Closers

No one said pitching in the NL East was going to be easy, but this? Super tough weekend for all bullpens involved. Putting the Mets' surprising 14-6 record aside for one moment, you could argue this is the toughest division in baseball right now. The Marlins' bullpen is a mess, and the Braves' situation hasn't looked much better, which really makes Jeurys Familia's rise back to Top 5 closer stardom all the more impressive. After 11.1 untouchable innings, though, Familia faltered over the weekend. Here we were thinking…

What a start to the season for the Brads of baseball. Closers Brad Hand, Brad Boxberger, and Brad Brach all rank inside the top 10 in saves after three weeks, and since they've allowed just four earned runs between them, you're staring at three of the most dominant closers to start the season. Boxberger and his 37% strikeout rate has been particularly impressive, whiffing at least one hitter in each of his seven one-inning appearances. That's come with a 2.54 K/BB ratio, and, more importantly, Boxberger has accomplished…

We're two weeks into the season, and Kenley Jansen has just one save to his name. The bizarro baseball doesn't stop there. Would you believe the Yankees are also sporting one of the worst bullpens right now? Their 4.93 ERA ranks alongside that of the Marlins, the same team that was blanked 20-1 by the Phillies on Saturday! Opening Week is always good for some melodrama, but is there really any point in losing sleep over Jansen, as well as the Yankees' arms? The Dodgers are in the grips of a serious World Series hangover,…

Out of breath yet? Welcome to Opening Week, where the games finally matter and the chase for saves is already on! The closer drama continued right up until Opening Day, leaving owners with some last minute decisions to make before lineups locked on Thursday. If you were one of the people who drafted Greg Holland, grew impatient, and then dropped him, sucks to be you, because he landed a job after all. The Cardinals signed the 32-year old to a one-year deal prior to their opener against the Mets, throwing fantasy bullpens…

We talk a lot about "ceiling" in fantasy baseball, and this is mine. This is as good as it gets, at least in my wildest dreams, anyway. It's the bold and the stupidful, with 75% of it likely to never occur. With less than two weeks to go until real baseball starts up, here are my bold bullpen predictions for 2018. As always, remember to forget this article ever existed come midseason. Archie Bradley Finishes as a Top 10 Closer Let's start off light and ease into things, shall we? If Bradley was entering the season as…