Dany Jiménez finally ran into some trouble this past week, allowing four earned runs over 1.2 innings of work against the Rangers. That said and given his rise to prominence from out of nowhere, I understand if some of you think it’s time to jump ship now but I think that’s a bit premature, especially considering the current closer landscape. There could be more inconsistent performances moving forward, however, as that is bound to happen with how much he has to rely on his slider, but I still see him as a safe 2nd/3rd closing option for fantasy purposes and worth a hold for now.

 

Notes

 

• Giovanny Gallegos picked up his first hold of the season yesterday with Ryan Helsley once again finishing the game, a trend that looks likely to continue for the time being. I understand that Helsley has been one of the best relievers in baseball this season, but Gallegos has been great too and didn’t do anything to lose the job, but here we are. I wouldn’t go dropping Gallegos anytime soon, as we should see how things play out there a little while longer.
• I think Jhoan Duran is kind of that third guy in the Clay Holmes, Helsley group that while they may not be full-time closers yet, they are the best reliever on their respective teams and help for fantasy purposes regardless of their save totals.

 

• While Corey Knebel hasn’t pitched all that poorly this season, he still has four losses and three blown saves which is second-worst among relievers this season. For now, there doesn’t seem to be a concern regarding his role moving forward, and the alternatives (outside of Seranthony Dominguez) are not exciting.
• Paul Sewald may be the favorite for saves in Seattle right now, but it’s looking pretty evident that this isn’t the breakout 2021 Paul Sewald that we had hoped wasn’t a fluke. What we have still is a very good reliever, but we are not going to see 100 strikeouts from him again this season. When Ken Giles returns, (likely sometime in June) there’s a chance the team tries to slot him into the closer role to have more flexibility with Sewald and Diego Castillo, while limiting Giles to one-inning outings in the 9th inning.

 

• Cole Sulser was able to pick up a save for the Marlins this past week, perhaps signaling that the role is his once again. This team hasn’t had enough chances lately to get a good enough read on the situation, but I don’t think they want to go the committee route, given Don Mattingly’s history. That makes Sulser worth a look in deeper leagues.
• The update in Boston is still that there is no update and even with Hansel Robles hitting the IL it doesn’t exactly make things any more clear. I think the best thing to do (and what the Red Sox are doing) is to just wait for Matt Barnes to figure it out I guess?

 

• Cincinnati is in a similar situation to the Red Sox where there isn’t much clarity, and I think the Reds want Art Warren to take the job–but he just hasn’t been able to be effective on a week to week basis. The best option here clearly is Alexis Díaz but the Reds likely don’t want to inflate his future arbitration costs.
• The Rays are still mixing and matching in the ninth inning (to no surprise) but Colin Poche was able to pick up two saves this past week. There’s not a ton of upside in Poche (think Jake McGee) but he could be worth a look in deeper leagues.

 

Rank	Pitcher	Change
1	Josh HaderT1	-
2	Liam Hendriks	+1
3	Raisel Iglesias	+1
4	Edwin Díaz	-2
5	Emmanuel Clase T2	-
6	Taylor Rogers	-
7	Jordan Romano	-
8	Kenley Jansen	+2
9	Craig Kimbrel	-1
10	Ryan Pressly	-1
11	David Bednar	-
12	Camilo Doval	-
13	Clay Holmes T3	+1
14	Ryan Helsley	+UR
15	Jhoan Duran	+4
16	David Robertson	+1
17	Corey Knebel	-4
18	Joe Barlow	-2
19	Daniel Bard	-1
20	Dany Jiménez	-
21	Tanner Rainey	+2
22	Jorge López	+2
23	Gregory Soto T4	-2
24	Scott Barlow	+1
25	Paul Sewald	-3
26	Mark Melancon	+1
27	Cole Sulser T5	+2
28	Matt Barnes	-2
29	Art Warren	-1
30	Colin Poche	+UR

 

 

Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)