Reliever Rankings — Saturday, May 22
Here are the inaugural Reliever Rankings for 2021, up to and including Saturday, May 22. Teams are ranked by league in the following categories: inherited runners scored percentage (IS%), ERA-minus (ERA–), WHIP, strikeouts per walk (K/BB), Goose Egg percentage (GE%), Broken Egg percentage (BE%), and GE per BE (GE/BE). These ranks are averaged to get their overall ranking. For an explanation of any of these statistics, see the glossary at the bottom.
American League Reliever Rankings
| 1 | New York Yankees |
| 2 | Cleveland Indians |
| 3 | Seattle Mariners |
| 4 | Tampa Bay Rays |
| 5 | Toronto Blue Jays |
| 6 | Chicago White Sox |
| 7 | Oakland Athletics |
| 8 | Boston Red Sox |
| 9 | Texas Rangers |
| 10 (tie) | Detroit Tigers |
| 10 (tie) | Kansas City Royals |
| 12 (tie) | Baltimore Orioles |
| 12 (tie) | Los Angeles Angels |
| 14 | Houston Astros |
| 15 | Minnesota Twins |
(Scroll the embedded table to the right to see all the stats)
American League Top Performers
Here are the top performers from each American League team. GR stands for “games in relief,” and the (0-0-0) stats are GE-BE-M. Stats for each pitcher are from his relief appearances only.
Baltimore Orioles
Cesar Valdez (16 GR, 17 IP, 2.65 ERA, 62 ERA–, 0 HR, 4 BB, 21 K, 5/1 IR/IS (20%), 1.353 WHIP, 7-3-2)
Paul Fry (18 GR, 16 IP, 2.81 ERA, 66 ERA–, 0 HR, 8 BB, 24 K, 9/2 IR/IS (22%), 1.188 WHIP, 6-2-4)
Boston Red Sox
Matt Barnes (21 GR, 22 1/3 IP, 2.42 ERA, 56 ERA–, 2 HR, 5 BB, 40 K, 7/2 IR/IS (29%), 0.627 WHIP, 15-2-0)
Garrett Whitlock (12 GR, 22 1/3 IP, 2.01 ERA, 46 ERA–, 3 HR, 5 BB, 23 K, 5/2 IR/IS (40%), 1.075 WHIP, 2-2-0)
Adam Ottavino (21 GR, 18 1/3 IP, 3.44 ERA, 79 ERA–, 0 HR, 12 BB, 24 K, 8/1 IR/IS (13%), 1.364 WHIP, 9-5-1)
Chicago White Sox
Liam Hendriks (18 GR, 18 IP, 2.50 ERA, 60 ERA–, 4 HR, 2 BB, 28 K, 11/1 IR/IS (9%), 0.944 WHIP, 10-2-2)
Aaron Bummer (17 GR, 16 1/3 IP, 2.76 ERA, 66 ERA–, 1 HR, 8 BB, 21 K, 5/3 IR/IS (60%), 1.286 WHIP, 4-3-3)
Jose Ruiz (17 GR, 18 1/3 IP, 2.95 ERA, 71 ERA–, 2 HR, 5 BB, 19 K, 6/2 IR/IS (33%), 0.927 WHIP, 0-1-0)
Cleveland Indians
James Karinchak (21 GR, 20 2/3 IP, 0.44 ERA, 10 ERA–, 1 HR, 7 BB, 38 K, 8/2 IR/IS (25%), 0.484 WHIP, 11-0-1)
