The fantasy sports industry is constantly changing and evolving. Fantasy baseball is no different. In the past few years there has been a shift to make relievers more valuable. If you play in a standard 5x5 rotisserie league the only category relievers contribute is saves. Sure, they help a little bit with ERA and strikeouts, but they don’t have as much of an impact as starting pitchers do especially if the league requires a minimum of 1,000 innings pitched. Over the past few years there have been some advancements to make relievers more useful.

Some leagues have gone from using Saves as a category to Saves + Holds to give value to set up men. Also, ratio categories like strikeout-to-walk (K:BB) and strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) have become more popular as well. Categories like these are where relievers of any kind can help you, especially the elite players. Because of their short outings (typically an inning or so each time they appear) they have the ability to rack up strikeouts with minimal walks and earned runs allowed. Closers will always fly off the board first because most leagues still use saves as a category. However, there are some great set up men worth targeting in your draft because of their elite pitching prowess as well as their bullpen situation that could open the door for them to get saves.

Andrew Miller (CLE): Let’s start with the poster boy of set-up men. For most of his career, Miller was looking like a pretty big draft bust after being selected sixth overall by the Tigers in the 2005 MLB Draft. He never really panned out as a starter, but a move to the bullpen in his time with the Red Sox is where he found his calling. Especially over the last few seasons with the Indians and the Yankees, Miller has really shined as a set up man and he even had a few opportunities as a closer, where he also thrived. Miller is coming off a 2017 season where he boasted a 1.44 ERA (1.99 FIP), .233 BABIP, 0.44 HR/9 and perhaps his most impressive stat was his 13.64 K/9. He did average almost a full walk every three innings (3.02 BB/9), but you’ll suffer through that small setback because he’s easily the best set-up man on the fantasy market. Miller does find himself in an intriguing situation with Cleveland. He put up better numbers than Cody Allen, the team’s closer, last season and Allen even volunteered to switch roles with Andrew Miller last June. It was a bizarre move, but ultimately Allen kept the job. Allen’s had some nice seasons as a closer, but he’s never gotten to 35 saves in a year. Miller’s ratio stats and opportunity to possibly take over the closer’s role this year make him the set up man to aim for.

Carl Edwards Jr. (CHC): Edwards is a pitcher pretty similar to Andrew Miller. In 2017 he had a very impressive K/9 (12.75), a stellar BABIP (.192) that led all relief pitchers and a decent ERA (2.98). Walks were a very big concern for Edwards last year considering he had 38 of them in 66.1 innings of work. Edwards certainly had some growing pains last season yet it’s still surprising he wasn’t in line for the closer’s role with the departure of Wade Davis. Either way, the Cubs brought in Brandon Morrow who is the presumed closer heading into the year. Although Morrow’s coming off a great season with the Dodgers, let’s not forget he has a 4.05 career ERA and a career .294 BABIP. Now Morrow may have had his own bullpen revelation similar to Miller and learned he’s best suited as a reliever. But don’t overlook Edwards this year. He offers plenty of upside and could find himself in the closer’s role if Morrow regresses.

Addison Reed (MIN): While Reed doesn’t have the statistical upside of Miller or Edwards Jr. he does find himself in a good position to take over as Minnesota’s closer in the event Fernando Rodney’s age finally catches up to him and he relinquishes the job. Reed doesn’t have as much strikeout upside (9.00 K/9) as Miller and Edwards Jr., but he doesn’t walk as many batters (1.78 BB/9) as them. Reed should be the primary set-up man in Minnesota and while he hasn’t been a full-time closer since 2014 with Arizona, he’s definitely in great position if Rodney falters.

Dellin Betances (NYY): Betances is a monster. He’s huge. He’s 6’8” and has an absolutely dominant presence on the mound. Unfortunately you can’t help but feel somewhat sorry for the guy. Sure he’s playing for his hometown team. He grew up just a couple miles away from Yankee Stadium. And yet he’s not the closer. You can’t help but feel bad for the guy a little bit, but there are some concerns with Betances. First and foremost, unless an injury to Aroldis Chapman occurs there’s no clear path to saves. So if you draft Betances you’re drafting for his strikeout numbers. He possesses a stellar 97-98 mph fastball and a very effective slider. Last year he had 100 strikeouts in 59.2 innings of work. That’s a 15.08 K/9. That’s amazing. The pitfalls with Betances are walks. At 6.64 BB/9 last season he was just inviting runners on base. He doesn’t give up many home runs (only surrendered three all last season), but if he can get the walks down it could improve his K:BB ratio and his ERA. Despite the occasional control struggles he’s still an elite set up man worth targeting.

David Robertson (NYY): Not far behind Betances on the bullpen depth chart is David Robertson. Robertson logged a fantastic 1.84 ERA (2.57 FIP) last season with a .216 BABIP.  Not to mention his K/9 (12.91) and BB/9 (3.03) made for a pretty decent K:BB ratio (4.26). He’ll turn 33 in April, but what’s great about Robertson is that he’s durable. He’s thrown over 60 innings in relief each season dating back to 2010. Now it would take an injury to both Chapman and Betances in order for Robertson to find a path towards logging saves. For now, approach drafting him with the expectation that you are solely drafting a reliable set up man.

Chad Green (NYY): In case you haven’t noticed by now, the New York Yankees have a very good bullpen. And it is deep with talent. Chad Green is no exception. Green worked 69 innings last year and finished with a 1.83 ERA, 103 strikeouts, 17 walks, gave up just four home runs, and had a pretty good .236 BABIP. If you play in a league that utilizes K:BB ratio, Green is your guy.. On most teams Green could be a closer or at the very worst a set-up man. Unfortunately there are so many talented arms in the Yankees bullpen it’s hard to envision a scenario where Green gets some save opportunities in 2018.

