Closing Time 7/8: Ranking the Top 40 Closers Every Tuesday

The hits just keep on coming for the Diamondbacks, who have already lost their top two closing options to Tommy John surgery, and may lose their THIRD closer as Shelby Miller landed on the IL yesterday with a forearm strain. He is undergoing imaging today to determine the severity, and manager Torey Lovullo doesn’t seem too optimistic about Miller’s outlook. Kevin Ginkel got the first crack at a save chance last night, and given his track record and Lovullo’s trust in him, we may see Ginkel finish the season as the teams closer.

If Miller misses the rest of the season it makes things easy, but if Miller is able to return this year, there’s still a high likelihood of him being dealt at the deadline anyway. Ginkel has had a rough season, but over his past eight outings he’s looked better, with a 2.25 ERA (2.84 SIERA), 0.88 WHIP and 20% K-BB rate, but his 95 MPH average fastball velocity is still about a MPH down from his 2022-2024 numbers.

 

Notes

 

• It took a little bit longer then I had hoped, but Félix Bautista appears to be back, despite still showing decreased velocity. Over the past six weeks, the velocity has still only been 97.6 MPH, but he’s making it work as he holds a 1.13 ERA (2.00 SIERA), 0.81 WHIP and 46% K rate over 16 outings/innings. This is the Bautista we had become accustomed to, and hopefully he is able to finish the season strong.

 

• Aroldis Chapman has arguably been the best reliever in baseball this season, but between sharing the closer role and the high likelihood of him being traded, he moves down a bit this week. The Red Sox are hoping Jordan Hicks is the long term answer to the closer role, and Chapman has been almost too dominant not to trade this month as this team is still not ready to compete in October yet. Where Chapman lands and what his role will be remains to be seen, but I’d say it’s about 50/50 on whether or not he will be closing come August.

 

• I think we can finally declare the Tigers closer role solely to Will Vest, who had five saves in between Tommy Kahnle last two. Kahnle went a full month in between saves, and the only reason he picked up a save Saturday was because Vest was off after pitching the prior two nights. Since May 1st, Vest holds a 1.93 ERA (2.62 xFIP), 0.93 WHIP, 21.6% K-BB and 29.1% CSW rates (plus a 108 Stuff+). Kahnle over that span holds a 3.86 ERA (4.09 xFIP), 1.13 WHIP, 12.6% K-BB and 22.5% CSW rates (plus a 90 Stuff+), so it’s clear who the better option is here.

 

• Raisel Iglesias continues to pitch in the ninth inning, and despite the team having very few save chances over the past month, it looks like Iglesias would get the next chance over Dylan Lee. Iglesias hasn’t allowed an earned run since his demotion from the closer role, posting a 1.48 SIERA with 36.1% K-BB and 43.4% CSW rates over his past 9.2 innings of work. That’s elite stuff from Iglesias, who may still wind up on the move this month as the Braves contemplate their future.

Rank	Pitcher	Team	Change
1	Josh HaderT1	HOU	-
2	Edwin Díaz	LAD	-
3	Andrés Muñoz	SEA	-
4	Jhoan Duran	PHI	-
5	Emmanuel Clase	CLE	-
6	Mason Miller	SD	-
7	Jeff Hoffman T2	TOR	-
8	Félix Bautista	BAL	+2
9	Devin Williams	NYM	-
10	Trevor Megill	MIL	+1
11	Aroldis Chapman	BOS	-3
12	Tanner Scott	LAD	-
13	David Bednar	NYY	-
14	Will Vest	DET	+5
15	Robert Suarez T3	ATL	-1
16	Emilio Pagán	CIN	-1
17	Ryan Helsley	BAL	-1
18	Daniel Palencia	CHC	-
19	Pete Fairbanks T4	MIA	+1
20	Carlos Estévez	KC	+1
21	Camilo Doval	NYY	+1
22	Kyle Finnegan	DET	+1
23	Kenley Jansen	DET	+1
24	Raisel Iglesias T5	ATL	+7
25	Matt Strahm	KC	+1
26	Ronny Henriquez	MIA	+2
27	Grant Taylor	CWS	+2
28	Robert Garcia	TEX	-1
29	Seth Halvorsen	COL	+1
30	Kevin Ginkel	ARI	+UR
31	Randy Rodríguez T6	SF	+3
32	Dylan Lee	ATL	-7
33	Orion Kerkering	PHI	-1
34	Jason Adam	SD	+1
35	Chris Martin	TEX	-2
36	Kirby Yates	LAA	+3
37	Calvin Faucher	MIA	-
38	Luke Weaver	NYM	+2
39	Jordan Romano		-1
40	Tommy Kahnle	BOS	-4