Projecting Rest of Season Top 10 Closers in 2025 Fantasy Baseball (Week 9)

May 30, 2025

Dan Palyo projects which 10 closers will finish the season in the top 10 for the 2025 fantasy baseball season as we head into Week 9 of MLB action.

In fantasy baseball, there's no way to be competitive in saves without having a solid closer (or two) on your roster. Years ago, almost every major league team had a closer they leaned on in the ninth inning for most of the season. But today we are seeing more closer-by-committee approaches than ever before, and if closers struggle for more than a few outings in a row, they have a short leash as teams have other talented arms that they won't hesitate to promote to the closer role.

Some players may try to avoid paying a premium for closers by employing a strategy to draft starting pitchers who are eligible at RP and then look for some bargain closers in the later rounds or off the waiver wire. Or you can punt saves altogether. But having at least one of the top 10 closers in baseball can pay big dividends as these closers are not only a huge help in winning the saves category, but they also usually come with some elite strikeout, ERA, and WHIP numbers, too.

So, which closers do we expect to finish in the top 10 come October? Let's start by looking at the current top 10 closers as of May 29, 2025.

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Current Top 10 Closers for Fantasy Baseball

Here are the top 10 most valuable starting pitchers in 5x5 roto leagues right now, according to Yahoo's player rankings.

Not included are any starting pitchers with RP eligibility, such as Kris Bubic or Drew Rasmussen. I also excluded some relievers with elite ratios who are not being used in save situations, such as Randy Rodriguez (SFG), Huascar Brazoban (NYM), and Jason Adam (SDP).

The undisputed top closer in baseball is Andres Munoz of the Seattle Mariners. Munoz is tied for the MLB lead in saves with 17 and has yet to surrender an earned run while putting up an elite 0.71 WHIP through his first 22+ innings this season.

Andres Munoz battles for recognition as elite closer with Seattle Mariners dominance on the hill https://t.co/WU8GTpvAJ4

— M Sports (@MSports_all) May 29, 2025

Munoz pairs 98 mph heat on his two-seamer and four-seamer with and devastating slider that has elicited a 52.7% whiff rate and a .132 xBA. He's done a great job of keeping the ball on the ground, too, as his GB% is at 66% right now, which would be the best mark of his career.

The gap between Munoz and the second-rated closer, Josh Hader, is significant, as Munoz ranks 34th overall and Hader comes in at 53rd. Hader is having a terrific year of his own and doing what we have come to expect from him over the past few seasons. His 35 strikeouts are the second-most by any closer behind only Mason Miller at 36.

Jhoan Duran has been as dominant as ever and is only being held back by a lack of saves, as he simply hasn't had as many opportunities. He didn't earn his first save until April 15th and had only two saves by May 1st. However, he's been lights out this month, earning seven saves, three wins, and allowing just one earned run over 13 appearances.

Luke Weaver is insane pic.twitter.com/rd4q8jiYva

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 22, 2025

The Yankees would be pretty dumb to return to Devin Williams as their closer with how darn good Luke Weaver has been. His 0.69 WHIP leads all closers, and he's converted eight of nine save opportunities.

Big news yesterday in San Francisco was that the Giants announced that Camilo Doval will remain the closer going forward, replacing Ryan Walker. Doval's rostership should be on the rise in the coming days, and he's pitched well enough to think that he's not likely to relinquish that role easily.

#SFGiants UPDATE:

Camilo Doval will reclaim the closer role from Ryan Walker, per Bob Melvin. pic.twitter.com/u2ZSpb16kU

— SF Giants Update (@Giants__Update) May 28, 2025

Suarez has a bunch of saves with 17, but he's averaging one strikeout per inning and had one awful blowup outing that raised his ERA. Edwin Diaz is a perfect 11 for 11 in save situations for the Mets and has a 12-game scoreless stretch after getting roughed up a few times early in April.

Aroldis Chapman rounds out our top 10 as he's been quite effective since being handed the closer duties by the Red Sox. The left-handed fireballer is still getting it done at age 37 as he's converted eight of nine save opportunities for Boston.

Projected Top 10 Closers for Fantasy Baseball

When we factor in the remaining two-thirds of the schedule and adjust for some expected regression, we end up with this list - my prediction for which relief pitchers finish as the top ten closers by the end of the season.

Not too much movement at the top, but I do think that Luke Weaver could continue his upward trajectory with how well he's pitched for the Pinstripes. There should be ample save opportunities there, so as long as he holds onto that job, he could push for 30+ saves by season's end.

I didn't mention Carlos Estevez in the first section, but the Royals closer is third in saves and has a strong hold on his job in Kansas City. We'd love to see more strikeouts, but his ratios and saves have been fantastic.

One name you didn't see in the current top 10 is the guy who is sixth among all active relievers in saves, Emmanuel Clase. After two back-to-back dominant seasons, Clase struggled badly in April, blowing several saves and seeing his ERA balloon as high as 7.15.

Emmanuel Clase, Nasty 99mph Cutter. ✂️ pic.twitter.com/A5gbXr7431

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 28, 2025

However, Clase has looked more like his usual self in May, allowing just one earned run in ten appearances. I like his chances of finishing inside the top ten when it's all said and done.

The same goes for Blue Jays' closer Jeff Hoffman, who has an elite 35/6 K/BB this season but an ugly 5.55 ERA. Hoffman has allowed 15 earned runs this season, but 11 of those came across three outings. That feels very fluky, and his ERA should normalize over time while he continues to pile up saves and moves up the rankings.

One of the closers I have dropping out of the top 10 to make room for Hoffman or Clase is Detroit co-closer Will Vest. While Vest is having a great season, the Tigers are still giving Tommy Kahnle some save opportunities, too. Kahnle has 10 save opportunities this year, converting seven of those. Meanwhile, Vest has converted seven of nine opportunities with much cleaner ratios.

Will Vest, you are electric 😮‍💨

Save energy at home with these tips: https://t.co/sm4zCCupj6 pic.twitter.com/opp5yTuHFN

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) May 28, 2025

Vest is the one to own of the two, but unless he can pull away from Kahnle and get the job to himself, then it's hard to envision him finishing with enough saves this season to crack the top ten, even if Detroit is playing some great baseball and winning a lot of games.

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