The 2017 MLB season is right around the corner and that means preparing for the season both from a sports betting and a fantasy perspective over the next couple of weeks. One of the most underrated elements of baseball remains the relief staffs around the majors as the best in the game are consistently able to lock down opponents and turn early leads in to wins. Make sure you don’t underestimate the impact of relievers both from a sports betting and a fantasy perspective. Let’s take a closer look at the bullpens in the NL Central from strongest to weakest next season.
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals bullpen is absolutely loaded with Seung Hwan Oh thriving in the closer role in his first season in North America a year ago, which allowed for Trevor Rosenthal to move to a long relief role. Oh posted a ridiculous 1.92 ERA with an 11.64 K/9 and a 2.03 BB/9 and should be marked as a closer to target in fantasy circles this season. Meanwhile, Rosenthal can absolutely dominate when he brings his best stuff and while he doesn’t bring his best stuff as often as he did before he is still an excellent relief pitcher. Kevin Siegrist, Brett Cecil, Jonathan Broxton and likely either Michael Wacha or Alex Reyes will join Oh and Rosenthal in one of the deepest and most talented bullpens in the majors this coming season.
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs are another team with an absolutely outstanding bullpen. Wade Davis was brought in to hold down the closer role in place of the departed Aroldis Chapman and as long as he doesn’t suffer a significant decline he should thrive in Chicago. Meanwhile, Koji Uehara was added to a group of relievers that already includes Hector Rondon and Carl Edwards Jr., each of whom is likely still capable of being the closer on a good portion of major league teams. The Cubs are very deep in the bullpen once again in 2017 and that should translate to more success.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Tony Watson is the incumbent closer for the pirates but for both fantasy owners and sports betting fans it’s important to be wary of his overall outlook. Watson is the most heavily worked reliever in baseball over the last four years and he could be overdue for a significant injury. Meanwhile, Felipe Rivero is close to a breakout season with high upside and could be a key piece if Watson is hurt. Daniel Hudson rounds out an impressive bullpen that is just a step behind what the Cardinals and Cubs will bring to the table.
Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati had one of the worst bullpens in the majors last season and could be in a similar situation if Drew Storen doesn’t bounce back. Storen was acquired to hold down the closer role but he gave up far too many home runs last season and that could be cause for concern at the Great American Ballpark. Meanwhile, the Reds prefer Raisel Iglesias in a flexible role if they can afford it with Michael Lorenzen in the mix as another long reliever but their depth isn’t great and that could mean more bullpen issues for Cincinnati in 2017.
Keep an eye on the Reds in the coming days as there are rumors that they will be shipping off long-time infielder Brandon Phillips to the Atlanta Braves. If that’s the case, they might be getting some bullpen help in return and that could change their standing here.
Milwaukee Brewers
For as bad as the Reds’ situation is, Milwaukee’s bullpen might be worse thanks to the fact that they keep trading capable assets. The Brewers moved Tyler Thornburg and will attempt to replace him with Neftali Feliz, who is a fly ball pitcher that struggles with giving up home runs. That could mean problems at a hitter friendly stadium at Miller Park. Meanwhile, Milwaukee doesn’t have much behind Feliz with Corey Knebel likely next in line for the closer role but he is clearly not ready after struggling with inconsistency last season. The Brewers will deal with a number of issues in 2017 and their bullpen is definitely one of them.
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