CLEVELAND -- Fantasy managers want saves, strikeouts and run prevention from the closers, perhaps in that order, and nobody has done it better in 2019 than San Diego Padres right-hander Kirby Yates. Sure, Yates emerged as a reliable relief pitcher last season and when the Cleveland Indians traded for lefty Brad Hand, saves began to come his way, but few expected these numbers. This season, a whole lot of saves are coming his way. Yates already has 30 of them; for perspective, only 10 pitchers had more in all of 2018.
The road Yates traveled to get to the All-Star Game might seem a rare one, but perhaps not so much for the relief pitcher community, which often sees annual surprises and new names thriving. Fantasy managers should know this by now. Yates is a fine example, as he entered the 2017 season with three years of major league service time and a bloated 5.25 ERA, looking for a new team to invest in him as he turned 30. Then something changed, as he told me Monday during All-Star Game interview sessions.
"Going into '17, I put out a plan that I wanted to do something different," said Yates, leading the Player Rater among relievers thanks to not only the saves, but a 1.15 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 60 strikeouts, the latter category tied for sixth among all relief pitchers. "I wanted to work on getting an out pitch. I needed a swing-and-miss breaking ball. The slider wasn't cutting it so I developed a splitter and along with that there was a new mindset: I didn't want to suck anymore. I wanted to be better, plain and simple."
Yates is obviously better now, as he made tangible adjustments to his pitch repertoire and, as he noted, missing bats was hardly a problem for him even when he struggled. "I've always been able to strike guys out. The days I had a good slider when I was only throwing the slider are the days I would get strikeouts. The problem was the day my slider was bad was the day I would give up home runs. I had to find a common balance. I think the split-finger has complemented my fastball so well it is one of those things. It becomes like a chess match and you have choose right."
Looking around the room during the All-Star interview sessions there was a common theme among more than a few of the relief pitchers. Most had struggled at times in the past and had to adjust, and most had changed organizations. Detroit Tigers right-hander Shane Greene has not, at least not yet. He is one of the 11 pitchers who saved 30 games last season but with the highest ERA, he was not a top-100 overall pick in this season's drafts, like Yates. Few wanted Greene at all, but now he is No. 10 among relievers on the Rater. Greene illustrates how unpredictable relievers can be, which is why waiting on them in drafts or spending little in auctions gains traction each year. Greene posted a 2.66 ERA in 2017, then it jumped to 5.12 last year, and now it is 1.09!
"The only I thing I did was learn from my experience and to do my best to live pitch by pitch," said Greene, 30, who saved each of Detroit's first 10 wins, had 12 through April, and 12 since, which is still significant for a team pacing toward 100 losses. "Never get too high or too low. I felt like I pitched really well last year. I felt like I had some bad luck and was making good pitches and wasn't getting rewarded for it. I didn't handle that very well looking back on it. I was getting really high and really low in terms of success and failure."
While Yates and Greene would appear to be safe in their closer roles, well, one never knows for sure. Both the Padres and Tigers could trade their closers, noting the frequency with which organizations find new internal options. One would think Yates would close for his new team, but Greene is no sure thing, especially with the statistical highs and lows he has demonstrated just over the past calendar year. Oakland Athletics right-hander Liam Hendriks is another example; he entered this season with a 4.72 career ERA and one save. One. Now he is thriving as a fill-in closer, and as with other pitchers noted it is not always about pitch repertoire, though Hendriks is relying more on his four-seam fastball than ever, and improved his curveball.
"The adjustments for me were also mental," said Hendriks, sporting a 1.24 ERA and five saves just since June 22. "Not expecting things to happen and then getting upset when they don't. I went through a stage when that happened a lot. Situations like I think I'm the seventh-inning guy and all of a sudden I'm in there in the fourth inning. I let that affect me too much."
Hendriks is the most-added relief pitcher in ESPN standard leagues over the past week, and for good reason. He is closing games with myriad strikeouts and last permitted a run more than a month ago. Hendriks noted time could be running out for saves, but I say do not be so sure. "At the end of the day I am not expecting to stay in the ninth inning," he said. "We have an All-Star closer in Blake Treinen who will be back in the role and I'm fully expecting that to happen soon. Our bullpen is better when he is the closer. I might figure in the seventh or eighth or be a multi-inning guy but at the end of day I am just happy to be on the team after what happened last year."
My take on these three pitchers, each older than 30: Yates continues to thrive and saves more than 50 games this season. He and Milwaukee Brewers lefty Josh Hader finish as the top relief pitchers. I do not think the Padres trade Yates away. A wild-card berth would matter greatly to that franchise. There will be no wild-card berth for the Tigers, so Greene is at risk of being in his final weeks saving games ... or he could be Boston's closer next week. Nobody knows. Still, with his statistical track record, be wary. With Hendriks, I think something is wrong with Treinen's shoulder and imminent return might be generous. Hendriks could keep the role a while.