There is no hidden statistic telling us that Colorado Rockies right-hander Daniel Bard was one of the best relief pitchers in the sport last season. Bard was indeed a great story, having returned to the big leagues after seven seasons away, and it was nice to see him healthy, throwing hard and getting outs. He won four and saved six games for a bad team, pitching well enough to finish better on the Player Rater than Taylor Rogers, Matt Barnes and all but 20 other relief pitchers. It was quite impressive.
So why is Bard the No. 35 relief pitcher in ESPN average live drafts and rostered in a mere 27% of standard leagues?
Well, for one, he is on the Rockies. Everyone is scared of Rockies pitchers, to various degrees, and while Bard performed capably over 13 home games at Coors Field in 2020, that is hardly predictive. Second, Bard was a walker back in the day with the Boston Red Sox, when performance and injury derailed his career, and he did issue 10 walks in his 24 2/3 innings in 2020, including multiple free passes in each of his final two outings. Walks scare us, too, and Bard had a disturbing split versus left-handed hitters, permitting an OPS more than 200 points higher than against right-handers.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Bard is 35 years old and I guess myriad fantasy managers simply do not believe he can succeed again, especially with the Rockies trending in the wrong direction. There is no Nolan Arenado on the Rockies anymore, and shortstop Trevor Story could soon follow. This figures to be a bad Rockies team and they play in the extremist of extreme hitter ballparks. How many games will there be to save, anyway?
To be fair, if I had nary a doubt about Bard, I would rank him among my top 20 relief pitchers for fantasy, but there is obvious risk here, in performance and otherwise, but I also tend to simply avoid all Rockies pitchers, even the promising ones. While Scott Oberg is out of the bullpen picture with another unfortunate injury, former Baltimore Orioles closer Mychal Givens looms in case something goes awry, and while something generally seems to go awry for Rockies closers, Givens is not exactly Liam Hendriks, either.
Bard is going to open the season as the closer and while the spring training numbers generally do not matter, perhaps they do for Bard, since he has much to prove. He faced 26 batters and permitted two hits, three walks and nary a run, striking out 11. That proves little, and yeah, there are so many reasons to avoid Bard, but I added him in a league Monday -- after the draft -- and intend to be patient. ESPN Fantasy projects 26 saves, albeit with a high ERA and WHIP. Still, 26 saves, that works!
The point is, this is an odd season for relief pitchers in fantasy drafts and there are few guarantees after the top options. People are still drafting Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Joakim Soria, Minnesota Twins lefty Taylor Rogers, Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Archie Bradley and a trio of San Diego Padres in Drew Pomeranz, Emilio Pagan and Mark Melancon, despite no promises of saves. Bard should get saves. In some leagues, I need just the saves. In others, I covet great innings from relievers. I do not know what Bard will deliver, but it seems as if few are giving him much of a chance.
Here are five other relief pitchers that certainly appear to be the top save options for their respective teams, but remain available in so many ESPN standard leagues.
Anthony Bass, Miami Marlins: Not great but not as bad as most realize, he should close over Yimi Garcia, at least initially. Bass boasts a 0.99 WHIP since the start of 2019 with saves for multiple teams and his is a nice pitcher's park.
Greg Holland, Kansas City Royals: Rumors of a committee persist with I guess Josh Staumont and perhaps others, but Holland is fifth among active pitchers in saves, which means nothing to me, but to most managers, it absolutely means everything.
Ian Kennedy, Texas Rangers: Just ignore his 2020 season and focus on 2019, when he was one of the best surprises in the second half for the Royals. Matt Bush looms but Kennedy has to be in the lead here. Stop drafting Jose Leclerc: He is having Tommy John surgery!
Jake McGee, San Francisco Giants: I remain skeptical he keeps the job for six months, but that likely happens to half the current closers. This lefty pitched great in 2020 for the Dodgers and as with Bass, the home ballpark is a pitcher's one.
Richard Rodriguez, Pittsburgh Pirates: Some fade him because they expect the Pirates will trade him somewhere and he will not close. Certainly fair, but worry about that in July, not today.