Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report: Breaking down every team's closer situation at the season's halfway point
Here's where three months of volatility has taken us
By
Scott White
•
5 min read
The season is halfway done. If you haven't had to change out your closers yet, consider yourself lucky.
Relief pitcher remains as volatile as ever, which means the past three months have led to much hand-wringing with regard to saves, holds, and other bullpen matters.
I've done my best to keep you abreast with near-weekly bullpen reports breaking down the most tumultuous bullpens at that point in time. But unless you're taking in each and every one, it's easy to lose the thread. The midway point makes for a good time to reorient yourself.
So just as I did at the start of the season, I've put together this complete bullpen breakdown for all 30 teams. For each team, I've listed the closer pecking order, denoting how confident I am in the top guy and how likely a committee is to develop. I've also listed which relievers are rosterable in the typical Fantasy league. If your league uses holds as a category, you'll want to pay particular attention to the second and third names in the pecking order.
Arizona Diamondbacks
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Shelby Miller
Season-ending injuries to Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk have put the Diamondbacks in a dire situation, leaving Miller as the only viable choice to close.
Athletics
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Mason Miller
Atlanta Braves
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who's rosterable? Raisel Iglesias, Dylan Lee
Iglesias is still trying to win his way back into manager Brian Snitker's good graces, but in the long run, he probably outshines the left-handed Lee, who has been handling the highest-leverage spots of late.
Baltimore Orioles
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Felix Bautista
Boston Red Sox
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: medium
Who's rosterable? Aroldis Chapman
Chapman has occasionally been used in the eighth as matchups have warranted, but he's having his most dominant season in years.
Chicago Cubs
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who's rosterable? Daniel Palencia
Chicago White Sox
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who's rosterable? Grant Taylor
Cincinnati Reds
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Emilio Pagan
Cleveland Guardians
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith
Colorado Rockies
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who's rosterable? Seth Halvorsen
Detroit Tigers
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who's rosterable? Will Vest, Tommy Kahnle
Manager A.J. Hinch will occasionally flip Vest and Kahnle if the matchups warrant it, but Vest has 10 saves to Kahnle's three over the past two months.
Houston Astros
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Josh Hader, Bryan Abreu
Kansas City Royals
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Carlos Estevez
Los Angeles Angels
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Kenley Jansen
Jansen is showing his 37 years of age and likely to be traded while former starter Reid Detmers has really taken to the setup role.
Los Angeles Dodgers
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: high
Who's rosterable? Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates
Manager Dave Roberts often uses Scott in the eighth rather than the ninth, but the left-hander still has far more saves than any other Dodgers reliever.
Miami Marlins
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who's rosterable? Calvin Faucher, Ronny Henriquez
Clayton McCullough's bullpen usage has been the most frustrating of any manager so far. He's recently begun to shy away from Faucher again after the right-hander recorded five consecutive saves at one point.
Milwaukee Brewers
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Trevor Megill
Minnesota Twins
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: medium
Who's rosterable? Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax
New York Mets
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Edwin Diaz
New York Yankees
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who's rosterable? Devin Williams, Luke Weaver
Williams was acquired to fill the closer role, then lost it through his early struggles, then reclaimed it when Luke Weaver was sidelined by a hamstring injury and seems to be holding on now that Williams has returned.
Philadelphia Phillies
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who's rosterable? Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm
The Phillies have alternated between Strahm and Kerkering for each of their past five chances, making for the truest of committees.
Pittsburgh Pirates
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who's rosterable? David Bednar
Bednar's early struggles got him demoted to the minors at one point, but he has a 1.95 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 13.0 K/9 since returning.
San Diego Padres
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Robert Suarez, Jason Adam
Suarez's ERA has climbed from 1.78 to 3.89 over his past seven appearances, opening the door to a possible Adam takeover.
San Francisco Giants
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who's rosterable? Camilo Doval, Randy Rodriguez
Doval reclaimed the role from a struggling Ryan Walker about a month ago but has struggled himself while Randy Rodriguez has been arguably the most dominant reliever in baseball.
Seattle Mariners
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Andres Munoz
St. Louis Cardinals
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Ryan Helsley
Tampa Bay Rays
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who's rosterable? Pete Fairbanks
Texas Rangers
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who's rosterable? Robert Garcia, Chris Martin
Martin is clearly the Rangers' best reliever and has gotten a couple of saves recently, but the left-handed Garcia still appears to be the front-runner for now.
Toronto Blue Jays
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Jeff Hoffman
Hoffman is an excellent reliever who has nonetheless struggled to close out games, which may open the door for Yimi Garcia to get some looks once he returns from a shoulder impingement.
Washington Nationals
| Pecking order |
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who's rosterable? Kyle Finnegan
