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2018 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Relief Pitchers

The Top 36 relievers in fantasy baseball, as brought to you by Punk, Eddy, and Heath.

MLB: Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

Things are a bit sparse around these parts when it comes to relievers. Mainly because you know what you need (saves) and what you’re getting. Most (halfway) informed folks know who the elite guys are, and who follows. But just in case you’re behind the learning curve, here are our Top 36 relievers for fantasy baseball this year.

At the end I’ll throw in a few notable names, and then we’ll call it a day. As always, if you have questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you. Happy drafting, people!

2018 Relief Pitcher Rankings

Player Name Rank Heath Eddy Punk is Dead AVG Min Max
Player Name Rank Heath Eddy Punk is Dead AVG Min Max
Kenley Jansen 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Craig Kimbrel 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Aroldis Chapman 3 3 3 4 3.333333333 3 4
Corey Knebel 4 4 4 3 3.666666667 3 4
Roberto Osuna 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Cody Allen 6 7 6 7 6.666666667 6 7
Raisel Iglesias 7 6 9 6 7 6 9
Ken Giles 8 12 7 8 9 7 12
Felipe Rivero 9 8 8 12 9.333333333 8 12
Edwin Diaz 10 9 11 9 9.666666667 9 11
Brad Hand 11 10 10 13 11 10 13
Sean Doolittle 12 11 12 11 11.33333333 11 12
Wade Davis 13 13 13 10 12 10 13
Alex Colome 14 14 14 14 14 14 14
Hector Neris 15 19 15 16 16.66666667 15 19
Brandon Morrow 16 15 18 18 17 15 18
Mark Melancon 17 20 16 19 18.33333333 16 20
Arodys Vizcaino 18 18 17 22 19 17 22
Jeurys Familia 19 21 19 20 20 19 21
Archie Bradley 20 17 27 17 20.33333333 17 27
Andrew Miller 21 22 26 15 21 15 26
Brad Brach 22 23 21 23 22.33333333 21 23
Blake Treinen 23 16 25 27 22.66666667 16 27
Kelvin Herrera 24 24 22 24 23.33333333 22 24
Cam Bedrosian 25 25 20 30 25 20 30
Fernando Rodney 26 27 28 29 28 27 29
Shane Greene 27 26 24 35 28.33333333 24 35
Alex Claudio 28 28 29 31 29.33333333 28 31
Dellin Betances 29 30 44 25 33 25 44
Dominic Leone 30 29 23 48 33.33333333 23 48
Greg Holland 31 33 47 21 33.66666667 21 47
David Robertson 32 34 35 33 34 33 35
Brad Ziegler 33 32 30 40 34 30 40
Chris Devenski 34 35 36 34 35 34 36
Brad Peacock 35 36 46 28 36.66666667 28 46
Addison Reed 36 38 36 37 36 38

After those 36, here are a few names of note:

Joakim Soria and Nate Jones, White Sox - These two are in a battle for the White Sox closer role.

Zach Britton, Orioles - Britton (achilles) is out until at least late-May, and probably a little later than that. He is a worthy stash in leagues where you can slot him into a DL position and hold him, though. Brad Brach will man his post in the interim.

Luke Gregerson, Cardinals - He should have a late-inning role with the Cardinals, if not regain the closer’s job from Dominic Leone in short order. He is definitely worth a late-round selection if you are mining for saves.

There are multiple other situations with shaky incumbents, and I won’t trudge through them all. If you have questions, ask them. If not, good luck out there!