It's Week 26 of the fantasy baseball season! Since we're two years removed from our last full 162 game season, it's important to remember that players' bodies tend to break down as the full grind of the season starts to apply. While the time for speculation of "good arms" is over, the time to scrape together individual saves will become the utmost importance. That's why we added an injury-specific section this week.
Injury Update:
-SF closer Jake McGee injured his oblique and will likely miss the rest of the regular season. Set-up man Tyler Rogers, who split saves with McGee earlier this year, is the most likely candidate to see the next save chance. Obviously, McGee can be dropped in all single-season formats, but if Rogers is already owned in your league and you're desperately speculating, both Dominic Leone and Tony Watson could be less-likely options to see a save opportunity or two over the next couple weeks.
-PIT closer David Bednar also injured his oblique this week and will also likely miss the rest of the season. RP Chris Stratton is the primary grab, but realize the returns may be limited over the next two weeks.
-Tampa Bay activated Nick Anderson from the injured list this past week. He was arguably a top-5 reliever last season, but it's probably foolhardy to expect him to pitch anywhere near that level in what's left of this season. If you're in a dynasty format, however, and he happens to be laying on the waiver wire then he needs to be scooped up because he's the odds on favorite to be the team's "primary" closer in 2022.
-Yankees RP Jonathan Loaisigia is going to start a throwing program with the intention to return by the end of the year. Aroldis Chapman is pitching better, so this is merely noise for fantasy purposes.
-Diamondbacks activated Tyler Clippard from the injured list and his manager said he intends to reinsert him right back into the closing role. In Clippard's absence, JB Wendelken has filled in nicely, so it's probably prudent not to drop him yet.
-The Red Sox activated RP Matt Barnes from the COVID list on Friday and he was immediately used in a high leverage situation In the 8th inning. Expect him to be back getting saves in short order.
Around The League:
-Cubs manager David Ross confirmed what we've suspected for weeks that he trusts both Codi Heuer and Rowan Wick in the 9th inning. Either would be fine grabs for the stretch run, but Wick has been particularly impressive since making his season debut on August 10th - posting a 22:6 strikeout-to-walk rate in 16.2 innings pitched, along with a 2.16 ERA.
-The shake up in the Oakland bullpen seems to be settling down as journeyman Andrew Chafin has notched three saves over the last two weeks and his primary competition, Sergio Romo, has struggled. Chafin's 47% ground ball rate and 32% hard hit rate don't do anything for your strikeouts, but they help him limit the damage.
-Drew Steckenrider has tallied 4 of the Mariners' last 6 save chances and he's been generally the least volatile member of the Mariners committee. Steckenrider has cut down his hard hit rate allowed this season, which correlates with the addition of a change-up, which has a 1.77 wCH/c pitch value.
-RP Carlos Estevez has overtaken the other committee members in the Rockies' bullpen and tallied his 9thsave on Friday. Robert Stephenson did get the save on Wednesday, but it's evident that Estevez is the primary one to own.
Closer Grid and Handcuff Rankings:
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It's Week 26 of the fantasy baseball season! Since we're two years removed from our last full 162 game season, it's important to remember that players' bodies tend to break down as the full grind of the season starts to apply. While the time for speculation of "good arms" is over, the time to scrape together individual saves will become the utmost importance. That's why we added an injury-specific section this week.
Injury Update:
-SF closer Jake McGee injured his oblique and will likely miss the rest of the regular season. Set-up man Tyler Rogers, who split saves with McGee earlier this year, is the most likely candidate to see the next save chance. Obviously, McGee can be dropped in all single-season formats, but if Rogers is already owned in your league and you're desperately speculating, both Dominic Leone and Tony Watson could be less-likely options to see a save opportunity or two over the next couple weeks.
-PIT closer David Bednar also injured his oblique this week and will also likely miss the rest of the season. RP Chris Stratton is the primary grab, but realize the returns may be limited over the next two weeks.
-Tampa Bay activated Nick Anderson from the injured list this past week. He was arguably a top-5 reliever last season, but it's probably foolhardy to expect him to pitch anywhere near that level in what's left of this season. If you're in a dynasty format, however, and he happens to be laying on the waiver wire then he needs to be scooped up because he's the odds on favorite to be the team's "primary" closer in 2022.
-Yankees RP Jonathan Loaisigia is going to start a throwing program with the intention to return by the end of the year. Aroldis Chapman is pitching better, so this is merely noise for fantasy purposes.
-Diamondbacks activated Tyler Clippard from the injured list and his manager said he intends to reinsert him right back into the closing role. In Clippard's absence, JB Wendelken has filled in nicely, so it's probably prudent not to drop him yet.
-The Red Sox activated RP Matt Barnes from the COVID list on Friday and he was immediately used in a high leverage situation In the 8th inning. Expect him to be back getting saves in short order.
Around The League:
-Cubs manager David Ross confirmed what we've suspected for weeks that he trusts both Codi Heuer and Rowan Wick in the 9th inning. Either would be fine grabs for the stretch run, but Wick has been particularly impressive since making his season debut on August 10th - posting a 22:6 strikeout-to-walk rate in 16.2 innings pitched, along with a 2.16 ERA.
-The shake up in the Oakland bullpen seems to be settling down as journeyman Andrew Chafin has notched three saves over the last two weeks and his primary competition, Sergio Romo, has struggled. Chafin's 47% ground ball rate and 32% hard hit rate don't do anything for your strikeouts, but they help him limit the damage.
-Drew Steckenrider has tallied 4 of the Mariners' last 6 save chances and he's been generally the least volatile member of the Mariners committee. Steckenrider has cut down his hard hit rate allowed this season, which correlates with the addition of a change-up, which has a 1.77 wCH/c pitch value.
-RP Carlos Estevez has overtaken the other committee members in the Rockies' bullpen and tallied his 9thsave on Friday. Robert Stephenson did get the save on Wednesday, but it's evident that Estevez is the primary one to own.
