Closer Carousel: Who Earned Saves This Week?

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?

*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.

Closers I'm Worried About

Trevor Megill, Brewers: Megill has had a shaky start to the season and appears to have already lost his closer job. While he mostly got the job done over the first two weeks of the year despite some middling underlying numbers, the Brewers seem to have made a change after a pair of particularly poor outings. Last Friday against the Nationals, he entered a tie game in the ninth inning and proceeded to give up four runs. Then this Tuesday against the Blue Jays, he entered with a one-run lead in the ninth and blew the save, giving up three runs.

When a save chance arrived Wednesday, it was Abner Uribe, not Megill, who got the opportunity. And when another save opportunity arrived Thursday, Uribe was unavailable, having pitched on back-to-back days, so the save went to Angel Zerpa, with Megill pitching in the eighth inning.

Megill now owns a 12.00 ERA and 2.00 WHIP through seven appearances this season. His strikeout rate has fallen from 31.3 percent to 21.9 percent, while his walk rate has jumped from 8.9 percent to 12.5 percent. Making this all more worrisome is the fact that Megill suffered a forearm strain last year, and while he avoided surgery and even made it back for the postseason, the injury might be having some lingering effects. Whether injury-related or not, Megill's fastball has averaged 97.8 mph this season, down from 99.1 mph last year, and he doesn't seem to be the same pitcher as a result.

Worry-o-meter: 5 out of 5

Setup man to stash: Abner Uribe. Uribe also hasn't been quite himself this season, with a 4.91 ERA and 1.23 WHIP, but while his strikeout rate has dropped from 30.2 percent to 25.8 percent, his walk rate is also down, falling from 9.1 percent to 3.2 percent. There also isn't a recent injury to worry about here like there is with Megill, which means I'm not overly concerned about the fact that his sinker velocity has fallen from 98.7 mph to 97.6. The fact that the Brewers immediately turned to him for the save chance after removing Megill from the closer role seems like a clear indication of their plans going forward, though if Uribe can't get back his previous velocity and the additional whiffs that came with it, it's possible the team goes with a committee approach instead.

Ryan Walker, Giants: Walker was drafted as if he was the Giants' closer, and he did record the team's first save back in late March, but new manager Tony Vitello hasn't been all that interested in using him as a closer. His five appearances in April have been as follows:

• April 2: Recorded the last two outs of the sixth inning with the Giants up 6-2. This usage was justified as being due to the fact that Walker and Robbie Ray, who pitched immediately before him, present very different looks to opposing hitters due to their opposite handedness and contrasting arm angles. A sensible reason to use him in that spot, but not the way you'd typically use a closer.
• April 7: Recorded the last out of the seventh and all three outs of the eighth with the Giants up 4-0. This outing again directly followed Ray.
• April 12: Got the last two outs of the sixth inning with the Giants down 4-1. Walker allowed a run on three hits in this outing.
• April 14: Pitched a clean eighth inning with the Giants down 2-1. This was another Ray start, but Walker didn't directly follow him this time.
• April 16: Pitched a clean seventh inning after the Giants had taken a 3-0 lead.

That game log is simply not a closer's game log, and Walker's stat line is not a closer's stat line. He's been fine, but a 3.86 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 26.7 percent strikeout rate and 10.0 percent walk rate leave him somewhere between a good middle reliever and an unimpressive setup man. A seventh-inning guy in a bullpen with a traditional hierarchy, perhaps. This all comes after Walker struggled to a 4.11 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 22.6 percent strikeout rate last season, numbers which certainly don't look like a closer's, so it's no surprise his team no longer views him that way.

Worry-o-meter: 5 out of 5

Setup man to stash: Erik Miller, Keaton Winn or Caleb Kilian. The problem with speculating in this bullpen is that no option particularly stands out, and there's a good chance the end result here is some sort of committee rather than someone else claiming the job all for themselves. (A committee would likely include Walker as a member, so he may be worth holding onto in some deeper leagues.) Miller, a lefty, got the save Thursday against the Reds after Winn pitched the eighth, but the chance may have gone to him because lefty TJ Friedl was due up, with switch-hitter Elly De La Cruz — who's been far better against righties thus far in his career — set to hit third.

Miller looked great Thursday, but his 6.00 ERA and 1.83 WHIP on the season are poor, with his 13.8 percent walk rate so far offsetting a 34.5 percent strikeout rate. He also didn't look good at all under the hood last season despite a 1.50 WHIP, as he recorded a 22:20 K:BB in 30 innings. Winn's numbers look like a better fit for the role, as he owns a 3.24 ERA and 0.72 WHIP backed by a 35.5 percent strikeout rate and 6.5 percent walk rate. Kilian has pitched well enough to deserve consideration as well, with a 1.29 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 37.0 percent strikeout rate, though his 14.8 percent walk rate is poor. 

