Sport Fanatics Fantasy Baseball - Hold Relief Pitchers

One of the most frequent fantasy baseball questions I have been asked the past few years is for help on the Holds scoring category. This is for people who are in leagues that go beyond the typical 5X5 roto style league and add the middle relief pitchers as a part of their fantasy team. For those of you new to fantasy baseball or in leagues that do not use that as a scoring category, let me try and explain. To obtain a hold, the relief pitcher must come into the game in a relief appearance when there is a save opportunity. They then have to record at least one out and then be removed from the game by another pitcher while still maintaining the lead for their team. A pitcher cannot finish the game and receive credit for a hold, and a pitcher can not earn a hold and a save in the same game.

Now that you know the definition, what do you look for in relief pitchers to get you holds? You want to get pitchers who pitch late in the game, but are not the teams primary closer. The best relief pitchers to get you holds are the teams primary setup pitchers. Remember the pitcher does not need to pitch a lot of innings, as the pitcher only needs to pitch for one out to obtain a hold. Evaluating relief pitchers is like drafting any other player for your team, the more valuable relief pitchers will not be good in just the holds category, but will also contribute positively to your team ERA, WHIP and strikeout totals.

Below is a listing of how well we think players will perform in the holds category for the 2008 baseball season.

Relief pitchers who should generate between 30-35 holds.

Heath Bell

Jonathan Broxton

Scot Shields

Relief pitchers who should generate between 25-29 holds.

Jon Rauch

Hideki Okajima

Derrick Turnbow

Rafael Betancourt

Relief pitchers who should generate between 20-24 holds.

Scott Linebrink

Chad Qualls

Alan Embree

David Weathers

Ryan Franklin

Bob Howry

Dan Wheeler

Pat Neshek

Tom Gordon

Brad Hennessey

Fernando Rodney

Brian Fuentes

Henry Owens

Justin Speier

Aaron Heilman

Relief pitchers who should generate between 15-19 holds.

Tony Pena, Jr.

Yasuhiko Yabuta

Mike Gonzalez

Chad Bradford

Damaso Marte

Masahide Kobayashi

Jeremy Accardo

Al Reyes

Jamie Walker

Pedro Feliciano

LaTroy Hawkins

David Riske

Luis Ayala

Matt Lindstrom

Casey Janssen

Joe Beimel

Joel Zumaya

Scott Downs

Joaquin Benoit

Juan Rincon

Relief pitchers who should generate between 10-14 holds.

J.C. Romero

Carlos Marmol

Matt Thornton

Kyle Farnsworth

Russ Springer

Oscar Villarreal

Kazuo Fukumori

Matt Guerrier

Cla Meredith

Mike Timlin

John Grabow

Salomon Torres

Taylor Tankersley

Luis Vizcaino

Santiago Casilla

Joe Smith

Peter Moylan

Joel Peralta

Kerry Wood

Eric O'Flaherty

C.J. Wilson

Jesus Colome

Jared Burton

Doug Brocail

Jimmy Gobble

Rafael Perez

Armando Benitez

Ryan Madson

Tyler Walker

Greg Aquino

2008 Fantasy Baseball - Projected Hold Leaders