Saves+Holds Fantasy Baseball Rankings (SV+HLD) for Relief Pitchers - June Updates (2025)

Nick's top 150 saves+holds (SV+HLD) fantasy baseball rankings for June 2025. His tiered rankings for closers, relief pitchers and Saves+Holds leagues (SOLDS).

We're in June's batter's box, and so it's time for an updated look at our Top 150 Saves+Holds fantasy baseball rankings for relief pitchers with over two months of action to pick apart. Let's examine the year thus far, with a focus on the last 30 days (L30), to identify some key trends. Closers dominate most fantasy baseball bullpen content, but we love our fantasy baseball bullpens in all innings here at RotoBaller!

While closers will typically see the highest leverage looks, modern ball brings many firemen where the best talent enters before the ninth. Saves+Holds (or Solds, or SV+HLD) leagues help fantasy leagues reward the best arms, even if it isn't a perfect system. Be sure to also check out our constantly updated fantasy baseball closers and saves depth charts to get more bullpen insights and running updates on reliever news.

Reminder: A hold is recorded when a relief pitcher enters with a lead of three runs or less or with the tying run on deck, at the plate, or on base and maintains that lead while recording at least one out. Read on, and you'll see where I rank each player and what tier they're in, followed by a team-by-team bullpen overview. Strikeout rates, pristine ratios, job security, and projected saves+holds are the primary factors, with injured arms omitted. Please note this was written before the June 6 games played out.

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2025 Saves+Holds Rankings: Top 150 Relief Pitchers

These rankings are for roto leagues (5x5 category leagues) -- but instead of Saves, we use Saves+Holds as a pitching category. These are for the top 150 relief pitchers.

Team-by-Team Saves+Holds Rankings Analysis

Arizona: Justin Martinez is back with renewed velocity, but that four-walk appearance the other day was reminiscent of his ugly, loss-of-control games before the IL stint. Shelby Miller is the most steady and anchored the bullpen in JMart’s absence with eight solds, but his 1.40 WHIP and 8.1 K/9 over the last 30 days isn’t stellar.

Sadly, that WHIP is the best of most leverage options for them. We’re not interested here beyond Martinez/Miller until A.J. Puk is back.

Athletics: Mason Miller is battling too many barrels and overall loud contact, sporting a 6.43 ERA/1.86 WHIP over the L30 to inflate his overall 5.23/1.31 ratios. We still get outstanding strikeouts, but only two saves in the last month are ugly. You have to take the good with the bad. No one else is notable, with Justin Sterner especially struggling.

Atlanta: Chaos! Raisel Iglesias just got crushed by Arizona and has now allowed at least one earned run in eight of his last 11 games. Daysbel Hernandez lost control and was placed on the IL. Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer are the key southpaws and have pitched the best, with Lee’s nine solds making him our target. Bummer has just one hold, typically appearing as the first lefty.

Of course, the biggest news of late is Craig Kimbrel’s promotion. The 37-year-old looked outstanding in the minors, logging a 2.00 ERA with 23 Ks over 18 IP (mostly at Triple-A). But an aging star can dominate less-patient, intimidated minor leaguers, and he looked so inconsistent last year in Baltimore.

But Atlanta is desperate, and Brian Snitker needs to preserve Iglesias’ long-term confidence. (Kimbrel’s first inning saw him averaging 91-92 mph on the heater, with a caught stealing and a pickoff erasing two baserunners. Meh.)

Iglesias won't be available today. Moving forward, he may close games, but he won't necessarily be the Braves' primary closer. Snit said Kimbrel will be used at any point after the fifth. There isn't an obvious closer option. The mix-and-match will be interesting

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) June 7, 2025

UPDATE: Kimbrel has been designated for assignment on Saturday. They clearly felt the same "meh" feelings here. This thins the herd and bolsters the case for Lee, De Los Santos, Bummer, and Pierce Johnson.

Baltimore: While Felix Bautista isn’t his pre-injury self, the 3.48 ERA/1.35 WHIP are still coming with plus whiffs (25 in 20 ⅔ IP) and about five saves per month. The 94 Stuff+ metric is concerning, but expectations have to chill out early on. Let’s see if he warms up this summer.