Chris Devenski (HOU): Devenski burst on to the scene last year as one of the league’s surprising set up men. He utilizes his fastball and changeup effectively enough to fool hitters into a 11.16 K/9. And if you don’t like how many walks Betances gives up then you should consider Devenski who gave up 2.90 BB/9 in 2017. His 3.49 FIP stacked against his 2.68 ERA suggests he was the beneficiary of some luck last year. After all he did give up 11 home runs and he logged over 80 innings of work. Fatigue shouldn’t be too much of a concern. Yes, 80+ innings is a hefty amount for a reliever, but eight of those innings came across his first two appearances last year in long relief. Devenski should be a good source of holds this upcoming year if your league accounts for that statistic.

Brad Boxberger (ARI): Archie Bradley will likely be named the closer for the Diamondbacks in 2018, which makes Brad Boxberger the set up man by default. Boxberger had a bit of a rough 2017 season that was plagued with injuries, but he still yielded a 3.38 ERA. He was a great source for strikeouts (40 in 29.1 innings of work) and gave up just four home runs all year. Boxberger makes the move from Tampa to Arizona and Chase Field will be storing its baseballs in a humidor this upcoming season. This should help pitchers grip the ball better as well as make them a little heavier so they don’t bounce as much or fly out of the ballpark as easy.

Tyler Lyons (STL): Lyons is pretty similar to Boxberger in that they’re both currently not the projected closer, but there’s a fairly easy path to save opportunities should their team’s closer, Luke Gregerson, fumble away the opportunity. In 54 innings last year he gave up just three home runs despite his .295 BABIP.  Gregerson was brought in to be the Cardinals closer, but Lyons could win the job if Gregerson falters early on.

Anthony Swarzak (NYM): Swarzak, all in all, is just a solid relief pitcher. He worked 77.1 innings last season and touted a 10.59 K/9 and a 2.56 BB/9. His .286 BABIP looks worrisome, but it didn’t kill him too much as he finished the year with a 2.33 ERA. He was also very good at keeping the ball in the park. Despite the heavy workload he surrendered just six home runs all year. On the depth chart he’s behind A.J. Ramos and Jeurys Familia, who is the closer. Swarzak has a chance to leapfrog Ramos who is coming off a pretty disappointing season. Swarzak will likely only be taken in deeper leagues, but he carries some promise.

A.J. Minter (ATL): Arodys Vizcaino is slated to start the season as the Braves closer, but do not count out Minter. In a small sample size (15 innings) last year in the big leagues, Minter collected 26 strikeouts and just two walks. Even with the small sample size he touted a 3.00 ERA, but a 0.96 FIP that suggests he had some bad luck in his few appearances. He only utilized his fastball and cutter, but both are very effective. Minter is a bit of a dark horse candidate to jump Vizcaino midway through the season and take the closer job, but drafting him as a set up man in March could pay huge dividends.

Kyle Barraclough (MIA): Kyle Barraclough is pretty similar to A.J. Minter. He’s currently a set-up man, but could take over the closer’s position. He also boasts two pitches (mid-90’s fastball and a slider) while occasionally mixing in an okay changeup. Barraclough didn’t give up many home runs, which may have been a by-product of pitching in Marlins Park. The downside of Barraclough is that, like many other pitchers featured so far, he gave up a lot of walks. He gave up 38 walks in 66 innings, but did have 76 strikeouts. His .291 BABIP is also a bit of an eyesore. However, Barraclough presents statistical upside and could find himself in the closer role. Ziegler had a 4.79 ERA in 2017 and just a mild 4.98 K/9. The Marlins may not be in position for a lot of wins this year, so whoever is closing for Miami may not have many save opportunities.

Josh Hader (MIL): Josh Hader is pretty intriguing. He’ll turn 24 early in April and he has a great fastball, and last year it was his go to pitch. He used it about 80% of the time.  So it is possible that teams will just come to expect it from him. Unless Corey Knebel gets hurt, there is no way Hader will get the closer’s job this year. So if you draft him it’s probably in a deeper league or a NL only league. Hader only worked 47.2 innings last year, but that’s largely because he didn’t appear with Milwaukee until June 10th, so he missed the first two months of the season. He had his struggles with walks (4.15 BB/9), but that’s to be expected from a rookie pitcher. It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility for Hader to assume the eighth inning setup man duties from Jeremy Jeffress and Jacob Barnes.

Keone Kela (TEX): Kela shares some similarities to Hader. He’s young, struggled with walks as a young pitcher, and has a path towards being a setup man. And not just that, but he could become the closer at some point this year. Kela turns 25 in April and yet he made his debut three years ago. He’s bounced between the minors and the big league club the past few seasons, but he has a lot of upside. For starters, he posted a .179 BABIP in 38.2 innings of work out of the bullpen last season. He has a very good fastball and curveball and with just Matt Bush and Alex Claudio in his way, it’s possible he steals the closer’s throne during the season.

Don’t forget to keep an eye out for guys like Matt Barnes, Carson Smith, and Joe Kelly in Boston, Jose Ramirez (the pitcher obviously, not the infielder for Cleveland), Scott Alexander, Pat Neshek, Juan Nicasio, Ryan Madson, Nick Vincent, Kirby Yates, and Mychal Givens. All are set-up men worth monitoring in deep leagues or AL/NL only leagues.