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.
Who Earned Saves This Week?
| American League East | Saves | "True" Blown Saves* | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | Ryan Helsley 2 (4), Rico Garcia (1) | none | Garcia's save Wednesday came after Helsley had pitched on back-to-back days. |
| Boston | Aroldis Chapman (3) | none | Chapman's fastball averaged just 93.9 mph in his save against the Brewers on Tuesday, with his final fastball of the game registering just 90.3 mph. Both represent a big step down from his average of 96.8 mph over his first four outings. |
| New York | David Bednar (5) | none | See |
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.
Who Earned Saves This Week?
| American League East | Saves | "True" Blown Saves* | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | Ryan Helsley 2 (4), Rico Garcia (1) | none | Garcia's save Wednesday came after Helsley had pitched on back-to-back days. |
| Boston | Aroldis Chapman (3) | none | Chapman's fastball averaged just 93.9 mph in his save against the Brewers on Tuesday, with his final fastball of the game registering just 90.3 mph. Both represent a big step down from his average of 96.8 mph over his first four outings. |
| New York | David Bednar (5) | none | See "Closers I'm Worried About" below. |
| Tampa Bay | Bryan Baker (1) | none | Kevin Kelly, who recorded the Rays' first two saves of the year, pitched in the fifth inning Monday prior to Baker's save. He was followed by Ian Seymour and Hunter Bigge. Griffin Jax may not have been available, having thrown 30 pitches the night before. |
| Toronto | Jeff Hoffman (2) | none |
*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 | Seranthony Dominguez (2) | none | |
| Cleveland | Matt Festa (1) | none | Festa recorded the final out of the eighth Wednesday with a three-run lead and stayed on the mound to finish the ninth after the lead was stretched to eight. |
| Detroit | none | none | |
| Kansas City | Lucas Erceg (3) | none | |
| Minnesota | Cody Laweryson (1), Justin Topa (1), Kody Funderburk (1), Eric Orze (1) | none | Laweryson got the last two outs of the eighth inning Monday with a three-run lead and stuck around to complete the ninth inning after his team added an extra insurance run. Taylor Rogers entered in the seventh inning prior to Topa's save on Tuesday, while Cole Sands pitched in the eighth. Sands got the final out of the seventh Wednesday. Laweryson pitched the eighth as well as the first out of the ninth before Funderburk got the last two outs of the game for the save. Sands and Topa were unavailable for Orze's save Thursday, and Funderburk and Lawyerson may have been as well, having thrown on two of the previous three days. |
| American League West | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics | Joel Kuhnel (1), Hogan Harris (1) | none | Scott Barlow pitched in the sixth and seventh prior to Kuhnel's save Wednesday, followed by Harris and Elvis Alvarado. Mark Leiter had thrown 20-plus pitches on two of the last three days. Justin Sterner pitched the eighth prior to Harris' save Thursday. Harris is the bullpen's only lefty at the moment and faced three lefties in a row for that save. |
| Houston | none | none | See "Closers I'm Worried About" below. |
| Los Angeles | Jordan Romano (4) | none | |
| Seattle | none | none | |
| Texas | Jakob Junis 2 (2), Cole Winn | none | Robert Garcia got the eighth inning prior to Junis' save on Monday after Tyler Alexander and Cole Winn shared the seventh. Chris Martin was likely available but did not pitch. Garcia and Winn were unavailable Tuesday when Junis picked up his second save, though Martin again was available but did not pitch. |
| National League East | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | Raisel Iglesias (2) | none | Iglesias picked up a five-out save Tuesday, sticking around to complete the ninth despite the fact that the lead was stretched to five runs. |
| Miami | Michael Petersen (1), Tyler Phillips | Anthony Bender (2) | Bender's blown save Tuesday came with Pete Fairbanks on the paternity list. Fairbanks was still on paternity leave when Petersen recorded his save Wednesday. Bender and Calvin Faucher may have been unavailable, having pitched on three of the last four days. Phillips' save Thursday was a three-inning save. |
| New York | none | none | |
| Philadelphia | Jhoan Duran (4) | none | |
| Washington | none | none |
| National League Central | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | none | none | |
| Cincinnati | Emilio Pagan (4) | none | |
| Milwaukee | Angel Zerpa (1) | none | Zerpa's save came after Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe had both pitched on back-to-back days. |
| Pittsburgh | none | none | |
| St. Louis | Riley O'Brien (3) | none | O'Brien now has the Cardinals' last three saves. |
| National League West | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | none | none | |
| Colorado | Juan Mejia (1), Antonio Senzatela (1), Zach Agnos (1) | Brennan Bernardino (1) | Victor Vodnik was unavailable when Mejia got the save Monday, having pitched on back-to-back days. Bernardino's blown save came in the 10th inning Thursday. |
| Los Angeles | Edwin Diaz (4) | none | |
| San Diego | none | none | |
| San Francisco | none | none | See "Closers I'm Worried About" below. |
Closers I'm Worried About
Bryan Abreu, Astros: Another appearance for Abreu, another run allowed. The Astros didn't generate any save chances in their series against the Rockies (in which they lost all three games), but Abreu did make an appearance in the eighth inning with his team down by seven runs Wednesday. Much like every other outing of his this season, it went poorly, as he walked a pair of batters before giving up an RBI single to increase the deficit to eight runs.
