Every Monday and Friday, I'll take a look back at the previous series and wrap up everything you need to know about the rapidly changing closer market.
These articles will contain five parts:
Who Earned Saves This Week/Weekend? A division-by-division look at who picked up saves in the previous series, as well as "true" blown saves and a few quick notes.
Closers I'm Worried About: A breakdown of a handful of closers whose jobs seem the most tenuous, as well as a look at the setup men who could be about to step up.
Bullpen Deep Dive: A closer look at a bullpen where everything is even more up in the air than usual, focusing on key stats and usage trends.
Injury Round-Up: A quick look at any currently injured closers and their progress toward a return to action.
Closer Grid: A snapshot of the RotoWire Closer Grid, which can also be found here.
Who Earned Saves This Week?
| American League East | Saves | "True" Blown Saves* | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | none | none | |
| Boston | Aroldis Chapman 2 (23) | none | |
| New York | Fernando Cruz (2), Tim Hill (1) | none | David Bednar was presumably unavailable for Cruz's save Monday, having thrown 32 pitches the day before. Bednar was also unavailable for Hill's save Wednesday, which came in the nightcap of a doubleheader after Bednar had already pitched in the afternoon game. |
| Tampa Bay | Bryan Baker (26) | none | |
| Toronto | Louis Varland (21) | none |
*A pitcher can earn a blown save if
Every Monday and Friday, I'll take a look back at the previous series and wrap up everything you need to know about the rapidly changing closer market.
These articles will contain five parts:
Who Earned Saves This Week/Weekend? A division-by-division look at who picked up saves in the previous series, as well as "true" blown saves and a few quick notes.
Closers I'm Worried About: A breakdown of a handful of closers whose jobs seem the most tenuous, as well as a look at the setup men who could be about to step up.
Bullpen Deep Dive: A closer look at a bullpen where everything is even more up in the air than usual, focusing on key stats and usage trends.
Injury Round-Up: A quick look at any currently injured closers and their progress toward a return to action.
Closer Grid: A snapshot of the RotoWire Closer Grid, which can also be found here.
Who Earned Saves This Week?
| American League East | Saves | "True" Blown Saves* | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | none | none | |
| Boston | Aroldis Chapman 2 (23) | none | |
| New York | Fernando Cruz (2), Tim Hill (1) | none | David Bednar was presumably unavailable for Cruz's save Monday, having thrown 32 pitches the day before. Bednar was also unavailable for Hill's save Wednesday, which came in the nightcap of a doubleheader after Bednar had already pitched in the afternoon game. |
| Tampa Bay | Bryan Baker (26) | none | |
| Toronto | Louis Varland (21) | none |
*A pitcher can earn a blown save if he enters in what is technically a save situation prior to the ninth inning and blows the lead. For fantasy purposes, we don't really care about blown saves where a reliever was clearly being used as a setup man and coughed up the lead. What matters to us is when a reliever was genuinely being given a chance to save the game but blew it. Therefore, for the purposes of this article, I'm only going to report blown saves of that variety.
| American League Central | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | none | none | |
| Cleveland | Cade Smith (29) | Cade Smith (4) | Smith came in for a five-out save chance Thursday but blew the save in the eighth inning before sticking around for the ninth. |
| Detroit | Tyler Holton (1), Kyle Finnegan (2) | none | Holton's save came in the 10th inning Monday after Kenley Jansen kept the game tied in the ninth inning. Finnegan pitched in the eighth. Jansen was probably unavailable for Finnegan's save Thursday, having pitched on three of the previous four days. |
| Kansas City | Alex Lange (9), Steven Cruz (1) | Alex Lange (2) | Lange was unavailable for Cruz's save Wednesday, having pitched on back-to-back days. Daniel Lynch pitched in the eighth inning, while Lucas Erceg was available but did not pitch. |
| Minnesota | Jack Anderson (1) | none | Anderson's save Thursday came in the 12th inning. Yoendrys Gomez pitched in the ninth to keep the score tied. |
| American League West | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics | Hogan Harris (7) | Luis Medina (3) | Medina's blown save Tuesday came in the 10th inning. |
| Houston | Josh Hader (11), Bryan Abreu (6) | none | Hader was unavailable for Abreu's save Wednesday, having pitched on back-to-back days. |
| Los Angeles | none | none | |
| Seattle | none | none | |
| Texas | Marco Gonzales (1) | none | Gonzales' save Tuesday was of the three-inning variety. |
| National League East | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | Victor Mederos (1), Raisel Iglesias 2 (21) | none | Iglesias, Dylan Lee, Didier Fuentes and Dylan Dodd were all unavailable for Mederos' save Monday, having pitched on back-to-back days. |
| Miami | none | none | |
| New York | none | none | |
| Philadelphia | none | none | |
| Washington | Tom Cosgrove (1) | none | Cosgrove's save Monday wasn't a traditional save chance, as he pitched a scoreless eighth inning with a three-run lead and stuck around to pitch the ninth after the Nationals extended the lead to four runs. |
| National League Central | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | none | none | |
| Cincinnati | Emilio Pagan 2 (9) | none | |
| Milwaukee | Trevor Megill (16) | none | |
| Pittsburgh | Gregory Soto (13) | none | |
| St. Louis | Riley O'Brien (26) | Riley O'Brien (5) | See "Closers I'm Worried About" below. |
| National League West | Saves | "True" Blown Saves | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | none | Paul Sewald (2) | See "Closers I'm Worried About" below. |
| Colorado | Jordan Romano (7) | none | See "Bullpen Deep Dive" below. |
| Los Angeles | Tanner Scott (15) | none | |
| San Diego | none | none | |
| San Francisco | none | none |
Closers I'm Worried About
Paul Sewald, Diamondbacks: Sewald blew his second save of the year Tuesday against the Athletics, though judging by his 4.71 ERA, you'd expect him to already have blown several more. It's been an odd year statistically for the 36-year-old righty, as his 28.8 percent strikeout rate, 6.2 percent walk rate and 0.96 WHIP are all quite good. His 18.3 percent groundball rate is about as low as it gets, however, and it's led to 2.23 HR/9.
