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2025 Fantasy Baseball Rankings & Tiers: Relief Pitchers fScores

If you have been reading or listening to my content, you have likely heard me reference fScores (named fScores for “fantasy scores”) or use them to compare players. This is a custom fantasy stat I created that aggregates other stats into core skills, weighted against the average player where 100 is average, similar to wRC+ or OPS+.

Drafting based on core skills, rather than attempting a “one size fits all” ranking allows for more customization in team building and team design to target the weak points of your team and allows for more balance.

Please read the article “What is fScore?” for a better understanding before going through the below rankings. The relief pitchers players listed at the top of each tier are where the tier starts and ends.

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2025 Relief Pitchers Players fScores (Fantasy Baseball)

You will find a complete set of relief pitcher rankings at the end of this article.

Additional Positions and fScores

Tier 1 & Notes

Emmanuel Clase might not put up sexy strikeout numbers, but nobody in baseball is better at preventing runs. He has a career 1.67 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in five seasons.

Mason Miller was hurt quite a bit by the “external factors” category of his fERA because the Athletics are moving to an unknown minor league stadium out of the wide-open Oakland Colosseum and he has a lackluster defense behind him. I don’t care that fScores is dinging him in these spots, I’m still taking him over Ryan Helsley and Devin Williams.

Ryan Helsley is coming off another killer season and has shown three years of consistent dominance when healthy. Being in St. Louis helps him, though. If he’s traded, he probably stays in this tier but drops below Williams and Miller.

Devin Williams has arguably the best pitch in baseball, but I do have some concerns seeing him move to New York. Will he be able to handle the pressure of the big city and small stadium?

Edwin Diaz is a top-tier closer when he’s on his game.

Tier 2 & Notes

This tier is interestingly full of high-upside pitchers with many question marks, but they should all close for all of 2025.

Tanner Scott has not yet signed, but he has been phenomenal in the past and should get a closer gig. Where he ends up may change his ranking within this tier.

Jhoan Duran is always great when healthy and could be a steal this year as his 3.64 ERA is deceiving (2.50 SIERA & .321 BABIP against).

Raisel Iglesias had a rough 2024, starting the season with an injury, but appears to have returned to his baseline after what I thought was the beginning of a decline. He’s been one of the most consistent closers in baseball over a nearly 10-year period.

Josh Hader has been very up and down for two years in a row, but like Duran, looking under the hood there seem to be better days ahead (2.38 SIERA vs. 3.80 ERA). The only thing that concerns me is the jump in home run rate in Houston (1.52/9 vs. 1.02/9 in his career).

Felix Bautista is returning from Tommy John surgery. Will he be back in elite form or will he take some time to settle in?

Ryan Walker had an elite 2024 and bumped Camilo Doval from the closer role in San Francisco. He’s fantastic at limiting damage with his top-tier sinker in a great ballpark. He could limit even more damage if he can get more whiffs on the slider.

Andres Munoz has elite stuff but had a lot of control issues and some injury issues in 2024. If he can stave these off, he has the stuff to be a Tier 1 closer.

Lucas Erceg has an elite fastball and it was good enough to get him out of Mason Miller‘s shadow, where he will close in Kansas City all year.

Tier 3 & Notes

This tier is largely full of mid-tier closers, closer time-shares and one super start setup guy.

Drew Rasmussen should start this season and be the best or one of the best SPARPs (Starting Pitcher As Relief Pitcher) in baseball.

Robert Suarez is very good but doesn’t have the stuff to be a Tier 1 elite pitcher even in his best season, so that knocks him down to Tier 3 since I can’t see him making that jump to Tier 1.

Is Michael Kopech going to close for the Dodgers? Evan Phillips? Blake Treinen? Kenley Jansen? Too many question marks, even with the fantastic stuff. Also his control, as always, is questionable.

Griffin Jax is the best set-up guy in baseball. He’s your top add in holds leagues.

Kirby Yates should get a closer job in Texas or somewhere else in 2025.

