It’s been a rough ride for fantasy captains navigating the ever-murky waters of major league bullpens. Our own Rick Graham recently highlighted a one-week stretch that saw forty relievers notch at least one save. In the last few days, nearly every trendy closer pickup has had either his usage or his capability come into question. It’s been a weird season, but in the sense that all seasons are weird, it’s been perfectly normal.
So what in the name of Mason Miller are you supposed to do with this exactly? In the previous issue of Waiver Relief, I ranked all available closers, setup men, and SPRPs, so take a look there for starters (well, for relievers, actually). This week, I will again cover the latest developments in bullpen news, provide my closer rankings, and highlight a few new targets for holds leagues.
(stats updated through Thursday, 4/16)
Closer News (by team)
ATH
Joel Kuhnel has quickly become a high-leverage fixture in the A’s bullpen. Kuhnel was called up on April 8th and was immediately flung into the deep end, picking up three saves and a hold in his last four appearances. What Kuhnel lacks in stuff (~94 mph fastball, 97 Stuff+), he makes up for with command and quality of contact, with a 5.7% walk rate and 52.3% groundball rate in his brief career. Expectations should be tempered; Kuhnel hardly profiles as a closer, and the A’s may still see saves scattered amongst Mark Leiter Jr., Hogan Harris, et al. Nonetheless, you can’t ignore a guy with three saves in a week, and Kuhnel makes his first appearance on my closer rankings below. He’s roster-worthy in 12-team leagues while he continues to pitch well, but prepare to cut bait quickly if he comes undone.
CIN
At the time of this writeup, closer Emilio Pagán is day-to-day with hamstring tightness. Pagán’s season was off to a rough-enough start that I already highlighted Graham Ashcraft as a potential pickup here a couple of weeks ago. If Pagán does see any extended time off, both Ashcraft and Tony Santillan become viable adds for saves in the short term.
HOU
With Bryan Abreu in meltdown mode, Bryan King seemed like the best option for Astros saves until closer Josh Hader returns in a few weeks. King was an out away from picking up his second save of the season on Tuesday, only to see Enyel De Los Santos vulture the final out. De Los Santos then picked up his second save the following evening. Both De Los Santos and King, in that order, are reasonable short-term adds in deep leagues, but their save opportunities will be fleeting.
KC
With Carlos Estévez on the shelf, Lucas Erceg took the closer reins and converted his first five save opportunities. That streak came to a screeching halt on Thursday, as the Tigers got to Erceg for three runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. I’m not near ready to dethrone Erceg or even add someone like Matt Strahm to my closer watchlist, but the more Erceg struggles, the more the window opens for Estevéz to get his job back if/when he returns from the injured list.
LAA
It seems likely that Jordan Romano has seen his last days as closer in Anaheim. Romano’s last two outings combined for one out, with five hits, five earned runs, and three walks allowed. While I’ve preached patience with others, Romano is a guy I’d be quick to pull the plug on. We should see Drew Pomeranz step into the closer role soon, if not immediately. Romano falls off my closer rankings entirely, and Pomeranz enters as a low-mid tier option among available RPs.
LAD
The almighty Edwin Díaz has come under scrutiny of late, with a 6.00 ERA and a diminished fastball down 1.5 ticks (~96 mph) from 2025. This culminated in a missed save opportunity on Tuesday, as Díaz apparently threw a bullpen session earlier that day. Instead, it was Alex Vesia coming on to strike out the side in the ninth inning of a 2-1 Dodgers win. We aren’t panicking just yet – well, at least I’m not, but I’m a pretty chill dude. A “bad” Edwin Díaz seems pretty good, as despite the poor results overall, he’s still striking out batters at a 34.5% clip. If Díaz does turn out to have some sort of underlying health issue, expect saves to be split between Vesia and Tanner Scott, who has experience in the role and has been phenomenal thus far. Already elite in holds leagues, Vesia and Scott enter my closer watchlist below.
MIA
Closer Pete Fairbanks got knocked around in his last couple of outings, surrendering three hits and three earned runs apiece. For now, the only news here is that there is no news – Fairbanks will have a long leash, and his track record means this rough patch is likely just a blip. It would be exciting to think guys like Lake Bachar or Andrew Nardi might have a shot at the ninth inning, but we’re a long way from that. Simply hang on to Fairbanks for now.
MIL
Thrust onto the dogpile of currently-struggling closers, Trevor Megill has given up seven earned runs in his last two outings. This includes a zero-out train wreck against Washington last Friday, exacerbated by a hit-by-pitch and a throwing error of his own. Manager Pat Murphy hinted at a possible change at closer, and it was indeed Abner Uribe picking up the save in Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over Toronto. While Uribe’s top-line numbers don’t look great, beneath the surface, his 4.91 ERA is belied by a .364 BABIP, 2.77 SIERA, and 22.6 K-BB%. Contrarily, there’s no real way to slice Megill’s numbers to date as anything less than disastrous. Uribe seems to have taken over here, and his roster rate makes him narrowly eligible for my closer rankings below.
