We have passed Opening Day. It has been difficult watching all the live baseball I want to see, but there is still work to be done. Most leagues already have completed their drafts. Others will be happening soon, but draft day is just the beginning of a fantasy season, and no place will likely offer more opportunities to boost your team than the bullpens.
Not that long ago, assessing a team's pitching staff heading into a season was challenging, but it was usually fairly consistent. Most teams would field a rotation of five starting pitchers they hoped could pitch into the sixth or seventh inning and have a bullpen with somewhat defined roles. There would be a long man or two, in case the starter didn't get deep enough into the game, followed by set-up guys, charged with bridging the game to the closer. By now, most roles would be fairly well defined. However, more than ever, it is different these days. Managing workloads could mean expanded, shorter outings, occasional skipped turns and certainly a heavier reliance on bullpens, and that's our focus for this week.
I love writing this article a couple times a year. The bottom line: The better teams (usually), with more quality pitching depth – barring injuries – are likely to be both more predictable and more productive with regard to providing useful fantasy statistics. Ideally, you could fill your staff with pitchers from better teams with the depth to maintain generally static roles for their
We have passed Opening Day. It has been difficult watching all the live baseball I want to see, but there is still work to be done. Most leagues already have completed their drafts. Others will be happening soon, but draft day is just the beginning of a fantasy season, and no place will likely offer more opportunities to boost your team than the bullpens.
Not that long ago, assessing a team's pitching staff heading into a season was challenging, but it was usually fairly consistent. Most teams would field a rotation of five starting pitchers they hoped could pitch into the sixth or seventh inning and have a bullpen with somewhat defined roles. There would be a long man or two, in case the starter didn't get deep enough into the game, followed by set-up guys, charged with bridging the game to the closer. By now, most roles would be fairly well defined. However, more than ever, it is different these days. Managing workloads could mean expanded, shorter outings, occasional skipped turns and certainly a heavier reliance on bullpens, and that's our focus for this week.
I love writing this article a couple times a year. The bottom line: The better teams (usually), with more quality pitching depth – barring injuries – are likely to be both more predictable and more productive with regard to providing useful fantasy statistics. Ideally, you could fill your staff with pitchers from better teams with the depth to maintain generally static roles for their bullpen arms. Unfortunately, those guys tend to be expensive on draft day and almost never appear on the waiver wire. That said, we need to look at some teams that seem to be in turmoil, to hopefully find some bullpen value. This week it's the American League. Next week it's the National League's turn.
Let's review some AL bullpens with question marks as we dive into the 2026 season:
Angels – It looks to me like the Angels should be having a spirited competition for the closer's gig. They have a flamethrower who can miss both bats and the strike zone. The potential closers, Ben Joyce, Jordan Romano and even Drew Pomeranz, have notched saves, but a couple of them are hurt, and Pomeranz is somewhat surprisingly considered a potential closer, even though he is really a left-handed set-up guy. I really thought Joyce would establish himself as the closer after showing off his stuff in 2023, but he struggled (worse than usual) to find the strike zone, and assorted injuries have delayed him grabbing his long-term spot. So, Romano likely is in the mix, too (he has 114 career saves). Interestingly, he and Kirby Yates have significant closer experience but might appear earmarked for late inning, nonclosing duties. I am convinced Joyce could be the guy if he would throw strikes and stay out of the trainer's room. They have a competent bridge crew with Yates (remember he's a pseudo closer) and long man Robert Stephenson on the right side and Pomeranz on the left side, but these guys need to be in more versatile roles.
White Sox – We see teams in a "rebuilding mode" all the time. It's not unusual for them to trade away more expensive/experienced arms, but the White Sox took that to a whole new level recently. Young, old, talented, talent-less, it didn't appear to matter – off you go to a new home. When the dust settled, there was literally no one who even vaguely resembled a closer. It's been a revolving door. However, that may be changing. Seranthony Dominguez signed with the Sox in late January, and he is getting a look as their closer. If Dominguez flops – I don't think he will – I'm pretty much at a loss. I suppose Jordan Leasure is still a possibility. Also, left-hander Sean Newcomb and righty Jordan Hicks at least have some minimal experience, but I don't see it. The Sox have a couple decent kids in the mix in Grant Taylor and Prelander Berroa. Maybe the team would consider breaking them in with meaningful bullpen innings?
