With the 2021 baseball season winding down, many teams are already starting to look towards next year. They’re not only evaluating position players to determine their potential future roles within their organization, but they’ll also be “auditioning” relief pitchers in order to decide if they’ve got what it takes to be successful when asked to pitch in high leverage situations. In Kyle Finnegan, the Nationals seem to have found their closer for the start of the 2022 season, but other teams, like the Cubs, (who we talk about later) are still in the process of making their plans for next season. In this week’s column we’ll highlight a few pitchers who have an opportunity to pitch in save situations in the near future and identify three relievers 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

White Sox closer Liam Hendriks and Twins closer Alex Colomé each had three saves last week. For Colome it was his second straight week with three saves. He has 13 on the season. Colome lost his gig as the Twins’ closer earlier this season, but he hasn’t given up a run in his last seven appearances and entering Wednesday’s action he had pitched on four consecutive days.

Hendriks has been one of the most reliable closers in baseball this season. As of Wednesday’s action, he led AL closers with 33 saves.

Six other relievers saved two games last week including Cubs reliever Rowan Wick. He has converted three of four save opportunities dating back to August 31st and with the Cubs looking for their closer for next season, Wick has certainly gotten pitching coach Tommy Hottovy’s attention. Overall, Cubs relievers had a 1.05 ERA last week, with Adam Morgan and Adbert Alzolay each earning saves as well. 

Tigers closer Gregory Soto picked up two saves last week as well. He now has 18 on the season and hasn’t given up a run in his last 10.2 IP, spanning his last eight appearances. Soto who can use his four-seamer, sinker and slider as out pitches, has settled in as the Tigers’ closer. However, manager A.J. Hinch has refrained from calling him a closer and has said he reserves the right to use Soto at any time when the game is on the line and not just in the ninth inning.

Weekly Hold Leaders

Mets reliever Trevor May, Mariners reliever Casey Sadler, and White Sox reliever Ryan Tepera led baseball with three holds each last week. Nine other pitchers had two holds last week including Mets relievers Seth Lugo, Aaron Loup and Brad Hand. Hand seems to have landed on his feet after being recently designated for assignment by the Blue Jays. It was a good week for Mets relievers. Collectively, they posted a 3.42 ERA and were credited with 10 holds.

Potential Relief Pitcher Streaming Options

The following three pitchers each posted a solid ERA and struck out at least six batters each over the past week. We’ve listed each pitcher’s overall season stats, as well as their stats for the past week.

David Robertson, Rays

Zero Wins, Zero Losses, Zero Saves, One Hold, 2.25 ERA, 1.000 WHIP

Time FrameIPW/L/H/SK’sERAWHIP
September 1st – 7th41 H82.251.000

Clay Holmes, Yankees

Six W, Two Losses, On e Save, Nine Holds, 4.13 ERA, 1.218 WHIP

Time FrameIPW/L/H/SK’sERAWHIP
September 1st – 7th3.11 W72.700.600

Alberto Baldonado, Nationals

Zero Wins, Zero Losses, Zero Saves, One Hold, 0.00 ERA, 0.429 WHIP

Time FrameIPW/L/H/SK’sERAWHIP
September 1st – 7th4.21 H60.000.429

More Bullpen News

Diamondbacks

Based on their won/loss record the Diamondbacks are the worst team in baseball, but they do need a closer to slam the lid on things when they’re trying to protect a rare late inning lead. Tyler Clippard has pitched well for the D’backs, saving five games and posting a 2.65 ERA in 17 appearances on the season, however he has been placed on the COVID-19 IL. Noé Ramirez and Sean Poppen are the only other Diamondbacks relief pitchers currently on the active roster who have recorded a save this season. Joe Mantiply and J.B. Wendelken have also been called upon by the D’backs to pitch in late inning high leverage situations, but Ramirez is probably the reliever most likely to pick up the teams’ next save.

Yankees

The Yankees bullpen took a big blow this past week when Jonathan Loáisiga was placed on the IL due to a strained rotator cuff. He received a cortisone shot and the Yanks are hoping that he can pitch again this season.  Aroldis Chapman’s struggles continued Wednesday night against the surging Blue Jays. While we still list Chapman as the Yankees closer, expect Chad Green and Wandy Peralta to get the opportunity to close out games for the Yanks for the near future. Also, keep an eye on Clay Holmes, (referenced above). He had a bit of a hiccup on Wednesday night but has been pitching well overall. The Yankees may be forced to use him in high leverage situations moving forward.

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: 9.9.2021