Welcome to a new series here at RotoWire. Every Monday and Friday*, I'll take a look back at the previous series and wrap up everything you need to know about the rapidly changing closer market.
These articles will contain five parts:
Who Earned Saves This Week/Weekend? A division-by-division look at who picked up saves in the previous series, as well as "true" blown saves and a few quick notes.
Closers I'm Worried About: A breakdown of a handful of closers whose jobs seem the most tenuous, as well as a look at the setup men who could be about to step up.
Bullpen Deep Dive: A closer look at a bullpen where everything is even more up in the air than usual, focusing on key stats and usage trends.
Injury Round-Up: A quick look at any currently injured closers and their progress toward a return to action.
Closer Grid: A snapshot of the RotoWire Closer Grid, which can also be found here.
*Note: this edition of this article covers the last three series. The normal schedule will resume from here as we head toward the All-Star break.
Who Earned Saves This Week?
| American League East | Saves | "True" Blown Saves* | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | Yennier Cano (1) | Ryan Helsley (1), Keegan Akin (1) | See "Closers I'm Worried About" below. Helsley was presumably unavailable for Cano's save Saturday, having pitched on two of the previous three days and having recently returned from an elbow injury. Andrew Kittredge got the first out of the |
Welcome to a new series here at RotoWire. Every Monday and Friday*, I'll take a look back at the previous series and wrap up everything you need to know about the rapidly changing closer market.
These articles will contain five parts:
Who Earned Saves This Week/Weekend? A division-by-division look at who picked up saves in the previous series, as well as "true" blown saves and a few quick notes.
Closers I'm Worried About: A breakdown of a handful of closers whose jobs seem the most tenuous, as well as a look at the setup men who could be about to step up.
Bullpen Deep Dive: A closer look at a bullpen where everything is even more up in the air than usual, focusing on key stats and usage trends.
Injury Round-Up: A quick look at any currently injured closers and their progress toward a return to action.
Closer Grid: A snapshot of the RotoWire Closer Grid, which can also be found here.
*Note: this edition of this article covers the last three series. The normal schedule will resume from here as we head toward the All-Star break.
Who Earned Saves This Week?
| American League East | Saves | "True" Blown Saves* | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | Yennier Cano (1) | Ryan Helsley (1), Keegan Akin (1) | See "Closers I'm Worried About" below. Helsley was presumably unavailable for Cano's save Saturday, having pitched on two of the previous three days and having recently returned from an elbow injury. Andrew Kittredge got the first out of the ninth inning but ran into trouble and turned the ball over to Cano. Akin's blown save Wednesday came in the 10th inning after Helsley, Cano, Kittredge and Rico Garcia had all already pitched. |
| Boston | Aroldis Chapman (15) | Aroldis Chapman (1) | |
| New York | Ryan Yarbrough (2), David Bednar 2 (16) | none | Yarbrough's save Tuesday was of the three-inning variety. |
| Tampa Bay | Bryan Baker 2 (20), Kevin Kelly (3) | none | Baker pitched the eighth prior to Kelly's save Sunday, facing the second, third and fourth hitters in the Nationals' lineup. |
| Toronto | Louis Varland 4 (15), Mason Fluharty (1) | Tyler Rogers (3) | Varland, Jeff Hoffman and Rogers were all unavailable for Fluharty's save last Thursday, having pitched on back-to-back days. Varland was likely unavailable for Rogers' blown save Tuesday, having pitched on two of the prior three days. Hoffman was available but pitched in the eighth. |
*A pitcher can earn a blown save if he enters in what is technically a save situation prior to the ninth inning and blows the lead. For fantasy purposes, we don't really care about blown saves where a reliever was clearly being used as a setup man and coughed up the lead. What matters to us is when a reliever was genuinely being given a chance to save the game but blew it. Therefore, for the purposes of this article, I'm only going to report blown saves of that variety.