Beyond him, we’ve got three or more holds out of Bryan Baker, Keegan Akin, Yennier Cano, Seranthony Dominguez, and Gregory Soto. Plus, Andrew Kittredge already has a pair of them since returning. Baker and Kittredge are going to be the best sources for ERA/WHIP help alongside the solds, while all of them offer over a strikeout per inning.

Boston: Aroldis Chapman remains on point, giving us five more saves and pristine ratios over the L30. His seasonal 0.96 WHIP would be the best we’ve seen out of him since 2016 (not counting his 13-game 2020) thanks to a 9.1% walk rate.

That had been 14.5% or higher in the last four years, for perspective. He’ll probably be dealt at the trade deadline and should keep thriving in high-leverage spots wherever he lands.

Injuries to Justin Slaten and Liam Hendriks have them stretched for depth behind Chapman. Garrett Whitlock has three wins and a 13.66 K/9 over the L30, but zero solds. Also in the last month, Greg Weissert has six and Justin Wilson has three, standing as the only other deep-league options for us.

Chicago (AL): This remains an ugly party to behold. Steven Wilson, Jordan Leasure, and Cam Booser have 4-5 solds apiece in the L30, but each has their warts. Wilson brings the best ratios with a middling K%. Leisure and Booser bring more whiffs but sport respective 4.50 and 4.98 ERAs with ~1.35 WHIPs.

Chicago (NL): Daniel Palencia has emerged as a savior for a bullpen that endured some shoddy frames out of Ryan Pressly and Porter Hodge early on. Pressly has settled into a middle-inning role while Hodge rehabs an injury, with the flamethrowing Palencia grabbing the closer’s role.

After recording one sold in 10 ⅔ IP early on, he’s elevated with nine solds in L30. Joining him are successful reclamation projects in Drew Pomeranz and Brad Keller. Unfortunately for us, they’ve used Pomeranz as an opener on occasion, but two wins and four solds across 14 ⅔ IP of scoreless action and a 0.55 WHIP will play.

Cincinnati: Emilio Pagan remains Terry Francona’s man, tallying another seven saves in the L30 for 15 total. His ratios are starting to give back as the fly balls travel in warmer weather at Great American Ball Park, but there’s no denying he still has the trust.

Otherwise, the Luis Mey experiment looked good early, but he’s retooling things in the minors now. Tony Santillan has 14 solds (five in L30) but has a lowly 6.4 K/9, limiting his appeal.

Graham Ashcraft shows promise, but the mistakes are loud and his 1.53 WHIP is awful to deal with. Taylor Rogers and Scott Barlow don’t move any needles with only 3-4 solds per month.

Cleveland: Emmanuel Clase looks as stellar as ever and is back with 14 Ks and a 0.84 ERA/0.75 WHIP in 10 ⅔ IP across the L30. Congrats to those who bought low! Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis weren’t as active in May, but remain strong sources of ratio help and over a strikeout per inning.

Colorado: Zach Agnos, Seth Halvorsen, and Tyler Kinley all logged saves during a three-game sweep of the Marlins, with Agnos still the most appealing (1.50 ERA/0.83 WHIP) of the bunch. Halvorsen throws hard but doesn’t have the consistent command to whittle down his 1.46 WHIP.

Kinley is an afterthought here with gross ratios. Jake Bird leads the team in solds with seven (all holds) as he’s holding a 1.53 ERA/1.16 WHIP, but gave back sizeable strikeout tallies in the L30. You’re ideally avoiding everyone except maybe Agnos and Bird.

Detroit: Detroit keeps leaning on Will Vest and Tommy Kahnle, with Vest making up the solds margin with victories. Kahnle has 16 total solds and nine over the L30 compared to Vest with 10 total and six in the L30, but Vest is 5-0 while Kahnle has zero decisions. You’re happy with either.

We’ve also seen more involvement from others, with Brenan Hanifee logging six holds in the L30 despite a 4.85 ERA/1.77 WHIP in that span. Arms like him, Beau Brieske, Tyler Holton, and Brant Hurter have redeeming aspects, but are unlikely to supply enough usage to justify eating either poor ratios, whiffs, or leverage opportunities.

