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David's closers and saves fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and bullpen report for Week 6 (2025). His relief pitcher updates, and closers to add for saves.
Somehow, and it seems like no one really knows how, but we've made it to May. The whole first month of the 2025 baseball season is behind us, and while a few bullpens are getting more and more confusing, others are finally settling into something that maybe makes sense.
We have some serious fantasy baseball news coming out of the Yankees' and Diamondbacks' bullpens. There's also some movement in the terrifying Rockies bullpen, and maybe signs of settling in for Pittsburgh's relief group. And, of course, more.
Let's dive into this week's report! As always, stay tapped in with our Fantasy Baseball Closer Depth Charts for saves, holds, and bullpens. They will be updated frequently throughout the 2025 baseball season as news breaks.
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Waiver Wire Pickups For Standard Leagues
Luke Weaver, New York Yankees (Rostered in 59% of leagues)
Fernando Cruz, New York Yankees (Rostered in 16% of leagues)
"An embarrassment of riches" was the prevailing thought about the Yankees' bullpen after they acquired Devin Williams. Luke Weaver was excellent in his brief time in the closer's role last season, so adding Williams, who saved 50 games over the past two seasons despite missing time due to injury, could only make the pen stronger.
Weaver has continued his dominance into this season (0.00 ERA in 14 innings, two saves, and six holds), but Williams has taken the opposite trajectory, losing two games and blowing a save while posting a 9.00 ERA and significantly less impressive ratios than ever before in his career.
Williams was removed from the closer's role earlier this week, and manager Aaron Boone says that Weaver "will get a lot" of the Yankees save chances moving forward. Williams may reclaim the role eventually, but Weaver should be a strong source of fantasy value for at least a little while and can still be picked up off waivers in over 40 percent of fantasy leagues.
Fernando Cruz figures to work as Weaver's setup guy and could sneak in for saves occasionally, but Weaver is definitely the one to roster from the Yankees' bullpen.
Luke Weaver, Nasty 87mph Changeup. 👌 pic.twitter.com/K9CsbLvQlN
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 4, 2025
Chris Martin, Texas Rangers (Rostered in 36% of leagues)
Robert Garcia, Texas Rangers (Rostered in 12% of leagues)
Rangers closer Luke Jackson had a rough first outing this season, then really locked in and looked like an elite closer for a while. Recently, it's back to the rough outings though, as he carries a 6.55 ERA and an unimpressive 9:5 K:BB in 11 innings. This week, he was removed from an outing where he allowed four runs while only getting one out.
While the Rangers have not made an official move yet, given Jackson's performance, it could be sooner rather than later. Chris Martin and Robert Garcia are tied for the team lead in holds with eight each. If Jackson is replaced, one of them will close games for Texas.
Manager Bruce Bochy prefers naming a closer over utilizing a committee. While both Martin (1.84 ERA) and Garcia (2.03 ERA) have been pitching well, Martin's underlying stats and ratios look better, and he has seven years of experience over Garcia.
While it's not an immediate change, it certainly looks like it's coming, so Martin should be picked up in deeper formats (and should already be rostered in holds leagues).
Chris Martin (1IP 1H 0R 0BB 1K) picked up his 7th hold of the season in the @Rangers loss to the Athletics. His sinker averaged 94 MPH and was our RP Pitch of the Day pic.twitter.com/xDmRrjSRE2
— Baseball Prospectus (@baseballpro) April 25, 2025
Shelby Miller, Arizona Diamondbacks (Rostered in 10% of leagues)
Kevin Ginkel, Arizona Diamondbacks (Rostered in 6% of leagues)
The Diamondbacks have had five different pitchers record a save this season, but seven out of the 10 saves they have as a team have come from pitchers who are now on the injured list. A.J. Puk (elbow) still leads the team with four, while Justin Martinez (shoulder) has three.
With both on the injured list, it was Shelby Miller who earned a save for Arizona this week when the chance arose.
Miller has been excellent this season, posting a 0.00 ERA in 13 2/3 innings and earning his first save on Thursday. Kevin Ginkel entered into a high-pressure situation for his season debut after opening the season on the injured list, and could be in line for saves as well.
In fact, Ginkel was in the running for the closer's role before he landed on the injured list, so he may be the favorite once he's up to speed.
