Here are some things to ponder as we get to this week’s Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report:
- Ryan Helsley leads MLB with 11 saves this morning.
- Raise your hand if you had Helsley, Clay Holmes, Kyle Finnegan, and Robert Suarez having ten saves each in the first week of May. Put your hand down. You’re lying.
- We are up to 87 pitchers who have at least one save.
- We have 151 pitchers who have had at least one save opportunity.
- Hunter Harvey and JoJo Romero lead MLB with 11 holds each.
- Yes, following bullpens weekly is a bit of an insane task. Let me help you with that. You can always DM me @mdrc0508 to ask questions, complain, or vent. That’s what I am here for.
Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report
AL East
Baltimore: Last weekend, Craig Kimbrel was nursing a back injury. leading to speculation he could miss time (and leading me to preemptively grab Yennier Cano). Kimbrel missed a couple of games this week but pitched the ninth on Friday night and earned his eighth save of the year. Cano got the last two outs of the seventh inning and Danny Coulumbe the eighth inning in that game.
Clay Holmes continues to dominate in New York, earning his tenth save this week, and has yet to surrender a run. An interesting development is former starter Luke Weaver moving up the hierarchy here. He has nearly tripled the usage of his cutter (from 11% to 29%) and it’s working for him. Those looking for holds might want to take a look at Weaver in deeper leagues. He and Ian Hamilton are the top setup options in New York.
Things are interesting in Tampa Bay. Jason Adam was called on to pitch the ninth innings Friday night against the New York Mets and earned his second save, even after giving up a home run to Brett Baty. He was set up by Phil Maton, who earned his eighth hold, and Kevin Kelly, who earned his second hold. Based on the injuries to Pete Fairbanks and Colin Poche, Adam would seem to be the best bet here. But, Kevin Cash is going to Kevin Cash. Garrett Cleavinger could vulture saves depending on game situations and if Cash needs someone to face lefties late. That said, Adam earned both saves this past week, and Cleavinger pitched only once.
AL Central
I know people do not find bullpens intriguing and think I am crazy, but the Detroit Tigers bullpen fascinates me. Jason Foley is the most highly regarded right now, but Alex Lange also earned his second save of the year this week with a sterling performance: he got four outs, two via strikeout, while surrendering a walk and no hits. Lnage has an excellent 30.8 K%, but that is countered with a whopping 17.3 BB%. If he ever gets the walks ironed out, he could be a dominant closer. Foley has two wins, nine saves, a 1.32 ERA, and a 1.24 WHIP. Foley, despite a 97.4 average MPH fastball does not get a ton of strikeouts (13 in 13 innings) but has an outstanding 55.6% groundball rate. Shelby Miller and Andrew Chafin also get key outs in this bullpen and are good holds sources. Foley took the loss Friday night, surrendering two runs on four hits without recording an out.
Minnesota: Jhoan Duran was back this week, and was immediately thrust back into the closer role, thus reestablishing the bullpen order. The best guess is that Griffin Jax gets the eighth, and lefties Caleb Thielbar and Steven Okert get big lefty outs and the occasional save based on the game situation. Duran got another save Friday night, and Jax pitched this seventh and Thielbar the eighth (in the middle was a tough appearance by Cole Sands). Brock Stewart hit the IL this week with right shoulder tendinitis.
AL West
The Houston Astros are a disappointing 12-20 so far this year, thus limiting chances for Josh Hader. He earned his third save Friday night and lowered his ERA to 5.93. There has been some bad luck here and essentially, a four-run outing is what blew up his ratios. He still has 23 strikeouts in 13.2 innings with an xERA of 2.71. My point: he’s ok and showing signs in his last three outings that he is sound, healthy, and still able to get big outs. He could be a good buy-low candidate right now.
The continued dominance of Mason Miller is shining through in Oakland with a video-game-like 53.7 K%. He has eight saves behind a dominant fastball. A word of caution: he is likely to have his innings managed this year, and that means you will not likely get a full season of stats. Take what you can get right now. Lucas Erceg has been great, with seven holds and a 34 K%. If Miller should miss time with a needed rest, Erceg could get save chances. Erceg did get his second save on Friday night, as Miller was unavailable. Tuck that away for later.
NL East
Jose Alvarado earned a save this week, his fifth, and a win. Gregory Soto also earned one, his second of the year. Jeff Hoffman also has two saves. This is always a tough one to predict who will get the opportunity. We predicted before the start of the season that while Alvarado has incredible stuff, he might get 60% of the save opportunities. There are lots of mouths to feed in Philly. Alvarado closed out his sixth save of the year Friday night.
The oft-maligned Kyle Finnegan earned his tenth save of the year this week. Keep rolling with him.
NL Central
In a somewhat surprising move, the Milwaukee Brewers sent reliever Abner Uribe to AAA Nashville on Thursday night. While he does have two wins and three saves, he has struggled with his walk rate: a very high 18.2%. The K rate has also dropped from 30.7% in 2023 to 21.2% in 2024. Doing a little grade school math here, that’s a minuscule 3% K-BB. That’s not going to work in the Show. Uribe is only 24 and will get more opportunities. For now, it appears Joel Payamps and Trevor Megill are a closer committee. I wish we had some data on this, but the only one of those who has pitched this week is Megill. We will need to watch the usage over the coming days and weeks. To note: Megill earned the save on Friday night, set up by Payamps. My lean, forced to choose, would be Megill for more save opportunities than Payamps.
Ryan Helsley continues to quietly have a great season. He earned his 11th save Friday night against the worst lineup in MLB, the Chicago White Sox. Helsley also has two wins, a 1.59 ERA, and .88 WHIP with 19 punchouts in 17 innings.Take a look at the Statcast data below and see if you agree that he’s back.
NL West
In Arizona, Paul Sewald is expected to return this Tuesday after he throws a bullpen session on Saturday afternoon. Fingers crossed! I for one need him back and in the closer’s role. Kevin Ginkel has done a fine job replacing him in April.
Jalen Beeks earned his first save Friday night for the Colorado Rockies. Justin Lawrence is still the best option here and he shows signs he can do the job, earning two saves and a win last week, followed by a dud the next time out, and then another solid two innings on Thursday night. Lawrence was unavailable Friday night, which led to Beeks getting and converting the chance.
San Francisco: Camilo Doval seems well, earning two more saves this week. Doval has an unbelievable 75.9% groundball percentage right now, which leads all of baseball. After a rough start, he looks fine. Ryan Walker is climbing up usage chart, standing only behind the Rogers twins with three wins, three holds, and 21 strikeouts in 17 innings. He’s another sleeper for holds in deep leagues.