Our top closer for much of the season, Josh Hader landed on the IL today with a shoulder strain, opening up the role in Houston. Bryan Abreu makes the most sense to take over in the interim, however, he is the only right handed option in that bullpen that Joe Espada can trust, so Abreu may be left to face the top right-handed hitter on the opposing team late in games. That could mean Abreu winds up with some save chances, but it could also open things up for Bennett Sousa, who does happen to have four saves on the season already. Abreu should definitely be rostered for now, but Sousa can also be in play in deeper formats as we see how things play out with Hader.
Notes
- After five straight games allowing an earned run (seven times over a nine-game stretch), Devin Williams is out as the Yankees’ closer for the time being, and it looks like David Bednar will get the first chance to take over that role. Bednar has been used to get 5 outs now in three of his five outings with the Yankees, an interesting development considering he only pitched more than one inning once this season with the Pirates. Williams struck out the side in order his last time out, and is not someone I’d count out just yet, but Bednar is clearly the preferred option to roster at the moment.
- Jeff Hoffman’s roller coaster 2025 continued this past week as he wound up walking five batters against the Dodgers on Sunday while only collecting two outs (and not allowing any runs somehow). I still don’t see him at risk to lose the closer role, but the Blue Jays certainly have a group of interesting fallback options, although none really scream “closer” at the moment (maybe a healthy Yimi García?).
- The Rangers seem to be leaning towards Phil Maton as their preferred ninth-inning option, as they should with Robert Garcia’s struggles recently. Maton isn’t your prototypical closer but he does have success against both righties and lefties and holds a 20.5% K-BB on the year.
- Dating back to the start of June, Dennis Santana holds a 3.51 ERA and 0.94 WHIP over 25.2 innings, but that comes with just a 4.51 xFIP and 12.6% K-BB. Since David Bednar was traded, Santana has allowed seven earned runs over 3.2 innings so he may be on the hot seat, although his potential replacement, Isaac Mattson has also had some issues lately.
| Rank | Pitcher | Team | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edwin DíazT1 | LAD | +1 |
| 2 | Aroldis Chapman | BOS | +1 |
| 3 | Trevor Megill | MIL | +1 |
| 4 | Jhoan Duran | PHI | +3 |
| 5 | Andrés Muñoz | SEA | +1 |
| 6 | David Bednar | NYY | +24 |
| 7 | Daniel PalenciaT2 | CHC | +2 |
| 8 | Randy Rodríguez | SF | +2 |
| 9 | Cade Smith | NYY | +2 |
| 10 | Jeff Hoffman | TOR | -2 |
| 11 | Emilio Pagán | CIN | +1 |
| 12 | Raisel Iglesias | ATL | +1 |
| 13 | Bryan Abreu | HOU | +UR |
| 14 | Jose A. FerrerT3 | SEA | - |
| 15 | Phil Maton | CHC | +14 |
| 16 | JoJo Romero | STL | -1 |
| 17 | Pete Fairbanks | MIA | - |
| 18 | Kenley Jansen | DET | - |
| 19 | Robert Suarez | ATL | +1 |
| 20 | Carlos Estévez | KC | -1 |
| 21 | Dennis Santana | PIT | -5 |
| 22 | Kyle Finnegan | DET | - |
| 23 | Will VestT4 | DET | +1 |
| 24 | Devin Williams | NYM | -19 |
| 25 | Mason Miller | SD | -2 |
| 26 | Ronny Henriquez | MIA | -1 |
| 27 | Bennett Sousa | HOU | +UR |
| 28 | Robert Garcia | TEX | -7 |
| 29 | Grant Taylor | CWS | -2 |
| 30 | Sean Newcomb | CWS | -2 |
| 31 | Alex Vesia | LAD | -5 |
| 32 | Blake Treinen | LAD | - |
| 33 | Calvin FaucherT5 | MIA | - |
| 34 | Keegan Akin | BAL | +1 |
| 35 | Yennier Cano | BAL | +1 |
| 36 | Riley O’Brien | STL | +UR |
| 37 | Justin Topa | MIN | +2 |
| 38 | Juan Morillo | ARI | +UR |
| 39 | Victor Vodnik | COL | +1 |
| 40 | Ryan Walker | SF | -9 |
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