Aroldis Chapman would be projected to split saves with Liam Hendriks as I estimate at this moment in time, pending an addition.

Trevor Megill will start the year as the closer, but the Brewers have some interesting high stuff arms that could overtake him in Craig Yoho, Abner Uribe, Jacob Misiorowski and even options like Aaron Ashby and DL Hall. Megill did have an awesome 2024, so there’s a chance he will take the job and run with it.

Pete Fairbanks will close. He will be good but he will probably get hurt.

David Bednar is coming off a career-worst 2024 season. Can he bounce back or is he on a backslide?

Jeff Hoffman is projected to compete for saves with Chad Green after getting a big deal from the Jays.

Fireballer Ben Joyce should be the closer for the Angels, health pending.

Justin Martinez looks great for the Diamondbacks, but he’s young and they could opt to add a veteran.

Jason Foley has the worst stuff of any projected closer, so there’s a chance he loses the job at some point, but he was solid in 2024.

Alexis Diaz was all over the place in 2024 and couldn’t get guys to chase like he did in 2023. He may need to correct his command and/or develop a new pitch… unless he was tipping? The slider dropped from an 89th percentile chase pitch in 2023 to 67th percentile in 2024.

Jordan Romano was terrible in 2024 and is now going into a worse ballpark situation in a city where they boo poor performances with really good pitchers like Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm behind him. This one could get interesting if Romano doesn’t come out hot.

Tier 4 & Notes

This is your big holds league tier as we are past most of the closers. It’s a big tier, so I’m going to just highlight some of the more interesting names.

A.J. Puk finished strong for the Diamondbacks and is a nice fallback option to Justin Martinez.

Jason Adam is one of the better set-up guys in baseball and shores up a pretty solid Padres pen.

Porter Hodge is an interesting name, especially if the Cubs don’t end up with a free-agent veteran. I would be surprised if they didn’t end up with Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates or Kenley Jansen, though.

Robert Garcia was a nice get for the Rangers in the Nathaniel Lowe trade. He should be the primary set-up man assuming they retain Yates or another top closer.

Cade Smith is a stud up-and-comer for the Guardians and should be the prime holds guy for a team that will likely win a lot of close games.

Prelander Berroa might close for the White Sox just based on a process of elimination, but the White Sox will probably net 20 saves or fewer as a team.

Even after losing Hoffman the Phillies have a sick pen in the likes of Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering.

Edwin Uceta will likely get a decent share of saves as Fairbanks will almost definitely not stay healthy through the entire season and is a good candidate to be traded at the deadline.

The three worst closers are Tyler Kinley, Calvin Faucher and Derek Law. I have a good feeling Kinley and Faucher will lose their jobs by the halfway point of the season. I would be surprised if the Nats don’t sign someone better than Law before the season starts.

Landen Roupp is a favorite for me to end up in the rotation.

Bryan Abreu and Jeremiah Estrada are both sick holds options.

Tier 5 & Notes

This is your tier in 12-team leagues in the event you play in some deeper reliever leagues.

Jose Alvarado is likely taking a back seat to Jordan Romano and maybe Orion Kerkering this season, but he still has upside when he’s on and could be a nice holds play.

Yimi Garcia is one of the better set-up guys in baseball and should play second fiddle to Jeff Hoffman and Chad Green in a very nice bullpen.

Jordan Hicks will likely begin the season as a starter. If he struggles he could revert to a set-up role behind Ryan Walker. Either way, he’s a nice SPARP option.

Craig Yoho is a fun name to watch as he could emerge to be the closer for the Brewers by the end of the season, though there are a few other names in the event Megill isn’t the man with Abner Uribe and Jacob Misiorowski hanging around.

Garrett Whitlock should see a fStuff uptick as he returns to his bullpen role.

Robert Stephenson is a fun name to watch as he rebounds from injury. He could be back around June from Tommy John surgery.