| American League Central | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | Sean Newcomb (2) | Seranthony Dominguez 2 (5), Brandon Eisert (1) | See "Closers I'm Worried About" below. Dominguez blew the save in the ninth inning Sunday before Eisert blew it again in the 10th. Bryan Hudson and Grant Taylor pitched the seventh and eighth innings. |
| Cleveland | Cade Smith (24) | Cade Smith (3) | |
| Detroit | Kenley Jansen 2 (9), Will Vest (2) | none | Jansen may have been unavailable for Vest's save Monday. He didn't pitch Sunday but did pitch both Friday and Saturday. |
| Kansas City | Alex Lange 2 (6) | none | |
| Minnesota | Yoendrys Gomez (7), Anthony Banda (2) | none | Gomez pitched the eighth inning prior to Banda's save Sunday, pushing back against the idea that he's become a true closer. |
| American League West | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics | Mason Barnett (2) | Elvis Alvarado (1) | The entire bullpen may have been available for Barnett's save Thursday, as no one had pitched on back-to-back days, but the ball went to Barnett, who now has a pair of saves since being recalled in early June. |
| Houston | Josh Hader 4 (6), Enyel De Los Santos (5) | none | Hader was unavailable for De Los Santos' save Thursday, having pitched on back-to-back days. |
| Los Angeles | Sam Bachman (1) | Sam Bachman (2) | See "Bullpen Deep Dives" below. |
| Seattle | Andres Munoz 4 (14) | none | |
| Texas | Jacob Latz 3 (15), Jakob Junis (5) | none | Latz was unavailable for Junis' save Sunday, having pitched on back-to-back days. |
| National League East | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | Raisel Iglesias (15) | none | |
| Miami | Pete Fairbanks 3 (12), Lake Bachar (1) | none | Fairbanks was unavailable for Bachar's save Sunday, having pitched on back-to-back days. |
| New York | Devin Williams (11) | none | |
| Philadelphia | Jhoan Duran (19) | none | |
| Washington | Gus Varland (6), Clayton Beeter 2 (6) | Brad Lord (1), Richard Lovelady (3) | Beeter pitched in the eighth inning prior to Lord's blown save Tuesday. Varland may not have been available, having thrown 32 pitches on Sunday. Alternatively, Varland may simply have been out of favor, as he was optioned Thursday. |
| National League Central | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | Jacob Webb (2), Trent Thornton (1) | none | Webb got the first Cubs save after Daniel Palencia hit the IL with elbow inflammation, but his next appearance saw him pitch in the eighth inning and pick up a blown save. Thornton's save Thursday came in the 10th inning after Webb pitched a scoreless ninth to keep the game tied. |
| Cincinnati | Tony Santillan 2 (5) | none | |
| Milwaukee | Trevor Megill 2 (10), Chad Patrick (4), Joel Kuhnel 2 (6) | Aaron Ashby (3) | Abner Uribe pitched in the seventh inning Saturday and Megill pitched the eighth before Ashby blew the save in the ninth. Patrick's save Sunday was of the three-inning variety. Kuhnel's save Monday came in the 10th inning after Uribe pitched the eighth and Megill pitched the ninth, both with the score tied. Kuhnel's save Wednesday came with Megill, Uribe and Ashby all unavailable, having pitched on back-to-back days. |
| Pittsburgh | Gregory Soto (11). Carmen Mlodzinski (2) | none | Mlodzinski's save Wednesday was of the three-inning variety. |
| St. Louis | Riley O'Brien 2 (19) | none |
| National League West | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Paul Sewald (18), Brandyn Garcia (1) | none | Garcia recorded the final out for the save Tuesday after Sewald ran into trouble, giving up three runs on four hits while recording just two outs. Garcia struck out the only batter he faced for the save. |
| Colorado | Jaden Hill 2 (2), Jimmy Herget (2) | none | The rest of the Rockies' relievers were seemingly available for both of Hill's saves, as well as for Herget's. |
| Los Angeles | Tanner Scott 4 (11), Alex Vesia (3) | none | Scott was unavailable for Vesia's save last Wednesday, having pitched on back-to-back days. |
| San Diego | Mason Miller 2 (21), Jason Adam (2) | none | Miller was unavailable for Adam's save Wednesday, having pitched on back-to-back days. |
| San Francisco | Tristan Beck (1), Caleb Kilian (5) | Caleb Kilian (2) | Caleb Kilian was likely unavailable for Beck's save last Wednesday, having pitched on three of the prior four days. |
Closers I'm Worried About
Seranthony Dominguez, White Sox: Dominguez has only one save in the last month. While at one point it looked as though Grant Taylor may be a direct threat to his job, it's now been over two weeks since Taylor has recorded a save. Sean Newcomb was the last White Sox pitcher to record a save, though that came with Dominguez, Taylor and Bryan Hudson all unavailable Tuesday, having pitched on back-to-back days.
