Closing Time 9/3: Ranking the Top 30 Closers Every Tuesday

The Pirates have finally elected to take David Bednar out of the closer role, but this may still be a situation to avoid as it appears the team will go with a committee approach the rest of the season. Aroldis Chapman and Dennis Santana figure to be the two main closing options, and to be fair both have pitched exceptionally well since the All-Star break, so I wouldn’t argue against rostering either one. Chapman has a 1.82 SIERA, 0.78 WHIP, plus a 33.8% K-BB and 34.2% CSW rates, while Santana holds a 2.23 SIERA, 0.65 WHIP, plus a 30% K-BB and 35.3% CSW rates since the All-Star break. I just can’t see the Pirates winning enough games to make both of these guys a must-roster option down the stretch, but again there are worse options out there and at least these two can help with strikeouts and possibly ratios as well.

 

Notes

 

• Ryan Walker has not shown any signs of slowing down, and even with Camilo Doval back on the roster, there’s been zero indication so far that Doval will be back in the closer role anytime soon. So just how good was Walker in the month of August? He didn’t allow an earned run over 13.2 innings while allowing just seven hits and two walks…oh and he struck out 26 (49.1% strikeout rate)! If Doval wasn’t looming still, I could see Walker being in the first tier, but Doval’s presence is still a factor here for now.

 

• Carlos Estévez finished August strong and had a dominant two-inning outing against the Braves on Sunday and despite just having three saves since joining the Phillies, still remains the favorite for saves moving forward. The lack of swing and miss and the amount of hard contact Estévez allows does concern me about his effectiveness in October, but for the next month, he should be fine to roster.

 

• Ben Joyce has two saves over the past week, doubling his total on the year to four, but it appears the Angels are finally done playing games with who will be getting the ball in the ninth with a lead. Joyce won’t be perfect as he still has things to work on, but he should be fine to roster the next month as a solid third closing option on your roster.

 

• Michael Kopech has one hold over the past five days while Evan Phillips has two saves, and while it’s too early to say it’s over for Kopech in LA, the signs are certainly pointing towards Phillips taking the closer role back. I still believe the best option here is for Kopech to be the closer with Phillips in the high-leverage role, which could ultimately lead to a committee anyway, but there’s still enough opportunity here for both Kopech and Phillips to have value in standard 12-team leagues.

 

And if you want more daily reliever updates, please check out our Reliever Ranks series

 

Watch List

 

 

Rank	Pitcher	Change
1	Emmanuel ClaseT1	-
2	Josh Hader	+1
3	Devin Williams	-1
4	Raisel Iglesias T2	-
5	Kirby Yates	-
6	Edwin Díaz	-
7	Ryan Walker T3	+8
8	Jhoan Duran	-1
9	Andrés Muñoz	-1
10	Ryan Helsley	-1
11	Kenley Jansen T4	-
12	Robert Suarez	-2
13	Clay Holmes	-1
14	Carlos Estévez	+6
15	Ben Joyce T5	+4
16	Mason Miller	-3
17	Lucas Erceg	-3
18	Chad Green	-1
19	Seranthony Domínguez	-1
20	Michael Kopech T6	-4
21	Justin Martinez	-
22	Edwin Uceta	-
23	Porter Hodge	-
24	Aroldis Chapman	+UR
25	Alexis Díaz T7	-1
26	Kyle Finnegan	-
27	Calvin Faucher	-
28	Jason Foley	-
29	Tyler Kinley	-
30	Gus Varland	+UR