Yesterday the Hebrew Hammah argued that Roberto Osuna is the best reliever in baseball this year. Today I will use my extensive French vocabulary to proclaim: au contraire. It’s our other great relief pitcher, Ryan Pressly, who is the best reliever in baseball, at least since his arrival in Houston.
First, let’s look at this season. Here are the top relief pitchers in baseball as of April 17th, 2019 by FIP, xFIP, xwOBA and WHIP. I threw in their ERA’s and K% just for a look but I used the other four measures to judge who deserved to be in the “best of” category.