While Dominguez may not have directly lost his spot to Taylor, it's hard to consider him anything more than a committee leader at this point, and given his recent performance, he may not be the leader for much longer. Dominguez's last two outings have been blown saves, and he's allowed at least one run in three of his last four appearances. He now owns a 4.45 ERA on the year, including a 6.17 ERA over his last 12 appearances.
Dominguez may have been signed with the intention of being used as a closer, but his performance simply hasn't been up to the task. His stat line — including a 4.45 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 26.6 percent strikeout rate and 12.9 percent walk rate — fits much better as a middle reliever, and with the White Sox looking like surprising playoff contenders this season, they can't afford to waste many games by using a mediocre reliever in the ninth inning. They may even look to add to the back of their bullpen at the deadline, which could push Dominguez further down the depth chart.
Worry-o-meter: 4 out of 5
Setup man to stash: Still Grant Taylor, even if the situation now looks more like Dominguez being replaced by a committee than by Taylor as a true closer. That may have something to do with the fact that Taylor has fallen into a slump of his own in recent weeks. Since picking up his second save of the season on June 6, he's allowed at least one run in five straight appearances. He was so dominant up to this point that he still owns a 2.97 ERA and 1.19 WHIP on the year, backed by a 33.9 percent strikeout rate and a 7.3 percent walk rate. As long as he can pull out of this slump soon, he's a good bet to lead the White Sox in saves in the second half, unless they bring in a proven closer from elsewhere.
Ryan Helsley, Orioles: Helsley cruised through the early part of the season, posting a 2.53 ERA and a 32.6 percent strikeout rate through his first 12 appearances. Elbow inflammation sent him to the injured list without warning at the start of May, however, and he was quickly cleared of any structural damage, he missed his target of a late-May return and wound up missing over six weeks.
He's made three appearances since his return to action, two of which have gone poorly. He allowed a pair of solo homers in a non-save situation in his first outing, then blew a save two days later after allowing a pair of walks and another home run. While he did manage a scoreless ninth inning to keep the score tied Wednesday against the Angels, the overall trend remains clearly negative.
One clear positive for Hesley is that his stuff — whether measured by pure velocity readings or Stuff+ — remains intact, which pushes back against the suggestion that he may still be dealing with an injury. Still, the combination of a recent injury and reduced effectiveness is always worrisome, and unless Helsley can string together a few more scoreless appearances, it wouldn't be surprising to hear about a return to the IL.
Worry-o-meter: 3 out of 5
Setup man to stash: Rico Garcia or Yennier Cano. Garcia was the primary closing option while Helsley was on the injured list and has saved four games this season. His 2.70 ERA and 29.6 percent strikeout rate are both quite strong. He's been in a slump recently, however, allowing runs in five of his last eight appearances, with a 10.29 ERA over that stretch. That meant it was Cano who picked up the team's most recent save Saturday, a game in which Helsley was unavailable and Garcia pitched in the eighth inning. Cano has a bit of experience in the ninth inning, with 16 career saves, and he has excellent numbers this season. His 2.03 ERA and 0.86 WHIP come with a 25.7 percent strikeout rate and 6.7 percent walk rate, and he adds an elite 60 percent groundball rate on top of that.
Bullpen Deep Dive
Los Angeles Angels
| 2026 Stats | Saves | ERA | WHIP | SIERA | K% | BB% | K-BB% | Stuff+ | Location+ | gmLI* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Bachman | 1 | 3.44 | 1.15 | 3.82 | 24.7% | 11.3% | 13.3% | 102 | 95 | 1.72 |
| Ryan Zeferjahn | 2 | 4.42 | 1.31 | 4.14 | 29.9% | 17.1% | 12.8% | 114 | 90 | 1.26 |
| Kirby Yates | 1 | 3.45 | 1.09 | 2.92 | 32.8% | 10.4% | 22.4% | 86 | 100 | 1.04 |
| Chase Silseth | 0 | 2.40 | 1.40 | 3.93 | 26.0% | 13.0% | 13.0% | 95 | 101 | 1.42 |
*gmLI is the average Leverage Index when a pitcher enters the game. 1.0 is average; closers typically sit north of 1.50.
