I always preferred scouting the Minor Leagues more than I did the Major League level during my time in Anaheim’s pro department, but the aspect I most enjoyed about Major League coverage was looking for relievers who may pop up on the waiver wire or were easy to acquire in a trade that could step in and help your ML club’s bullpen, whether it be low or high leverage spots. Relievers, more than any other position, truly can be a “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” game and being able to see something in a player that had maybe been overlooked previously is my favorite part of this sport.
As always, there are several teams who will be looking to upgrade their bullpen as they either try to make a run at making the playoffs or bolster their already playoff-bound bullpen for a World Series run. I wanted to spotlight a handful of relievers who would likely cost very little in a trade scenario but could still provide value to a playoff club. All four of these arms are not in a closer’s role and are on the active roster of clubs who are surely sellers at this year’s trade deadline.
‘Reliable’ and ‘relief pitchers’ are not words that tend to be uttered in the same sentence as one another very often, and rightfully so considering it’s by far the most volatile position in the sport. These are names that I like because of their ability to limit hard contact (especially elevated), while also limiting self-inflicted damage via free passes due to a lack of reliable control/command. The best thing a middle-reliever can do for his club in the playoffs is hand the ball over to the back-end of the bullpen with the lead, and these names are guys I think teams should be confident in their ability to do just that.
Dillon Tate (RHP, BAL)- 2023 Arb Eligible
Relievers who aren’t hesitant to challenge hitters in the zone and minimize the amount of long balls against them aren’t the sexiest thing in the world, but they’re valuable. Tate has only allowed 2 HR’s (0.4 per 9) so far in 2022 and currently holds a 1.96 BB/9. Tate primarily pitches off of his sinker that averages 94.1 mph and has produced ground balls 62.4% of the time. Going through video, it’s obvious Tate is able to run it up to 97-98 mph in high-leverage spots and still have the solid tail and sink action on the pitch. It especially eats up RH batters, like the one here:
His changeup is another solid weapon in his arsenal. The offering has drawn a 41% whiff rate, and when put in play, has an average exit velocity of 84.7 mph against it. The one downside of the offering is how much Tate relies on batters chasing it out of the zone. He throws the offering with fastball arm speed and sells it well, which adds an element of deception to go along with the late depth action the pitch has. While he primarily uses it against left-handed batters, right-handed hitters have to respect it as well, because it doesn’t disappear when facing same side hitters.
For me, Tate’s slider is average at best and routinely shows fringey shape and bite. It’s effective enough to be a third pitch, but not a pitch he’s going to lean on in big spots. The offering has a tendency to back up on Tate, but when it’s on it shows some tilt to it. While the slider doesn’t miss many bats in the zone (14.3%), it has been effective at limiting hard contact when batters put the slider in play with an average exit velocity of only 77.2 mph.
Teams looking to bolster their middle relief corps should find Tate to be an attractive target to help with that task. Despite him still being in pre-arb and being arbitration eligible in 2023, I highly doubt the Orioles front office is asking for a hefty return. Tate is a 50 grade reliever for me. Not someone I want shouldering heavy leverage situations routinely, but rather an arm I’d be confident in being able to help bridge the middle innings of a game and get the ball to the back of the bullpen arms.
Anthony Bass (RHP, MIA)– 2yr/$5M (2021-22), 2023 Team Option
Bass is another right-hander who has done a great job of not giving up hard contact and keeping the baseball in the yard. The average exit velocity for batters who put balls in play against Bass in 2022 is 86.4 mph, and his ‘hard hit %’ is at 31.5%. Bass is primarily just a two pitch reliever with his slider and sinker combination making up 86% of his pitches. He also has a four-seamer (9.6%) and split (4.4%) in his arsenal but doesn’t really throw either enough to spend too much time on here.
His slider, which has averaged 86 mph has true downer shape along with late break and plenty of bite. Bass has solid feel for landing the offering in the zone, but has also been effective at getting hitters to expand their zone and chase the breaking ball out of the zone, which batters have done 41% of the time, likely due to how late the break is on many of his sliders. It’s been a very effective pitch for him that is no doubt a plus pitch, and it’s easy to see why it’s by far his most relied on pitch. Here’s one of Bass’ sliders slipping under a bat:
Bass will flash some splitters that have significant depth and dive to them, but the majority have just slight depth. It’s an offering that has averaged 86 mph this year so it does serve as a change of pace pitch, but throwing it 4.4% of the time, it’s almost an irrelevant pitch. The four-seamer that he throws mainly against LH batters and 9.6% of the time overall doesn’t have significant life or movement to it.
