in front of home plate.

8. Jeurys Familia, New York Mets

Jeurys Familia Forget about what happened in the World Series for just a moment, the quick pitch to Alex Gordon that went bad. The Mets' closer ascended into the upper echelon of relievers once he started throwing his sinker more consistently, the best sinker manager Terry Collins has seen, he says, since he watched Kevin Brown, who is generally viewed as the Babe Ruth of sinkerball pitchers.

9. Ken Giles, Philadelphia Phillies

Ken Giles Opposing hitters have had 464 plate appearances against Giles since he made his major league debut in 2014, and he has allowed only three homers. This despite the fact that he pitches in Philadelphia's relatively small ballpark; outside of Citizens Bank Park, Giles has faced 201 hitters and hasn't surrendered a single homer.

The Phillies should look to trade him now to take advantage of his current value; at a time when he's pitching for relative pennies, he presumably would have a lot of value.

10. Brad Ziegler, Arizona Diamondbacks

Brad Ziegler He is like the tortoise among a lot of hares; Ziegler had an average fastball velocity of 83.9 in 2015. But the submariner gets results: Only three relievers generated a lower opponents' OPS last year than Ziegler's .524, as he compelled opposing hitters to beat the ball into the ground to take advantage of the Diamondbacks' strong infield defense.

If you held a reliever draft among general managers, he might last two or three rounds because of his lack of velocity, and because of the fear that he'll turn into a pumpkin. But the point is to get outs -- right? -- and Ziegler has been among the best at doing that.

Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart intends to continue with Ziegler as closer.

Toughest guy to leave off this list: Mark Melancon, who mustered 51 saves and walked only 14 in 76 2/3 innings in 2015.

Notables

• As I wrote here Monday, key players wanted the Dodgers to hire Dave Roberts as manager when the choice got down to either Roberts or Gabe Kapler, and among those who wanted Roberts, writes Dylan Hernandez, was Adrian Gonzalez. Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto said Roberts was a great hire.

Roberts has proved that nice guys can finish first, writes Mark Whicker.

• Kenta Maeda, a pitcher in Japan, says he wants to pitch in Major League Baseball next season. There is an expectation that the Diamondbacks will be among the teams to pursue him.

• What happened with Allen Webster is a reminder of the fickle nature of prospects, writes Alex Speier.

• I cannot imagine any good reason why the Marlins dumped Tommy Hutton from their broadcast booth. Hutton tells Barry Jackson he was not given a reason.

• Five dominoes need to fall before the Yankees and Mets can go into action, writes Ken Davidoff.

• Some evaluators involved in the discussions with David Price are convinced that he's indicating to all clubs that he'd like to play for them. If true, that's the smart way to operate.

Price tweeted about his preference Monday.

• The Mariners signed Chris Iannetta to a one-year deal, and it's evident that Mike Zunino has lost his stranglehold on the starting catcher job.