Middle relievers have only recently started receiving universal recognition
for their individual performance in Major League Baseball, due to the new age
of numbers in the sport. Saves are no longer the all-telling, ultimate stat
about a reliever’s success and WAR, ERA+, and other metrics have opened the
eyes of fans on just how valuable it is for a team to have dominant relievers outside
of the ninth inning role. Their widely agreed on importance has led to a lot of
non-closer relievers making the All-Star team in recent seasons. The American
League squad had two of them in 2017 and 2015, and a whopping four in 2016. If
this trend continues, the AL should feature at least one or two non-closer
relievers, and possibly more, with the scarcity of lockdown closers in the AL in
2018. The Yankees feature a lot of highly talented middle relievers and the
pitcher who has surprised everyone the most, Jonathan Holder, has a very realistic
shot of cracking the AL All-Star squad.
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