Here are some final-month rankings. Please try not to get too bent out of shape if your star player isn’t listed where you like ... anything can happen in a month. Heck, there was a month this year in which Owen Miller compiled a 1.166 OPS and Madison Bumgarner had a 1.17 ERA.
As always, players are ranked by position and then combined into an overall top 300 list.
Click to see other September rankings:
Top 300 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C
Relief pitcher rankings
| Sept | Relievers | Team | 2022 | Aug |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edwin Diaz | Mets | 5 | 1 |
| 2 | Emmanuel Clase | Guardians | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | Liam Hendriks | White Sox | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Ryan Helsley | Cardinals | 130 | 4 |
| 5 | Jordan Romano | Blue Jays | 8 | 6 |
| 6 | Kenley Jansen | Braves | 7 | 7 |
| 7 | Devin Williams | Brewers | 23 | 10 |
| 8 | Jorge Lopez | Twins | 128 | 11 |
| 9 | Camilo Doval | Giants | 16 | 14 |
| 10 | Craig Kimbrel | Dodgers | 6 | 12 |
| 11 | Clay Holmes | Yankees | 68 | 9 |
| 12 | Felix Bautista | Orioles | NR | 19 |
| 13 | Scott Barlow | Royals | 13 | 16 |
| 14 | David Robertson | Phillies | 20 | 13 |
| 15 | Garrett Whitlock | Red Sox | 72 SP | 17 |
| 16 | Ryan Pressly | Astros | 11 | 8 |
| 17 | Paul Sewald | Mariners | 25 | 18 |
| 18 | Daniel Bard | Rockies | 124 | 20 |
| 19 | Pete Fairbanks | Rays | 70 | 26 |
| 20 | Gregory Soto | Tigers | 19 | 15 |
| 21 | Jason Adam | Rays | NR | 28 |
| 22 | Giovanny Gallegos | Cardinals | 9 | 37 |
| 23 | Brandon Hughes | Cubs | NR | NR |
| 24 | Kyle Finnegan | Nationals | 50 | 24 |
| 25 | Ian Kennedy | Diamondbacks | 94 | NR |
| 26 | Nick Martinez | Padres | 119 SP | 121 SP |
| 27 | Seranthony Domínguez | Phillies | NR | 27 |
| 28 | Evan Phillips | Dodgers | NR | 41 |
| 29 | Jonathan Hernández | Rangers | NR | 31 |
| 30 | Rafael Montero | Astros | 117 | 38 |
| 31 | Josh Hader | Padres | 2 | 3 |
| 32 | Jimmy Herget | Angels | NR | 70 |
| 33 | Tanner Scott | Marlins | NR | 30 |
| 34 | Alexis Diaz | Reds | NR | 33 |
| 35 | Andrés Muñoz | Mariners | 107 | 32 |
| 36 | Wil Crowe | Pirates | NR | 34 |
| 37 | A.J. Puk | Athletics | NR | 46 |
| 38 | Jhoan Duran | Twins | 86 | 39 |
| 39 | Domingo Acevedo | Athletics | 111 | NR |
| 40 | Dylan Floro | Marlins | 29 | 35 |
| 41 | José Leclerc | Rangers | 144 | 48 |
| 42 | Taylor Rogers | Brewers | 12 | 36 |
| 43 | Joe Jimenez | Tigers | NR | 58 |
| 44 | Rowan Wick | Cubs | 96 | 25 |
| 45 | Raisel Iglesias | Braves | 3 | 45 |
| 46 | David Bednar | Pirates | 15 | 23 |
| 47 | John Schreiber | Red Sox | NR | 57 |
| 48 | Carl Edwards Jr. | Nationals | NR | NR |
| 49 | Mark Melancon | Diamondbacks | 21 | 21 |
| 50 | Jonathan Loáisiga | Yankees | 36 | NR |
| 51 | Erik Swanson | Mariners | 99 | 72 |
| 52 | Seth Lugo | Mets | 40 | 52 |
| 53 | Jose Quijada | Angels | NR | 53 |
| 54 | Brad Hand | Phillies | 43 | 54 |
| 55 | Diego Castillo | Mariners | 41 | 71 |
| 56 | A.J. Minter | Braves | 57 | 59 |
| 57 | Collin McHugh | Braves | 39 | 55 |
| 58 | Trevor Stephan | Guardians | NR | 61 |
