Major League Baseball

World Series 2021: Braves, Astros loaded with relievers — here are the top 15

Updated Oct. 29, 2021 12:18 p.m. ET

By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer

If there’s one thing we’ve learned during the 2021 MLB postseason, it’s that bullpen games are inescapable.

The expectations for starting pitchers to go deep in October games have drastically decreased in recent years, prompting teams to pull their starters earlier or just opt for full-blown Johnny Wholestaff games as a superior option to handing to the ball to the third- or fourth-best starter on the roster.

Even when a pitcher’s duel appears likely on paper, they’ve often quickly taken a turn in the other direction. Take Game 1 of the World Series, when Charlie Morton, one of the best postseason pitchers of the last half-decade, was lined up against Framber Valdez, who was fresh off an outstanding Game 5 start in the ALCS. Neither pitcher made it to the fourth inning. Obviously, that wasn’t Morton’s fault, but it felt like a cosmic reminder that these games are just meant to have a parade of relievers, for better or for worse.

As we head into the Atlanta portion of the 2021 World Series, each team’s respective relief corps will surely be relied on heavily in the coming days. We’ve got a very intriguing starting pitching matchup for Game 3 between rookie standouts Ian Anderson and Luis Garcia.

After that — and two rookies facing off in the World Series are hardly a sure bet to pitch deep into the game anyway — who knows? No matter who throws the first pitch of Games 4 and 5 for either team, it’s hard to fathom that pitcher lasting a particularly long time vs. either offense in their current scorching states.

So, to prepare for this weekend’s action, I’ve decided to rank the 15 relievers on the World Series rosters based on how much I’d trust them to put up a zero on the scoreboard in a close game. Both bullpens feature a wide variety of arms whose seasons have gone in a bunch of different directions, but both units also seem to be peaking at the right time, just when they’ve been needed the most.

For the purposes of this exercise, I’m excluding the following pitchers from these rankings: Zack Greinke, Jake Odorizzi, Kyle Wright, Tucker Davidson, and Drew Smyly. While we’ve seen a few of these guys come on in relief this postseason, each of them was primarily a starter during the regular season. As such, they will likely either be considered to start Game 4 or 5 or will only be used in a low-leverage long-relief situation the way we’ve seen with Odorizzi in the ALCS, or even Wright’s scoreless ninth inning down by five in Game 2.

15. RHP Yimi García

Regular season: 62 G, 57.2 IP, 4.21 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 1.162 WHIP, 25.3 K%

Postseason: 7 G, 6 IP, 10.50 ERA, 8 H, 2 BB, 8 K

Bad teams would be thrilled to have a reliever like García, who is perfectly solid in relation to all relievers across the league, but easily the worst option of the bunch in the high-leverage contexts of October. He hasn’t really pitched in any big spots anyway, but even when he has, it hasn’t been pretty.

14. RHP Chris Martin

Regular season: 46 G, 43.1 IP, 3.95 ERA, 3.47 FIP, 1.269 WHIP, 18.2 K%

Postseason: 3 G, 2 IP, 4.50 ERA, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K

I’m not entirely sure what’s changed for the super-sized right-hander. He has been one of Atlanta’s go-to arms over the past two years, but his stuff has clearly seen a drop-off, and it shows in the numbers. He has easily the lowest strikeout rate of any reliever left on these rosters.

Chris Martin has struggled to fool batters this postseason, managing only one strikeout in three games.

13. LHP Blake Taylor

Regular season: 51 G, 42.2 IP, 3.16 ERA, 4.62 FIP, 1.406 WHIP, 21.8 K%

Postseason: 2 G, 2.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K

I’m honestly a pretty big fan of Taylor long-term, but it appears Dusty Baker puts more trust in Brooks Raley right now when he needs to get a left-hander out, and Taylor is certainly far less experienced. He also struggles to generate whiffs, which is what keeps him lower on these rankings.

12. LHP Dylan Lee

Regular season: 2 G, 2.0 IP, 9.00 ERA, 6.67 FIP, 1.500 WHIP, 33.3 K%

Postseason: 2 G, 2.2 IP, 3.38 ERA, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 K

Far and away the least-known commodity in these rankings, Lee was a surprise call-up at the very end of the regular season and managed to make the World Series roster as yet another southpaw in Brian Snitker’s bullpen. He’s got big stuff, too, but he’s obviously severely underqualified to be asked to get the game’s biggest outs. He’s only above Taylor because he’s more likely to notch a strikeout if necessary.

11. LHP Brooks Raley

Regular season: 58 G, 49.0 IP, 4.78 ERA, 3.27 FIP, 1.204 WHIP, 31.7 K%

Postseason: 5 G, 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Raley’s journey from long-time KBO ace to best left-handed reliever on the American League champs is quite an epic one. His high-spin fastball/curveball combo induces more weak contact than literally any other reliever in baseball, which might have earned him a higher spot on these rankings had he not looked a bit shaky so far this postseason.

10. RHP Jesse Chavez

Regular season: 30 G, 33.2 IP, 2.14 ERA, 2.01 FIP, 0.980 WHIP, 29.5 K%

Postseason: 6 G, 4.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K

The oldest player in this year’s World Series, Chavez has had a remarkable career as a bona-fide bullpen nomad and now has a chance to finally win a championship ring. If you only looked at the stats, you’d insist he’d need to be higher on the list, but it’s still hard to rank him too highly when the stuff is just so much less dynamic than basically every other pitcher on this list.

