Zack Britton, who saved 47 games for the Orioles in 2016, and eight games for the Yankees while Aroldis Chapman was on the IL last season, picked up a save for the Yanks on Wednesday. With Chapman currently on the IL, Britton should continue to get save opportunities in the Bronx. There are a couple of other former closers who have been pitching well of late to take note of in this article. We’ve also identified five relief pitchers who, based on their recent fantasy production, can potentially be used as streaming options in weekly leagues. Please enjoy this week’s Bullpen Report.
Weekly Save Leaders
Angels closer Raisel Iglesias and Twins reliever Alex Colomé both had three saves heading into Wednesday’s action. Iglesias has been on a tear of late. He hasn’t given up a run and has saved five games in his last eight appearances dating back to July 24th. Iglesias has struck out 12 and walked just one during that time span (7.2 IP). The Angels continue to use Steve Cishek, who was on the bereavement list as this article was being written, and Mike Mayers in late inning high leverage situations as well.
As for Colome, it appears that the 2021 season has at least temporarily, come full circle for him. He was expected to be the Twins’ primary closer to start the season but quickly pitched himself out of that role. However, with the Twins’ trade of Hansel Robles to the Red Sox and with Taylor Rogers on the IL, Colome finds himself successfully closing out games for the Twins again. Entering Wednesday’s action Colome has hasn’t given up a run in his last six appearances and has an .059 BAA. It appears that Rogers is going to be out for a while and there’s even been speculation that he might be done for the season. If that’s the case, Colome should continue to close out games for the Twins with Caleb Thielbar and Tyler Duffey also pitching in high leverage late inning situations.
Weekly Hold Leaders
Tyler Matzek and Luke Jackson, both of whom are Braves relievers, each posted four holds last week. Neither pitcher gave up a run and with Matzek striking out six batters and Jackson striking out seven batters, both could be used as potential streaming options in place of struggling starting pitchers on your fantasy baseball rosters.
Additional Potential Relief Pitcher Streaming Options
The following three pitchers each posted a solid ERA and struck out at least seven batters over the past week. We’ve listed each pitcher’s overall season stats, as well as their stats for the past week.
Juan Minaya, Twins
Two wins, no losses, no saves, no holds, 3.78 ERA, 1.14 WHIP
| Time Frame | IP | W/L/H/S | K’s | ERA | WHIP |
| August 4th – 11th | 4.1 | 1 W | 8 | 0.00 | 0.923 |
Josh Staumont, Royals
Two wins, two losses, five saves, five holds, 3.18 ERA, 1.191 WHIP
| Time Frame | IP | W/L/H/S | K’s | ERA | WHIP |
| August 4th – 11th | 4.2 | 1 W, 1 H | 7 | 0.00 | 0.643 |
Alex Vesia, Dodgers
Two wins, one loss, no saves, three holds, 3.09 ERA, 0.943 WHIP
| Time Frame | IP | W/L/H/S | K’s | ERA | WHIP |
| August 4th – 11th | 2.2 | 1 W | 7 | 0.00 | 0.375 |
More Bullpen News
Reds
It’s hard to trust Reds manager David Bell when it comes to his handling of his team’s bullpen for fantasy purposes because he seems to change closers as often as he changes his socks. His new flavor of the week is the recently acquired Mychal Givens. Givens, who saved 20 games for the Orioles between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, had been pitching well for the Rockies before they traded him to the Reds and hasn’t given up a run in his first six outings for his new club. He’s registered three holds and picked up two saves in his brief tenure with the Reds since July 29th. As an aside Daniel Bard, who at times seemed on the brink of losing his closers gig with the Rockies, has saved three games since Givens was traded to the Reds.
Michael Lorenzen is another Reds reliever to keep an eye on. Like Givens he hasn’t given up a run in his first six outings for the Reds. He’s also held four victories and saved another since July 30th.
Phillies
Ian Kennedy continues to close out games for the Phils, picking up two saves over the past two weeks. The Phillies bullpen has been evolving of late. Ranger Suárez, who had been their closer before they traded for Kennedy, is now being stretched out as a starter. Archie Bradley and José Alvarado have picked up saves recently but unfortunately, Alvarado is headed to the IL due to a shoulder impingement. Don’t look now but Héctor Neris, who began the season as the Phillies closer, hasn’t given up a run in his last seven appearances, and is back in the mix for late inning high leverage relief work.
If you've been a subscriber here at Fantasy Alarm, you've seen the Fantasy Baseball Closer Grid before. If you're new, it's very simple. We not only list who the closer is for each team, but we then go another two-deep into the bullpen to let you know who would be next in line to accrue saves should there be an injury or a change, as well as which relievers you may want to target if your league scores for holds. This isn't about how the teams' depth charts always reads, so keep that in mind. Sometimes the heir-apparent is an obvious one, but in many cases it is not. We look for things like skill set, contact rates, pitch-command, pitch-mix, how many lefties are in the bullpen, who has worked as a closer before and who has the experience in high-leverage situation among other things.
GREEN will be those with strong talent, abundant opportunities and a high-level of job security. The tier below will be in YELLOW followed by ORANGE and lastly RED to indicate who may have the job right now but could lose it with one bad hiccup.
UPDATED: 8.12.2021
