Relief Pitcher Fantasy Baseball Sleeper Candidates: High-Upside Draft Targets for 2026

February 22, 2026

Zach's high-upside relief closer sleeper candidates, sneaky 2026 later-round draft values to outperform their ADPs. Draft the next fantasy baseball breakouts including Daniel Palencia, Ryan Walker, Riley O'Brien, more.

Whether you opt to try to draft relief pitchers early in your draft to chase saves or wait to find them late or on the waiver wire, finding the right breakout relief pitchers can be key to rounding out your roster. Like MLB teams, most fantasy teams have a bit of a carousel in their bullpen, but getting a few breakout pieces to build around can anchor your bullpen squad.

When evaluating breakout relief pitchers for 2026, we'll look past the top closers and focus on options available in the mid-to-late rounds (picks 200+) after the core of the roster is in place. These options could emerge as "cheap saves" and chip in some strikeouts and quality innings.

Let's take a look at a few relievers who have shown plenty of upside coming into the season based on their underlying skills and potential role. These players stand out as good values in the early ADP landscape and could deliver high-end returns at their current prices.

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Daniel Palencia, Chicago Cubs

ADP: 246.16

One of my favorite closers available after the elite options are off the board is the Cubs' Daniel Palencia, who is currently the 17th relief pitcher being drafted, based on his ADP. Palencia seems locked in as the Cubs' closer coming into the year, according to manager Craig Counsell.

It's easy to see why Counsell has so much confidence in the 26-year-old righty. Last season, he had 22 saves and posted a 2.91 ERA and 3.08 FIP in 52 2/3 innings across 54 appearances. While his strikeout rate isn't up there with the elite options, he did fan 61 batters for a solid 28.4% K%.

Daniel Palencia has one of the biggest arms in baseball.

Every 101+ mph strikeout from 2025 pic.twitter.com/tqhaJxJfO3

— Carson Wolf (@TheWrigleyWire) February 10, 2026

Palencia emerged after a couple of shaky seasons in 2023 and 2024, but he took a huge leap last year, backed up by most of the underlying numbers.

The Cubs identified Palencia as a potential piece of their bullpen in 2021 and acquired him as part of the trade that sent Andrew Chafin to the then-Oakland Athletics. Palencia was only in Single-A at the time, but he has become an excellent high-leverage arm after his strong 2025.

He is a draft-day bargain with such job security on a team that's expected to contend and should be a good source of saves along with some strikeouts this season. Palencia is set up well for a breakout season.

Kenley Jansen, Detroit Tigers

ADP: 264.3

Another sleeper option that makes sense if you're shopping for saves after the elite options are off the board is veteran closer Kenley Jansen. While Jansen is not the typical "breakout" candidate, given that he enters his 17th MLB season, he possesses just as much upside from a volume standpoint and should greatly outperform his current ADP.

The 38-year-old doesn't have the dominant strikeout numbers he had in his prime, but he was still very effective last season for the Angels.

He doesn't have quite as much of a stranglehold on the job as Palencia, but he will likely at least start the season as the team's top option for save opportunities, with Will Vest and Kyle Finnegan ready to step in as the season goes on as needed. When asked about the bullpen, manager A.J. Hinch said, "I think we can pretty much guess how it’s going to go, given that one of them has a historic number of saves on his resume.”

Jansen joined the Tigers this offseason as a free agent after spending last season with the Angels, where he had 29 saves in 62 games, posting a 2.59 ERA and 3.98 FIP, despite his K/9 slipping to 8.7 after sitting over 10 for every season in his career. He has 476 career saves with at least 27 saves in each of the last 13 seasons (not counting the shortened 2020 campaign).

In joining the Tigers, Jansen gave himself a great chance to get to 500 career saves this season if he stays healthy.

Coming into spring training, he's the 19th relief pitcher being taken in drafts, according to ADP, but he brings way more upside than many of the options around him and should get plenty of save opportunities for a competing Detroit squad early in the season. Even if he's replaced later in the year, he should get off to a fast enough start to be worth his ADP.

Ryan Walker, San Francisco Giants

ADP: 318.8

Diving past the 300 mark in ADP, let's highlight the No. 25 relief pitcher being taken as another source of potential saves with breakout potential. Ryan Walker will need to earn the closer role with a strong spring, but in the open competition, he should be one of the favorites for the job.