9. RHP Luke Jackson

Regular season: 71 G, 63.2 IP, 1.98 ERA, 3.66 FIP, 1.162 WHIP, 26.8 K%

Postseason: 9 G, 6.2 IP, 6.75 ERA, 11 H, 4 BB, 8 K

This might be unfairly low just based on a couple of uncharacteristically ugly outings in the NLCS, but I think it really just says more about how I feel about the guys ranked ahead of him. He and Kendall Graveman were the only two World Series relievers with an ERA under 2.00 during the regular season, and it wasn't a small sample. If he can rediscover and establish his spectacular slider, he should be just fine and might belong higher on this list.

8. RHP Phil Maton

Regular season: 65 G, 66.2 IP, 4.73 ERA, 3.50 FIP, 1.440 WHIP, 28.3 K%

Postseason: 9 G, 8.1 IP, 1.08 ERA, 4 H, 2 BB, 8 K

It’s not all that exciting, but Maton has been an exceptionally reliable reliever for several years now, even if the ERA doesn’t jump off the page. Like Raley, his fastball and curveball spin rates are both elite and help stifle hitters even if he’s not blowing them away with velocity.

7. RHP Ryne Stanek

Regular season: 72 G, 68.1 IP, 3.42 ERA, 4.11 FIP, 1.215 WHIP, 28.6 K%

Postseason: 9 G, 7.2 IP, 2.35 ERA, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K

What a great pickup for Houston, which signed Stanek as a free agent this past winter after he was non-tendered by Miami following a disappointing Marlins tenure. But he has looked much more like the shutdown arm we saw earlier in his career in Tampa Bay, and Baker clearly trusts him in the later innings to get the job done.

6. RHP Cristian Javier

Regular season: 36 G, 101.1 IP, 3.55 ERA, 4.43 FIP, 1.184 WHIP, 31.3 K%

Postseason: 4 G, 9.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 4 H, 5 BB, 15 K

Javier might be a sneaky option to start either Game 4 or 5 for Houston, considering how comfortable he is going multiple innings, but he has been so effective in his role that it’s probably an "ain’t broke, don’t fix it" situation. He’s so much fun to watch.

5. LHP Will Smith

Regular season: 71 G, 68.0 IP, 3.44 ERA, 4.17 FIP, 1.132 WHIP, 30.7 K%

Postseason: 8 G, 8 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 H, 3 BB, 7 K

I’m still trying to shake the regular-season version of Smith that seemed liable to implode every other outing, but I gotta admit: dude’s looked damn good lately. He clearly figured something out, and it seems like he’s still Snitker’s go-to guy for the ninth.

4. LHP A.J. Minter

Regular season: 61 G, 52.1 IP, 3.78 ERA, 2.69 FIP, 1.223 WHIP, 25.8 K%

Postseason: 6 G, 10 IP, 0.90 ERA, 5 H, 2 BB, 14 K

Minter’s masterful outing in relief of Morton following his shocking and unexpected exit was incredible to witness, especially considering it was a career-high in both pitches and batters faced on the biggest possible stage. You could argue Minter over Matzek, but I’m actually concerned that Minter’s extra exposure to Houston’s lineup in Game 1 might hurt him later in the series. Or not — he’s so good that it might not matter.

3. LHP Tyler Matzek

Regular season: 79 G, 63.0 IP, 2.57 ERA, 3.20 FIP, 1.222 WHIP, 29.2 K%

Postseason: 10 G, 11.2 IP, 2.31 ERA, 7 H, 4 BB, 19 K

One of the breakout stories of the postseason, Matzek has become a household name this month and it’s been a thrill to watch. His stuff seems as electric as ever, he’s throwing strikes, and you can be sure he won’t be afraid of the moment. It seems like Smith still has the closer job, but I’d want Matzek closing out a one-run game in the ninth if it was up to me.

2. RHP Kendall Graveman

Regular season: 53 G, 56.0 IP, 1.77 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 0.982 WHIP, 27.5 K%

Postseason: 7 G, 8.0 IP, 1.12 ERA, 5 H, 4 BB, 7 K

The fact that he has been merely excellent and not Best Reliever Of All-Time like he appeared to be with the Mariners before being traded has obscured what has been a wholly successful transition to Houston for Graveman. With Blake Treinen no longer in the postseason, Graveman has the sinker that most often elicits shrieks of "HOW IN THE WORLD IS ANYONE SUPPOSED TO HIT THAT?!"

1. RHP Ryan Pressly

Regular season: 64 G, 64.0 IP, 2.25 ERA, 2.06 FIP, 0.969 WHIP, 32.4 K%

Postseason: 7 G, 7 IP, 1.29 ERA, 6 H, 1 BB, 10 K

Acquired at the trade deadline in 2018, Pressly has slowly ascended the bullpen ranks in Houston from set-up man to Capital C Closer, and he’s only gotten better along the way. It’s the easy answer, but no need to overcomplicate things. If I need three outs, this is the guy I want out there.

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball analyst for FOX Sports. He lives in D.C. but is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and loves watching the KBO, which means he doesn't get a lot of sleep. You can follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.