We are back in this last week of May to take a wide look at major league bullpens. Things have been chaotic this month. We have seen some historically excellent closers, like Felix Bautista and Devin Williams, struggle with command issues. There have been top closers who are on the other side of 35, struggling to stick in the role, like Raisel Iglesias and Kenley Jansen.
What do we do? Well, we identify and then acquire other options to help us get the hardest stat there is in the fantasy baseball game: saves.
Let’s dive into the mess and see what is happening in bullpens this last week of May.
Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report
AL East
The season is going terribly in Baltimore, and Felix Bautista and the rest of the bullpen are performing badly as well. Bautista blew a save this week and has seen his ERA balloon to 4.30. He does have seven saves. We will be watching, but the Orioles are so bad at 16-35 that they will probably give Bautista an extended runway to figure out his issues. As seen below, the underlying stats look fine, except for the 17.2% walk percentage. Egads!
Boston: Aroldis Chapman keeps rolling, earning two more saves this week, for a total of eight on the season. Former top closer Liam Hendriks has been relegated to a middle relief role as he fights his way back into a meaningful role again. Greg Weissert leads the team with seven holds.
Even though Devin Williams seems to be figuring out his issues while setting him up in the eighth inning, Luke Weaver continues to get the closing shots in New York. Weaver has seven saves and a ridiculous 0.40 ERA with a 29.1% strikeout rate. Weaver had two saves and a win this week, and Williams had two holds and a win as well. Veteran Mark Leiter Jr. leads the team with seven holds.
There is trouble in Toronto, where Jeff Hoffman is on the hot seat. Despite earning his 10th save this week, he blew another on Thursday, elevating his ERA to 6.04. The strikeout rate is a whopping 37%, and as you can see below, his underlying metrics support that he should and will be better than he is right now. The culprit? Too many baserunners and he’s been plagued by four home runs this month.
Interestingly, a guy moving up the ladder in Toronto is Yariel Rodriguez, who seems to have found a home in the bullpen and has six holds on the season. Could Rodiguez get a shot if the team slides Hoffman into a lesser role? He could, but veteran Yimi Garcia is here as well. One to watch.
AL Central
I know the Chicago White Sox are bad, but they have been playing better baseball this month, despite their lousy record. Of interest for our purposes here, they have a committee situation on the South Side, where Steven Wilson, Jordan Leasure, and Cam Booser are all getting chances. This week, both Wilson and Leasure got saves. Booser earned a hold. Wilson has gotten off to a good start with six holds and a 1.72 ERA, but boasts only a 21.3% strikeout rate. Leasure is the guy with the best stuff, with eight holds and a 30.8% strikeout rate. The problem is the team may not win enough games for it to matter, but I think Leasure is the best bet long-term in the closer role. He needs to limit his walks and show better command, but he’s had a good month of May with a 2.57 ERA.
Detroit: Will Vest and Tommy Kahnle remain in a timeshare. Each earned a save this week, with Vest now having five and Kahnle having six. We will keep watching, but until someone emerges here, it may be best to avoid this situation totally unless you are desperate for saves.
AL West
Can we talk about Kenley Jansen for a minute? Every time people want to toss him aside and declare him on the downside of his career, he rebounds. This week, he earned three saves to push his 2025 total to 11, whole lowering his EAR under 5.00 to 4.96. He still throws the miraculous cutter almost 80% of the time. Despite underlying metrics not smiling favorably upon his work, he will keep closing until his career is over.
Andres Munoz continues to dazzle in Seattle. He is up to 17 saves with a spotless ERA in 23 games this season. It is skill-supported as well; see the box below. Munoz nabbed three more saves this week. His top sidekicks are Matt Brash, who is back from injury and throwing well, and lefty Gabe Speier.
Texas: Yikes. I guess Luke Jackson is the closer. I am not sure how much longer manager Bruce Bochy can live with this situation. Jackson blew his only chance of the week and has an unsightly 5.52 ERA. Things just have not worked out in Texas, and there doesn’t appear to be an in-house solution. Chris Martin is injured, and lefty Robert Garcia is good in his setup role but has no closing experience at the major league level.
NL East
Raisel Iglesias sits on a throne of fire in Atlanta. While he has eight saves, he also has a 5.75 ERA and a dropping strikeout rate at 24.1%. Hitters are hitting him hard this year, with a 16.4% barrel rate that is at the bottom of the league for Iglesias. He has lost a tick off the four-seamer as well. Atlanta does have veteran Pierce Johnson, who used to close in Colorado, but they also have Daysbel Hernandez, who has excelled in a setup role despite a paltry 18.6% strikeout percentage. Watching this one intently.
In Miami, the timeshare continues with Anthony Bender and Jesus Tinoco. A name to know here: Ronny Henriquez, who has six holds, a tidy 1.90 ERA, and an excellent 30.2% K%. He might be better than both current closers.
Philadelphia: what a last couple of weeks here for Philly. Just as it seemed they had Jose Alvarado pegged as the solution, he gets an 80-game PED suspension. But not to worry, because Jordan Romano had been pitching well and could step right into the role…right? Well, Romano did earn two tidy saves this week, but then turned a 4-0 lead on Friday night into a save situation with a walk and then a three-run homer by rookie Nick Kurtz. Tanner Banks came on and got the last out for his first save. Best guess: Romano gets some runway, but in a competitive NL East, he will have to be better to keep the job.
NL Central
Ryan Pressly is still the closer in Chicago, mostly because they have no other choice with Porter Hodge on the IL with an oblique injury. The Cubs look like they could be mixing and matching here, and Daniel Plasencia got a save this week, and veteran lefty Drew Pomeranz earned one last week. To be fair, Pressly’s bad numbers are the result of one horrific implosion in early May, where he coughed up eight earned runs while getting no outs. Since then, he has put together six spotless outings. Watch this one here, as it appears the team is allowing him to work through some issues and will attempt to keep him as the closer, since they are paying him $14 million to do so.
The time share continues in Pittsburgh between David Bednar and Dennis Santana. Both earned saves this week. Bednar has better stuff and should reclaim the role if he can limit baserunners, which has been an issue since his return from the minor leagues. Santana gets guys to chase, but doesn’t have a ton of strikeouts. One to watch.
NL West
Justin Martinez came off the IL on Friday night but did not pitch. Shelby Miller earned five saves while he was on the shelf, but Martinez should get another crack at it in Arizona. This could be fun to watch.
Los Angeles: Tanner Scott has struggled of late, with two blown saves in his last three outings (he did earn a save in the other game). Remember when they had Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates, and Blake Treinen all waiting in the wings? All four are currently on the IL. Who’s left to support or replace Scott? Alex Vesia has been outstanding, and Ben Casparius has stepped nicely into a setup role. Let’s face facts: the Dodgers just need to get guys healthy for October.
In San Diego, Robert Suarez. That is all.