Jordan Romano, Angels: Through the start of this week, Romano looked like a strong candidate to be this year's version of what Emilio Pagan was last year: a reliever who had almost no hype during draft season but who claimed the closer job right away and never looked back. Everything unraveled this week against the Yankees, though, as he blew one save Monday and another Wednesday, sending his ERA from 0.00 to 8.44 and taking his WHIP from 0.40 to 1.88.

Those numbers look worryingly like the 8.23 ERA and 1.45 WHIP he recorded with the Phillies last season, so it's easy to believe the guy he was during the Yankees series is the real Romano, not the one we saw for the first two and a half weeks. Romano's numbers now look even worse than they did last year in some ways. His walk rate has spiked from 9.1 percent to 19.2 percent while his groundball rate has fallen from 37.8 percent to 21.4 percent.

Given Romano's track record over the last two seasons, it's no surprise that it's only taken two blown saves for him to potentially lose his job, as Angels manager Kurt Suzuki wouldn't commit Thursday to saying that Romano was still his closer. Even with the team lacking compelling alternatives, don't be surprised if someone else gets the team's next save. The only reason I've left this as a 4 out of 5 on the worry-o-meter rather than going all the way to 5 out of 5 right away is that Suzuki said Romano will still be used in high-leverage spots, and with the team's alternative options being rather unconvincing, it may be worth holding onto Romano at least through this weekend to see how this situation develops. My expectations are very low for him going forward, though.

Worry-o-meter: 4 out of 5

Setup man to stash: Drew Pomeranz? Chase Silseth? Kirby Yates? The Angels' bullpen is a mess, and whoever gets the next save chance after Romano won't be a very good bet to take the job and run with it. The left-handed Pomeranz had a very good season last year with the Cubs (2.17 ERA, 1.07 WHIP), and he's the Angels' top reliever by leverage index this season, but he owns a 4.50 ERA on the year and has just five strikeouts in eight innings. Silseth has been the team's highest-leverage righty after Romano, but while he owns a 2.45 ERA on the year, it comes with a 1.50 WHIP and an 18.2 percent walk rate. Yates could eventually be the answer, but the 39-year-old has yet to kick off a rehab assignment as he works his way back from knee inflammation, and he's coming off a year in which he struggled to a 5.23 ERA. 

Edwin Diaz, Dodgers: Diaz hasn't pitched since blowing a save last Friday, but that isn't going to get him out of this section. Instead, it'll earn him a bump on the worry-o-meter from 2 out of 5 to 3 out of 5. Alex Vesia got the save last Saturday even though Diaz could have been available, and then he got another save Tuesday despite the fact that Diaz hadn't pitched in four days. 

The Dodgers clearly don't want Diaz to pitch at the moment, so it's a surprise that he isn't already on the injured list. His velocity is down this year, sitting at 96.1 mph compared to 97.4 mph last season and 99.1 mph at his peak. The results have been shaky as well, as Diaz owns a 6.00 ERA and 1.67 WHIP in six innings of work, pairing a strong 34.5 percent strikeout rate with a poor 13.8 percent walk rate.

Diaz hasn't complained of an injury, and the Dodgers reportedly don't think he's hurt, and for most teams, that would be reason enough to assume he was good to go and would get the team's next save chance. But the Dodgers aren't most teams, and unlike the rest of the league, they can afford to plan for October while it's still mid-April. The Dodgers are famous for sending key pitchers to the injured list at the slightest sign of trouble to make sure they're good to go for the playoffs, and unless Diaz makes an appearance in the next couple days, it seems pretty safe to assume they'll do the same for Diaz.

Worry-o-meter: 3 out of 5

Setup man to stash: Alex Vesia. I wrote in Monday's edition of this column that I thought Tanner Scott would be the name to add, as he was signed to be the team's closer last season and looks much better this year after pitching his way out of the role in his first season in Dodger blue. With both of the team's last two saves going to Vesia, though, it looks like Vesia is at least the top lefty in any temporary committee that might develop here, not Scott. Vesia might be the top option for saves, period, until Diaz is ready to pitch again, though Blake Treinen could also see some action in the ninth inning as the team's top righty other than Diaz. Treinen began the ninth inning last Saturday but could only record two outs before being replaced by Vesia, who finished the job quickly. 

Bullpen Deep Dive

Houston Astros

*gmLI is the average Leverage Index when a pitcher enters the game. 1.0 is average; closers typically sit north of 1.50.

Bryan Abreu looked like the very obvious candidate to open the year as the Astros' closer until Josh Hader recovers from biceps tendinitis, and the Astros did indeed use him that way. He featured in the "Closers I'm Worried About" section of every edition of this column until this one, and he only earns a reprieve this time around because it's no longer correct to call him a closer. He's been awful this season, and while he does finally have a pair of scoreless appearances on his ledger, it's going to take a while to undo the stink of his first six outings, each of which saw him allow at least one earned run.