Adrian Morejon finally broke out after a few years of waiting in a bullpen role, but he could also make a Michael King/Drew Rasmussen move back to the rotation at some point.

Tier 6 & Notes

Some of these relief pitchers might come into play as SPARP types for points, or in holds leagues or Ottoneu leagues, but in most standard 12-team leagues, these are just names to watch.

Tim favorites: Jose Leclerc, Paul Sewald, Emiliano Teodo, Michel Otanez, Abner Uribe, Matt Brash, Dedniel Nunez, Seth Halvorsen and Nate Pearson.

Tier 7 & Notes

This tier is unlikely to play a regular role even in most 15-team leagues, but in deeper leagues, some of these relief pitchers could make an impact in 2025.

Some of my favorites in this tier are Louie Varland, Sawyer Gipson-Long, George Klassen and Cooper Hjerpe.

2025 fScores Relief Pitchers Rankings

Name Role Age fPDurability fStuff fControl fERA TOTAL FUTURE
Last Tommy John Surgery
Emmanuel Clase Closer (lock) 27 111 123 142 193 156 160
Mason Miller Closer (lock) 26 79 131 110 124 124 141
Ryan Helsley Closer (lock) 30 87 129 114 163 136 145
Devin Williams Closer (lock) 30 66 127 104 184 131 144 2017
Edwin Diaz Closer (lock) 31 90 133 109 141 131 141
Tanner Scott Closer (projected) 30 112 127 108 171 140 154
Jhoan Duran Closer (lock) 27 93 120 110 146 129 132
Raisel Iglesias Closer (lock) 35 104 114 135 137 134 136
Josh Hader Closer (lock) 31 101 132 107 117 126 130
Felix Bautista Closer(lock) 30 29 137 106 149 116 151 2023
Ryan Walker Closer (lock) 29 103 106 111 134 125 143
Andres Munoz Closer (lock) 26 87 122 103 136 124 129 2020
Lucas Erceg Closer (lock) 30 91 107 104 143 122 137
Drew Rasmussen (SP) Starter 29 38 112 125 133 106 138 2017 (& 2016)
Robert Suarez Closer (lock) 34 82 111 112 118 116 122 2017
Michael Kopech Closer (time-share) 29 107 117 96 109 114 127 2018
Griffin Jax (SP) Setup #1 30 108 120 129 134 128 135
Kirby Yates Closer (projected) 38 85 110 106 152 122 128 2021 (& 2006)
Aroldis Chapman Closer (time-share) 37 94 121 94 143 120 125
Trevor Megill Closer (projected) 31 64 113 109 132 113 123 2013
Pete Fairbanks Closer (lock) 31 60 111 109 130 112 121
David Bednar Closer (lock) 30 87 113 95 103 110 114
Jeff Hoffman Closer (time-share) 32 93 117 116 124 119 126 2015
Ben Joyce Closer (projected) 24 54 107 93 133 106 142 2020
Justin Martinez Closer (projected) 23 102 108 87 132 116 134
Jason Foley Closer (projected) 29 102 95 110 133 118 124 2017
Evan Phillips Closer (time-share) 30 96 108 110 119 115 120
Alexis Diaz Closer (lock) 28 92 105 95 105 109 115 2016
Chad Green Closer (time-share) 34 96 111 108 103 111 114
Liam Hendriks Closer (time-share) 36 15 123 124 121 101 120 2023
Kenley Jansen Closer (projected) 37 83 106 107 108 109 109
Jordan Romano Closer (lock) 32 54 114 102 90 100 115
A.J. Puk Setup #1 30 105 122 118 144 127 139 2018
Jason Adam Setup #1 33 108 123 118 152 130 137
