Fantasy Baseball Closer Report May 4: Jhoan Duran Secures First Save
With injuries, periodic slumps and the re-emergence of the COVID-19 virus contributing to the expected volatility associated with managing the fantasy baseball closer position, it’s become increasingly important to identify the next man up in MLB bullpens. Keep in mind that the next man up is often a pitcher who has some closer experience.
Just this past week alone, three pitchers who didn’t start the season as their team’s primary closer picked up multiple saves. Rostering pitchers who have a potential path to a closer’s job, or at least have the opportunity to pick up the occasional save or hold, can potentially save you a significant amount of FAAB dollars. We’ll identify some of those pitchers in this article but you can always use our Closer Grid as a resource for finding worthwhile relief pitchers to either roster or keep on your watch list.
(The statistics quoted in this article are accurate as of the morning of 5.3.2022)
Weekly Fantasy Baseball Saves Leaders
Taylor Rogers, Padres, 4
He has one blown one save opportunity, but Rogers hasn’t given up an earned run this season and is firmly entrenched as the Padres’ closer.
Jordan Romano, Blue Jays, 3
Romano’s preseason NFBC ADP had him being selected as the ninth closer coming off the board and so far, he’s been a bargain. He closes out games for one of the better teams in baseball and leads the majors with 11 saves.
Anthony Bender, Marlins, 3
Bender has had a few rough patches this season but overall, he’s done a good job filling in for the Marlins’ injured closer Dylan Floro. With Floro nearing a return to action from the IL, Bender could possibly lose his gig. However, if you roster Floro and have the room on your bench, you might want to hold onto him. Other than an obvious clear path to future save opportunities, Bender should get his fair share of hold opportunities as well.
6 additional pitchers had two saves last week including:
Kennedy has 58 career saves and is temporarily filling in for Diamondbacks closer Mark Melancon while he is on the COVID-19 IL. Kennedy will continue as Melancon’s handcuff upon his return.
Montero has recorded two of the Astros’ saves (Ryne Stanek has the other) since Ryan Pressly has been on the IL. Pressly started a rehab assignment this week and should rejoin the team shortly. Astros manager Dusty Baker has also used Héctor Neris (2 holds last week) in high leverage late inning situations.
Weekly Fantasy Baseball Holds Leaders
Anthony Bass, Marlins, 3
Noé Ramirez, Diamondbacks, 3
15 additional pitchers had 2 holds last week including:
Angels relievers Ryan Tepera, Aaron Loup and Archie Bradley. All three pitchers also have some prior closing experience. Entering Tuesday’s action, the Angels had won seven of their last 10 games, providing plenty of opportunities for their relievers to get hold chances.
MLB Bullpens To Watch
St. Louis Cardinals
Ryan Helsley worked a perfect two innings in relief this past Sunday and picked up his first save of the season. His fastball topped out at 103.1 mph and since many league waiver wire runs take place on Sunday nights, a lot of fantasy baseball managers immediately invested a lot of their FAAB in an attempt to add him to their roster. However, Giovanny Gallegos, who hadn’t pitched since blowing a save opportunity on April 25th, worked a perfect ninth inning on Monday afternoon and picked up his fifth save of the season. The fact that Helsley might not have been available since he had just thrown two innings the night before was probably the true reason that Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol decided to use Gallego. However, Marmol had previously stated that he was open to using a closer by committee approach this season. It’s a situation that needs to be monitored. Both Gallegos and Helsley might have fantasy value moving forward. Whether one pitcher might be used more than the other moving forward, only time will tell. If you roster him, don’t you dare give up on Gallegos.
Minnesota Twins
In last week’s column we spoke about how Emilio Pagán had emerged as the Twins’ closer, but that Jhoan Duran had the making of a potential closer and that it seemed that the team was grooming him for the job. Well, in a tight game that the Twins led 2-1 on Monday night, Pagan came in to pitch the eighth inning and he was followed by Duran in the ninth. Duran picked up the first save of his professional baseball career. In speaking to the media after the game, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli wouldn’t commit to how he’d use Duran in the immediate future, but with 19 strikeouts and just two walks in 12 IP, he’s likely to get more save opportunities this season and is worth adding in deeper leagues (12 teams or more) based on his future potential.