Walker seized the job at the end of 2024, going 10-for-10 in save chances with a 1.91 ERA, but last year, his ERA ballooned to 4.11, while he went just 17-for-24 in save opportunities. Walker still got a high percentage of groundballs, but his hard-hit rate climbed while his strikeout rate dipped at the same time

Over the offseason, Walker says he found a mechanical fix that he thinks can help him return to this 2024 form. He has said all the right things about having the mentality and determination to win the job in spring training, and if he can get back near his 2024 numbers, he'd be a steal at this ADP. Some of his regression last year was bad luck, as indicated by his 3.30 FIP, so a mechanical tweak and batter batted-ball results could be all he needs to get back to where he was two years ago.

Bases loaded. No outs. No problem for Ryan Walker.

(#SFGiants x @peetscoffee) pic.twitter.com/n4JPoQSXr6

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) August 19, 2024

While Walker is higher risk than Palencia and Jansen, he should be able to win the job with a strong spring, and we should have a good idea if his mechanical adjustment solves his issues as he starts seeing game action. If he can return to his 2024 form, he will put together a massive breakout season.

Riley O'Brien, St. Louis Cardinals

ADP: 418.1

We're up over 400 for ADP now, so we're in deep-sleeper territory, where the risks are real but the upside can be extreme.

The Cardinals sold off many pieces this offseason and are looking to reset across the board. However, that doesn't mean there won't be some "cheap saves" available out of the bullpen. The two leading candidates in St. Louis's bullpen are Riley O'Brien and JoJo Romero. Since Romero is a lefty, he could end up in high-leverage spots against lefties earlier in the game, and he's also a strong trade candidate since he's an impending free agent at the end of the year.

Instead of Romero, I'm targeting O'Brien late in drafts as a high-upside reliever. While O'Brien had made cameos in the majors in 2021 with the Reds, 2022 with the Mariners, and 2024 with the Cardinals, 2025 was officially still his rookie season.

He appeared in 42 games and posted a 2.06 ERA and 3.61 FIP across 48 innings. The 31-year-old righty had six saves last season, four coming in the last month of the season, when he didn't allow a run in nine of 11 appearances. Ryan Helsley was the closer for most of the early part of the season before being dealt to the Mets at the trade deadline, and O'Brien entered the game in the eighth inning or later in 19 of his 20 post-deadline appearances.

O’Brien’s two most-used pitches are his hard sinker, which averaged 98.0 mph last season, and a slider that averages 90 mph. His curveball was the big difference-maker for him last year, though, with some added velocity making it a true "out pitch" for O'Brien. Batters went 2-for-34 (.059) with 19 strikeouts against O'Brien's curve in 2025.

Riley O'Brien's 2025 stats (MLB):

23.1 IP
1.93 ERA
25 K | 10 BB
1.20 WHIP
.220 BAA pic.twitter.com/Z0pbYhdQUZ

— Kareem Haq (@KareemSSN) July 21, 2025

O'Brien has the raw stuff to be a closer and should get the chance if he stays healthy this season. Grabbing him at the end of drafts or off the waiver wire could be a great value move to build your bullpen.

Victor Vodnik, Colorado Rockies

ADP: 445.6

Grabbing the Rockies' closer can seem like the height of "cheap saves," but Vodnik showed a lot of potential in the role last season, and he's available at the very end of drafts or off the waiver wire in almost all formats. The 26-year-old posted a 3.02 ERA and 3.77 FIP with 49 strikeouts in 50 2/3 innings.

Vodnik had eight of his 10 saves in his last 17 games, allowing zero runs in 15 of those 17 games, with 14 strikeouts and just 11 hits allowed.

Last season, Vodnik's fastball velocity and ground ball rate were both elite. He ranked in the 97th percentile with a 98.7 mph average on his fastball and in the 92nd percentile in ground-ball rate, which is especially important given that his velocity allows hard contact and he calls Coors Field home.

He missed a month due to injury last year, but if he stays healthy, he should get as many saves as the Rockies can muster this season. The team doesn't have many strengths and probably won't get many wins, but the bullpen has some solid pieces.

Friday Night Lights pic.twitter.com/4ByRZZjsVB

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 20, 2025

A whopping 41 relief pitchers are going off the board ahead of Vodnik in drafts right now, but the flame-throwing righty is a great flier at the end of drafts or scoop off the waiver wire when you have roster space available and need some saves.

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