During draft season, this appeared to be a five-way battle between Jordan Romano, Drew Pomeranz, Ben Joyce, Robert Stephenson and Kirby Yates. Romano and Pomeranz have since been released, while Joyce and Stephenson never got healthy, so this job ought to belong to Yates by default. Yates' claim seemed even stronger after manager Kurt Suzuki said in early April that, "We signed him to be our closer, and we're going to give him a chance to close," per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com.
Yet despite everything seemingly lining up for the 39-year-old righty, he has just one save on the season. That came back on May 26 and was quickly followed by a stretch in which he allowed at least one run in three of his next five appearances, which may have made Suzuki reluctant to look his way in a save situation. Instead, it's been Sam Bachman who's received the last two save chances.
Yates was available for Bachman's blown save Friday but didn't pitch until the 10th inning. Ryan Zeferjahn may have been available as well, though he did throw 21 pitches Thursday. Yates was then unavailable for Bachman's save Sunday, having pitched on back-to-back days. Zeferjahn again may have been available, though he'd pitched on two of the previous three days and threw 24 pitches Saturday.
While Bachman may be in favor at the moment, his numbers hardly look closer-worthy and trail Yates' in nearly every category, with the notable exception of Stuff+. He does look to be a better bet than Zeferjahn, who's had significant control problems, with 17 walks in his last 15 innings of work. Zeferjahn does lead all active Angels in saves with two, but his last one came back in late May.
I've also included Chase Silseth on the above table, as he has the best ERA among the Angels' high-leverage relievers, but he's yet to record a save this season. His stuff doesn't look quite good enough for the ninth inning, and he's struggled with walks, so he doesn't look like a good bet to claim the role outright any time soon.
Injury Round-Up
Ben Joyce, Angels: Joyce resumed mound work two weeks ago after suffering a setback while rehabbing from shoulder surgery, a procedure he underwent last May. For a pitcher with an injury track record as long as Joyce's is, expect his recovery to proceed slowly and carefully, especially with the Angels having little to play for this season. He could eventually emerge as a closer candidate late in the season if he avoids further setbacks, but for now, as discussed above, the top option for saves in the Angels' bullpen appears to be Sam Bachman.
Daniel Palencia, Cubs: Palencia was diagnosed with a flexor strain in his right arm Saturday, an injury which can sometimes lead to Tommy John surgery. For now, Palencia's strain is being called "mild," though he's not currently throwing and is set to be re-evaluated soon. He's had plenty of injuries in the last, including a shoulder strain in September and a lat strain in April. It's beginning to look as though his 99.5 mph fastball may put too much stress on his arm, and even if he escapes this current injury without requiring surgery, he's quickly earned the "injury-prone" label. Jacob Webb appears to be the top choice for saves for the Cubs for now.
Edwin Diaz, Dodgers: Diaz threw his first bullpen session a week ago as he works his way back from surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow, a procedure he underwent in late April. He's expected back sometime in the second half, though the Dodgers haven't provided a precise timeline. Tanner Scott is the top option for saves in Diaz's absence.
Emilio Pagan, Reds: Pagan began a rehab assignment Thursday after being sidelined since early May with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain. That's good news for the Reds, as Tony Santillan, who had emerged as the temporary closer in his absence, hit the injured list Friday with an oblique strain. Any save chances which pop up in the next few days will most likely go to Pierce Johnson or Tejay Antone, but Pagan should reclaim his job once he returns to the active roster.
Carlos Estevez, Royals: Estevez has been out nearly all season, first with a bruised foot and then with a strained rotator cuff. He's thrown a pair of bullpen sessions recently but still has a long way to go in his recovery. Alex Lange has taken over from Lucas Erceg as the deputy closer in his absence.
Closer Grid
This article will be published every Monday and Friday this season, taking a look back at the previous series' top closer news. For more closer updates, check out the RotoWire Closer Grid, which changes daily.
Here's how the whole thing looks as of Friday evening:
*part of a committee
Questions about any of the closers covered above or any relievers you're considering picking up off the waiver wire? Let me know in the comments below.
