Should there be a second relief pitcher spot?

During the 2021 season, there was a suggestion  💡  to add a second relief pitcher (RP) spot to fantasy team rosters. Partly as an excuse to use a new poll feature, I thought I’d gauge opinion on this.

An advantage of doing this is that it would be an opportunity to make use of one of the many relievers that aren’t closers that otherwise may not serve much of a purpose fantasy-wise because managers generally want to use closers in their one RP spot, who will earn saves. The scoring does offer three points to relievers that record a ‘hold’.

A counter argument might be: are holds enough of a thing to warrant a second RP spot?

The other thing to note is I believe Yahoo only has one general ‘relief pitcher’ category of player; I don’t think there is a specific ‘closer’ category where only out-and-out MLB closers would be eligible. So any type of reliever can be put in a RP slot.

Have your say in the topic poll and leave your thoughts in the comments below!*

 

*Like referendums, the outcome of this poll is not legally binding  😉

• This topic was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by FBUK.

[Jonathan @jonathan]

I like the idea of a second RP slot. There are plenty of good point scoring middle relievers out there, but if they’ve got only a RP designation they’re not really worth a roster spot, as they would take up your closer’s spot in the line-up. There are good relievers with dual SP/RP designation, such as Collin McHugh and Garrett Whitlock, but these are snapped up quickly as they can fit into the line-up without benching the closer.

Thanks Tim for all your effort, very much appreciated! 👍

[Stuart Burnett @stuart_burnett]

Rather than tinker with the mix of SP and RP roster spots, have we considered just having 6 generic ‘Pitcher’ spots (I’m pretty sure the game allows for ‘P’ roster spots which can be filled by either SP or RP)? That would give managers the flexibility to roster whatever mix of starters and relievers they want.

As long as we keep the IP limit (which I believe we must do), I cannot see a downside to this simplification.

 

[dodotop @dodotop]

It would increase the value of all RPs if there were more spots. Right now it’s only worth taking a closer in the last round of the draft. Had I thought of that before the season started though I wouldn’t have wasted my sixth round pick!

[Baz The Bald @baz_the_bald]

In the Limited Trade League there’s room for more than one additional spot. Hardly anybody came within hundreds of the innings allowance for pitchers because starters simply don’t go beyond 5 innings anymore except in unusual circumstances and very often don’t even stick to a 5 day rotation. It would be helpful if the spots could be restricted to actual RPs, of course. Almost everybody actually filled the RP spot with an SP/RP category on the basis that they would get as many innings out of one start as with a week’s worth of relief.

[Jane W @jane-w]

I certainly used more relievers this year, particularly towards the end of the season.  The other league I played in this year was a Yahoo Public Rotisserie league which had 2 SP slots, 2 RP and 4 P which you could use for either.  I enjoyed the flexibility of this.  In the UK league I felt restricted having to choose SP/RP players as relievers as there was only room for one RP.