Giovanny Gallegos

Gallegos continues to be rock solid in his flexible high leverage relief role for the Cardinals. The 31-year-old inked a 2-year extension with St. Louis late last season after the team scaled back his workload from 80.1 innings in 2021 to just 59 last year. Gallegos nearly replicated his prior season outputs, posting 14 saves, similar ratios and a strikeout rate over 30% for the fourth straight year, though he didn't produce as many whiffs or strikeouts on his 4-seamer. He also walked batters at a career-worst clip (7.7%), but was still league average for that particular metric while measuring in the 90th percentile or higher in expected batting average, K% and whiff percentage. Gallegos should still be in the mix for saves in 2023, but he isn't likely to step into full-time closer duties unless Ryan Helsley suffers an injury.

After two consecutive seasons of high-leverage success with the Cardinals, Gallegos finally got an opportunity to be the team's primary closer towards the end of 2021. He didn't disappoint, racking up a league-high 12 saves between Aug. 30 and the end of the season while finishing the year with 14 saves overall. Gallegos (6-5) also delivered an impressive 3.02 ERA, 0.88 WHIP (third among qualified relievers) and 24 holds (fifth) across a career-high 73 appearances and 80.1 innings. His success and reliability in closer role in Sep-Oct carried St. Louis during a 17-game winning streak en route to a playoff spot via the NL Wild Card. There has been talk surrounding Alex Reyes and Jordan Hicks joining the Cardinals' rotation in 2022, which puts Gallegos on track to return as closer next season. He certainly has the talent to be one of the top options at the position and finish among the league leaders in saves.

Gallegos was drafted as a second closer in a lot of leagues, but it was not meant to be as he was placed on the injured list July 18 for undisclosed reasons and missed Opening Day. He returned before the end of July and put together an excellent campaign around another stint on the IL with a groin injury, posting a 2.06 FIP across 15 innings. The groin issue interrupted an audition in the closer role, which Gallegos never regained following his return. Theoretically, it's going to be even tougher for Gallegos to separate himself and seize the ninth inning with Jordan Hicks healthy entering 2021. That's not to say he can't do it. Gallegos has a great slider and threw it more than ever last year en route to a 36.8 K%. He's also very stingy with walks, setting him for nice career in relief, but Gallegos will need saves to be worthwhile in most mixed leagues.

The 2019 season was a great one for Gallegos, and it was his first full season in the major leagues. He turned into a high-leverage option for the Cardinals, delivering a 2.31 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 93:16 K:BB with 19 holds in 66 outings. The 28-year-old relied heavily on his slider (44.2% usage) to balance his 94-mph fastball, leading to a 27.6 K-BB% and 16.3% swinging-strike rate. Closer Jordan Hicks underwent Tommy John surgery in July and is set to miss a good chunk of the 2020 campaign, and while Carlos Martinez performed well in his place with 24 saves in 27 chances (3.17 ERA, 1.18 WHIP), Martinez says he wants to transition back to the starting rotation. Veteran lefty Andrew Miller is still in St. Louis as well, so this is a crowded picture, but Gallegos was one of the top non-closers in baseball last season and save chances are within reach.

Gallegos made several brief appearances on the Yankees' roster early in the year, mostly as the 26th man for a series of doubleheaders, before spending most of the second half at Triple-A after a deadline trade to St. Louis as part of a package for Luke Voit. He maintained similar peripherals to his 20.1-inning debut the season prior, beating the league average comfortably with a 26.7% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate. The performance was good enough to bring his ERA down to a decent 3.97, more in line with his supporting statistics than his 4.87 ERA was during his rookie campaign. It's enough for him to project as a viable major-league reliever moving forward, though he made just two September appearances for the Cardinals after the trade, so an Opening Day roster spot is far from guaranteed.

Gallegos leveraged a terrific 2016 season across both the Double-A and Triple-A levels into earning a 40-man roster spot and an invite to try to win a place in the Opening Day bullpen in 2017. While he ultimately started the year back with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the 26-year-old was once again exceptional in the minors, pitching to a 2.08 ERA. The righty also displayed terrific control with a 69:11 K:BB in 43.1 innings while collecting five saves. The transition to facing big-league hitting proved more difficult though, as Gallegos yielded three home runs in 20.1 innings on his way to posting a 4.87 ERA. The impressive command was still there though, as the righty struck out 22 versus just five walks in his first 16 major-league games. He'll get another chance to win a roster spot in a crowded New York bullpen in spring training.