Abreu has now made five appearances this season and has given up at least one earned run in all five. Overall, he owns a 19.64 ERA and 3.27 WHIP in 3.2 innings of work, and while his 36.4 percent strikeout rate is excellent, his 31.8 percent walk rate is awful. His average velocity is down two ticks on his fastball, which sits at 95.2 mph after coming in at 97.2 mph last year, and his Stuff+ is down from 109 to 99 on the pitch as a result. Stuff+ also likes his slider less, as it's dropped from 116 to 103.
Worse stuff combined with dramatically worse command is a recipe for failure, and even if I wouldn't predict an ERA of almost 20 for Abreu the rest of the way, it's hard to see things turning around dramatically any time soon. At this point, it's easier to envision Abreu hitting the injured list (though no injuries have been reported as of writing) than it is to envision him getting the Astros' next save chance. Considering that there haven't been any reports of setbacks with Josh Hader (biceps), meaning the closer role should only be open in Houston for another few weeks, there's little reason to continue holding Abreu in most formats, and even in deep AL-only leagues, I'd look to bench him at the very least.
Worry-o-meter: 5 out of 5
Setup man to stash: Bryan King, though the correct course of action may be to simply avoid this bullpen, with Josh Hader due to return in a few weeks. By leverage index, the highest-leverage reliever in the Houston bullpen is actually AJ Blubaugh, but he's often been used in a multi-inning role in the middle of games and has also allowed nine runs across his last two appearances with a 1:5 K:BB over that stretch. King is tied with Abreu for the second-highest leverage index and already has a save this season. He's also pitching well, with a 1.69 ERA and 8:2 K:BB in 5.1 innings of work.
Ryan Walker, Giants: Walker was yet again used as the reliever who directly followed Robbie Ray, recording the last out of the seventh inning Tuesday against the Phillies and sticking around to pitch the eighth despite the Giants having a four-run lead. While manager Tony Vitello's logic behind this usage is sound — Walker offers a very different look in terms of both handedness and arm angle to Ray — that's simply not the way you'd deploy a pitcher you viewed as your primary closer.
Walker also doesn't have a traditional closer's stat line this season, nor did he have one last year. His 4.15 ERA and 1.38 WHIP are quite close to the 4.11 ERA and 1.27 WHIP he managed last season, and while strikeout rate is up a bit from 22.6 percent to 26.3 percent, his walk rate has jumped all the way from 6.8 percent to 15.8 percent.
Walker has never spent a full season as a closer, saving 10 games in 2024 and 17 more in 2025, so it's not as if Vitello is removing a long-established ninth-inning arm from his most comfortable role. While Walker does have the Giants' only traditional save this season (Blade Tidwell's save was of the three-inning variety), this looks like it will turn into a committee situation soon, if it hasn't already.
Worry-o-meter: 3 out of 5
Setup man to stash: Any of Keaton Winn, Erik Miller or Caleb Kilian. The lack of a clear second option makes it difficult to speculate with confidence in this bullpen. That either means that any committee which develops could see the saves spread around to a large number of arms, or it means that the door is wide open for any reliever who puts together a strong few weeks to take the job and run with it. Miller is the top Giants pitcher by leverage index thus far, but he's given up four runs in four innings and had a very poor 22:20 K:BB last season. He's also a lefty, though the Giants do have three lefties right now, so he can't be ruled out.
Winn and Kilian are both righties and have both been pitching well, at least by some metrics. Winn has a 5.06 ERA through 5.1 innings but a 2.51 SIERA, with seven strikeouts and just two walks. Kilian has yet to allow a run or even a hit in his 5.1 innings of work, striking out seven while walking two. Joel Peguero could even be an option as well, as he's nearly ready to return from his hamstring strain. His four-seamer averaged 99.9 mph in his 22.1-inning debut last season, though it led to just a 19.8 percent strikeout rate.
