Fantasy Baseball Closer Report: Week 6

Welcome to another week of closer rankings. It was a generally quiet week on the closer front, unless you happen to be a Keynan Middleton owner, in which case you’re probably pulling your hair out trying to figure out who will get the Angels’ next save. Good times!

Even in a quiet week there is still a lot of movement in the rankings, as you can see below. We’re now beginning to get deep enough into the season that more weight should be given to early-season performance, even if it differs from what we expected coming into the year. So let’s get to it.

* Editor’s Note: Roberto Osuna was arrested and charged with assault on a woman Tuesday, May 8. Ryan Tepera would be the next in line if a suspension occurs.

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The Big Movers

Sean Doolittle
The risk of injury will always be a concern for Doolittle, who has averaged just 34 2/3 innings over the last three seasons. But he’s simply pitching too well right now for his owners to worry about that too much. Doolittle’s 13.50 K/9 rate trails only Aroldis Chapman and Edwin Diaz among pitchers with at least five saves, his 0.48 WHIP is tops among closers, and his save opportunities could pick up soon as the Nationals begin to win more ballgames.

Roberto Osuna
Osuna drops down the rankings a bit this week because his strikeout rate and swinging strike rate are both down significantly to begin the year. Still, he’s been a perfectly solid closer, and his velocity is actually up a bit from last year, so his owners shouldn’t overreact. I’m not really worried about Osuna, but the top half of the closer rankings are very competitive, and he’s just not pitching quite like a top-5 closer at the moment.

Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers are still deploying a committee at closer, but they shoot up the rankings this week because Josh Hader is simply incredible and Corey Knebel’s return is just around the corner. Hader has been utterly dominant all season (despite a small hiccup on Saturday), and he took it to another level on April 30, pitching the final 2 2/3 innings of a one-run game and retiring all eight batters via the strikeout. He could end up being more valuable than most closers in standard 5×5 roto leagues with innings caps.

After Hader completed arguably the most impressive save in baseball history, Jeremy Jeffress collected saves in each of the next two games, so he’s clearly overtaken Matt Albers and Jacob Barnes as the preferred ninth-inning option when Hader and Knebel are unavailable. Speaking of Knebel, he looks set to rejoin the Brewers in the next week or so, and if all goes according to plan, he should quickly find himself in the top half of the closer rankings.

Keone Kela/Shane Greene
Kela and Greene both tumble down the rankings this week mostly because of one poor outing. Maybe that’s harsh, but my outlook on these two pitchers hasn’t really changed. They’ll both get the job done more often than not, but are prone to the occasional blowup. The pitchers ahead of them in the rankings are just a bit safer and more reliable.

Fernando Rodney
Much like Alex Colome the previous week, Rodney stepped back from the ledge and strung together four straight scoreless innings to reassert his hold on the ninth inning in Minnesota. Meanwhile, Addison Reed has given up a run in three of his last five appearances. Reed is a better pitcher than Rodney, but the Twins have little reason to shake things up at the end of games at the moment.

Los Angeles Angels
Just when it looked like Mike Scioscia had settled on a closer, Keynan Middleton hit the disabled list with elbow inflammation. Middleton has struck an optimistic tone about the injury, so perhaps he’ll be able to return to the closer role quickly. But we’ve seen plenty of players be overly optimistic about their injuries, and plenty of “elbow inflammation” diagnoses that turn into fairly lengthy DL stays. Middleton is reportedly scheduled to throw a bullpen session sometime this weekend, so we should learn more soon.

In the meantime, Jim Johnson, Justin Anderson, and Cam Bedrosian are all candidates for saves. Angels beat writer Jeff Fletcher predicted that Anderson could be the closer in Middleton’s absence, but he pitched the eighth inning of a game the Angels were leading 3-0 on Friday and blew a lead in the eighth in horrific fashion on Saturday (three earned runs, zero batters retired). Bedrosian got the save when Middleton was unavailable on April 24, but he’s been pitching earlier in games lately. Johnson’s last couple appearances have come in the ninth, so perhaps he’s the one atop the pecking order while we await an update on Middleton.

Random Musings

Kelvin Herrera/Hunter Strickland
Herrera and Strickland have both produced top-10 value in standard 5×5 leagues to begin the season, piling up saves with strong ratios and healthy strikeout rates. The only thing holding them back from moving further up the rankings is the looming question about their long-term job security, in Herrera’s case the threat of eventually being dealt into a set-up role, and in Strickland’s case the potential return of Mark Melancon. Still, you can’t worry too much about the future when you’re chasing saves, and Herrera and Strickland both look like they could continue to be very strong options for as long as they’re given the opportunity to close games.

Arodys Vizcaino
Vizcaino is still technically sharing the closer job with A.J. Minter, but we’ve learned in the past week that this is nowhere close to an even timeshare. After Minter earned his first save on April 25, Vizcaino successfully converted three save chances in six days from April 26-May 1. Minter has the talent to eventually be a full-time closer, but for now, he is the left-handed compliment to Vizcaino. We should occasionally see Minter get save chances when several tough left-handed hitters are due up in the ninth but expect Vizcaino to continue to get the vast majority of the opportunities.

Bud Norris
Greg Holland‘s continued struggles have opened the door for Norris to man the ninth inning for the foreseeable future, but now Norris says he will need a few days off to recover from a tight triceps muscle. Things could get interesting in a hurry if Holland collects a save or two while Norris is out of commission, but the Cardinals may want to make sure that they take things slower with Holland this time around — and give any save opportunity that arises to someone else. Norris and Holland are both still worth owning in most fantasy leagues.

Houston Astros
After firing off seven consecutive appearances without allowing a hit or a walk, Ken Giles looked like he had earned back the closer job in Houston. But then came another disastrous outing — against the Yankees on Tuesday — in which Giles entered a 0-0 game in the ninth and preceded to give up four runs while retiring just one hitter. The Astros haven’t had a save chance since, but when they do get one, Giles is still probably the most likely reliever to get the opportunity. That’s no sure thing, though, because you have to believe that deep down A.J. Hinch doesn’t trust Giles as much as Chris Devenski and Brad Peacock (even though those two combined to lose the game on Saturday night). For now this remains a committee.

Baltimore Orioles
Darren O’Day has the most recent save in this bullpen and looks to have inched ahead of Brad Brach, who has been getting hit hard and entered in the sixth inning of the game O’Day saved on April 29. Still, manager Buck Showalter doesn’t really seem inclined to have either of them serve as the full-time closer. It’s looking more and more like that job will revert back to Zach Britton when he returns from the DL in June.

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Andrew Seifter is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrew_seifter.