ESPN MLB

Baseball's middle relievers and setup guys don't have to deal with a fraction of the scrutiny that closers endure. Surrender a big hit in the seventh or eighth inning, and there is no guarantee the beat writers will head directly to your locker when they hit the clubhouse in search of postgame quotes.

But there's a downside to the job, as well. The money is nothing special by major-league standards, and the workload can be scary. For the typical seventh- or eighth-inning guy, the season is an endless blur of bullpen warm-ups and thankless "holds," punctuated by a retreat to anonymity. Do the job well enough over time – without your arm falling off – and maybe you'll graduate to a closer's job or the starting rotation one day.

With apologies to Mike Timlin, Scott Linebrink, Chris Hammond, Al Reyes, Justin Duchscherer and Mike Gonzalez – and several others who have put up impressive numbers in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings this season – here are 10 relievers who have done a nice job without attracting a lot of attention. Best of luck trying to pick them out of a police lineup:

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider