Every time he takes the mound, Cincinnati Reds right-hander Raisel Iglesias tells himself he’s the best reliever in baseball. It’s a motivation tactic, but he might not be that far off.
This season, he has an ERA of 1.10 in 16 u2153 innings, and a WHIP of 0.796. He’s striking out 10.5 batters per nine innings, up a full batter from a year ago. His ERA+, a measure that accounts for differences in league and ballpark, pegs his performance as 298 percent better than the average pitcher.
He might not be the best reliever in the sport – Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Kenley Jansen still exist – but he’s certainly among them.