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David's closers and saves fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and bullpen report for Week 7 (2025). His relief pitcher updates, and closers to add for saves.
We're suddenly approaching mid-May, and while some bullpens have been expectedly mid this season, others we thought would be elite have been mid as well. We have struggling guys suddenly improving, and improving guys suddenly struggling again.
This week, two veteran closers combined to get two guys out and allow 14 runs. Another guy who used to be a closer has 13 straight scoreless outings but can't seem to break into the ninth inning. Yet another guy who has been a starter for most of his career earned his first save and raised some eyebrows.
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
Chris Martin, Texas Rangers (Rostered in 34% of leagues)
Robert Garcia, Texas Rangers (Rostered in 11% of leagues)
The Rangers had a less-than-stellar week, winning just twice. There were no saves recorded by a Texas pitcher this week, and no holds, either. The two wins they notched went to the day's starting pitcher. Still, looking at the bullpen usage gives us a little hint that a change may be coming in the Rangers pen.
Luke Jackson, still the closer for now, pitched just once. He did throw a perfect inning with two strikeouts, but it was the ninth inning of an 8-1 win, so far from a leverage situation. Hoby Milner pitched four times this week, leading the team. Jacob Webb and Robert Garcia threw three times, and Chris Martin and Shawn Armstrong appeared twice each.
As mentioned before, Jackson is still the closer, but even with an uneventful week, it still seems like he's one bad leverage outing away from an official removal. If (when?) that happens, it's almost sure to be Martin taking over ninth-inning duties in Texas.
Martin's rostered rate went down a bit this week, so he's out there on the wire in about two-thirds of leagues. (Milner, who is available in almost every league, could end up as a side-arming lefty deep league holds asset as well.)
Hoby Milner. NAILS.
The leftie works his way out of a bases loaded jam. pic.twitter.com/X4ib9hhJK3
— Rangers Nation ⚾️ (@rangers__nation) April 13, 2025
Justin Martinez, Arizona Diamondbacks (Rostered in 55% of leagues)
Shelby Miller, Arizona Diamondbacks (Rostered in 26% of leagues)
Kevin Ginkel, Arizona Diamondbacks (Rostered in 7% of leagues)
The Arizona bullpen is missing its two relievers with the most saves, as A.J. Puk (elbow) and his four saves are on the 60-day injured list, while Justin Martinez (shoulder) and his three saves are on the 15-day IL. Puk isn't expected back for a while, but Martinez began a throwing program this week and will soon pitch in Arizona Complex games, so he could be back before long.
Still, until he's back, the D-backs bullpen needs to continue to save and hold games. This week, Shelby Miller and Jalen Beeks each earned one save. Miller's was a standard ninth-inning save while Beeks earned his in an extra-inning affair. Kevin Ginkel and Ryan Thompson each picked up two holds, but neither pitched exceptionally well.
It's likely to be Miller at the end of this bullpen until Martinez returns, but Ginkel would be the assumed next up after him. Martinez could reclaim the role once he's healthy, though, and with his waiver wire availability at almost half of leagues right now, he'd be a solid use of an empty IL spot in most formats.
Justin Martinez, 100mph Fastball and EVIL 90mph Splitter, Overlay.
Good luck. pic.twitter.com/s7YDR2wz4Z
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 5, 2025
Porter Hodge, Chicago Cubs (Rostered in 16% of leagues)
Ryan Pressly had a rough start to the season, then looked a lot better, and then came into his outing on Tuesday against the Giants. Pressly faced eight batters. None of them made an out. By the time his line was complete, Pressly had pitched zero innings but allowed nine runs (eight earned).
He had come into the outing with a 2.05 ERA and a string of 10 straight scoreless outings. He left it with a 7.62 ERA and a whole lot of question marks. While nothing has been officially released by the team, it's hard to imagine a guy pitching that poorly without at least a little concern about an injury.
If Pressly is hurt or if his struggles continue, Porter Hodge is the next guy up and could quickly become a top fantasy option.
Hodge hasn't been as elite as he was last season, but he's still been the next guy up for the Cubs and already has six holds and a save. He's allowed eight earned runs this season, but six of them came in the same outing. Again, there's no move yet, but after Pressly's disaster class, it will be interesting to see what the Cubs do the next time they're in a close-and-late situation.
Here’s your next Cubs closer (unless they trade for one).
Porter Hodge
He’s 6’4”, jacked up, throw gas, and is better than what his standard stat line shows.
Sounds and looks like a closer… pic.twitter.com/DLb8mMWtF6
— Mark Burns (@RubeBakersPig) May 7, 2025
Tommy Kahnle, Detroit Tigers (Rostered in 35% of leagues)
Will Vest, Detroit Tigers (Rostered in 21% of leagues)
The Tigers won four times this week, but there were no saves recorded and only one hold. That shows how unpredictable saves and holds can be, and also shows that one "bad" week by a closer may not even be his fault at all. It's reliant on the situation, and that's usually outside of one single pitcher's control.
Speaking of control, Tommy Kahnle got the one Tigers hold this week, but he walked two batters in his one inning after having walked just three total all season before that. Still, despite no saves, Kahnle and Vest's usage this week seems to imply that it will remain a committee in Detroit.