Porter Hodge Closer (projected) 24 82 100 93 157 116 123
Robert Garcia Setup #1 29 99 109 116 144 121 129
Cade Smith Setup #1 26 56 106 112 150 117 124
Jacob Misiorowski (SP) Unknown 23 70 103 96 139 106 125
Kris Bubic (SP) Starter 27 57 100 130 121 104 119 2023
Prelander Berroa Closer (CHW?) 25 57 103 81 145 102 117
Nick Martinez (SP) Starter 34 139 93 126 104 117 120
Clay Holmes (SP) Starter 32 89 105 100 133 108 113 2014
Matt Strahm Setup #2 33 98 106 125 124 115 125 2013
Orion Kerkering Setup #1 24 84 103 110 160 116 121
Blake Treinen Setup #1 37 73 102 128 143 115 121
Kevin Ginkel Setup #2 31 101 105 116 137 116 118
Camilo Doval Setup #1 27 96 111 92 125 110 114
Edwin Uceta Setup #1 27 65 114 115 131 110 139
Luke Weaver Setup #1 31 102 114 104 101 110 114
Yennier Cano Setup #1 30 86 103 104 119 107 120
Tyler Kinley Closer (projected) 34 77 101 100 103 103 113
Calvin Faucher Closer (projected) 29 63 104 91 98 96 119
Derek Law Closer (likely setup #1) 34 77 100 97 110 102 115
Ben Brown (SP) Starter/Long Relief 25 106 101 96 101 105 108 2019
Landen Roupp (SP) Starter/Long Relief 26 80 99 101 182 119 130
Ryan Pressly Setup #1 36 85 107 113 123 111 110
Tyler Holton Setup #1 29 99 92 132 149 119 130 2018
Bryan Abreu Setup #2 28 113 123 103 126 119 122
Jeremiah Estrada Setup #2 26 87 129 102 102 107 121 2019
Jose Alvarado Setup #3 (LHP – good pen) 30 87 104 98 119 106 113
Yimi Garcia Setup #1 34 65 110 112 109 103 113 2016
Aaron Ashby (SP) Starter/Long Relief 27 42 103 105 132 97 122
Dustin May (SP) Starter/Long Relief 27 22 99 104 130 88 120 2023 (& 2021)
Jordan Hicks (SP) Starter/Setup #2 28 80 95 89 97 94 113 2019
Carlos Estevez Setup #1 32 89 103 109 116 108 112
Craig Yoho Eventual Setup/Closer (Prospect) 25 51 110 109 182 115 140 2021 (& 2019)
Garrett Whitlock (SP) Setup #2/Starter 29 44 97 110 115 93 107 2019
Robert Stephenson Setup #1 32 61 122 121 106 107 119 2024
Cole Sands Setup #1 27 78 96 113 113 103 118
Hunter Gaddis Setup #2 27 120 92 121 122 113 120
Collin Snider Setup #1 29 73 103 100 111 101 121
Adrian Morejon Setup #2 26 72 107 106 110 101 117 2021
Gregory Santos Setup #2 25 42 99 111 147 101 130
Anthony Bender Setup #1 30 72 99 102 121 102 117 2022
Erik Swanson Setup #3 31 81 101 109 112 103 112
Hunter Harvey Setup #1 30 63 104 109 101 98 111 2016
Gregory Soto Setup #3 30 101 108 97 113 105 110
Beau Brieske Setup #1 27 89 98 98 107 102 106
Mark Leiter Jr. Setup #3 34 89 108 106 108 103 107 2019
Seranthony Dominguez Setup #2 30 91 112 100 92 101 106 2020
Eli Morgan Setup #2 29 78 93 122 120 105 114
Jose Leclerc Setup #2 31 92 116 100 116 108 108 2021
A.J. Minter Setup #2 31 68 108 112 126 106 102 2015
Paul Sewald Setup #1 35 80 109 108 99 103 100
Manuel Rodriguez Setup #2 28 87 97 102 131 106 116
Luis L. Ortiz (SP) Starter/Long Relief 26 130 92 99 101 108 118