Sewald walked the tightrope successfully for much of the season, posting a 3.08 ERA through June 14. Since June 15, though, things have unravelled, as he's allowed 11 runs (10 earned) in 10 innings over that stretch. His 13:2 K:BB during that slump remains excellent, but he's given up five homers. A team that wants to make the playoffs — which should describe the Diamondbacks, as they currently occupy the final wild-card spot — can't afford to allow so many home runs in the ninth inning.
If the Diamondbacks buy at the deadline, they ought to view closer as a potential spot to upgrade. If they sell, a 36-year-old on an expiring contract will almost certainly be out the door, with Sewald presumably pitching in the seventh or eighth inning for his new team. And if the Diamondbacks do neither, or if they buy but don't bring in an obvious closer candidate, Sewald could still pitch his way out of the job if he keeps up his current form.
Worry-o-meter: 4 out of 5
Setup man to stash: Juan Morillo is second on the Diamondbacks in leverage index (both for the season and over the last 30 days) and would be the obvious candidate to step up should the Diamondbacks replace Sewald with an internal option. Morillo is a 27-year-old without much previous experience — just a 4.19 ERA and 1.69 WHIP in 34.1 innings in his debut season last year — but his numbers this year wouldn't look out of place in the ninth inning. He owns a 2.88 ERA and 1.08 WHIP, with a strong 28.9 percent strikeout rate and a 56.6 percent groundball rate offsetting a slightly elevated 9.6 percent walk rate. If the Diamondbacks remain in contention, though, it's likely Sewald's replacement currently pitches for another team.
Riley O'Brien, Cardinals: O'Brien blew the save Monday against the Angels, giving up a pair of runs while recording just one out. He recovered to pick up his 26th save of the year two days later, though it wasn't the cleanest inning as he walked a pair of batters. O'Brien has now issued a walk in four straight appearances and has 16 walks in his last 23 outings dating back to May 12, good for a 15.2 percent walk rate.
Control has been a problem for more than two months now with O'Brien, and his performance as a whole has suffered. He also owns a 20.0 percent strikeout rate over that stretch after posting a 30.7 percent strikeout rate up to that point. That's led to a 4.37 ERA, hardly a figure that belongs in a closer role. While O'Brien may have looked like on of the better closers in the league in the early part of the season, he simply hasn't been that guy for a long time, and he wasn't that guy previously in his career, with a lifetime 4.20 SIERA in 58.1 major-league innings through the end of last season.
With the Cardinals sitting 1.5 games out of the final wild-card spot, O'Brien now faces a three-pronged threat to his closer role. The Cardinals could elect to make a real push at the deadline and bring in a better closing option. They could go on a losing streak in the next 10 days and elect to sell, with the 31-year-old O'Brien potentially being dealt away to serve as a setup man on another roster in the process. Or O'Brien could simply pitch his way out of the job regardless of whether the Cardinals buy or sell, something he's been in the process of doing for multiple months now.
Worry-o-meter: 3 out of 5
Setup man to stash: George Soriano has a pair of saves this season and is second on the Cardinals in leverage index (behind O'Brien) over the last 30 days, so if O'Brien pitches his way out of the job, he's the logical next man up. If the Cardinals become sellers and deal O'Brien away, Soriano has a good chance to stick around and claim the job, as he's younger (27) and under team control through 2030. If they become buyers, though, O'Brien's replacement might not be on the roster yet.
