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Top 33 Left Handed Relievers

By Joe Harder - Guest Writer & Owner of the Charlottesville Meadows
October 1, 2007

Ranked on the basis of 2006 Strat-o-matic card value

  1. B. J. Ryan, 31, Baltimore – Awesome 72 inning card. Gives up very little of anything either way and 11 gba to boot.
  2. Francisco Liriano, 23, Minnesota – For current value, 121 solid well-balanced innings, all good except for the +3 hold. I drafted him number eleven overall in our draft, for current and (I hope) future value, ideally as a starter.
  3. Billy Wagner, 35, New York NL – Still very tough against lefties and quite capable against righties. Hold and gba both zero. 72 innings pitched.
  4. Dennys Reyes, 30, Minnesota – Great against lefties and very good the other way, with a -4 hold. Twelve gb(a) and 50 innings pitched.
  5. Fabio Castro, 22, Philadelphia – Only 31 innings, but fewer than ten hits both ways, 12 gba, and -1 hold. Another franchise drafted him when he was next on my list and I had to settle for Pedro Feliciano (see below). Take him if you are carrying an extra pitcher.
  6. Mike Gonzalez, 29, Pittsburgh – Awesome against lefties and certainly passable against righties, albeit with 28 on base that way. Zero hold, zero gba, and 54 innings.
  7. Matt Thornton, 30, Chicago AL – 54 innings of solid normal lefty work, tolerable against righties.
  8. Will Ohman, 29, Chicago NL – fewer than ten hits both ways and a pretty clean card. Zero hold, zero gba, and 65 innings.
  9. Brian Fuentes, 31, Colorado – Seven ballpark diamonds against lefties, and four straight home runs, but pretty low on base against both ways and -1 hold.
  10. Trever Miller, 34, Houston – There is a bit of a diamond and homer problem in this slightly reversed lefty, but maybe you can make him work in your park. 50 innings, no gba, and -3 hold.
  11. Scott Downs, 31, Toronto – 77 innings, ten gba, and -4 hold are the plusses on this card.
  12. Tom Martin, 37, Colorado – Another reversed card, with 60 innings useful against reversed righty batters and a -4 hold, but lefties who hit lefties well will succeed against him.
  13. Scott Schoeneweis, 33, IL card – Righties hit him for power, lefties get on base more. 51 innings, 12 gba, +3 hold.
  14. Pedro Feliciano, 30, New York NL – I had to settle for the over-30 Feliciano to complement Liriano in my pen. Weakness vs. righties, but okay vs. lefties and -5 hold.
  15. Damaso Marte, 32, Pittsburgh – Only 14 hits allowed both ways, but righties will do well against.
  16. Mark Hendrickson, 32, IL card – 164 innings of a reversed lefty who can start or relieve, but not stellar numbers.
  17. Alan Embree, 37, San Diego – Pretty balanced card with 52 innings, but +9 hold, zero gba.
  18. Mike Stanton, 40, San Francisco – Reversed lefty with -6 hold but 23 hits allowed each way.
  19. Joe Beimel, 30, Los Angeles NL – 70 innings, definitely better against lefties. 12 gba and -6 hold adds to value.
  20. Hong-Chih Kuo, 25, Los Angeles NL – Reversed lefty can start or relieve (but with only 59 innings).
  21. Mike Myers, 37, New York AL – Better against right handed batters, +4 hold, and only 30 innings, but maybe you need a reversed lefty.
  22. Rheal Cormier, 40, Cincinnati – Reversed lefty with 48 innings is better than some others in the set, but 5 diamonds and 3.8 home runs vs. left handed hitters.
  23. Ron Villone, 37, New York AL – Better than many against lefties (except for four diamonds), but righties hit him at a goodly clip. 80 innings and -6 hold.
  24. Kurt Birkins, 26, Baltimore – Five diamonds and 3.2 straight home runs against righties and only 31 innings pitched, but otherwise a nice card.
  25. Scott Eyre, 35, Chicago NL – This reversed lefty is barely passable vs. lefties with 8 ballpark diamonds and 5.3 straight home runs, but could conceivably be useful against reverse righty dominated lineups.
  26. Darren Oliver, 36, New York NL – A diamond problem, especially against lefties, negates some of the value of the 13 hits allowed, 81 innings, -2 hold, and 8 gba.
  27. Ron Mahay, 35, Texas – slightly reversed, and 57 innings with -2 hold and 7 gba, but you probably don’t want him in there against too many lefties.
  28. Brian Tallet, 29, Toronto – Okay against lefties, but not so hot vs. righties.
  29. Macay McBride, 24, Atlanta – Gets lefties, but not righties. 56 innings, -4 hold, and 9 gba, but be careful against those righties.
  30. C.J. Wilson, 26, Texas – Gets lefties fairly well, as long as you don’t mind the 5 diamonds and 3.4 straight home runs to go along with the 4 diamonds and 2.8 home runs vs. righties. 44 innings.
  31. George Sherrill, 30, Seattle – Even more so than some others, shuts down lefties and gets clobbered by righties. Useful for getting a lefty hitter out of the game, but you may pay the price or issue a lot of intentional passes.
  32. Wil Ledezma, 26, Detroit – Starter/reliever with 60 innings who is decent vs. left handed batters, but his right hand side makes him a specialist.
  33. Ron Flores, 27, Oakland – Almost okay versus righties, with 12 gba and -2 hold, but more than 30 hits against lefties.

Top twenty left-handed relievers in terms of future value (in draft form only)

  1. Billy Wagner, 35, New York NL – Though 35, having a good 2007.
  2. Francisco Liriano, 23, Minnesota – will he come back strong from arm surgery? It’s worth a risk, in my book.
  3. C.J. Wilson, 26, Texas
  4. Macay McBride, 24, Atlanta – now with Detroit, in trade for Ledezma
  5. Wil Ledezma, 26, Detroit – now with Atlanta, in trade for Macay McBride
  6. Ron Flores, 27, Oakland – doing well in 07 with Oakland.
  7. Kurt Birkins, 26, Baltimore
  8. George Sherrill, 30, Seattle – Very good so far in 2007.
  9. Brian Tallet, 29, Toronto – just on the right side of 30.
  10. Pedro Feliciano, 30, New York NL – not exactly young, but having a fine season this year. For a long time, his ERA was 0.00 (not that relevant for relievers, true).
  11. Dennys Reyes, 30, Minnesota –
  12. Fabio Castro, 22, Philadelphia –
  13. Hong-Chih Kuo, 25, Los Angeles NL – Now a starter, and young.
  14. Mike Gonzalez, 29, Atlanta – Out for remainder of 2007 with arm problems, but has had a solid set of Strat cards.
  15. Matt Thornton, 30, Chicago AL –
  16. Will Ohman, 29, Chicago NL –
  17. Brian Fuentes, 31, Colorado –
  18. Scott Downs, 31, Toronto
  19. Damaso Marte, 32, Pittsburgh –
  20. Mark Hendrickson, 32, Los Angeles NL – Now a starter, and not that great of one.
  21. Joe Beimel, 30, Los Angeles NL –
  22. B. J. Ryan, 31, Baltimore – has he lost it? So far in 2007 he appears to have.

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