| 59 | Ryan Tepera | Angels | 60 | 22 |
| 60 | Luis Garcia | Padres | 109 | 50 |
| 61 | Kendall Graveman | White Sox | 92 | 60 |
| 62 | Dillon Tate | Orioles | 52 | 43 |
| 63 | Hunter Strickland | Reds | 150 | 47 |
| 64 | Yimi García | Blue Jays | 56 | 64 |
| 65 | Adam Ottavino | Mets | 145 | NR |
| 66 | Brooks Raley | Rays | 100 | 66 |
| 67 | Brusdar Graterol | Dodgers | 75 | NR |
| 68 | James Karinchak | Guardians | 74 | NR |
| 69 | Chase De Jong | Pirates | NR | NR |
| 70 | Dominic Leone | Giants | 141 | 49 |
| 71 | Adrián Morejón | Padres | 223 SP | NR |
| 72 | Tanner Houck | Red Sox | 88 SP | 44 |
| 73 | Matt Moore | Rangers | NR | 56 |
| 74 | Penn Murfee | Mariners | NR | 62 |
| 75 | Tyler Rogers | Giants | 47 | 65 |
| 76 | Robert Suarez | Padres | 54 | NR |
| 77 | Hector Neris | Astros | 62 | 77 |
| 78 | Dylan Coleman | Royals | 112 | NR |
| 79 | Scott Effross | Yankees | NR | 74 |
| 80 | Colin Poche | Rays | 114 | 69 |
Dropping off: Dany Jiménez (29th), Aroldis Chapman (40th), Steve Cishek (51st), Josh Staumont (63rd), Reiver Sanmartin (67th), Joe Barlow (68th), Brett Martin (73rd), Victor Arano (75th)
- Rather than go with Luis Garcia or Robert Suarez, Padres manager Bob Melvin likes Nick Martinez in the closer’s role for now. It’s hard to argue, given that Martinez has a 1.13 ERA in 32 innings out of the pen since making his last start on June 18. Melvin will likely give Josh Hader another chance if Hader can string a few strong outings together, but who knows how long that will take?
- It’s possible the Tigers could make the switch from Gregory Soto to Joe Jimenez at some point, but as poor as Soto has been lately, he hasn’t actually blown a save since June 16 and he is 23-for-25 on the season. It’s the other situations in which he’s getting lit up.
- I’m still going with Jonathan Hernández as the Rangers’ top reliever here, but José Leclerc has been quite a bit better than I would have guessed since returning from Tommy John surgery. In his last 16 appearances, he’s allowed four runs and posted a 25/5 K/BB ratio in 21 1/3 innings. Pitchers are usually a fair bit wilder than usual after returning from Tommy John and Leclerc, of course, was awfully wild under normal circumstances. However, he has just a 9% walk rate right now, down from 15% over the course of his career. With Hernandez and Leclerc healthy and Brock Burke looking pretty good from the left side, the Rangers should be able to prioritize areas other than the pen this winter.
- I never thought I’d need to include Chase De Jong in a set of rankings, but here we are. The journeyman right-hander, who had a 2-9 record and a 6.52 ERA as a major leaguer coming into the season, has been a surprisingly effective reliever for the Pirates, even though he’s not getting an abundance of strikeouts or grounders, and he picked up his first save Tuesday with Wil Crowe unavailable after having pitched the previous two days. David Bednar is still a ways away from returning, so it’s possible DeJong could wind up with additional saves. He’s certainly been better than Crowe lately.
