Which Remaining Free Agent Relievers Are Coming Off The Best Seasons?

The offseason floodgates opened this month, with an avalanche of free agent activity once the Winter Meetings got underway. Things have quieted down in recent days thanks to the holidays, but clubs are likely to again get back to attacking the free agent market in earnest this week.

Most of the winter’s top names are off the board, leaving teams to mostly look through lower-cost options as they search for upgrades on the margins of the roster. There are still a number of experienced options available, particularly for teams seeking to round out the bullpen. Using MLBTR’s free agent list, we find 47 pitchers who tossed at least 20 innings out of a team’s bullpen in 2022 and remain unsigned.

We’ll sort the remaining free agent relievers by various metrics of 2022 performance to identify some of the top arms. There are obviously other factors for teams to consider — quality of raw stuff, pre-2022 track record, the player’s injury history, etc. — but a brief snapshot on the top bullpen arms by last year’s performance should provide a decent starting point for players teams might target moving forward. (All figures cited, including league averages, are looking solely at pitchers’ outings as relievers).

ERA (league average — 3.86)

1. Matt Moore (LHP), 1.95
2. Alex Young (LHP), 2.08
3. Matt Wisler (RHP), 2.23
4. Wily Peralta (RHP), 2.72
5. Brad Hand (LHP), 2.80
6. Andrew Chafin (LHP), 2.83
7. David Phelps (RHP), 2.87
8. Ralph Garza Jr. (RHP), 3.34
9. Jackson Stephens (RHP), 3.38
10. Michael Fulmer (RHP), 3.39

Strikeout rate (league average — 23.6%)

1. Daniel Norris (LHP), 30%
2. Darren O’Day (RHP), 27.7%
3. Andrew Chafin, 27.6%
4. Matt Moore, 27.3%
5. Aroldis Chapman (LHP), 26.9%
6. Steve Cishek (RHP), 25.8%
7. Chasen Shreve (LHP), 25.4%
8. Will Smith (LHP), 24.9%
9. David Phelps, 23.9%
10. Noé Ramirez, 23.7%

Strikeout/walk rate differential (league average — 14.5 percentage points)

1. Andrew Chafin, 19.8 points
2. Daniel Norris, 19 points
3. Darren O’Day, 17 points
4. Chasen Shreve, 16.7 points
5. Steve Cishek, 16.4 points
6. Craig Stammen (RHP), 15.7 points
7. Will Smith, 15.3 points
8. Matt Moore, 14.8 points
9. Ross Detwiler (LHP), 14.8 points
10. Luke Weaver (RHP), 13.8 points

Ground-ball rate (league average — 43.5%)

1. Luis Perdomo (RHP), 62.5%
2. Joe Smith (RHP), 57.5%
3. Alex Young, 55.7%
4. Alex Colomé (RHP), 55.6%
5. T.J. McFarland (LHP), 53%
6. Craig Stammen, 52.6%
7. Garrett Richards (RHP), 52.4%
8. Bryan Shaw (RHP), 51.8%
9. Andrew Chafin, 51.3%
10. Jacob Barnes (RHP), 50.7%

FIP (league average — 3.86)

1. Luke Weaver, 2.46
2. Alex Young, 2.65
3. Matt Moore, 2.98
4. Andrew Chafin, 3.06
5. David Phelps, 3.11
6. Garrett Richards, 3.16
7. Jackson Stephens, 3.45
8. Michael Fulmer, 3.57
9. Brad Hand, 3.93
10. Darren O’Day, 4.04

Innings Pitched

1. Matt Moore, 74
2. Caleb Smith (LHP), 69
3. Steve Cishek, 66 1/3
4. Michael Fulmer, 63 2/3
5. David Phelps, 62 2/3
6. Hunter Strickland (RHP), 62 1/3
7. Will Smith, 59
8. Andrew Chafin, 57 1/3
9. Bryan Shaw, 54
10. Jackson Stephens/Hirokazu Sawamura (RHP), 50 2/3 each