Bullpen Deep Dive
Colorado Rockies
| 2026 Stats | Saves | ERA | WHIP | SIERA | K% | BB% | K-BB% | Stuff+ | Location+ | gmLI* |
| Jordan Romano | 3 | 6.59 | 1.83 | 3.87 | 29.9% | 14.9% | 14.9% | 96 | 82 | 1.94** |
| Antonio Senzatela | 3 | 3.60 | 1.24 | 3.84 | 21.3% | 7.7% | 13.5% | 102 | 108 | 1.67 |
| Juan Mejia | 4 | 5.40 | 1.53 | 4.08 | 22.9% | 11.4% | 11.4% | 100 | 97 | 1.58 |
| Jimmy Herget | 3 | 5.60 | 1.57 | 4.20 | 22.6% | 9.7% | 12.9% | 99 | 91 | 1.45 |
| Victor Vodnik | 4 | 5.46 | 1.72 | 4.92 | 16.0% | 13.2% | 2.8% | 100 | 90 | 1.36 |
*gmLI is the average Leverage Index when a pitcher enters the game. 1.0 is average; closers typically sit north of 1.50.
**This number considers only Romano's time with the Rockies, as we're only concerned with how the Rockies are using him. The rest of his stat line listed here also includes his time with the Angels.
Is Jordan Romano the Rockies' closer? Judging by recent usage, he sure looks like one. Romano now has three of the Rockies' last four saves, and for the only save that went to someone else over that stretch (July 10 at San Francisco), he opened the ninth inning but got just two outs before running into trouble and handing the ball to Juan Mejia.
Judging by the table above, however, it's not clear that he should be well ahead of the rest of the Rockies' high-leverage arms. He does have easily the best strikeout rate of the group, but that's offset by a terrible walk rate, and he has both the lowest Stuff+ and the lowest Location+ of the group. He does have plenty of closing experience, which might be good enough for the Rockies, but while his underlying numbers suggest he deserves much better than his 6.59 ERA, they don't suggest he's by far the best pitcher in this bullpen.
Antonio Senzatela narrowly edges him out in SIERA and has easily the best control of the group, though his strikeout rate is underwhelming. The Rockies also seem to value his ability to go multiple innings (he's thrown 50 innings across 31 appearances), which may be the reason why he's never taken over as the closer despite consistently strong numbers this season.
Both Romano and Senzatela are likely to leave at the deadline, with Romano on an expiring contract and Senzatela's deal having a team option. If both pitchers depart, expect the Rockies to use a committee the rest of the way, with Juan Mejhia and Jimmy Herget likely the leaders. Victor Vodnik may have four saves this season, but his strikeout and walk numbers are quite poor, and he has easily the worst SIERA of the group.
Injury Round-Up
Ben Joyce, Angels: Joyce underwent shoulder surgery last May and suffered a setback in May of this year after making four rehab appearances. He resumed his rehab assignment in early July and has since made five more rehab outings, giving up three runs in four innings while striking out four, walking three and allowing seven hits. If he eventually proves his health and effectiveness, he could push for save chances, with the likes of Kirby Yates, Ryan Zeferjahn and Sam Bachman not providing particularly stiff competition.
Edwin Diaz, Dodgers: Diaz underwent surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow in late April and was given a vague return timeline of sometime in the second half. It looks as though he'll be back quite early in the second half, as he's been ruled out for this weekend's series against the Mets but is expected back soon after that. Expect him to reclaim closing duties upon his return, but the Dodgers will be focused on keeping him healthy for the playoffs and won't want to overtax him, so Tanner Scott could continue to see the occasional save chance.
Daniel Palencia, Cubs: Palencia has been out with a supposedly mild flexor strain since mid-June, and progress has reportedly been slow. Manager Craig Counsell said last week that he hoped Palencia could be back by mid-August, but it's hard to feel confident in that date. Jacob Webb and Trent Thornton have been the top options for saves in his absence, though Thornton hasn't pitched since he was hit by a comebacker against the Tigers on Monday. While both pitchers have been effective this season, it's a spot the Cubs could look to upgrade at the deadline if they don't think they can rely on Palencia to return at full strength.
Ryan Helsley, Orioles: Helsley was shifted to the 60-day injured list Sunday as he recovers from elbow inflammation, an injury which has kept him out since late June. He'd previously missed over a month and a half with elbow troubles earlier in the season and had only made it back for five appearances before heading right back to the injured list, so while he's technically eligible to return in late August and was cleared of structural damage by an MRI, it's difficult to be confident in him returning to save games in September. Tyler Wells leads a large group of relievers who have been good enough to earn save chances this season, though the Orioles will likely either add to or subtract from this bullpen at the trade deadline, so it's hard to predict who will lead the team in saves over the last two months.
Carlos Estevez, Royals: Estevez resumed his throwing program last week after he was shut down for nearly three weeks due to a setback in his recovery from a rotator cuff strain. He still has time to make it back this season but will need a lengthy build-up process, as he's been out nearly all year due to both the shoulder injury and a bruised foot early in the season. Alex Lange has replaced Lucas Erceg as the team's deputy closer but has pitched poorly, so another change could be coming soon.
Closer Grid
This article will be published every Monday and Friday this season, taking a look back at the previous series' top closer news. For more closer updates, check out the RotoWire Closer Grid, which changes daily.
Here's how the whole thing looks as of Friday evening:
*part of a committee
Questions about any of the closers covered above or any relievers you're considering picking up off the waiver wire? Let me know in the comments below.