SF
Ryan Walker continues to see usage in the middle innings, entering in the seventh inning on Thursday as Erik Miller instead notched the save with a dominant ninth. My previous target here, Keaton Winn, pitched a clean eighth, continuing an excellent start to the season. There simply may not be a closer in San Francisco at the moment, but I would speculate on Winn, Miller, and Caleb Kilian in that order. Winn and Miller both appear on my closer watchlist below.
TEX
Recently-anointed closer Jakob Junis seemed to be running away with the role in Texas. So, naturally, he entered in the seventh inning on Thursday, promptly allowing three baserunners and two earned runs. Junis is still the leader of the pack for Rangers saves, but Cole Winn, Robert Garcia, and Jacob Latz are all hot on his heels. Winn is my pick here as likely the best arm in this bullpen; he remains on my watchlist this week, with Garcia now alongside him.
WAS
Gus Varland picked up the Nationals’ last two saves on Sunday and Tuesday. Adding to the intrigue, Clayton Beeter, the formerly presumed closer, pitched the eighth inning ahead of Varland on Tuesday. On Thursday, we saw Varland enter in the seventh, picking up a hold with a clean pair of outs. Beeter got the save chance in the ninth but blew it, allowing two walks and a run as his control issues persist. The Nationals are yet another team without a reliable closer, but both Varland and Cionel Pérez figure to see an increased share of save chances going forward.
Saves – Top 10 (<=60%-rostered Yahoo)
- Paul Sewald – ARI (57%)
- Abner Uribe – MIL (60%)
- Bryan Baker – TB (18%)
- Lucas Erceg – KC (56%)
- Drew Pomeranz – LAA (4%)
- Gregory Soto – PIT (23%)
- Joel Kuhnel – ATH (10%)
- Jakob Junis – TEX (34%)
- Victor Vodnik – COL (6%)
- Gus Varland – WSH (1%)
The Watchlist: Keaton Winn (SF), Erik Miller (SF), Cionel Pérez (WSH), Cole Winn (TEX), Robert Garcia (TEX), Alex Vesia (LAD), Tanner Scott (LAD)
Temporary Adds: Enyel De Los Santos (HOU), Bryan King (HOU), Tony Santillan (CIN), Graham Ashcraft (CIN)
Holds
Dylan Lee (ATL) (4%)
While I try to keep my holds league recommendations to guys who are “on the rise,” I have to feature Dylan Lee here at least once. In my rankings last week for setup men below a 5% roster rate, Lee landed the top spot. I really shouldn’t have to sell you on the guy at this point; Lee has been a fantastic back-end reliever since 2024, and his current numbers (23.3 K-BB%, 3.06 SIERA) are a near carbon copy of the previous two seasons. Lee’s only put up two holds to date, but in his nine appearances, he’s given up just one earned run, striking out seven batters while walking just one. While his roster rate falls far below that of his peers, Lee is an indisputable top-15 RP for holds leagues.
Yennier Cano (BAL) (1%)
There are guys on the rise, and then there are guys on the rise again. Yennier Cano is the latter, an All-Star with a famous 20.2-inning scoreless streak in 2023, who became a fantasy afterthought following a poor season in 2025. This year, Cano looks as good as he’s ever been, benefiting the 1% of managers rostering him with a win and two holds alongside a 1.59 ERA and 0.53 WHIP. Cano’s best pitch has been his splitter, which has seen a rise to a 30.9% usage rate, abandoning a changeup that was his worst offering last season. This improved arsenal gives something concrete to point to as a reason for improvement. While Cano seems to have vanished from most reliever rankings, he ought to return to prominence with performance like this before long. Make sure to at least keep Cano on your watchlist in any holds league.
Juan Morillo (ARI) (6%)
I noted Juan Morillo as a watchlist candidate for saves last week, but given the sturdiness of Paul Sewald ahead of him, I want to at least make sure he sees some shine as a holds league feature. Morillo is one off the league lead for holds with six, having become the clear number two in a thin bullpen on a decent Arizona club. While his strikeout numbers are somewhat pedestrian (23.7% rate last year), Morillo possesses premium stuff, with a ~99 mph fastball and a slider that has been completely untouchable (0.00 BA, 66.7 Whiff%) this year. If he can juuuust keep the walks down (12.1%), Morillo should be headed for a significant breakout season.
Honorable Mention: Braydon Fisher (TOR), Caleb Kilian (SF), Rico Garcia (BAL), Will Klein (LAD), Greg Weissert (BOS)