Emmanuel Clase (22 GR, 20 2/3 IP, 0.87 ERA, 20 ERA–, 0 HR, 9 BB, 20 K, 0/0 IR/IS, 1.355 WHIP, 8-2-2)
Bryan Shaw (18 GR, 17 IP, 1.59 ERA, 37 ERA–, 1 HR, 11 BB, 19 K, 10/1 IR/IS (10%), 0.882 WHIP, 6-0-0)
Cal Quantrill (15 GR, 22 2/3 IP, 1.99 ERA, 46 ERA–, 2 HR, 11 BB, 14 K, 5/2 IR/IS (40%), 1.456 WHIP, 2-0-0
Detroit Tigers
Michael Fulmer (12 GR, 19 IP, 1.89 ERA, 46 ERA–, 2 HR, 3 BB, 23 K, 8/3 IR/IS (38%), 0.895 WHIP, 6-1-2)
Gregory Soto (20 GR, 17 1/3 IP, 3.63 ERA, 88 ERA–, 1 HR, 13 BB, 19 K, 6/3 IR/IS (50%), 1.788 WHIP, 4-1-2)
Houston Astros
Ryan Pressly (18 GR, 19 1/3 IP, 1.40 ERA, 33 ERA–, 0 HR, 3 BB, 21 K, 5/1 IR/IS (20%), 0.983 WHIP, 9-1-2)
Kansas City Royals
Scott Barlow (22 GR, 23 1/3 IP, 2.31 ERA, 53 ERA–, 0 HR, 11 BB, 34 K, 9/5 IR/IS (56%), 1.286 WHIP, 9-1-2)
Josh Staumont (20 GR, 21 2/3 IP, 2.91 ERA, 66 ERA–, 1 HR, 12 BB, 25 K, 4/0 IR/IS (0%), 1.200 WHIP, 7-1-0)
Jake Brentz (22 GR, 19 1/3 IP, 2.79 ERA, 64 ERA–, 2 HR, 13 BB, 21 K, 15/5 IR/IS (33%), 1.293 WHIP, 3-1-1
Los Angeles Angels
Tony Watson (16 GR, 15 1/3 IP, 2.35 ERA, 54 ERA–, 2 HR, 3 BB, 12 K, 13/1 IR/IS (8%), 0.783 WHIP, 5-1-0)
Mike Mayers (21 GR, 21 1/3 IP, 5.48 ERA, 125 ERA–, 6 HR, 11 BB, 30 K, 11/6 IR/IS (55%), 1.594 WHIP, 9-2-3)
Raisel Iglesias (17 GR, 16 IP, 5.63 ERA, 128 ERA–, 5 HR, 3 BB, 22 K, 2/0 IR/IS (0%), 1.313 WHIP, 7-2-1)
Minnesota Twins
Taylor Rogers (16 GR, 18 IP, 2.50 ERA, 63 ERA–, 2 HR, 3 BB, 26 K, 6/5 IR/IS (83%), 1.222 WHIP, 10-2-2)
Hansel Robles (19 GR, 18 2/3 IP, 2.89 ERA, 73 ERA–, 1 HR, 12 BB, 22 K, 4/1 IR/IS (25%), 1.071 WHIP, 6-1-1)
New York Yankees
Aroldis Chapman (18 GR, 18 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 ERA–, 0 HR, 7 BB, 36 K, 0/0 IR/IS (0%), 0.667 WHIP, 13-0-1)
Chad Green (19 GR, 22 1/3 IP, 2.01 ERA, 49 ERA–, 3 HR, 3 BB, 21 K, 9/0 IR/IS (0%), 0.716 WHIP, 8-2-4)
Jonathan Loaisiga (19 GR, 24 1/3 IP, 2.59 ERA, 63 ERA–, 2 HR, 5 BB, 21 K, 5/1 IR/IS (20%), 0.904 WHIP, 9-2-1)
Oakland Athletics
Yusmeiro Petit (24 GR, 26 IP, 2.42 ERA, 61 ERA–, 1 HR, 5 BB, 18 K, 14/4 IR/IS (29%), 1.000 WHIP, 10-0-3)
Jake Diekman (21 GR, 20 IP, 3.15 ERA, 79 ERA–, 2 HR, 8 BB, 29 K, 5/3 IR/IS (60%), 1.200 WHIP, 9-3-0)
Lou Trivino (21 GR, 23 IP, 3.13 ERA, 79 ERA–, 2 HR, 13 BB, 23 K, 7/2 IR/IS (29%), 1.304 WHIP, 7-3-0)
