This is a budget list of relievers and closers in the game. I considered price, overall,
deceptiveness, per nines, and overall quality of their pitches. These are some of the best budget pitchers in the game under 1000 stubs and if you cannot afford that Chapman, Kimbrel, or Betances, then you should give these guys a try!
10. Bruce Rondon 67 overall ~60 Stubs
Rondon is only a common card, but has 80 K/9 and can hit 100 mph. He also has 95 break on his slider. His downside is the control, but he is one of the nastiest righties on the game.
9. Will Smith 81 overall ~600 Stubs
Smith has 97 K/9 and 75 H/9. He also has 99 break on his slider, and throws a curveball. For a lefty that’s all you can ask for, and he’s a great budget lefty for roughly 600 stubs.
8. Tony Sipp 78 Overall ~200 Stubs
Sipp has a funky delivery for a lefty, possesses solid per nines at 89 H/9 and 88 K/9, and has 80+ break on all four of his pitches. The best thing about Sipp is that his changeup comes in at 75-77 mph and it is extremely deceptive. For a few hundred stubs, Sipp is a great budget lefty.
7. Luke Hochevar 83 overall ~500 Stubs
Hochevar is a unique reliever due to his knuckle curve and kind of reminds me of a poor man’s Kimbrel. He also throws a cutter that has 99 break and a sinker with 87 break. His fastball can touch 97 mph and his per nines are solid at 86 H/9 and 83 K/9. For around 500 stubs, he is a must have on a budget squad.
6. Carter Capps 84 overall ~900 Stubs
Capps would be a higher if he was a bit cheaper, but for less than 1k stubs he’s still a good
bargain. His pitches don’t necessarily break a ton, but his delivery is probably the most deceptive in the game and he can hit 99 mph. He also comes with 99 K/9 and 80 H/9. He is a must-have if you can afford it.
5. Jordan Walden 78 overall ~250 Stubs
Walden is a poor man’s version of Capps. He has a deceptive delivery too and the ball can get on you in a hurry. With 84 H/9 and 89 K/9, he is no slouch in the per nines either. He also has 98 break on his slider. For about 250 stubs, he is an easy buy and can replace someone like Capps in your pen.
4. Brad Boxberger 83 overall ~275 Stubs
Boxberger has some of the best per nines for a reliever, coming in with 88 H/9 and 99 K/9. He also has 86 clutch which helps reduce the PCI with runners in scoring position. He does not have a breaking ball, but he does have 99 break on his cutter and it can be a very useful pitch to avoid the sweet spot of the bats.
3. Joaquin Benoit 84 overall ~700 Stubs
Benoit has 99 break on slider and changeup with 99 H/9 and 85 K/9. He can hit about 95 mph with his fastball, too. For 700 stubs, he’s a steal.
2. Jake Diekman 80 overall ~350 Stubs
Diekman has been my favorite go-to budget lefty. He has a funky delivery, his slider has 93 break and has a unique trajectory to it and he can throw up to 98-99 with 2 seamer. For only 350 stubs, he’s a bargain.
1. Nate Jones 80 overall ~200 Stubs
Nate Jones simply is my favorite budget reliever to use. He reminds me of a right-handed
Diekman and is very valuable in your pen. He has 99 break on his slider with 92 K/9 and also
throws a 98 mph 2 seamer. It does not get much better than that for a few hundred stubs.