With the 2016 fantasy baseball season approaching, bullpen depth charts can be tricky to decipher when entering your fantasy drafts. Projections of who will be vital to their respective team and to your fantasy team will be analyzed over the course of the next two months.

Below I've identified the projected NL Central closers, setup men, and some of the noteworthy relievers that bridge a lead from starter to closer. The first and second names appearing after the closers below will mostly likely act as primary setup men, and be in line for holds. Bear in mind, most left-handed relievers identified will be used in specialist roles that make them more ideal in leagues with holds and will be a distant candidate for saves.

Don't forget that our closer depth charts are also updated all season long, so be sure to bookmark that page. And in case you missed it, our rankings dashboard has been loaded up with lots more preseason content to help you dominate your drafts.

NL Central Depth Chart - Saves and Holds

St. Louis Cardinals: Trevor Rosenthal (closer), Kevin Siegrist, Jonathan Broxton, Jordan Walden

Pittsburgh Pirates: Mark Melancon (closer), Tony Watson, Jared Hughes, Arquimedes Caminero

Chicago Cubs: Hector Rondon (closer), Pedro Strop, Justin Grimm, Trevor Cahill

Milwaukee Brewers: Jeremy Jeffress (closer), Will Smith, Tyler Thornburg

Cincinnati Reds: J.J. Hoover (closer), Tony Cingrani, Jumbo Diaz

Quick Hit Baseball Analysis

Expected contenders; the Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs will all bring in reliable closers in the form of Trevor Rosenthal, Mark Melancon and Hector Rondon. Last season, the wear-and-tear of the season took its toll on Rosenthal but he has a reliable set of relievers behind him that begin with former closers Jonathan Broxton and Jordan Walden.

Melancon has a great setup man in Tony Watson, a lefty capable of getting righties out too. Jared Hughes and Arquimedes Caminero are additional relievers that will be counted on for Holds with the Pirates.

Bridging to Rondon, the Cubs will have a well-established duo in Pedro Strop and Justin Grimm. An interesting name will be Trevor Cahill. In 11 games, Cahill pitched to a 2.12 ERA out of the bullpen with more than a strikeout per inning. Cahill will enter this year as a projected candidate for Holds along with Strop and Grimm. If injuries flair up for Grimm again, Cahill will easily slide into the final three innings of the game and be crucial to the Cubs and in fantasy leagues with Holds.

The Brewers and Reds face a clean slate in regards to experienced closers. Deep in a rebuild, the projected closer for the Brewers is right-handed reliever Jeremy Jeffress. For the Reds, right-handed reliever J.J. Hoover looks to be projected as the Reds' closer in 2016.

Relievers Jeffress and Will Smith will compete for the closer's role this spring but expect Jeffress to have the inside track on the position. Pairing a power sinker and a curveball and you could hope for a right-handed version of closer Britton in Baltimore. Jeffress did struggle with the long ball and that could give the job to Smith but as a general rule, closers have been right-handed and Smith will continue as a very effective setup reliever.

Like the Brewers, the Reds will look to a reliable setup reliever to close out their wins in 2016. Of the likely candidates, Hoover will rise to the closer's role due to being the most experienced. The Reds will like to see his strikeouts increase and his walks to decrease in the ninth inning role. Looking beyond Hoover; relievers Tony Cingrani and Jumbo Diaz will man the bridge to Hoover as they look for Holds in the seventh and eighth inning.

Jumbo Diaz and his power fastball can make him a viable candidate for Holds in your fantasy league but he must limit walks and avoid the long ball to maintain his standing in the Reds' bullpen. As for Cingrani, the lefty needs to limit the walks to make an impact out of the bullpen. He nearly averaged a walk per inning as a reliever in addition to a hit per inning. Allowing at least two batters to reach base per appearance can jeopardize a lead and his value in fantasy if he cannot produce clean, shut down Holds.

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