Seattle Mariners
Kendall Graveman (14 GR, 16 2/3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 ERA–, 0 HR, 3 BB, 17 K, 5/0 IR/IS (0%), 0.540 WHIP, 10-0-0)
Tampa Bay Rays
Andrew Kittredge (14 GR, 18 1/3 IP, 0.98 ERA, 25 ERA–, 0 HR, 4 BB, 16 K, 8/3 IR/IS (38%), 0.818 WHIP, 9-1-0)
Ryan Thompson (21 GR, 22 IP, 2.05 ERA, 53 ERA–, 1 HR, 6 BB, 21 K, 14/4 IR/IS (29%), 0.955 WHIP, 11-4-3)
Diego Castillo (18 GR, 18 2/3 IP, 3.38 ERA, 88 ERA–, 4 HR, 6 BB, 26 K, 6/0 IR/IS (0%), 1.071 WHIP, 11-3-1)
Texas Rangers
Ian Kennedy (18 GR, 18 1/3 IP, 1.96 ERA, 46 ERA–, 2 HR, 4 BB, 21 K, 1/1 IR/IS (100%), 0.982 WHIP, 9-0-1)
John King (16 GR, 23 IP, 2.35 ERA, 55 ERA–, 1 HR, 4 BB, 18 K, 7/3 IR/IS (43%), 1.348 WHIP, 3-4-0)
Toronto Blue Jays
Tyler Chatwood (16 GR, 17 IP, 0.53 ERA, 12 ERA–, 0 HR, 5 BB, 24 K, 8/1 IR/IS (13%), 0.765 WHIP, 7-0-0)
Joel Payamps (15 GR, 20 2/3 IP, 1.74 ERA, 41 ERA–, 3 HR, 7 BB, 12 K, 4/2 IR/IS (50%), 1.113 WHIP, 2-1-0)
Jordan Romano (16 GR, 14 2/3 IP, 2.45 ERA, 58 ERA–, 0 HR, 8 BB, 17 K, 3/2 IR/IS (67%), 1.091 WHIP, 6-3-0)
Top Three
Kendall Graveman (SEA), Aroldis Chapman (NYY), James Karinchak (CLE)
National League Reliever Rankings
(Scroll the embedded table to the right to see all the stats)
National League Top Performers
Here are the top performers from each National League team. GR stands for “games in relief,” and the (0-0-0) stats are GE-BE-M. Stats for each pitcher are from his relief appearances only.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Caleb Smith (16 GR, 24 2/3 IP, 2.92 ERA, 72 ERA–, 2 HR, 13 BB, 29 K, 2/0 IR/IS (0%), 1.297 WHIP, 2-1-0)
Atlanta Braves
Tyler Matzek (21 GR, 20 IP, 2.70 ERA, 61 ERA–, 2 HR, 11 BB, 30 K, 3/0 IR/IS (0%), 1.200 WHIP, 4-2-2)
Luke Jackson (20 GR, 17 2/3 IP, 1.53 ERA, 35 ERA–, 2 HR, 9 BB, 17 K, 10/2 IR/IS (20%), 1.245 WHIP, 4-3-1)
Chicago Cubs
Craig Kimbrel (18 GR, 17 2/3 IP, 1.02 ERA, 27 ERA–, 1 HR, 7 BB, 30 K, 5/0 IR/IS (0%), 0.849 WHIP, 12-2-1)
Andrew Chafin (21 GR, 21 IP, 2.57 ERA, 67 ERA–, 1 HR, 8 BB, 21 K, 8/3 IR/IS (38%), 0.905 WHIP, 10-1-1)
Dan Winkler (17 GR, 14 1/3 IP, 0.63 ERA, 17 ERA–, 0 HR, 7 BB, 15 K, 10/1 IR/IS (10%), 0.977 WHIP, 10-1-1)
Cincinnati Reds
