So, you're in the waning rounds of your fantasy baseball draft and you have two bench spots to fill. You could go the route of a late round starting pitcher and another reserve outfielder, but let's look at some of the names you'll see. You'll be looking at drafting guys like Joe Blanton, Bronson Arroyo, Jeff Francoeur and Michael Cuddyer. These guys are serviceable bench players, but what if you had a better option for those last two picks?
What if I told you that taking two middle relievers would be a better option for your fantasy team? Let's first look at Blanton's 5x5 stats from last season. He had nine wins, 111 strikeouts, a 4.69 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.
Now, let's look at a few middle relievers who should also be available in those late rounds. J.P. Howell and Matt Thornton both have average draft positions well above 300. If you were to use your final two selections on them and combine their stats here's what you'd get. You have a pitcher with 11 wins, 169 strikeouts, a 2.41 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP in 156.2 innings of work.
The 11 wins are a bit short, but all of the other stats make up a very solid, top 20 starting pitcher. Why not combine two middle relievers with your late round picks instead of grabbing a serviceable starter and bench player? These middle relievers will help incredibly with your WHIP and ERA and be a nice added bonus of Wins and Strikeouts. This seems to be a much better strategy than grabbing a starter who's going to have a ballooned ERA above 4.00 and kill your WHIP.
Here's a small list of middle relievers who may fit the bill of late round combo picks:
• J.P. Howell, Rays - Howell had six wins, 92 strikeouts and a 2.22 ERA last season.
• Matt Thornton, White Sox - Thornton had five wins, 77 strikeouts and a 2.67 ERA last season.
• Grant Balfour, Rays - Balfour had six wins, 82 strikeouts and a 1.54 ERA last season.
• Scot Shields, Angels - Shields had six wins, 64 strikeouts and a 2.70 ERA last season.
• Jose Veras, Yankees - Veras had five wins, 63 strikeouts and a 3.59 ERA last season.
• Chad Durbin, Phillies - Durbin had five wins, 63 strikeouts and a 2.87 ERA last season.
• John Grabow, PIrates - Grabow had six wins, 62 strikeouts and a 2.84 ERA last season.
You'll find many more pitchers who can be of help while using this strategy. You'll want to focus on pitchers who strikeout a good number of batters, walk very few, and keep their ERA's down, well below 4.00. Wins from middle relievers are hard to predict. As long as your selections are providing top notch numbers in the other categories, the few wins these middle relievers get are gravy.
