In the last article about relief pitchers I didn’t pull any punches as to how I feel about the closer role. It gets that much more dicey when you add holds to the conversation. The long and short of it is that relief pitchers are not treated like other position players. Normally, playing time is dependent on production, but performance doesn’t always dictate who gets the choice roles for relievers.

This means that you have to couple evaluating a relief pitcher’s ability along with his opportunity to put up the numbers you are looking for. 35 pitchers had ten or more saves, so even if you remove the prospect of holds, you have to consider the fact that at least several closers will lose their jobs at some point in the season. So, we open up the reliever list to forty slots.

Even without holds, adding a non-closer or two to the roster is not a bad idea. If you can count on them to throw zeroes and collect more than a strikeout an inning it can do wonders for your fantasy team. Let’s say one of your starters has an off day. Having a reliever or two that can throw a zero on that day will help the bottom line. So, don’t shy away from the setup guys and middle relievers because they can be more help than what you know.