I thought Michael Kopech would get a chance to close out games in LA eventually, but I never saw it happening this quickly. It’s certainly deserved though as Kopech has been dominant since joining the Dodgers. Over his past 15 innings, Kopech holds a 38.8% K-BB, a 18.2% swinging-strike rate, and a 33.5% CSW rate, along with a 0.27 WHIP, 1.38 SIERA, and 1.87 xFIP, all of which rank in the top four amongst active closers over that span. It’s worth keeping in mind though, with Kopech resting last night, Evan Phillips converted his 16th save of the season. Phillips hit a rough patch in July, but over his past 7.1 innings he holds a 42.3% K-BB and a 36.4% CSW rate, as well as a 1.12 xFIP while not allowing any earned runs. I still like Kopech as the “closer” and Phillips as the “high leverage” arm, but both can be (and probably should be) rostered in 12-teamers for the time being.
Notes
- Calvin Faucher may not be a potential top-20 closer anytime soon, but he’s been pitching well lately and can definitely be rostered in deeper leagues. Since his three earned run outing on August 2nd, Faucher has put together six scoreless outings with a 1.00 WHIP, a 32% strikeout rate, and 3 saves. If he can finish the season strong, he may be the favorite for saves in this bullpen to start 2025.
- The Rays have lost Pete Fairbanks to a lat injury, likely ending his season and thus giving Fairbanks now five consecutive years with less than 50 innings. In fact he’s only gone over 50 innings three times in his professional career, with 57.1 innings in 2015, 101.1 innings in 2016 and 64.2 innings in 2019. With Fairbanks out, it gives the Rays the opportunity to go back to a committee approach, likely headed by Edwin Uceta and Manuel Rodríguez, with Colin Poche mixing in against left-hand pockets. If I were going to take a chance on any of the three, I’d prefer Uceta (I wrote about him in last weeks Hold Up) given his strikeout upside.
- Kyle Finnegan is reverting back to his normal self, as he has really struggled since the beginning of July. Over his past 16.2 innings, he holds a 6.48 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 6.7% K-BB, 22.5% CSW, 4.74 SIERA, and 92 Stuff+ (K-BB%, CSW%, SIERA and Stuff+ are worst amongst active closers since July) and it really makes you wonder why they didn’t deal him at the deadline. The good news for Finnegan and those managing Finnegan is that the Nationals don’t exactly have alternative options to take the closer job from him, so Finnegan should still remain in the role the rest of the year.
- In somewhat of a surprise move, Héctor Neris was DFA’d by the Cubs today, opening up another closer spot on the list. As poorly has Neris has pitched most of the year, he still was able to manage a 3.89 ERA but that came with a 1.52 WHIP and 10.2% K-BB rate. The Cubs would have been on the hook for his $9 million option for next season if Neris threw 16 more innings for them, so instead they decided to get ahead of the issue sooner rather than later, and at least allow Neris to potentially latch on with a playoff team for the stretch run. As for what happens next in Chicago, I’d imagine Jorge López gets the first shot to close out games here, although Porter Hodge has been great since being called up and they recently promoted Jack Neely who has a “future closer” type profile. (EDIT: Hodge got the first crack at a save and converted so he and Lopez have switched on the list)
And if you want more daily reliever updates, please check out our Reliever Ranks series
Watch List
| Rank | Pitcher | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Evan Phillips | LAD | not closing for now, but not totally giving up hope |
| 2. | Craig Kimbrel | BAL | not closing for now, but not totally giving up hope |
| 3. | Aroldis Chapman | PIT | Bednar is likely on the outs as closer |
| 4. | Paul Sewald | AZ | not closing for now, but not totally giving up hope |
| 5. | Manuel Rodríguez | TB | could form a committee with Uceta and Poche |
| 6. | Jorge López | CHC | next man up behind Hodge with Neris out |
| 7. | Kris Bubic | KC | left handed compliment to Erceg |
| 8. | Jeff Hoffman | PHI | could still factor into some saves behind Estevez |
| 9. | A.J. Puk | AZ | Still feels like their best reliever |
| 10. | Will Vest / Tyler Holton | DET | in a three man committee with Foley |
| Rank | Pitcher | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emmanuel ClaseT1 | - |
| 2 | Devin Williams | - |
| 3 | Josh Hader | - |
| 4 | Raisel IglesiasT2 | - |
| 5 | Kirby Yates | - |
| 6 | Edwin Díaz | - |
| 7 | Jhoan Duran | - |
| 8 | Andrés Muñoz | +2 |
| 9 | Ryan HelsleyT3 | +4 |
| 10 | Robert Suarez | +1 |
| 11 | Kenley Jansen | +3 |
| 12 | Clay Holmes | - |
| 13 | Mason Miller | -4 |
| 14 | Michael KopechT4 | +UR |
| 15 | Ryan Walker | +1 |
| 16 | Lucas Erceg | +4 |
| 17 | Seranthony Domínguez | +6 |
| 18 | Alexis Díaz | -3 |
| 19 | Carlos Estévez | - |
| 20 | Justin Martinez | -3 |
| 21 | Chad GreenT5 | - |
| 22 | Ben Joyce | +2 |
| 23 | Calvin Faucher | +5 |
| 24 | Porter Hodge | +UR |
| 25 | Edwin Uceta | +UR |
| 26 | David Bednar | +1 |
| 27 | Kyle FinneganT6 | -9 |
| 28 | Jason Foley | +UR |
| 29 | Angel Chivilli | +UR |
| 30 | John Brebbia | - |