A's – I count at least a half dozen relievers who look to collect a save or two, and most of them have no business pitching in the ninth inning. My top guy – said very softly with questionable conviction – is Hogan Harris, and to muddle things more, he's a southpaw. So, let's call it a committee with Harris handling the lefties, and maybe Scott Barlow taking responsibility for the righties. Barlow doesn't excite me at all, but there isn't much to choose from. Maybe Justin Sterner or Mark Leiter will squeeze into the picture, but the best thing the team could do is sign or acquire a real closer. Have there been any Liam Hendriks sightings in Oakland? He spent five years in their pen.
Rays – The Rays appear in this column pretty much every time it rolls around. They are known for employing an extreme closer by committee program. It seems like we discuss them each year and we talk about every relief pitcher. The names are changed to protect the innocent, but you get the idea. This year it's more of the same. The Rays have not settled on a primary closer. When healthy, Edwin Uceta is usually going to get the ball in the ninth inning. That sounds relatively normal … wait, when healthy? Is that a concern? Uceta is 28, and he has pitched in MLB for five seasons, missing good size chunks of each season due to injury. Interestingly, he has spent those five seasons with four different teams. So, when healthy, he's a decent one. When he's not, it could be Griffin Jax – he marginally would be my top choice – but a cast of many like lefty Garrett Cleavinger, Bryan Baker and Kevin Kelly (to name a few) could get a shot at saving a game at any time. Predicting who and when is a whole different story.
Twins – We are probably looking at a lefty/righty tandem here, too. Southpaw Taylor Rogers may be slightly better overall, but I expect the Twins to also give save chances to right-hander Cole Sands when the situation calls for it. Minnesota is actually pretty lucky to boast several relievers who should provide useful innings. Another lefty, Anthony Banda is competent as is righty Justin Topa – a potential sleeper in the closer mix who I think might end up being better than Sands. He missed most of 2024 with a knee injury following a solid 2023, but he looked rusty for most of last year. I look for him to take it up a notch this season. Another lefty, Kody Funderburk, and Zak Kent round out what could be one of the deeper pens in the American League.
Rangers – Texas appears to have its closer scenario in flux, but I'm not totally convinced it has the guy it needs. Is it a tandem, too, with Chris Martin and lefty Robert Garcia? Those are the favorites, however, I'm not seeing anyone who solidly profiles as a guy to go to if they fail. Martin has 16 career saves in 11 MLB seasons, while Garcia has nine in four years. Not exactly overwhelming resumes. Jalen Beeks actually collected 10 saves in 2024, but closer is certainly not the label I would assign to him. Quality set-up guy might even be a stretch. Nobody really has closer tools. They do have a couple longtime journeymen who generally pitch well until asked to hold a lead in the ninth, and that is a monumental problem. I'm ho-hum interested in the veteran Martin. He has looked like an up-and-coming closer a few times but has never locked down the job. Garcia has been able to toss 60 innings in each of the last two seasons and has looked fairly sharp at times, so maybe he'll get a look again. This could develop into a hotly contested competition.
Mariners – In Seattle, the M's have their closer, but unlike so many other teams, they have the huge bonus of having a totally qualified second closer. The closer is Andres Munoz, and he has been a beast, saving 38 games last year with a 1.73 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. He has never had the greatest command, but he punches them out with the best of them (83 strikeouts in 62 innings). His primary caddy is a more than competent eighth-inning guy, Matt Brash, who might actually be a better closer option than half the current "closers" in the majors. Imagine what kind of asset he would be if the Mariners found the need to deal for a big stick or top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher. Gabe Speier, Jose Ferrer and Eduard Bazardo are all adequate set-up guys. It might be nice to have one of the caddies take it up a notch, but they should be okay.
We'll plan on looking at the National League bullpens next week.
Find out which projected starters are going and when with RotoWire's Probable Pitchers page!
