The season is halfway done. If you haven’t had to change out your closers yet, consider yourself lucky.
Relief pitcher remains as volatile as ever, which means the past three months have led to much hand-wringing with regard to saves, holds, and other bullpen matters.
I’ve done my best to keep you abreast with near-weekly bullpen reports breaking down the most tumultuous bullpens at that point in time. But unless you’re taking in each and every one, it’s easy to lose the thread. The midway point makes for a good time to reorient yourself.
So just as I did at the start of the season, I’ve put together this complete bullpen breakdown for all 30 teams. For each team, I’ve listed the closer pecking order, denoting how confident I am in the top guy and how likely a committee is to develop. I’ve also listed which relievers are rosterable in the typical Fantasy league. If your league uses holds as a category, you’ll want to pay particular attention to the second and third names in the pecking order.
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Shelby Miller
Season-ending injuries to Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk have put the Diamondbacks in a dire situation, leaving Miller as the only viable choice to close.
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Mason Miller
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who’s rosterable? Raisel Iglesias, Dylan Lee
Iglesias is still trying to win his way back into manager Brian Snitker’s good graces, but in the long run, he probably outshines the left-handed Lee, who has been handling the highest-leverage spots of late.
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Felix Bautista
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: medium
Who’s rosterable? Aroldis Chapman
Chapman has occasionally been used in the eighth as matchups have warranted, but he’s having his most dominant season in years.
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who’s rosterable? Daniel Palencia
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who’s rosterable? Grant Taylor
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Emilio Pagan
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who’s rosterable? Seth Halvorsen
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who’s rosterable? Will Vest, Tommy Kahnle
Manager A.J. Hinch will occasionally flip Vest and Kahnle if the matchups warrant it, but Vest has 10 saves to Kahnle’s three over the past two months.
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Josh Hader, Bryan Abreu
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Carlos Estevez
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Kenley Jansen
Jansen is showing his 37 years of age and likely to be traded, while former starter Reid Detmers has really taken to the setup role.
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: high
Who’s rosterable? Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates
Manager Dave Roberts often uses Scott in the eighth rather than the ninth, but the left-hander still has far more saves than any other Dodgers reliever.
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who’s rosterable? Calvin Faucher, Ronny Henriquez
Clayton McCullough’s bullpen usage has been the most frustrating of any manager so far. He’s recently begun to shy away from Faucher again after the right-hander recorded five consecutive saves at one point.
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Trevor Megill
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: medium
Who’s rosterable? Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Edwin Diaz
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who’s rosterable? Devin Williams, Luke Weaver
Williams was acquired to fill the closer role, then lost it through his early struggles, then reclaimed it when Luke Weaver was sidelined by a hamstring injury, and seems to be holding on now that Williams has returned.
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who’s rosterable? Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm
The Phillies have alternated between Strahm and Kerkering for each of their past five chances, making for the truest of committees.
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who’s rosterable? David Bednar
Bednar’s early struggles got him demoted to the minors at one point, but he has a 1.95 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and 13.0 K/9 since returning.
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Robert Suarez, Jason Adam
Suarez’s ERA has climbed from 1.78 to 3.89 over his past seven appearances, opening the door to a possible Adam takeover.
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who’s rosterable? Camilo Doval, Randy Rodriguez
Doval reclaimed the role from a struggling Ryan Walker about a month ago, but has struggled himself, while Randy Rodriguez has been arguably the most dominant reliever in baseball.
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Andres Munoz
Confidence in top guy: high
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Ryan Helsley
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: medium
Who’s rosterable? Pete Fairbanks
Confidence in top guy: low
Chances of committee: high
Who’s rosterable? Robert Garcia, Chris Martin
Martin is clearly the Rangers’ best reliever and has gotten a couple of saves recently, but the left-handed Garcia still appears to be the front-runner for now.
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Jeff Hoffman
Hoffman is an excellent reliever who has nonetheless struggled to close out games, which may open the door for Yimi Garcia to get some looks once he returns from a shoulder impingement.
Confidence in top guy: medium
Chances of committee: low
Who’s rosterable? Kyle Finnegan
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