Emiliano Teodo (SP) Starter/High Leverage (Prospect) 24 68 104 95 129 103 115
Michel Otanez Setup #2 27 83 113 88 125 104 112
Jose Butto Setup #2 27 94 102 93 121 105 109
Abner Uribe Setup #2 25 54 106 79 147 98 118
Joe Boyle (SP) Starter/Long Relief 25 64 105 85 129 99 103
Cionel Perez Setup #2 29 96 92 91 136 105 108
Grant Holmes (SP) Starter/Long Relief 29 84 93 109 103 101 112
Matt Brash Setup #1 27 32 116 95 128 97 122 2024
James McArthur Setup #2 28 85 98 117 104 102 109
Dedniel Nunez Setup #1 29 45 110 108 118 99 115 2021
Seth Halvorsen Setup #1 25 44 99 105 123 96 117 2019
Alex Lange Setup #2 29 45 112 92 117 93 111
Nate Pearson Setup #2 28 83 109 99 81 95 105 2020
Sean Hjelle Setup #2 28 83 94 108 109 100 103
Tyson Miller Setup #2 29 94 96 111 92 100 110
Reed Garrett Setup #2 32 73 113 95 101 98 106
Colin Holderman Setup #1 29 74 102 93 98 95 104 2018
Tyler Ferguson Setup #1 31 93 99 93 103 101 102
Jose Quijada Setup #2 29 44 107 89 106 88 111 2023
Tylor Megill (SP) Starter/Long Relief 29 80 100 99 89 94 105
Scott Barlow Setup #2 32 88 102 92 111 100 97 2012
Fernando Cruz Setup #2 35 78 111 93 95 97 99
Louie Varland (SP) Starter/Long Relief 27 49 96 113 88 88 100
Kyle Finnegan Setup #2 33 99 95 100 98 100 96
Yariel Rodriguez (SP) Starter/Long Relief 28 86 87 93 127 102 112
Albert Suarez (SP) Starter/Long Relief 35 132 79 105 104 109 105 2009
Osvaldo Bido (SP) Starter/Long Relief 29 90 94 99 110 100 105
Sawyer Gipson-Long (SP) Starter/Long Relief 27 55 101 107 142 105 108 2024
Craig Kimbrel Setup #1 37 87 110 88 97 100 94
Julian Merryweather Setup #2 33 46 106 95 97 88 111 2018
Will Warren (SP) Starter/Long Relief (Prospect) 26 98 89 100 98 100 101
George Klassen (SP) Starter/Long Relief (Prospect) 23 78 96 89 111 97 102 2021
Ryan Fernandez Setup #1 27 76 96 95 98 95 99
Michael Grove (SP) Starter/Long Relief 28 57 95 105 94 89 105 2017
Javier Assad (SP) Starter/Long Relief 27 123 80 93 84 97 95
DL Hall (SP) Starter/Long Relief 26 74 83 89 108 92 95
Justin Lawrence Setup #2 30 92 89 88 93 92 95
Cooper Hjerpe (SP) Starter/Long Relief (Prospect) 24 44 98 99 118 88 101
Matt Manning (SP) Starter/Long Relief 27 48 90 100 98 85 98
Dane Dunning (SP) Starter/Long Relief 30 105 82 98 92 96 93 2019
Hayden Wesneski (SP) Starter/Long Relief 27 64 92 107 94 91 94
Connor Phillips (SP) Starter/Long Relief (Prospect) 24 79 90 86 91 90 96
Chase Silseth (SP) Starter/Long Relief 25 75 90 94 83 89 92
Lance McCullers (SP) Starter/Long Relief 31 15 98 95 123 84 95 2018
Steven Matz (SP) Starter/Long Relief 34 52 87 107 92 86 92 2010
Bryce Elder (SP) Starter/Long Relief 26 83 90 99 86 91 91
Adrian Houser (SP) Starter/Long Relief 32 65 80 99 101 88 87 2016
Roansy Contreras (SP) Starter/Long Relief 25 77 89 95 76 86 87
Tony Gonsolin (SP) Starter/Long Relief 31 51 82 106 88 83 85 2023

FantasyPros Fantasy Baseball Draft Wizard


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