Fantasy Baseball: The Best Relievers That Start

May 16, 2012 - PRLog -- We're now well into the season and some of the RP/SP experiments have already blown up while others have been quite successful.  Clearly, some of the largest disappointments this season have been Matt Moore who's sporting a 5+ ERA and Cory Leubke who's on the DL.  I had these two as my top candidates in my pre-season research.  However, Leubke had pitched well while healthy and injuries are just an impossible factor to predict.  This post isn't about those failures, but instead the relievers who are studding it out as starters so far this year.

The handful of elite RP/SP's that I feel offer the best chance at continuing with their impressive performances thus far include Jeff Samardzija, Anthony Bass, Neftali Feliz, Lance Lynn, and Ross Detwiler.  With the exception of Bass, all of them have at least four quality starts and three wins.  However, Bass has some of the best overall numbers excluding QS and W and he plays in a very pitcher-friendly ballpark.  Detwiler was chosen over a veteran for the 5th spot in the rotation for a reason early in the year, while Samardzija, Lynn and Feliz are converting from the bullpen with great success.  After reviewing their minor league histories, it is clear that these are the candidates to buy while dumping the rest.  If you want to get a free evaluation of your fantasy team or trade, then check out our free submission tool at http://www.fantasydraftstrategy.com/fantasy-team-trade-ev....

Chris Sale, Felix Doubront, and Daniel Bard are a big step down from the above guys although they could be worth a pick up in very deep leagues.  Watch out for Sale's sore shoulder as he has recently flip-flopped between the bullpen and rotation to ease the strain.  Also, Doubront was hit in the head by a line drive so there could be lingering effects.  However, these relievers will still contribute innings, strikeouts, and the occasional win while filling a valuable RP roster slot.  If you can stomach the bump in ERA and WHIP, then things might work out well for you.

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