If you thought, as I did, that Atlanta’s bullpen would be settled after all of their deadline trades, you thought wrong. Shane Greene has allowed at least one earned run in each of his three outings with the Braves, and even though we expected regression was coming, I don’t think anyone expected it to be so dramatic. I expect Shane Greene to get Atlanta’s next save chance, but all bets are off if he can’t convert the save. Luke Jackson and Anthony Swarzak would be the obvious choices to close if Greene cannot, but they were the first two relievers Braves Manager Brian Snitker has gone to each of the last two games, even though Atlanta had big leads in both games. Mark Melancon was brought in to get the last out Thursday with a runner on first and a four-run lead, which may or may not mean anything. I wouldn’t add any of Atlanta’s other relievers, though if I had to pick one, it would be Jackson, simply because he was pretty good in the role earlier this season. I wouldn’t drop Shane Greene yet either. It may be a bumpy ride, but I bet he will remain Atlanta’s closer the rest of the way.
Scott Oberg picked up the save for Colorado on Friday, and my expectation is he will remain the closer the rest of the way. Wade Davis ’s contract and track record gave him a long leash, but now that the Rockies have made the change, I think Oberg would really have to struggle for Davis to get his job back. Colorado has the fewest saves in the league, so I get why fantasy managers aren’t rushing out to add Oberg, but there’s nothing to say he couldn’t get 10 saves the rest of the way. Save opportunities can be fluky. He’s a good pitcher and appears to have a firm grip on the job, and I don’t think you can say that for anyone else who is so widely available.
Shawn Kelley came off the IL Wednesday and allowed a hit and got one out. José Leclerc has two saves and a win in his last three outings, but he has a 6.35 ERA and 1.76 WHIP over the last two weeks. I would rather have Leclerc right now, but I suspect he will have an awfully short leash. We know he will rack up strikeouts, and he can be great for a sustained period, but the walks will always come back to bite him eventually. If Leclerc loses the closer job, Kelley will almost certainly replace him.
Mickey Callaway said Monday Edwin Díaz will remain the Mets’ closer, though with the Mets only half a game out of the second Wild Card spot, I can’t imagine he will have a very long leash. Seth Lugo got the save for the Mets on Monday, and if Diaz falters again, Lugo would be the obvious choice to take the role.
Anthony Bass tossed a scoreless inning to get the save Wednesday, and he is probably the Mariners closer going forward. Seattle has four more saves than Colorado this season, but I think I would rather own Oberg than Bass right now.
Joe Jiménez should be Detroit’s closer; though he hasn’t had a save opportunity since Greene was traded. Like José Leclerc , Jimenez has a lot of strikeouts but a high WHIP. While Leclerc gives up too many walks, Jimenez gives up too many hits. The way I see it, the biggest difference between Leclerc and Jimenez is Leclerc has an obvious replacement in Shawn Kelley , while Joe Jiménez does not. Also, Texas is still nominally in the Wild Card race, while Detroit is not. If Jimenez is really terrible, Buck Farmer might get a shot to close, but I would rather have Jimenez over Leclerc.
So much for Nathan Eovaldi closing games for Boston. Brandon Workman has Boston’s only save over the last two weeks and three of Boston’s four saves over the last 30 days. The Red Sox only have 22 saves on the season, and there’s no guarantee Workman even gets the next save chance. I think I would rather own Oberg or even Anthony Bass before I would mess around with Workman. Eovaldi and his 6.59 ERA and 1.67 WHIP are obviously droppable.
Ken Giles allowed a two-run home run but still got the save Wednesday. If you own him, go ahead and get him in your lineup. The concern with him has always been health, not performance. Though it is interesting that Derek Law , not Justin Shafer , had Toronto’s last two saves before Giles’s save on Wednesday. That being said, if Giles is healthy, this is his job.
Taylor Rogers and Sergio Romo each have a save since Romo was traded to the Twins. I suspect Rogers will lead the Twins in saves the rest of the way, but Romo will be involved, especially if a lot of tough righties are due up in the ninth. At least you know you’re getting strikeouts and a great WHIP from Rogers even if he has to share closing duties.
Pedro Strop was activated from the IL on Tuesday, one day after Craig Kimbrel landed on the IL himself. Strop has been up and down all season, but he has nine saves so far, and he should be locked in until Kimbrel returns. Kimbrel isn’t expected to spend much more than 10 days on the IL, but Strop is a short-term add, especially if you lost Kimbrel.
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Kyren Paris hit a two-run homer in Wednesday’s win for the Angels over the Blue Jays.
That’s the first homer for Paris since April 9 when he went deep twice against Tampa Bay and caused everyone to lose all sense of rational thought. The 23-year-old did also single and walk to improve his on-base percentage to .311,, while the homer bumps his slugging mark to .378. There is long-term upside in Paris with flashes that suggest he can be a fantasy option. Fantasy managers should still absolutely looking elsewhere for options up the middle.
Jorge Soler hit a three-run double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Angels a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Trent Grisham went 1-for-1 with a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday.
While the Yankees won this game on a walk-off in the 10th inning, Grisham’s game-tying home run in the eighth was the biggest moment. He came on as a pinch-hitter for Jorbit Vibas against the usually stout Jason Adam and smashed a two-strike changeup into the right field seats. This clutch shot will only continue to push Grisham’s playing time in the right direction after he just started eight of the last 10 games, hit either first or second in each, and already has 10 homers in 31 games played this season.
Jeff Hoffman blew a save and picked up a loss Wednesday against the Angels.
Devin Williams struck out three batters with one walk and hit another in a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win against the Padres on Wednesday.
The Yankees entrusted Williams with the all important 10th inning and the inherited ghost runner on second base after their dramatic comeback. While he loaded the bases and had some tense moments, he left the inning unscathed and opened the door for them to win it right after. It should be noted that Luke Weaver came on for what were the most important outs of this game at the time, after Ian Hamilton walked two to begin the eighth inning and Weaver allowed both of those inherited runners to score. He was called upon as the fireman though and will likely get the next save opportunity. Still, this was a massive step in the right direction for Williams.
Max Fried allowed five hits and one run with no walks and eight strikeouts over seven innings in a no-decision against the Padres on Wednesday.
Fried’s excellent season continued as he set down the Padres easily besides for a mammoth solo home run by Jackson Merrill. It was no matter though, as they rarely threatened otherwise and Fried continued to find his strikeout stuff. This was his fourth outing of the year with at least seven strikeouts, a mark he only hit 10 times last season in 29 starts. Fried with a strikeout rate that’s better than league average – which is where he’s at right now – is a clear top-10 pitcher in fantasy baseball. He’s set for a two-start week coming up against the Mariners and Mets.