Texas Rangers
In case Rangers reliever Joe Barlow, who was the Rangers closer for the final month of the 2021 season, happens to be available on the waiver wire in your league, hurry up and grab him. The Rangers had suggested that they didn’t want to put too much pressure on Barlow to start the season and he wouldn’t be their closer early on. With his second save of the season on Tuesday night Barlow seems to be settling in as their closer sooner rather than later.
Middle Relievers Who Should Be On Your Radar in Deep Leagues
With starting pitchers averaging just 4.8 innings per start so far this season, in some instances you might get similar, or even better production by using a top middle relief pitcher instead of a mediocre starting pitcher in a given week. The following are examples of middle relievers who tend to make multi-inning relief appearances and who tend to pitch several innings per week and might have deep league fantasy value based on their recent performance.
Scott Effross, Cubs
Effross appeared in three games last week and pitched four scoreless innings. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter. Effross also recorded a hold. Overall, he’s struck out 12 batters across 10 innings and has a 1.80 ERA.
Griffin Jax, Twins
Jax appeared in two games last week, pitching four scoreless innings. He saved one game and held another, while striking out four batters and walking just one. Jax has struck out 13 batters in 10 innings on the season.
CLICK HERE FOR THE UPDATED CLOSER GRID
Related Links:
- Fantasy Baseball Weekly Waiver Advice
- Fantasy Baseball Player Spotlights
- MLB Injury Report
- Fantasy Baseball Daily Round Ups
Player News
Daulton Varsho picked up three hits, three RBI and a homer in a win over the Angels on Thursday.
Varsho has only played in seven games this year, but they’ve been seven good ones. He’s homered three times already, and his slugging percentage is a remarkable — and entirely unsustainable — .727 over 22 at-bats. Varsho has been a mediocre offensive player in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, but it’s possible at the age of 28 he’s having a breakout campaign. Far from a guarantee, but possible.
Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in a loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday.
Ward, 31, gave the Angels a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer off Chris Bassitt in the first inning. He’s now gone deep in two of his last three games, and it ‘improves’ his slash to .181/.224/.391. Ward has been one of the most hot/cold players players in the sport over the last few years, so fantasy managers who can afford to make some roster moves may want to look at Ward while the going is good.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. picked up three hits and scored twice in an 8-5 win over the Angels on Thursday.
Guerrero also drew a walk. It gives the first baseman multiple hits in back-to-back games, and it’s the third time in May that he’s reached that mark. That’s helped raise his average from .268 to .295, and the only thing fantasy managers can be disappointed with is his .432 slugging percentage. That number should continue to climb as the season unfolds, but Vladdy Jr. has had some inconsistent seasons when it comes to power production.
Chad Green picked up his first save of 2025 with a scoreless ninth against the Angels on Thursday.
Green got the save after Jeff Hoffman worked in back-to-back games — and struggled — in the first two contests against the Angels. He struck out two and looked the part while needing just nine pitches to get through the inning. Hoffman should remain the closer, but Green is on his tail if the struggles were to continue.
Chris Bassitt allowed five runs — four earned — while working six-plus innings against the Angels on Thursday while picking up a win.
Bassitt allowed three runs over the first two innings on a pair of homers, but settled down over his next four frames. He came out to work the seventh, but ended up being charged for two more runs after leaving the contest. The 36-year-old veteran has forged a 3.35 ERA and outstanding 49/8 K/BB ratio over the first quarter of the season, but this wasn’t him at his best. He’ll get the Rays next week if the rotation order stays the same for Toronto.
José Soriano allowed three runs over five innings while not factoring in the decision Thursday against the Blue Jays.
Soriano left with a 4-3 lead, but it was erased quickly after his departure. The 26-year-old was not exactly dominant in his outing with eight hits allowed and four free passes, but he did strike out six to help balance things out a smidgen. Soriano takes an even ERA of 4.00 into a scheduled start against the Padres in San Diego on Tuesday. There should be better options for that one.