I expected Bryan King to be the setup man to stash who would take over the role once Abreu finally lost it, but instead it's been Enyel De Los Santos who claimed the role out of nowhere. He opened the year on the injured list due to a right knee strain and initially pitched in lower-leverage spots after his return, but he suddenly has a pair of saves this week. In his first one Tuesday, King was given the chance to go for a five-out save but allowed a pair of two-out singles in the ninth inning. De Los Santos struck out the only batter he faced and then was called on for a traditional save the next day, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

Is De Los Santos now the closer? Possibly. The team hasn't announced as much, but the Astros lack a trustworthy righty outside of Abreu (who certainly hasn't earned the "trustworthy" label this year). De Los Santos recorded a 4.78 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 2024 and 2025 while pitching for five different teams, but he did have a 3.18 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over the two years before that, so seeing him pitch well enough to move into the ninth inning this season isn't completely out of nowhere..

The Astros may not feel the need to name a closer in Hader's absence, as whoever holds the job will only hold it for a little over a month, barring setbacks. If they go with a committee instead, King would likely see some save chances as the team's top lefty, with fellow southpaw Steven Okert also potentially in the mix. And a full-blown committee could even see Abreu find himself in the ninth inning again before too long, though he'll probably need to string together several more scoreless outings before the Astros trust him again. 

Injury Round-Up

Kirby Yates, Angels: Reports from last weekend indicated that Yates would begin a rehab assignment soon as he works his way back from left knee inflammation, but that assignment has yet to get underway. Still, Yates should only be a few weeks from his return, and his odds of taking the closer job once healthy now look far better than they did at the start of this week after a pair of blown saves by Jordan Romano. It's possible someone else will have time to make the role their own by the time Yates is healthy, however. 

Josh Hader, Astros: The good news is that Hader advanced to his first live batting practice Tuesday, right in line with the schedule the team laid out back in late March. The bad news is that while a return near the start of May previously seemed possible, that's no longer an option after Hader was transferred to the 60-day injured list Friday. That transaction wasn't due to any reported setback but is rather an acknowledgment that Hader will need a slow buildup as he works his way back from biceps tendinitis, essentially requiring a full spring training before he's ready to go. His earliest return date is now May 24. 

Daniel Palencia, Cubs: Palencia was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain Friday. The announcement came more or less out of nowhere, as Palencia has pitched well this season, not allowing a single run in five appearances after an excellent showing for champions Venezuela at the World Baseball Classic. A timeline for his return has yet to be announced, but oblique strains often keep players out for well over a month. The Cubs are also without Hunter Harvey (triceps) and Phil Maton (knee), so their next save chance could go to someone who was quite far down their Opening Day closer depth chart like Caleb Thielbar or Ben Brown. 

Edwin Uceta, Rays: Uceta suffered a setback while on a rehab assignment, feeling renewed soreness in his right shoulder after his latest appearance Wednesday. He'll be shut down for a few days before being re-evaluated, so in a best-case scenario, his return is likely still multiple weeks away. Bryan Baker has pitched well as the Rays' primary closing option this season and should continue to get the bulk of the save opportunities in Tampa, even if he's still somewhere between a committee leader and a true closer. 

Emilio Pagan, Reds: Pagan's hamstring tightened up following his last pitch Tuesday against the Giants, but he appears to have avoided a serious injury. He's avoided the injured list so far, and while he's yet to make an appearance since the injury, he has been able to play catch. If he does miss time, Tony Santillan would be the top option to replace him in the ninth inning. 

Carlos Estevez, Royals: Estevez is expected to embark on a rehab assignment within the next few days as he works his way back from the bruised foot he suffered when he was hit by a line drive in his first appearance of the season. Of far greater concern for Estevez than the bruise is his precipitous drop in velocity, which was down just shy of five miles per hour in his season debut. His velocity readings on his rehab assignment will go a long way toward determining how likely he is to reclaim the closer job from Lucas Erceg, who owns a 6.14 ERA and 1.50 WHIP through eight appearances this year but does have five saves. 

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. 

There are several notable changes from Monday's grid:

• Braves upgraded from Medium to High security.
• Cubs downgraded from High to Very Low security, now featuring a committee instead of the injured Daniel Palencia (oblique).
• Tigers upgraded from Medium to High security.
• Angels downgraded from Medium to Very Low security.
• Brewers downgraded from Medium to Low security, now featuring a committee led by Abner Uribe rather than Trevor Megill as a closer.
• Dennis Santana now listed as the first name in the Pirates' committee rather than Gregory Soto.
• Mariners downgraded from Very High to High security.
• Giants changed from Ryan Walker as a Very Low security closer to a committee, still led by Walker for now.
• Cardinals upgraded from Medium to High security.
• Rays upgraded from Low to Medium security.
• Nationals now listed as a committee led by Clayton Beeter rather than listing Beeter as the closer.

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.