For the short term, Miller is a solid add and should certainly already be on a saves + holds roster. Longer term, Ginkel seems like the better bet as long as he remains healthy. Puk won't be back for at least a few months, although he will not require surgery. Martinez is getting an MRI and further testing to determine how long he'll miss, although most signs indicate it is not a quick IL stint.
KEVIN GINKEL. pic.twitter.com/84q35hzQMY
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) October 25, 2023
Tommy Kahnle, Detroit Tigers (Rostered in 29% of leagues)
Will Vest, Detroit Tigers (Rostered in 25% of leagues)
The Tigers' leverage guys make another appearance on this week's list. Kahnle's roster percentage actually went down a bit this week while Vest's shot up. Vest picked up three saves in about 10 days, leading some to believe he was taking over the role, but he also pitched in the sixth inning of a game this week, leading more credence to the fact that this is likely going to continue as a committee.
Both Kahnle and Vest are close to must-roster status in holds leagues, but it'll be harder to rely on either guy in a saves-only format. For now, Kahnle gets a slight nod if you're picking among Tigers relievers, but this feels like it could be a fluid situation all season long, and may ultimately end up including Tyler Holton in the mix as well.
Tommy Kahnle registered the save while throwing 94% changeups
lol pic.twitter.com/7SpB7eEH5r
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) April 2, 2025
David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates (Rostered in 48% of leagues)
David Bednar is back, and not only is he back, but it seems like he's back. Since being called back up, Bednar has pitched six innings, allowing just one run while striking out eight and walking one. He had a 27.00 ERA backed up by a 20.08 FIP before he got sent down and has returned with a 1.50 ERA and a 0.91 FIP since.
Whatever he figured out in Triple-A definitely worked.
This week, a slight crack in the door opened when Dennis Santana was placed on the bereavement list, propping Bednar up into the closer's role where he might remain. His rostered rate has been a roller coaster since the season started, but he's currently available in just over half of leagues, and should absolutely be on a team in deeper formats.
The Pirates may not have a ton of late leads, but the ones they do look like they will be Bednar's to complete.
David Bednar, Painted 80mph Curveball. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/huJ32UMSjv
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 1, 2025
Emilio Pagan, Cincinnati Reds (Rostered in 54% of leagues)
Emilio Pagan has spent the last week solidifying his status as closer for the Reds, and it's shown with a +20 percent boost in his rostered rate. Pagan is up to eight saves on the season, adding three more this week to go with five strikeouts in three innings. Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft both continue to pitch well as Pagan's setup guys, but Alexis Diaz's struggles have continued, which ended up getting him sent back down to Triple-A.
Even with the success of the guys ahead of him, the veteran Pagan has more than locked himself in as the ninth-inning option in Cincinnati. He's still only rostered in 54 percent of leagues at this point, even with this week's significant boost, but we should see that number go up even more before next week's edition of this article.
Waiver Wire Pickups For Deeper Leagues
Zach Agnos, Colorado Rockies (Rostered in 0% of leagues)
Seth Halvorsen, Colorado Rockies (Rostered in 5% of leagues)
A classic piece of fantasy baseball advice goes like this: Don't rely on a Rockies reliever. That's never been more true than it is this season. With the Rockies earning just six wins through their first 31 games, a Rockies closer would be tough to defend in fantasy even if it were a top-tier reliever.
The current Rockies bullpen? Not made up of top-tier relievers.
Seth Halvorsen remains the most-rostered guy in the Colorado pen, but he's been deployed in setup positions a few times and may be working his way into whatever a fireman role looks like in that bullpen.
This week, Zach Agnos earned his first two big league saves. He's available in pretty much every league at this point, but while his ratios looked good in Triple-A this season (10:3 K:BB, 2.25 ERA in eight innings), he's mostly a flyball pitcher, and that's a terrifying thought pitching for a team who plays half of its games at Coors Field.
Still, it looks like the current hot hand belongs to Agnos, so he could provide some value if he keeps the ball in the ballpark.
Zach Agnos gets his first inning done in his MLB Debut in front of his family and only allowed one hit #Rockies pic.twitter.com/itPplbBpk1
— Lucasparmenter23 (@Lucasparmenter0) April 21, 2025
Jordan Leasure, Chicago White Sox (Rostered in 0% of leagues)
Jordan Leasure is presumably the White Sox closer, although it's certainly hard to tell given that they've only won eight games this season (but hey, that's two more than the Rockies!) Leasure blew a save this week, but it was used in a very clear, closer situation.
