Out of all the positions in this breakdown series, relief pitchers are the most unpredictable. And I mean even more than usual for what is already a pretty fickle role. I don’t think anyone foresaw the phoenix-like ascendance of Dillon Maples last year to go from class A all the way to Chicago. One pitch can sometimes be the difference.
I went back and forth on how to organize this entry. My first thought was to rank the top five arms, followed by a list of some potential breakouts. Then I had a great idea to put them in categories, until I thought about it some more and went back to rankings.