Over the course of the season I’ve alternated this article’s format between ranking all available relievers versus highlighting a few rising favorites. Last week’s issue, for example, featured plenty of new names which mostly held up to the ensuing week of results.
This week, I’m combining the two approaches. I’m leading off, as always, with a full update on the closer carousel across the league. Following that, I’m highlighting some up-and-comers for holds and SPRPs, while also providing my top-10 rankings across the entire waiver wire.
(stats updated through Thursday, 6/25)
Closer Notes
ATH
It was a rough week for Elvis Alvarado, who continues to show great stuff in what looks like a full-time closing role, but has run into a problem with the long ball. Alvarado has allowed four home runs in his last four outings, including two against the Giants on Wednesday, good for a blown save and a loss. While I’m not backing down from Alvarado that easily, it was good to see Mason Barnett, another recent feature here, pick up a clean save in Alvarado’s absence on Thursday. Alvarado does drop a couple spots on my rankings below, with Barnett entering the watchlist for the first time.
CHC
The Cubs received good news regarding injured closer Daniel Palencia, who has just a “mild flexor strain” and should return within the next few weeks. This, combined with the terrible run that Jacob Webb is on, has me not bothering to rank any Cub reliever for saves this week. Maybe Ryan Rolison gets a look or two?
CHW
Terrible weeks out of both Seranthony Domínguez and Grant Taylor now have the likes of Bryan Hudson and Sean Newcomb looking like potential options for saves. The fact that there are four names in that sentence should tell you all you need to know about the state of the White Sox bullpen. It’s with great reluctance that I bother ranking Domínguez at all, and I would expect Southside saves to be scattered at random through season’s end.
CIN
Tony Santillan has rebounded from a horrific stretch, putting up solid ratios (1.59 ERA, 0.53 WHIP) to go with his three saves over the past two weeks. Santillan’s timing is suboptimal, however, as Emilio Pagán began a rehab assignment on Thursday and figures to be activated in the coming week. Pagán’s roster rate (63%) makes him ineligible for my rankings, but I would slot him somewhere next to Gregory Soto, for comparison.
KC
In other injury news, Carlos Estévez began registering bullpen sessions this week. Unlike with Pagán, it’s unclear what sort of timetable Estévez is on, and what his role will be upon returning. In his absence, Alex Lange has mostly gotten the job done, however unspectacularly. Lange will keep holding down a spot near the middle of my rankings as Estévez’s recovery plays out.
LAA
Kirby Yates is quietly on a nice run of late, surrendering just three earned runs against thirteen strikeouts in 9.1 innings over the last month. Sam Bachman has been not-so-quietly terrible, allowing seven earned runs in his last six innings. So, of course, now is when the Angels decide to start giving Bachman save chances; he picked up the Angels’ only save this week. There’s also Ben Joyce to consider, whose recovery from shoulder surgery is moving slowly but may conclude in the next month or so.
Long story short, Yates ekes his way onto my rankings below, with Bachman on my watchlist. You can stash Joyce in deeper leagues for a hint of upside, but I doubt we see significant value out of any Angel closer for the rest of the season.
SF
Newly-anointed closer Caleb Kilian followed in the storied tradition of newly-anointed closers, getting lit up for four earned runs in an ugly blown save on Thursday. Kilian, who is actually pretty good when he isn’t very bad, figures to have a fair amount of leeway, and keeps a spot near the bottom of my rankings. Dylan Smith, who was recently recalled from Triple-A and promptly placed into a high-leverage role, is a reasonable watchlist target in particularly deep leagues.
Saves – Top 10 (<=60%-rostered Yahoo)
Elvis Alvarado and Caleb Kilian fall a couple spots this week; Clayton Beeter reenters.
- Jacob Latz – TEX (57%)
- Tanner Scott – LAD (50%)
- Gregory Soto – PIT (46%)
- Yoendrys Gómez – MIN (24%)
- Alex Lange – KC (24%)
- Elvis Alvarado – ATH (11%)
- Caleb Kilian – SF (9%)
- Kirby Yates – LAA (5%)
- Seranthony Domínguez – CHW (46%)
- Clayton Beeter – WSH (10%)
The Watchlist: Mason Barnett (ATH), Sam Bachman (LAA), Grant Taylor (CHW), Bryan Hudson (CHW), Dylan Smith (SF)
Holds
SPOTLIGHT: Brandyn Garcia (ARI) (1%)
Garcia has been the Diamondbacks’ best reliever for a month running. In that span, Garcia picked up four holds and a save, striking out eleven batters while allowing only eight to reach base. On the season, Garcia possesses a superb 2.54 SIERA and 20.9 K-BB%.
With Juan Morillo faltering and Kevin Ginkel being Kevin Ginkel, it’s fair to see Garcia as Arizona’s top setup man. He finds himself on my holds rankings below for the first time this season.
Top 10 (<=5%-rostered)
Rising names among setup men this week include Yennier Cano, Michael Petersen, and Steven Okert.
- Colin Holderman – CLE (4%)
- Gabe Speier – SEA (4%)
- Yennier Cano – BAL (3%)
- Kyle Hurt – LAD (1%)
- Michael Petersen – MIA (2%)
- Steven Okert – HOU (2%)
- Orion Kerkering – PHI (4%)
- Brandyn Garcia – ARI (1%)
- Daniel Lynch IV – KC (4%)
- Juan Morillo – ARI (4%)
SPRPs
SPOTLIGHT: Lake Bachar (MIA) (1%)
A recent appearance as an opener made Bachar SP-eligible as of a couple weeks ago. The issue is that ‘opener’ is not the role we seek out for fantasy purposes. Bachar’s usage is indeed frustrating, as he’s netted just one save and one hold despite throwing more innings (42.1) than any Miami reliever. So why the feature here? Admittedly, a bit of hope for one. That one save came this Tuesday in a standard 2-1 win; while closer Pete Fairbanks was unavailable, other top Marlins relievers like Calvin Faucher and Michael Petersen saw work in earlier innings. Maybe we’ll start to see Bachar get more of a look in traditional high-leverage spots. Regardless, Bachar provides stellar ratios (2.98 ERA, 0.97 WHIP) backed by a 27.6% strikeout rate and .198 xBA. His newfound eligibility lands him an introduction to my SPRP rankings below.
Top 10 (Yahoo-eligible)
Rising names among SPRPs this week include Mason Barnett, Sean Newcomb, and Tyler Wells.
- Jacob Latz – TEX (57%)
- Yoendrys Gómez – MIN (24%)
- Didier Fuentes – ATL (9%)
- Grant Taylor – CHW (17%)
- Mason Barnett – ATH (1%)
- Sean Newcomb – CHW (2%)
- Tyler Wells – BAL (1%)
- Mason Fluharty – TOR (2%)
- Jack Dreyer – LAD (2%)
- Lake Bachar – MIA (1%)
