The trend towards placing more importance on bullpen strength in baseball has become very apparent over the years but while a good number of teams across the majors improved their relief staff the American League West has struggled to keep up. The Seattle Mariners have a solid staff in place but there is plenty of room for upheaval across the rest of the division with four other teams still facing question marks. Here is a breakdown of the outlook for the AL West bullpens based on perceived strength heading in to the 2017 season.
Seattle Mariners
Edwin Diaz broke on to the scene a year ago when he posted a 2.79 ERA with a 15.33 K/9 while securing the closer role for the Mariners. Diaz has the potenti23al to be an absolute stud again in 2017 and Seattle will need him to perform at a high level once again. Steve Cishek and Tony Zych are both quality arms despite a lack of elite stuff. The Mariners are in good shape if Diaz can stay healthy but an injury could completely shake up their overall outlook.
Houston Astros
Ken Giles has struggled early on and then come around over the second half in each of the last two seasons but the Astros need him to be better from the start in 2017. Will Harris avoided arbitration with a two-year deal while Luke Gregerson returned to the fold and both relievers will be ready to jump on the opportunity if Giles slips early on. Giles’s peripherals suggest he could deal with further regression this coming season so it won’t be a surprise if Gregerson or Giles step in to the closer role at some point in 2017.
Oakland Athletics
Ryan Madson is still the Athletics’ closer but with Sean Doolittle and Santiago Casilla both healthy and performing at a high level they could challenge for that role. Doolittle posted career-best numbers in 2016 with a 10.38 K/9 and a 1.85 BB/9 while Casilla has been solid despite that he doesn’t bring elite stuff to the table. Bullpen depth is a definite positive but the lack of an elite, established star closer limits the overall potential of this group.
The A’s pitching staff lagged quite a bit in 2016. They allowed opposing batters to hit .263 against them, which ranked them 21st in Major League Baseball. They’ll have to get more quality innings out of their staff if they are to compete.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers are another AL West team with a number of capable options but a lack of elite bullpen arms. Sam Dyson is the favorite to remain in the closer role this season but he won’t dominate and that means Matt Bush and Jeremy Jefress could steal the closer role at some point. Texas will be confident with the tools that they have in place but fantasy owners will likely never feel completely comfortable relying on any of their closer options including Dyson.
The Rangers finished the 2016 campaign ranking 22nd in team ERA. They have a lot of work to do in this areay but it doesn’t look like they’ve made a concerted effort to improve in this realm.
Los Angeles Angels
Cam Bedrosian posted a 1.12 ERA with an 11.38 K/9 in 40.1 innings last season but he hasn’t officially been named the Angels closer for 2017. Huston Street will return while Andrew Bailey is expected to be in the mix. As is the case with Texas, it’s hard to completely trust the Angels bullpen situation for fantasy purposes based on a lack of elite options. Bedrosian’s numbers indicate he should be the favorite for the closers role but there are no guarantees heading in to spring training.
The Angels need help with their pitching across the board. Last year, they ranked 21st in the MLB in terms of ERA and it was clearly one of the realms that really hurt the team. Their pitching staff allowed opposing batters to hit .269. Only three other teams – the Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins – allowed opponents to hit for a higher average.
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