David Bednar, Yankees: Bednar probably won't be displaced from the closer role any time soon, but given his inconsistency in past seasons, his slow start is worth noting. This time last year, he'd already been demoted to the minors to try to sort himself out, and while things are going better this season, his 4.26 ERA and 1.89 WHIP aren't what fantasy managers signed up for.
Bednar does have all five of the Yankees' saves, a total which leads the majors, but he's been far from dominant, striking out just 23.3 percent of opposing batters while walking 10.0 percent. Those numbers are worryingly close to the 22.1 percent strikeout rate and 10.7 percent walk rate he recorded two years ago when he struggled to a 5.77 ERA, numbers which make his 34.3 percent strikeout rate and 7.6 percent walk rate last season look like the outlier.
Bednar's velocity is down as well, as he's averaged 95.6 mph on his fastball after averaging 97.3 and 97.1 mph the last two seasons, and his last two outings have produced his two lowest average velocities of the year. He's also allowed a run in three of his last four appearances. While a change doesn't appear to be imminent, those who counted on Bednar for 30-plus saves this season may want to think about a backup plan before things get worse.
Worry-o-meter: 2 out of 5
Setup man to stash: Camilo Doval. Doval was acquired alongside Bednar at last year's trade deadline but picked up just one save down the stretch for his new team. He has plenty of closer experience, however, saving 107 games across his first four and a half seasons with the Giants. He's struggled a bit to start this season, at least from an ERA perspective, allowing four runs in 4.1 innings of work, but his 28.6 percent strikeout rate, 4.8 percent walk rate and 64.3 percent groundball rate are all excellent numbers. Fernando Cruz could also be an option, as he owns a 1.93 ERA and 38.9 percent strikeout rate through his first six appearances, but he has just two career saves and has a 22.2 percent walk rate this season, so Doval looks like a better fit.
Bullpen Deep Dive
I'm skipping this section just for this article and will instead point you to Ryan Rufe's excellent Closer Encounters article from yesterday, where he took a deep dive into nine of the league's most unsettled bullpens. Normal Deep Dive service will resume in this space for Monday's article.
Injury Round-Up
Kirby Yates, Ben Joyce and Robert Stephenson, Angels: Jordan Romano has yet to allow a run through five innings of work this season and has solidified his grip on the Angels' closer job, but his poor performance the last two seasons means we can't have a ton of faith in him continuing to pitch this well going forward. If he starts to struggle again, the Angels do have other options available, though it won't be Stephenson who takes over for him at any point this season, as he underwent season-ending elbow surgery Wednesday. Yates is closing in on a rehab assignment as he works his way back from left knee inflammation, however, while Joyce continues to work his way back slowly from shoulder surgery, a procedure he underwent last May. His return date is unclear.
Josh Hader, Astros: No setbacks have been reported for Hader as he works his way back from biceps tendinitis, an injury which popped up this February as he worked his way back from the shoulder strain which ended his 2025 campaign in August. Reports from late March indicated he'd be ready to face mid-April, though that doesn't appear to have happened yet.
Carlos Estevez, Royals: Estevez threw a bullpen session Thursday as he works his way back from a foot contusion, an injury he suffered when he was hit by a line drive in his season debut. The foot contusion is less of a concern with Estevez than his dramatic drop in velocity, which was down six or seven miles per hour throughout spring training and still down nearly five miles per hour in his lone regular season appearance. Lucas Erceg has filled the closer role capably in his absence and has recorded three saves, but his 3:2 K:BB in 4.2 innings of work is underwhelming. If reports indicate that Estevez's velocity has returned in his bullpen sessions, he could reclaim his job sooner rather than later, but no reports yet exist indicating that's the case.
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.
A few changes from Monday's grid:
- Cardinals upgraded from Very Low to Medium stability, with Riley O'Brien now listed as a closer rather than a committee leader
- Reds upgraded from Low to Medium stability
- Angels upgraded from Low to Medium stability
- Diamondbacks upgraded from Low to Medium stability
- Royals upgraded from Very Low to Low stability
- Kody Funderburk now the top name in the Twins' closer committee
- Jakob Junis now the top name in the Rangers' closer committee
- Clayton Beeter now listed as the Nationals' closer rather than a committee leader
Here's how the whole thing looks as of Friday afternoon:
*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.