Tejay Antone (14 GR, 23 1/3 IP, 1.93 ERA, 43 ERA–, 2 HR, 9 BB, 31 K, 10/1 IR/IS (10%), 0.729 WHIP, 11-1-1)
Colorado Rockies
Mychal Givens (18 GR, 16 1/3 IP, 3.86 ERA, 86 ERA–, 4 HR, 10 BB, 17 K, 7/5 IR/IS (71%), 1.469 WHIP, 5-3-2)
Los Angeles Dodgers
Kenley Jansen (19 GR, 20 2/3 IP, 1.31 ERA, 34 ERA–, 1 HR, 15 BB, 24 K, 9/0 IR/IS (0%), 0.968 WHIP, 12-3-1)
Victor Gonzalez (20 GR, 16 IP, 1.69 ERA, 44 ERA–, 0 HR, 9 BB, 14 K, 13/4 IR/IS (31%), 1.250 WHIP, 7-3-0)
Blake Treinen (20 GR, 19 IP, 1.89 ERA, 49 ERA–, 1 HR, 5 BB, 22 K, 7/1 IR/IS (14%), 1.211 WHIP, 7-3-4)
Miami Marlins
Yimi Garcia (20 GR, 19 2/3 IP, 1.37 ERA, 35 ERA–, 3 HR, 4 BB, 19 K, 3/0 IR/IS (0%), 0.915 WHIP, 12-2-1)
Dylan Floro (22 GR, 20 IP, 3.15 ERA, 80 ERA–, 0 HR, 6 BB, 18 K, 0/0 IR/IS, 1.250 WHIP, 12-2-0)
Milwaukee Brewers
Josh Hader (17 GR, 16 2/3 IP, 1.08 ERA, 27 ERA–, 0 HR, 7 BB, 30 K, 1/0 IR/IS (0%), 0.840 WHIP, 12-0-2)
Devin Williams (18 GR, 16 1/3 IP, 3.86 ERA, 95 ERA–, 3 HR, 11 BB, 25 K, 3/2 IR/IS (67%), 1.286 WHIP, 8-3-1)
New York Mets
Edwin Diaz (18 GR, 18 1/3 IP, 3.44 ERA, 91 ERA–, 0 HR, 6 BB, 23 K, 1/0 IR/IS (0%), 1.145 WHIP, 11-0-1)
Miguel Castro (16 GR, 15 1/3 IP, 3.52 ERA, 93 ERA–, 2 HR, 8 BB, 24 K, 4/1 IR/IS (25%), 1.304 WHIP, 5-3-0)
Aaron Loup (16 GR, 12 IP, 3.00 ERA, 79 ERA–, 0 HR, 2 BB, 13 K, 16/7 IR/IS (44%), 1.333 WHIP, 5-2-5)
Philadelphia Phillies
Hector Neris (21 GR, 20 2/3 IP, 2.18 ERA, 56 ERA–, 3 HR, 7 BB, 26 K, 5/2 IR/IS (40%), 1.016 WHIP, 10-4-1)
Jose Alvarado (17 GR, 14 1/3 IP, 3.77 ERA, 97 ERA–, 1 HR, 13 BB, 22 K, 7/2 IR/IS (29%), 1.605 WHIP, 9-2-0)
Pittsburgh Pirates
Richard Rodriguez (18 GR, 19 IP, 0.47 ERA, 12 ERA–, 0 HR, 1 BB, 15 K, 3/2 IR/IS (67%), 0.368 WHIP, 12-0-0)
San Diego Padres
Mark Melancon (20 GR, 21 1/3 IP, 0.84 ERA, 23 ERA–, 1 HR, 5 BB, 18 K, 3/2 IR/IS (67%), 0.797 WHIP, 14-1-2)
Craig Stammen (19 GR, 26 2/3 IP, 1.69 ERA, 46 ERA–, 3 HR, 4 BB, 31 K, 7/0 IR/IS (0%), 0.863 WHIP, 1-1-1)
Tim Hill (21 GR, 18 IP, 2.50 ERA, 68 ERA–, 3 HR, 5 BB, 21 K, 14/3 IR/IS (21%), 1.167 WHIP, 6-1-1)
Emilio Pagan (20 GR, 18 IP, 3.00 ERA, 82 ERA–, 4 HR, 7 BB, 24 K, 4/0 IR/IS (0%), 1.222 WHIP, 10-1-0)
San Francisco Giants
Tyler Rogers (25 GR, 25 2/3 IP, 0.70 ERA, 19 ERA–, 1 HR, 5 BB, 13 K, 7/3 IR/IS (43%), 0.818 WHIP, 12-1-2)