Houston: You’re thrilled to pieces if you roster Josh Hader or Bryan Abreu, and that’s about it. Bryan King has good seasonal numbers (12 holds, 3.16 ERA/1.01 WHIP) but slipped in the L30 (3 holds, 5.79 ERA/1.39 WHIP).

Steven Okert remains sharp, allowing six baserunners with 12 Ks over 10 IP in the L30 but has zero wins or solds to show for it. In the same L30, Shawn Dubin has three holds and two wins with a 0.77 ERA.

Kansas City: The Royals have to be ecstatic with how Carlos Estevez has performed thus far, but there’s very little behind him with Lucas Erceg and Hunter Harvey on the IL. John Schreiber is the most consistent holds option (four in the L30), but the inflated ratios are a no-go.

LA Angels: Kenley Jansen pushed through a fear period and looks like himself again, but the 4.66 ERA/1.45 WHIP left in its wake is rough. Sadly, that’s still better than Ryan Zeferjahn’s 4.98 ERA/1.57 WHIP after a brutal L30 where the fastball got unluckily bashed (.389 AVG vs. .243 xBA in May). Yes, his velocity is fine.

Robert Stephenson briefly provided hope with two strikeouts over a perfect inning, but then returned to the IL. Come back soon! Beyond him, Reid Detmers has five solds with 15 Ks in 11 IP (L30) as that slider works out of the ‘pen. But his 3.27 ERA in that window is dancing around a 1.64 WHIP. They’re desperate. Are you?

LA Dodgers: Fantasy managers and Dave Roberts were losing sleep over Tanner Scott’s struggles, but the southpaw identified a mechanical fix with coaches and came back looking better. Let’s just tuck May 2025 away and hope it’s a nasty outlier in an otherwise strong year.

Both Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech are expected activations this weekend to ease the burden on Scott. Alex Vesia and Jack Dreyer have done okay, but they’re not the guys you want in the seventh and eighth innings. Ben Casparius is amazing, but the swingman role can make those seeking solds tilted.

Miami: You can deal with subpar strikeouts for 3-5 solds per month with Calvin Faucher, Jesus Tinoco, and Anthony Bender, or you can join me in hoping Ronny Henriquez keeps this up.

The 24-year-old has an outstanding 2.20 ERA (2.96 SIERA) with a 17.5% swinging-strike rate. Not only that, his 47.4% whiff rate since May 1 trails only Hader and Fernando Cruz per Statcast.

Milwaukee: Remember when we were sweating Trevor Megill’s knee MRI? We’re in cruise control now, as the stopper has eight saves and one run allowed in the L30 (10 IP). That’s great, but Abner Uribe has been the most valuable Brewer to us with 17 total solds and 39 Ks in 29 ⅓ IP. Both are supplying strong ratios, but Uribe’s K/9 is nearly double Megill’s in the L30.

Abner Uribe has been lights out so far in 2025!

30 APP | 29.1 IP | 2 W | 1 SV | 16 HLD | 1.53 ERA

Death. Taxes. Brewers Pitching Development. pic.twitter.com/vqMQg9Mbdk

— Brett Windisch (@SkippsviewBrett) June 4, 2025

Minnesota: The Twins have Jhoan Duran looking right as he won AL Reliever of the Month for May by allowing one run with a 20:5 K:BB in 15 IP. The April scaries are long gone for Griffin Jax, who has 22 strikeouts and two runs allowed in 12 ⅓ IP in the L30.

He and Louis Varland each have six holds in that window, with Varland rocking a sub-1.00 ERA and WHIP in there as well. Cole Sands and Brock Stewart are strong No. 4 and 5 options for us, too.

New York (AL): The Luke Weaver injury is horrible for us, for the Yankees, and for baseball. He’s the easy No. 1 team target when healthy, even if Devin Williams reclaims the ninth while Weaver is out. Williams’ disastrous April gave way to mostly brighter days as he got his mojo back outside of the ninth inning, but re-entry has had some white-knuckle moments.

