While many fantasy baseball players are rightfully marveling over the exploits of Elly De La Cruz, I am over here trying to figure out who is going to get the next save chance for a variety of different teams. Ha! Let’s keep our eyes forward on making sure we have enough saves and holds to fend off our competition. In this edition find some names to file for later should the trade market for relievers become active later this month.
But first, bullpens by the numbers at the All-Star Break:
- We have eight closers as we go to the All-Star Break with 20 saves or more: Emmanuel Clase and Camilo Doval have 26 saves. Jordan Romano and Alexis Diaz both have 25 saves. Felix Bautista has 23, Carlos Estevez and Josh Hader 21, and Ryan Pressly 20.
- Here are the top 10 relievers with the highest number of holds:
- Erik Swanson (21)
- Tyler Rogers (20)
- Yennier Cano (19)
- Tanner Scott (18)
- Hector Neris and Brooks Raley (17)
- Danny Coulumbe and Steven Wilson (16)
- Bryan Abreu, Joel Payamps and Nick Anderson (15)
- There are 152 players with at least one save. It’s July 9th. As a comparison, 222 pitchers had at least one save in 2022. We seem ready to easily surpass that number this year.
- There are 250 players with at least one save opportunity. Again, it is July 9th.
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MLB Bullpen Report
AL East
People talk often about the Tampa Bay Rays bullpen and how they historically have played musical chairs with the closer role. But what we don’t talk about enough is the outstanding work they get from other teams’ castoffs, like Jake Diekman, and rookies you have never heard of, like Kevin Kelly. Diekman had a scoreless string snapped last night after giving up zero runs spanning 13 outings (with 19 Ks in 11 innings) in June after the Chicago White Sox cut him in early May. Kelly has been equally good, with 13 straight unblemished outings. Perhaps more interestingly, he has yet to surrender a home run 40.2 innings this year. Pete Fairbanks remains the closer despite not having an opportunity this week. Jason Adam is the best bet here for holds.
AL Central
Gregory Santos is a name to watch in Chicago, especially with the trade deadline approaching and the White Sox, despite the prattling of GM Rick Hahn, should be in sell mode. If that is the case, expect relievers Joe Kelly (injured now), Keynan Middleton, and Kendall Graveman to be on the block. Should those guys get moved, Santos may find himself in a higher leverage role; he could even be the closer if the moribund White Sox commit another PR nightmare and trade closer Liam Hendriks if he is healthy again. Hendriks is going to throw off a mound this weekend.
Emmanuel Clase leads the world in saves but is struggling right now. Clase has five losses and seven blown saves this season, so he is far from automatic at this point. Clase has an 8.53 ERA over his last seven appearances despite earning three saves in that span. Sam Hentges and Trevor Stephan could get late looks, but it appears that Cleveland will give Clase every chance to work through the issues.
Alex Lange is still in the top job in Detroit; in fact, he closed out the shared no-hitter yesterday for Matt Manning, and was also assisted by Jason Foley in the eighth inning.
AL West
Texas will be a bullpen that demands watching with new addition Aroldis Chapman now at the back end with Will Smith and Josh Sborz. While not a huge sample size yet, Chapman has been setting up Smith. This week, Smith blew a save and took a loss, but recovered the next night and earned a save. Many felt that Chapman would be anointed closer in this situation, but I do not think that is the case for now. Smith has been really good for manager Bruce Bochy: he has 15 saves, a 3.06 ERA and .87 WHIP on the season. Could Chapman close? Of course. But Chapman has only pitched back-t0-back days six times all year, and closers need to be able to go most days. I still think Smith will close here.
NL East
AJ Puk had a tough week but rebounded last night for his 15th save. I believe he remains the best and clearest bet for saves in the Miami bullpen. They have tried Tanner Scott and Dylan Floro over the last two years with mixed results, and both seem better suited for different leverage roles in the bullpen.
Hunter Harvey is the closer in Washington. Rookies Jose Ferrer and Amos Willingham are names to know here as we near the trade deadline. Jordan Weems has come on this year too. I expect that setup guy Kyle Finnegan and maybe even Mason Thompson could get moved by the end of the month.
NL Central
Daniel Palencia is a name to watch for the Chicago Cubs. The high velocity makes him a natural fit at the back end of the bullpen, given the continued struggles of Michael Fulmer and Michael Rucker, Palencia could get a real shot here. Julian Merryweather has been outstanding of late and is in the mix for holds here too with Mark Leiter Jr. Adbert Alzolay converted his sixth save Friday night and second this week.
Here is a name to file in Milwaukee: Abner Uribe. He made his season debut yesterday and showed an electric arm with a 99 MPH fastball. The Brewers have been looking for another arm to pair with Elvis Peguero and Joel Payamps behind Devin Williams, and they may have found it here. Stay tuned. It’s unknown how Milwaukee will handle the trade deadline, they are 48-42 and two games behind the surging Cincinnati Reds. If they were to make Williams available, he would be the best relief arm on the market, and would give Payamps, Peguero and maybe Uribe a path to saves in the second half.
NL West
News in Colorado, where former closer Daniel Bard earned his first save since last fall. Before you state that it might have been a product of circumstances, I would ask you to think again: he got the heart of the San Francisco Giants last night. Here is what I will say: as discussed last week on the Fantasy MLB Today podcast hosted by Joe Orrico and guesting Greg Jewett and yours truly, we agreed that Bard could be a speculative pick for saves but that you should be aware that Bard had a dozen walks in 10.2 innings in June. So, you might be able to vulture some saves but they might hurt your precious ratios. Be careful.
Things were looking up for the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen last weekend with the return of Daniel Hudson. Alas, the Injury Gods have not allowed his comeback; after three successful outings including a converted save, Hudson sprained the MCL in his right knee and will miss an unknown but significant time. It’s a terrible blow for a guy who had just returned from tearing his ACL last summer. Wish him the best as he recovers from yet another injury. This comes on the heels of the squad losing Brusdar Graterol to an unspecified arm injury, but Graterol has been able to pitch the last two nights. Graterol had three holds this week as well. Look for guys like Alex Vesia, Phil Bickford, and Caleb Ferguson to compete for holds should Hudson and Graterol miss time.
A name to note in the NL West: Tom Cosgrove is getting late-inning work in San Diego. Cosgrove did take a loss last night, but had two holds this week, largely due to the absence of Robert Suarez. The lefty had only given up one run since late April before giving up three runs (two earned) on Friday night. A good name to consider for holds. It would not surprise me at all should the Padres make closer Josh Hader available for the right price. One bullpen to watch here.
Enjoy the All-Star Break this week without having to set a lineup for many of us until Friday. It’s time to take serious stock of our fake teams and see where we can make up ground (or hold our ground) and get ready for the second half.