Vest earned a win in relief, throwing two scoreless innings against the Rockies after Kahnle had thrown a scoreless eighth inning of his own.
Both guys continue to pitch well and likely will continue to split leverage duties. Right now, Vest is more widely available. In holds leagues, both should be rostered. In saves-only leagues, any fantasy managers looking for some occasional saves with nice ratios can pick up one of the Tigers as well.
David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates (Rostered in 48% of leagues)
Dennis Santana, Pittsburgh Pirates (Rostered in 13% of leagues)
The Pirates had a ROUGH week on and off the field, losing all seven games they played and ending with their manager getting fired and replaced by bench coach Don Kelly.
Given the winless week, there were no saves recorded by Pirates pitchers, of course, but also no holds. Dennis Santana and David Bednar pitched twice each, with Bednar taking a loss after coming into the ninth inning of a tie game.
Santana ended up spending some time on the bereavement list but still pitched just as much as Bednar, with both righties logging two innings of work. Bednar has only allowed two runs since returning from his brief minor league stint, but Santana has only allowed two runs this season.
We don't know if first-time manager Kelly will stick with the experience of Bednar over Santana. However, it seems like a safe enough bet that Bednar is the recommended add right now, and he's still available in over half of the leagues out there.
David Bednar goes 1-2-3 in the 7th with 2 strikeouts
Yeah, that's the Bednar I know and love pic.twitter.com/imGY8ZewKo
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) April 24, 2025
Waiver Wire Pickups For Deeper Leagues
Zach Agnos, Colorado Rockies (Rostered in 4% of leagues)
So the Rockies aren't going to win a lot this year. In 35 tries, they've only scored more runs than their opponent six times. But there's always been that fantasy adage that "bad teams win close games," and it holds with this team as it has won six games but has five saves on the roster.
The only player with more than one save is Zach Agnos, who earned them in two consecutive days. He's only pitched once since then, but it seems like he's locked up the ninth inning role for the Rockies, at least in the short term. It's hard to recommend a closer from a team with six total wins, but another fantasy adage is that anyone who is a closer has at least some value.
Some fantasy managers are going to test that with Agnos.
There's probably another fantasy adage I'm less familiar with that has something to do with awesome mustaches, and ... well:
I'm diggin' the #Rockies Zach Agnos' handlebar stache.
His clean inning too. pic.twitter.com/QdwKjAZ5zb— Kenny (@baseball__etc) April 21, 2025
Kirby Yates, Los Angeles Dodgers (Rostered in 57% of leagues)
Three different Dodgers pitchers recorded a save this week, and none of them was Tanner Scott. Kirby Yates, Evan Phillips, and Matt Sauer were each credited with a save while Scott recorded two holds and Yates got one of his own. Sauer's save was not just a three-inning one but a four-inning one, so he's not in the actual closer conversation.
Phillips seemed to be making some noise, but he was placed on the injured list this week after dealing with discomfort in his right forearm. That leaves Yates as the main competition for Scott right now, and their numbers show the potential for an incredibly powerful two-headed monster.
Scott's usage gives him a slight edge over Yates, but both guys have the upside (and the likely team wins) to make an impact in fantasy.
what a nasty pitch by Kirby Yates #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/UXzLWydEJk
— Lucasparmenter23 (@Lucasparmenter0) April 19, 2025
Short Relief: More Bullpen Notes
-This week's saves leaders were Kyle Finnegan, Jhoan Duran, and Emmanuel Clase, with three saves each.
-The holds leader for the week was Camilo Doval, who had four.
San Francisco Giants
Ryan Walker seems to have worked his way back into his closer's role. He saved two games this week and recorded a hold as well. Doval has been excellent, posting 13 straight scoreless appearances. Walker is still "the guy" in saves-only formats, but Doval could be the more valuable one in holds leagues.
Philadelphia Phillies
Taijuan Walker has pitched in 224 big league games in his career, with 215 of those being starts. In nine of his 13 seasons, every appearance he's made has been a start. Recently, he was moved to the Phillies bullpen, and in his first relief appearance, he earned a save.
It was the first of his career, and while it was one of the three-inning versions, it was an impressive outing nonetheless.
Walker allowed just one hit and struck out seven of the 10 batters he faced. We'll see how the Phillies end up using him, but it seems like his stuff plays out of the bullpen, so he may be someone to keep an eye on in deeper leagues since a guy with SP eligibility who might rack up holds could certainly be an asset.
Los Angeles Angels
Kenley Jansen started the season with eight scoreless outings, then got lit up in his ninth one. He allowed six runs and got just two outs, but then returned the next day for another scoreless outing and his seventh save.
Later in the week, he was unavailable due to an illness, and Ryan Zeferjahn was warming up to step into a closer situation. The game got out of hand before he could come in, but it confirmed that he's next up. Zeferjahn has been amazing this season, putting up 22 strikeouts and just three walks in 11 2/3 innings.
He could be an immediate impact player in all formats if Jansen were forced to miss time.
Excuse me Ryan Zeferjahn, I was unaware of your game pic.twitter.com/E6IfHXVehx
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 25, 2025
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