Jake McGee (21 GR, 19 2/3 IP, 4.58 ERA, 122 ERA–, 4 HR, 4 BB, 26 K, 3/1 IR/IS (33%), 1.119 WHIP, 10-4-0)
Caleb Baragar (18 GR, 14 IP, 0.64 ERA, 17 ERA–, 0 HR, 9 BB, 11 K, 2/0 IR/IS (0%), 1.429 WHIP, 2-1-2)
St. Louis Cardinals
Alex Reyes (22 GR, 24 IP, 0.38 ERA, 10 ERA–, 0 HR, 20 BB, 32 K, 7/3 IR/IS (43%), 1.250 WHIP, 10-0-1)
Genesis Cabrera (22 GR, 23 1/3 IP, 1.93 ERA, 52 ERA–, 1 HR, 9 BB, 26 K, 14/6 IR/IS (43%), 0.986 WHIP, 5-0-1)
Giovanny Gallegos (21 GR, 26 1/3 IP, 2.05 ERA, 55 ERA–, 1 HR, 6 BB, 30 K, 7/2 IR/IS (29%), 0.684 WHIP, 11-1-1)
Washington Nationals
Daniel Hudson (16 GR, 16 IP, 1.13 ERA, 30 ERA–, 2 HR, 5 BB, 20 K, 5/0 IR/IS (0%), 0.688 WHIP, 8-0-0)
Brad Hand (16 GR, 16 1/3 IP, 3.86 ERA, 101 ERA–, 3 HR, 7 BB, 18 K, 0/0 IR/IS, 1.286 WHIP, 4-3-3)
Top Three
Richard Rodriguez (PIT), Mark Melancon (SD), Josh Hader (MIL)
Glossary
An inherited runner is one who is on base when a reliever enters the game. If that runner scores, it is charged to the pitcher who was in the game when said runner got on base. The IS% is the percentage of inherited runners who score.
Not all ERAs are created equal. ERA-minus (ERA–) takes an earned run average, adjusts it for a player (or team)’s home ballpark, and divides it by the league (NL or AL) average. That result is multiplied by 100 to give the ERA–. The league average is 100. Anything lower is better than the league average, anything higher is worse. Each unit is one percentage point away from the league average (e.g. 80 ERA– is 20 percentage points lower than the league average).
WHIP is walks and hits per innings pitched, or baserunners per inning. Strikeouts per walk is a good indicator of a pitcher or staff’s control.
A Goose Egg is a scoreless inning of clutch relief (seventh inning or later; tie game, a lead of no more than two runs, or entering the game with the tying run on base or at bat). A Broken Egg is a failed Goose Egg situation. A Meh is a Goose Egg situation that did not result in a GE or BE. GE/BE is the ratio of GE to BE; the historical average is around 3-to-1. For a full explanation of the statistic, see this article by its inventor, Nate Silver.
Main Photo
Embed from Getty Images
