Can Set-Up Pitchers Really Help?

The closer is the guy that gets all the glory....comes in the game in the 9th....mows down three straight hitters...strikes out the last guy to end the game with a flourish....his team wins and his fantasy owner - you - knocks down another one in the Save category.  Nice stuff.

What about the guy who has pitched in the 6th or 7th and held the lead, or gotten out of a bases-loaded jam when he came into the game?  How about the guy in the 8th, who kept the middle of the opposing lineup from doing any more damage?  Where's the love for these guys?

Well, thankfully, more and more fantasy leagues are including 'Holds' as part of their statistical categories.  Some, like the one I am in, still does not.  However, that does not preclude you from grabbing one, or possibly two of these guys and have them help your team.

One strategy I have always used with a nine pitcher squad (with no restrictions/limits/rules on how many starters or relievers you need to have - we simply have an innings minimum) is to have six starters, at least one and ideally, two, Save guys and at least one, if not two (if only one save guy)
Set-Up type guys.  Why? 

Even though our league doesn't use 'Holds' those guys are extremely useful in giving me solid ERA, WHIP and even Strikeouts.  Look at Octavio Dotel's career as an example.  In the years he wasn't the 'go to' save guy he still amassed a ton of strikeouts and minuscule ERA's and WHIP numbers.  How does 145 strikeouts in 105 innings grab you?  Or how about later in his career when he was with the White Sox, amassing 92 strikeouts in 67 innings?

My point is that there are guys out there, maybe not to the extreme of Dotel, that can give you some really solid numbers in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts that can certainly help your pitching categories.  When some of those categories are tight and a few points can mean the difference between winning and losing a fantasy league pennant, these guys can be extremely valuable.  Look at some of these guys to help out.

Tomorrow we'll look at some of the guys currently toiling in various bullpens that might be available in your league that can help, especially down the stretch.