I like the reliever profile of guys who still miss some bats, but are extremely effective at limiting hard contact and self-inflicted damage, and Bass has been just that type this year. Bass is another 50 reliever who could fill a middle-relief role for a playoff club that I’d imagine would cost a low level, flyer type prospect in return in a trade scenario.
Steve Cishek (RHP, WSH)- 1yr/$1.75M
Cishek is on year 13 of reliable relief service, so why not target a reliever who gets his name said in the same sentence as ‘reliable’, because that is rare in the world of relief pitchers. Cishek limits hard contact against him with elite deception that allows his fastball/slider combination to play up significantly.
Cishek throws both a sinker and a four-seam fastball. In 2022 he’s used them both pretty evenly, with his sinker usage at 31.2% and his four-seamer at 28.8%. As you’d imagine, he uses his sinker much more against RH hitters and the four-seamer is utilized far more often against LH batters. The sinker, which averages only 90 mph, is producing ground balls at a 56.8% rate due to the pitch’s very late tailing and sinking action. Cishek really likes to elevate against LH hitters with his four-seamer. It’s an offering that averages only 89.3 mph, but given Cishek’s elite extension, it’s apparent from observing that the offering plays well above the velocity because of his extension and other deceptive traits in his delivery. Both fastballs serve their purpose well and his ability to mix and play them off one another is a very effective approach for Cishek and his arsenal. The videos below show what I’m referring to. Cishek’s sinker is on the left and his four-seam is on the right:
While Cishek does spread out his pitch usage pretty evenly, the offering he goes to most is his slider, which effectively avoids loud contact against both RH and LH hitters. The pitch is a wide, sweepy bender that covers a lot of ground horizontally and has solid teeth to it. Cishek is able to land the offering in the zone consistently and expands out of the zone well with it too. It’s a pitch that averages 77 mph and has proven to be extremely difficult for hitters to not only stay back on, but also barrel up. Here’s one of those sliders generating an ugly swing from Matt Olson:
Cishek is a quality bridge reliever who is going to challenge batters in the zone and make the offense string together multiple hits and/or walks. He might have the smallest asking price in return out of anyone on this list, and would provide a playoff bound team with a more known commodity in the reliever field.
Andrew Chafin (LHP, DET)– 1yr/$6.5M (Player option for 23)
Chafin is a fastball/slider left-handed reliever who has tossed 30.2 innings in 2022 for the Tigers bullpen. He has been very effective at neutralizing not only LH hitters, but RH hitters as well, which likely isn’t a one-year outlier in Chafin’s favor, because a quick look at his career stats against RH hitters reveals years of success against them. In 2021, Chafin posted the lowest BB% of his career at 7.1%, and he’s followed that up this year by posting a nearly identical rate in 2022 (7.0%). Just as appealing, Chafin is another reliever on this list who has limited the long ball, as he’s allowing only 0.3 HR/9.
Chafin has above average deception in his delivery with a significant crossfire stride, an ability to hide the baseball throughout his arm path, and plenty of general ‘funk’. As noted above, Chafin is a fastball/slider arm, but he does utilize both a sinker and four-seam. He uses the sinker (36.9%) a bit more than the four-seam (26.9%), but uses both often enough that hitters can’t eliminate either one of them. Chafin throws from a high slot, so his sinker doesn’t have the typical tail/sink action but more of a downhill, angle oriented shape/action. Aesthetically, it doesn’t differ much from his four-seamer as you’ll see in the videos below, but as you’d expect, Chafin elevates more often with the four-seamer. Both of his fastballs are shown below with Chafin’s sinker being on the left and his four-seamer being on the right:
Hands down my pitch of choice in Chafin’s arsenal is the slider. It’s a true two-plane breaker that he doesn’t land in the zone regularly, but has such late action. His ability to make it appear a strike for as long as he does is why he’s getting hitters to chase the offering 42.6% of the time and producing swing and misses at a 60.2% rate this season, and it particularly eats up LH hitters. Batters in 2022 are yet to produce a single extra-base hit against Chafin’s slider, and that’s going to be an asset in any bullpen in the league. Here’s an example:
