Pete Fairbanks looked great in his final spring tuneup yesterday, sitting at 97.6 MPH with his fastball and getting a Whiff on his changeup, a pitch we should expect to see more from this year (it can be really good). While his health will be the biggest factor (will he finally break the 50 IP mark?), when on the mound I’ll be looking at his fastball command as it was not ideal last season and has been spotty this spring as well (misses down and/or middle too often). If he can live at the top of the zone with that fastball at 97+ MPH, mixing in his slider against righties and changeup against lefties, we may be able to see 2023 Pete Fairbanks again.
Notes
- We won’t have an answer on who the Diamondbacks’ closer will be until we see them get a chance (hopefully this weekend), but I’m still leaning toward A.J. Puk despite the recent Justin Martinez extension. If spring training means anything for position battles, Puk has won that battle, and he had been the front-runner heading into exhibition games. Both need to be rostered still, at least for the first few weeks of the season and the “loser” could still have plenty of value still, even in save-only leagues.
- I’m feeling better about David Bednar this week; even with some diminished velocity, his command has been much improved. Yes, Byron Buxton took him deep yesterday on a fastball up and out of the zone (good hitter doing good hitter things), but outside of that Bednar has gone three innings with four strikeouts and no other baserunners over his past three outings. I am not expecting a return to 2022-’23 Bednar, but I think he should be a relatively safe closing option as long as his command doesn’t abandon him.
- Aroldis Chapman opens the season as the Red Sox closer, but can he end the season as the team’s closer as well? I have my doubts despite there still being a ton of upside in that arm as Chapman is still hitting 100 MPH, but what is going to happen after his first three-walk 9th inning performance? I’m not sure Alex Cora will have the same patience as other managers have had in the past, so I’d still be holding or at least watching Justin Slaten for the time being.
- Robert Suarez has struggled more than perhaps any other closer this spring, allowing 8 ER on 9 hits and 4 walks over his four March outings. He also hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since March 12th, with the only news from Mike Schildt coming three days ago with Schildt just saying “he’s on the back fields working on some things.” His velocity has been down over 2 MPH, which is concerning for Suarez considering he threw fastballs 87% of the time last year. EDIT: Suarez did make an appearance in the 9th yesterday, facing a couple of A-ball level Mariners hitters. The velo was still down.
- The Rangers unveiled their bullpen hierarchy last night and we got a surprise in the ninth inning with Luke Jackson getting the ball after Chris Martin had worked the 8th and Robert Garcia the 7th. Jackson is having a great spring and he does have an 18 save season to his name so it’s not too shocking I suppose. I’d still probably hold on to Martin for a week or two, but Jackson does have the skill set to run with the job.
- Alexis Díaz will start the season on the IL, so the Reds will have a new closer on opening day this year. Who that will be remains to be seen, as Terry Francona has said they want Diaz in that role eventually, so my guess is that they go with a stopgap fill-in like Scott Barlow or Taylor Rogers. Barlow is having a good spring, showing increased velo we haven’t seen from him since 2022, and is the right-handed veteran option. Graham Ashcraft makes the most sense to me though, as his stuff plays up in a one-inning stint, and Francona has some experience deploying a pitcher with a 99 MPH cutter as his closer. So while I think Barlow may be the guy right now, I’d still prefer rostering Ashcraft at the moment, because I can see him taking that role eventually and not turning back. EDIT: Francona seems to be leaning towards Tony Santillan as the teams closer for now, a bit surprising as he has not looked great this spring (velocity is concerning), but he was dominant over the second half of 2024.
- The Marlins’ two-man closer race has featured two journeymen in Calvin Faucher and Jesús Tinoco who both have looked rather terrible this spring. While I’ve been on team Tinoco all offseason, Faucher did look better his last time out and the velocity ticked back up, so I’m leaning towards him for now. Preferably, this is a situation to avoid, but I’d be interested in Anthony Bender if he were to eventually work his way back into the closer role.
- Lost in the shuffle of the Rockies bullpen is the veteran Tyler Kinley who wound up with 12 saves last season, and despite the bloated ratios, he did finish with a 3.75 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 31.3% K rate in the second half of last season. I think Seth Halvorsen had a chance to unseat him this spring but has mostly underwhelmed, so look for the Rockies to go with the veteran for now.
- Mike Clevinger was brought back to the White Sox strictly to fulfill a bullpen role and it appears as if he will get the first crack at saves, although who knows how many save chances that will be. His stuff looks good out of the pen though, averaging 96.3 MPH on his fastball yesterday.
- We still have no inclination as to who will get the first save chance in Detroit, and it may very well be the one matchup-based committee all year round. That said, I need to include someone on this list, so I still like Beau Brieske as the most “closer-esque” option in this bullpen.
| Rank | Pitcher | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emmanuel ClaseT1 | - |
| 2 | Edwin Díaz | - |
| 3 | Josh Hader | - |
| 4 | Devin Williams | - |
| 5 | Mason Miller | - |
| 6 | Félix Bautista | - |
| 7 | Andrés Muñoz | - |
| 8 | Jhoan DuranT2 | - |
| 9 | Raisel Iglesias | - |
| 10 | Ryan Helsley | - |
| 11 | Ryan Walker | - |
| 12 | Jeff Hoffman | - |
| 13 | Tanner Scott | - |
| 14 | Trevor Megill | - |
| 15 | A.J. PukT3 | - |
| 16 | Pete Fairbanks | +4 |
| 17 | Jordan Romano | -1 |
| 18 | David Bednar | +3 |
| 19 | Kenley Jansen | -2 |
| 20 | Ryan Pressly | -2 |
| 21 | Aroldis Chapman | +3 |
| 22 | Robert Suarez | -3 |
| 23 | Kyle FinneganT4 | +3 |
| 24 | Carlos Estévez | +3 |
| 25 | Luke Jackson | +UR |
| 26 | Tony Santillan | +UR |
| 27 | Calvin Faucher | +22 |
| 28 | Tyler Kinley | +UR |
| 29 | Mike Clevinger | +UR |
| 30 | Beau Brieske | +11 |
Watch List
RATIO/K BOOSTERS: Griffin Jax, Edwin Uceta, Cade Smith, Orion Kerkering, Jeremiah Estrada
Any concern about the supposed inactivity of Trevor Megill? He hasn’t been pitching much from what everyone can see.