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Fantasy Baseball Closer Report: Week 12

Fantasy Baseball Closer Report: Week 12

I’ve been away from this column for the last couple weeks (big thanks to Tim McCullough for stepping in), so I am going to use this week as an opportunity to do a bit of a reset for the closer report. Mid-June is as good a time as any to take more of a big picture look at the position. Rather than our usual format of “big movers” and “random musings,” this week we’ll take a step back and separate out all the closers into tiers, as we did back in March. Then we’ll return to our standard format again next week.

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Team (Closer) Current Rank Previous Rank +/-
Yankees (Aroldis Chapman) 1 2 +1
Red Sox (Craig Kimbrel) 2 1 -1
Mariners (Edwin Diaz) 3 6 +3
Nationals (Sean Doolittle) 4 5 +1
Dodgers (Kenley Jansen) 5 3 -2
Padres (Brad Hand) 6 8 +2
A’s (Blake Treinen) 7 20 +13
Cardinals (Bud Norris) 8 17 +9
Brewers (Corey Knebel) 9 14 +5
Reds (Raisel Iglesias) 10 7 -3
Royals (Kelvin Herrera) 11 12 -1
Rockies (Wade Davis) 12 4 -8
Cubs (Brandon Morrow) 13 11 -2
Diamondbacks (Brad Boxberger) 14 15 -1
Indians (Cody Allen) 15 13 -2
Braves (Arodys Vizcaino) 16 19 +3
Giants (Hunter Strickland) 17 18 -1
Marlins (Kyle Barraclough) 18 26 +8
Pirates (Felipe Vazquez) 19 9 -10
Rangers (Keone Kela) 20 23 -3
Tigers (Shane Greene) 21 21
Twins (Fernando Rodney) 22 22
Blue Jays (Ryan Tepera) 23 28 +5
Angels (Blake Parker) 24 29 +5
White Sox (Joakim Soria) 25 30 +5
Orioles (Zach Britton) 26 27 +1
Mets (Anthony Swarzak) 27 10 -17
Astros (Committee) 28 16 -12
Phillies (Committee) 29 24 -5
Rays (Committee) 30 25 -5

Tier 1: Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel, Edwin Diaz, Sean Doolittle, Kenley Jansen, Brad Hand, Blake Treinen, Bud Norris

The upper echelon at the closer position is capable of piling up saves with elite ratios and strikeout totals. Chapman ascends to the top spot for the first time this season thanks to possessing easily the best K-rate among all closers. Kimbrel continues to be as dominant as expected, and Diaz is back up to number three after working through a couple rough outings to begin the month.

It’s now mid-June, so Doolittle, Hand, Treinen, and Norris all deserve to be recognized for how excellent they have been this season — all four have great strikeout rates and WHIPs, and their job security has strengthened considerably as the season has gone along. Jansen’s early season struggles are now a distant memory, but he still isn’t giving fantasy owners the number of strikeouts that they were expecting on draft day.

Tier 2: Corey Knebel, Raisel Iglesias, Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, Brandon Morrow, Brad Boxberger, Cody Allen, Arodys Vizcaino, Hunter Strickland, Kyle Barraclough

There is plenty of reason to believe every closer in this tier will be a major asset for the rest of the season, but they all have one thing holding them back from the top tier. Knebel is back as the undisputed closer in Milwaukee, but he’ll need to prove he can stay healthy and avoid too much trouble with walks to move into the top group. Iglesias is just as good as advertised, but save chances could continue to be few and far between for him. Herrera has been nothing short of fantastic, but the risk of getting dealt into a set-up role still threatens his rest-of-season outlook.

Davis continues to pile up saves, but pitching in Colorado during the warm summer months may keep him from putting up truly elite ratios. Morrow has to contend with Joe Maddon’s proclivity to occasionally give Pedro Strop or Steve Cishek a save chance. Boxberger is rock solid but will always have a higher WHIP than the top closers. Allen has struggled a bit this season but has track record and team context on his side.

Vizcaino and Strickland continue to pitch well but have some lingering job security concerns. Barraclough is moving up the ranks quickly, but he may struggle to see save chances and his lack of control means his upside is probably Boxberger 2.0.

Tier 3: Felipe Vazquez, Keone Kela, Shane Green, Fernando Rodney

These guys all have a solid grasp on the job at the moment, but have put their owners through some ups and downs over the course of the season. You won’t love their ratios, but they’ll be decent enough to accept in exchange for saves.

For Vazquez, this represents a colossal fall, but he just hasn’t looked like himself this season — maybe he should change his name back to Felipe Rivero? Still, he’s the one pitcher in this tier who could quickly move up the rankings if he can avoid any more blowups over the next month or so.

Tier 4: Ryan Tepera, Blake Parker, Joakim Soria, Zach Britton, Anthony Swarzak, Astros Committee, Phillies Committee

Now we enter the tier of uncertainty. Tepera has established himself as the Toronto reliever to own while Roberto Osuna is out, but we still don’t have a great sense of how long that will be. Hopefully, we’ll know more after his June 18 court appearance.

Parker looked to have locked down the Angels’ closer job, but things are never so simple with Mike Scioscia at the helm. Parker’s most recent appearance came in the seventh inning, but there’s nobody else breathing down his neck for saves right now.

Soria has a whopping six saves in the last 11 days, but he could be playing his way into a set-up role for another team as the trade deadline approaches. Britton hasn’t picked up a save yet since returning from the disabled list, but he should get his chance soon enough. He has the pure ability to be a top-10 closer, but the Orioles are a terrible team, and his window for saves may be small. While Britton is a logical trade candidate, it seems unlikely at this point that he would close for his new team.

Swarzak is the closer of the moment for the Metropolitans, but this situation is one Robert Gsellman save away from being a committee, and Jeurys Familia may return soon anyway. The Astros and Phillies are both in full-blown committees at this point, and neither team’s manager has shown much desire to have a designated closer. However, when you factor in team context, both teams have relievers that are worth investing in, particularly ones who can give you good ratios like Hector Rondon and Seranthony Dominguez.

Tier 5: Rays Committee

Unlike the Astros and Phillies, the Rays’ committee isn’t very appealing outside of the most save-hungry leagues. The best bet for saves in Tampa is Sergio Romo, but at age 35, his days of putting up solid ratios appear to be behind him. Romo was starting games just a couple of weeks ago, so who knows what Kevin Cash will decide to do next.

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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.

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