Much like the Rockies arms, rostering a guy on a team that won't win often is never going to provide tons of fantasy value, but Leasure does seem like he has at least the head of the committee title, if not the closer's role outright, and that's always going to be worth something in deeper formats.
Steven Wilson and Cam Booser will also pitch the few high-leverage innings that come up for Chicago, but at least for now, Leasure is the guy for the deep leagues.
Calvin Faucher, Miami Marlins (Rostered in 8% of leagues)
The Marlins' bullpen looks like it could be a little more fluid than we expected before the season began. Still, based on usage, it does look like Calvin Faucher will be the closest thing to a closer the Marlins go with this year. Jesus Tinoco, Anthony Bender, and maybe even guys like Lake Bachar and Ronny Henriquez could see some high-leverage work, but at least right now, Faucher looks like the main deep league target.
Calvin Faucher (1IP 1H 0R 1BB 0K) worked around some traffic to work a scoreless inning of relief in the @Marlins victory over the Mariners. At -3.0, it is the highest rated pitch since this series begun and, of course, is our RP Pitch of the Day pic.twitter.com/d5J4UsfPj8
— Baseball Prospectus (@baseballpro) April 26, 2025
Short Relief: More Bullpen Notes
Cleveland Guardians
Emmanuel Clase had a better week this time around. He earned his fifth save of the season and pitched three innings in total, allowing one run but striking out five without allowing a walk. He still hasn't looked anything like the pitcher he was in his legendary 2024 season, but so far his 2.85 FIP sure looks better than his current 6.75 ERA.
Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis are the objects in Clase's rear view mirror that are closer than they appear, but at least with this week's performance, Clase seems to have turned his arrow closer to up than it's been in a while.
Baltimore Orioles
Orioles closer "The Mountain", Felix Bautista, is looking more and more like himself. He has five saves in five chances and a 2.00 ERA. His 11 strikeouts in nine innings are strong as well, but the only real blemish has been his control, as he's walked six. He's looking mostly unhittable, though, so his value should continue to increase.
The Orioles have been off to a somewhat slow start as they've only had six save chances total, but that number, as well as Bautista's figures, is expected to go up soon.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants looked like they were about to make big news with a closer change last week, but at least for now, it looks like they're going with a split between Ryan Walker and Camilo Doval. Walker opened the season as the closer, but struggled his way into a demotion. Walker has received a vote of confidence from his manager and has pitched better lately, recording a win with four strikeouts in his last two innings of work.
Meanwhile, Doval is on a run of nine straight scoreless outings with eight strikeouts and two walks. It seems like the two may split duties for a bit, but given their previous roles, Walker figures to have a slight upper hand if he can continue his improvement back to where he was last season.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies' bullpen continues to be an adventure. Jose Alvarado leads the team with five saves, Jordan Romano has two, and Matt Strahm has one. Alvarado has not blown a save yet, while Romano has blown two chances and Strahm one. The team leader in blown saves, though? Orion Kerkering, with three.
Combine that with zero saves, and you get into "not what you want" territory with Kerkering. Alvarado remains the highest upside guy on the roster here, with Strahm behind him.
Milwaukee Brewers
As a team, the Brewers only have five saves. Three of them have gone to Trevor Megill. Joel Payamps has one "regular" save, and Tyler Alexander has a three-inning save. For a team with 16 wins, having only four actual saves total seems like strange early-season noise and not a sign of anything to come.
Megill hasn't looked his best, but there are reasons to believe he'll improve and certainly reasons to believe the Brewers will come into more save situations as the season progresses. He's a decent buy-low target right now from fantasy managers who may be thrown off by his low save total.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers' bullpen has been a mostly fluid situation, but Tanner Scott remains the headliner. He has eight saves compared to Blake Treinen, who has two and is now on the injured list. Alex Vesia leads the team in holds with eight, but it seems like Kirby Yates has ascended into the role of "guy who will probably close if it's not Tanner Scott."
Yates is second on the team with six holds and has a delicious 24:5 K:BB in his 13 2/3 innings of work.
UPDATE: Evan Phillips earned his first save since August 2024 on Friday night. Tanner Scott pitched the eighth inning, then a rain delay hit, so it's unclear what exactly the plan was. Scott still feels like the best bet in the LA bullpen, but Phillips (rostered in 7% of leagues) could start making some noise.
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