Sam Tuivailala

Tuivailala got a late start to the season as he completed his recovery from a torn Achilles' tendon, but he proved to be worth the wait upon his return. The ex-Cardinal enjoyed the best statistical season of his big-league career, posting a 2.35 ERA (3.13 FIP) and seven holds in 23 appearances. Although his fastball lost some heat post-surgery, Tuivailala registered his highest strikeout rate (28.4%) since 2015. As has been the case throughout his career, the right-hander excelled at limiting hard contact, holding opposing hitters to a 25.9 Hard%. Not surprisingly, this helped Tuivailala keep the ball in the park as he gave up only one home run in his 23 innings of work. Not everything went well for Tuivailala -- his 12.6 BB% and 53.7% flyball rate were well above his career norms -- but he certainly left an impression in Seattle and could challenge for the closing job as soon as next season.

Tuivailala has a live arm, but we won't see him until June at the earliest after he was forced to undergo surgery to repair a torn Achilles' tendon. He suffered the injury in his fifth appearance for Seattle following a trade from St. Louis. The overall body of work between the two stops was decent, with Tuivailala doing everything well enough but nothing exceptionally well. He had an 18.2% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 0.73 HR/9 on the strength of a near-50% groundball rate. He throws 95 mph with his fastball but the pitch was knocked around pretty good last season (38.% LD%, 40% HR/FB). More refinement and confidence in his breaking stuff would go a long way toward keeping hitters off the heater. The injury takes him out of the conversation for redraft leagues, but Tuivailala is a name to remember for later in the year as he has the stuff to rise quickly in the Mariners' stripped-down bullpen.

Tuivailala's fourth season with the Cardinals was his most successful yet in that he spent more time in the majors than he did at Triple-A Memphis. He worked a total of 64 innings between Memphis and St. Louis with good fortunes in both locations thanks to limiting his walks, as well as some BABIP suppression and stranding a bunch of runners. He is rather split neutral so he does not need to be pigeonholed into a ROOGY role, but he's still likely limited to low- and medium-leverage work due to the depth in front of him. Tuivailala is out of options so he must make the big-league club or be exposed to waivers where he will be grabbed by another organization looking for youth and experience.

Tuivailala had been starting to make a name for himself within the Cardinals organization, but took a huge step back during the 2016 season. His ERA, WHIP, strikeout rate and walk rate all trended in the wrong direction over 12 MLB games (nine innings) as he allowed six runs off 12 hits and six walks in that time. His struggles weren't exclusive to the majors as he failed to execute at Triple-A Memphis as well, where he posted a 5.21 ERA and 1.48 WHIP, both of which were far worse than 2015 marks of 1.60 and 1.20, respectively. Despite being a liability on the mound, he continued to hold the closer role with Memphis, but blew six of his 23 save opportunities. At just 24 years old and with a fastball that consistently exceeds 95 mph, it's not too late for Tuivailala to rebound from last year's troubles, but his chances of taking on a prominent role for the Cards in 2017 are slim.

Serving as the closer for the Cardinals Triple-A affiliate in Memphis Tuivailala picked up 17 saves and 43 strikeouts in 45 innings, posting a 1.60 ERA and a 1.200 WHIP as a 22-year-old. That success led him to a few brief stints with the Cardinals where he threw 14.2 innings across 14 innings, posting a 3.07 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP while striking out an impressive 20 batters. Tuivailala still needs some fine-tuning in the minors but should see some time with the Cardinals again in 2016. His fastball can hit triple digits and is consistently in the high 90's, so if he can improve on his command and improve his secondary offerings he could be a big part of the Cardinals bullpen in the coming years.

A converted infielder, Tuivailala found success as a flamethrower out of the bullpen, pitching well across three different levels of the Cardinals' system in 2014 before getting a September callup. Tuivailala only recorded three outs across two appearances for the Cardinals, but posted a 3.15 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in the minors in 2014, while striking out an impressive 97 batters in 60 innings. Entering 2015 as a 22-year-old, Tuivailala seems destined to head back to Triple-A for more seasoning at the start of the year, but injuries or poor pitching could open a spot for him if he keeps pitching well.