Who has the most complete team heading into the MLB playoffs?
RELIEF PITCHING
American League
Boston Red Sox: +3
Cleveland Indians: +5
Houston Astros: +2
New York Yankees: +4
Minnesota Twins: +1
BREAKDOWN: In order of closers this year – it goes Kimbrel (the best), Giles (2nd best), Allen (3rd) Chapman (4th) and Belisle (5th) but the depth of the Indians and Yankees push their bullpens above the Red Sox. Andrew Miller is the best reliever in the American League so he gives the Indians +5. The Yankees have three legitimate closers in Chapman, Betances and Robertson and when they’re on, they are the best in baseball. Add in Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle and Adam Warren. That’s +4 for Yankees for having depth that can carry them in a game. The Red Sox have the best closer in Kimbrel (+3) and I’m interested in how they use David Price out of the bullpen. If he has his best stuff, their bullpen might end up being one of the most dominant as well. The Astros have Giles but that’s about it. Will Harris is decent and Tyler Clippard..is well..Tyler Clippard. +2 for Tyler Clippard and the Astros. And obviously +1 for the Minnesota Twins who traded their closer at the deadline because they were sellers and didn’t think they would be playing in October. Kudos to you, Twins.
National League
Arizona Diamondbacks: +4
Chicago Cubs: +2
Colorado Rockies: +1
Los Angeles Dodgers: +5
Washington Nationals: +3
BREAKDOWN: In order of closers – it goes Jansen (the best) (he’s the best closer in ALL of baseball) then the rest are all kind of bunched together. Jansen owns an incredible regular season stat-line of a 5-0 record, 41 saves, 109 strikeouts, 7 walks, a 1.32 ERA and a .75 WHIP. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. Greg Holland of the Rockies is tied with Jansen for most saves in the National League but his 3.61 ERA and 6 losses are shaky. Fernando Rodney had 39 saves for the Diamondbacks but he also had a pretty high ERA for a closer (4.23). Wade Davis and Sean Doolittle might be better pitchers than those two. They both had less saves but both ERAs were under 3. The Dodgers (+5) have had the best bullpen in the National League all season (3.38 ERA), followed closely by the Diamondbacks (3.78 ERA), who receive +4. I really like the Nationals depth with the additions of Brandon Kintzler and Ryan Madson, earning the Nationals +3. The Cubs still have Wade Davis and some decent set up men so they gain +2. I also really like the addition of Pat Neshek for the Rockies but their bullpen is probably the worst of the five, giving them +1.
