Turning the Corner While On The Mound: Breakout Relievers in 2022
Today, we look at a handful of relievers who are primed for a breakout season this year.
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Pregame Pepper - Slowest Strikeouts of 2021
As you will read in today’s spotlight article below, many relievers can bring the heat. Let’s take a look at the other end of the spectrum and admire some of the slowest strikeouts from last season.
Leading Off
Breakout Relievers For 2022
By Daniel R. Epstein @depstein1983
Relievers are the most volatile players on any baseball roster. Not only are their jobs more transient than other players— the triple-A shuttle always beckons— but one blow-up can make or break a season. Many of them rely on just two pitches, so if one of them falls out of sync, the results could be disastrous. It’s a high-pressure job.
Despite the tightrope walk relievers must undertake every day, their success typically flies under the radar. Only the select, elite few become stars out of the bullpen. Most of the time, even the very good ones aren’t household names outside of their own fanbase. That’s why it’s easy to miss potential breakout relievers. Here is a handful of hurlers to keep an eye on when the season gets underway.
LHP Anthony Gose, Cleveland Guardians
Yes, this is the same Anthony Gose you remember roaming the outfield in Toronto and Detroit. As a centerfielder, he never hit enough to warrant more than a backup role. Following the 2016 season in which he hit .207 for the Tigers and .203 in Double-A and Triple-A, he went back to the low minors to reinvent himself as a pitcher. Fast-forwarding to 2021, he threw 5.1 innings for Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics, allowing only two baserunners. The following month, he re-emerged in the majors with Cleveland.
It’s a fascinating transformation, but his story is more than a Hallmark movie. He only had a 24-batter sample in his return to MLB, but his fastball averaged 99.3 mph and touched 101 with 99 percent spin efficiency. He also features a slider that generated a 44.4 percent whiff rate. Control was an issue in the minors, but he appeared to harness his arsenal much better towards the end of last season and in the Olympics. He’s out of minor-league options thanks to his previous MLB experience, so he’s a great bet to stick in the Guardians’ bullpen.
RHP Andrés Muñoz, Seattle Mariners
Muñoz burst onto the scene in 2019— to the extent that any reliever can— as a 20-year-old with the Padres with an 80-grade fastball and a wipeout slider. It was as devastating of a two-pitch mix as any in baseball. Unfortunately, the devastation backfired on his elbow. While rehabbing from Tommy John surgery in 2020, he was traded to Seattle. His recovery wiped out nearly two full seasons, though he returned to a major-league mound on the final day of the 2021 season, facing four batters.
Obviously, there’s only so much we can learn from one relief appearance, but the radar gun doesn’t lie. He threw a dozen fastballs, four of which popped triple digits. His average 99.6 mph heater velocity was the third-best in MLB last season, trailing only Emmanuel Clase and Jordan Hicks. Evidently, that was enough for the Mariners to sign him to a four-year extension with three team-option add-on years.
RHP Art Warren, Cincinnati Reds
To this point in his career, Warren has been a typically fungible reliever. He was the Mariners’ 23rd round pick in the 2015 draft out of Division II Ashland University. Against the odds, he briefly reached MLB for a scoreless yet unremarkable six-game stint in 2019 at age 26. Texas claimed him off waivers and stashed him in their alternate site in 2020, then traded him to the Reds in the offseason.
At 28, he impressed in his first extended run at the game’s highest level, striking out 34 batters in 21 innings while giving up just 11 hits and three runs. His calling card is a high-spin slider that he featured nearly 60 percent of the time. He threw 201 of them altogether, yielding only one extra-base hit (a double). His fastball has some heat as well, averaging 95.2 mph. If his success continues, it’s hard to imagine Cincinnati leaving him off their 26-man roster.
LHP Brad Wieck, Chicago Cubs
Wieck turned 30 last October. He’s more of a journeyman than the other pitchers listed above, now representing his fourth organization. He also has 59.2 innings of MLB experience. 17 of them were last season, in which he didn’t allow a single run and fanned 28 batters.
His strikeouts have always been plentiful, as he averages 13.4 K/9 over his MLB career. What makes him so hard to hit? That’s not an easy question to answer. His fastball velocity is a pedestrian 92.6 mph, yet he throws it 84 percent of the time. Somehow it works. Opposing hitters batted just .189 against the offering. He’s out of options, so the Cubs have to keep him in the majors or expose him to waivers. Given how hard he’s been to square up, he’s got a great chance to stick around.
Daniel R. Epstein is the co-director of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. He also writes for Baseball Prospectus, Off the Bench Baseball, and Bronx Pinstripes.
