A relatively stable stretch brings only one “new” name to my closer rankings this week. That name is Ronny Henriquez, who isn’t new to this article by any means, but returned to his rightful place in the ninth inning with three saves. Generally, the last month has been better for providing clarity than anything new or exciting. Elite closers like Tanner Scott and Jeff Hoffman have returned to top form, and a couple time-sharers like Will Vest and David Bednar have taken over in full for a while now.
Still, we’ve got a handful of teams with situations to monitor, including a pair of struggling closers in California. I’ll update these, then follow up by ranking all available closers on the wire. In the Holds section, I’ll give the usual handful of new pickups, and provide an update to my top 10 SP-eligible RPs, which has shuffled quite a bit recently.
It’s a long issue this week, so feel free to skip around to the sections that fit your needs best.
(stats updated through Saturday, 7/5)
Closer News (by team)
ATL
There were no saves to account for in Atlanta this week, but Raisel Iglesias continued his recent good work. Since losing the full-time closer role in early June, Iglesias has made ten scoreless appearances, striking out 12 batters while walking just one. Dylan Lee, meanwhile, put up his first poor outing since the Truman administration with a three-run clunker on Tuesday.
The Braves remain unpredictable when hunting for saves only, but Lee’s usage suggests that of a fireman role more than a closer. Iglesias is on the verge of reclaiming the ninth if he hasn’t already.
MIA
As mentioned above, Ronny Henriquez has overtaken Calvin Faucher as Miami’s primary closer.
Alongside my tepid recommendations of Faucher, I’ve called Henriquez the only Marlin worth getting excited over… so let’s get excited! Henriquez has had a superb 2025, with a 2.72 ERA backed by elite strikeout (33.1%) and whiff (36.3%) rates. His past two weeks were good for four saves, two holds, and two wins, as he scattered just four baserunners with 14 strikeouts across nine innings.
Expect Henriquez to miss out on a save chance here and there in favor of earlier high-leverage spots; look no further than the eighth inning on Saturday. Nonetheless, he makes a big jump in my closer rankings and is a top-tier option in save+hold leagues.
SD
I’ve held off for a while now, but I can no longer ignore the trials and tribulations of closer Robert Suarez. That’s a strange sentence when referring to a guy who’s second in the league lead in saves (24), but other than that total, Suarez’s 2025 has been surprisingly shaky. In fact, “shaky” would be a massive improvement over the calamity that was his past month, which came with a 9.64 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, and a two-game suspension for throwing at Shohei Ohtani.
I doubt Suarez’s job is in imminent danger, but the Padres are a team in the thick of contention with an otherwise stacked bullpen. Seeing them turn to Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon, or some combination wouldn’t be all that shocking. To be continued.
SF
After taking on the closer role on May 28th, Camilo Doval reminded us why he lost the job in the first place. Across 15.1 innings, he’s surrendered 10 earned runs while walking nine batters. His last two weeks were particularly rough, and saw his ERA nearly double from 1.59 to 3.03.
If you’re rostering Doval, fret not; we should see a very long leash here. In fact, manager Bob Melvin gave Doval multiple votes of confidence following a blown save on Wednesday, first by letting Doval stay in to get the win in the 10th inning, then by calling him the team’s “best arm” after the game. While it seems his own manager forgot that he exists, I’ll keep Randy Rodríguez on the watchlist in case Doval stumbles further.
TEX
Closer Robert Garcia had been on a decent run of late, but he allowed seven baserunners across his 2.1 innings this week. Most troubling, after loading the bases in the ninth inning on Saturday, Garcia was removed in favor of Shawn Armstrong to get the game’s final out. That’s something you really don’t like to see.
Garcia remains the Rangers’ best bet for saves, but Armstrong and Chris Martin rejoin my watchlist this week. I continue to give a slight lean to Armstrong, as Martin’s role seems more fixed as a setup man.
Saves (rankings <60%-rostered Yahoo)
- Daniel Palencia – CHC (46%)
- Shelby Miller – ARI (39%)
- Ronny Henriquez – MIA (25%)
- Grant Taylor – CHW (9%)
- Robert Garcia – TEX (18%)
- Seth Halvorsen – COL (7%)
- Matt Strahm – PHI (17%)
- Orion Kerkering – PHI (22%)
- Dylan Lee – ATL (12%)
- Calvin Faucher – MIA (14%)
The Watchlist: Shawn Armstrong (TEX), Chris Martin (TEX), Jeremiah Estrada (SD), Jason Adam (SD), Randy Rodríguez (SF)
Holds
Steven Okert (HOU) (3%)
Steven Okert is an oddball selection, as there’s nothing new here, really; he’s just been great all season. In fact, great is an understatement; Okert’s sparkling 2.35 ERA and 0.65 WHIP are backed by this Baseball Savant page with a bonkers amount of red on it.
If there’s a knock against Okert, it’s that he hasn’t been too fantasy-friendly, with only five holds on the season. There are some reasons for optimism there: two of those holds came in the past two weeks, and with fellow lefty Bryan King in a rough patch, Okert and last week’s pick Bennett Sousa could see an uptick in usage out of the Houston bullpen.
Regardless, Okert will provide you with top-tier ratios and strikeout totals, making him a great pickup for points leagues, along with his increasing value in holds leagues. His feature here is long overdue.
Braydon Fisher (TOR) (1%)
The first of two rookies in the Holds section this week, Braydon Fisher has been a heck of a find for the Blue Jays. Since debuting on May 11th, Fisher has struck out 35 batters while walking seven, and allowed an earned run in just two of his 24 appearances. While one of those was a five-run disaster against the Athletics, Fisher is over a month removed from that blowup and has picked up three holds and two wins in the last two weeks alone, leading the team. He’s quickly become one of Toronto’s best setup men and should be rostered in all holds leagues.
Kyle Backhus (ARI) (<1%)
Since making his major league debut on June 8th, Kyle Backhus has been lights out for Arizona. He’s given up just one earned run across his nine appearances, striking out ten batters while walking just two. Backhus has vaulted immediately into high leverage for the D-backs and is second on the team with four holds since his callup. There’s not much to go off of here, but Backhus put up some big strikeout numbers in AAA this season, and Arizona needs all of the bullpen help they can get. While he’s a distant third on my list this week, Backhus is worth considering in deeper holds leagues.
SPRP Top 10
- Louis Varland – MIN (8%)
- Reid Detmers – LAA (11%)
- Grant Taylor – CHW (9%) (Yahoo-only)
- Shawn Armstrong – TEX (2%)
- Yariel Rodríguez – TOR (5%)
- Garrett Whitlock – BOS (8%)
- Tyler Holton – DET (10%)
- Brad Lord – WSH (1%)
- Huascar Brazobán – NYM (4%)
- Jared Koenig – MIL (4%)
Honorable Mention: Jack Dreyer (LAD), Graham Ashcraft (CIN), Brant Hurter (DET)
Injured List: Fernando Cruz (NYY), José Buttó (NYM), Keegan Akin (BAL), Erik Miller (SF)