Cruz gave up a solo homer in his return to action on June 4, but also recorded all three outs via strikeout. We’re still in for his ridiculous 38:8 K:BB in 24 ⅔ IP. Mark Leiter Jr. deserves more credit for stabilizing this ‘pen beyond Weaver, collecting five solds in the L30. In case it matters to anyone, Tim Hill leads MLB with 24 inherited runners stranded like a boss.

New York (NL): Edwin Diaz has been on fire ever since that viral “longer leg” adjustment quote dropped. If it works, it works! Reed Garrett actually had more solds (six to Diaz’s five) in the L30, limiting runs despite some WHIP bloat. We got three holds and healthy ratios out of Ryne Stanek and Huascar Brazoban in the L30, but it’s nothing to write home about.

Philadelphia: The Jose Alvarado suspension has put the weight of this bullpen on Jordan Romano’s shoulders. Honestly, he looked up to the task for a while, but he’s nowhere near the foolproof tiers.

Matt Strahm hasn’t been his usual self either, but at least Orion Kerkering seems to be turning things around. You’re not digging deeper than those three unless Taijuan Walker has a renaissance.

Pittsburgh: David Bednar and Dennis Santana have nearly identical L30 stats. Both have five solds, an ERA around 3.40, and a WHIP orbiting 1.20. Bednar has 16 Ks in 10 ⅔ IP to Santana’s 12 punchouts in 10 ⅓ IP, which lines up with seasonal expectations.

Chase Shugart has four holds and two wins in 9 ⅔ IP across the L30, but a 5.6 K/9 on the year leaves little on the bone as a tertiary option for a bad team.

San Diego: While the Pads’ superpen didn’t dominate in May as they did in April, their top arms remain a staple for any solds format. Robert Suarez, Jason Adam, and Jeremiah Estrada are a powerful triumvirate, with Adrian Morejon owning the high-leverage southpaw role.

There are no surprises here, as we’re just enjoying the show. Yuki Matsui only has one hold in the L30 and simply won’t get the usage we need without injury.

San Francisco: The Giants reverted to last year’s recipe with Camilo Doval at closer and Ryan Walker back in the middle frames. Interestingly, Walker has a low 5:3 K:BB in his last 10 IP. He also has a 1.80 ERA and 1.10 WHIP there, but lessened Ks really ding his value. (And he just gave up a two-run shot to Matt Olson.)

The main attraction here is Randy Rodriguez, whose 37.3% K-BB% leads all relievers (min. 10 IP) by nearly three percentage points. That’s quite a margin at the top of a rate leaderboard!

He gets whiffs, doesn’t issue walks, and limits barrels (two since May 1). SF is reportedly shy to work him too much, but they used him on June 4 and 5 for just his third back-to-back appearance this year. He’s a budding star who is appropriately appreciated with solds.

Randy Rodriguez in May: First pitcher in Giants history to strike out 20 and allow zero runs in a calendar month

Randy Rodriguez in June: On pace to do it again ... pic.twitter.com/95cy7VYNTI

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) June 3, 2025

Seattle: We know Andres Munoz is awesome. Critical for this team (and many of you) is Matt Brash returning with five holds, a 10:4 K:BB, and zero runs allowed over 9 ⅓ IP thus far. Gabe Speier is the only other in the conversation given his 37 Ks and 2.22 ERA/0.90 WHIP in 24 ⅓ IP, though seven total solds isn’t notable. Carlos Vargas has more (nine), but a 1.52 WHIP and 7.5 K/9 limit the appeal.

St. Louis: Ryan Helsley can typically rely on the big heater to set up his slider without too much damage, but we’ve neared the tolerable limit. Batters own a .381 average against the four-seamer, though only one extra-base hit. At least the terrifying loss of control seen in mid-to-late April (8 BBs in five games) has settled with a 13:4 K:BB in his last 14 games.

Then you’re looking at Phil Maton and JoJo Romero (both with a 0.00 ERA in the L30 with 10 combined solds). Kyle Leahy started hot, but a 1.95 WHIP over his last 12 ⅓ IP has led to a downtick.

Tampa Bay: Fairbanks no longer logs a strikeout per inning, but he works around the usual double-digit walk rate by limiting elite contact. His xwOBACON (expected wOBA on contact) of .307 is in the top 6%, and he’s allowed just one barrel all year. Trusting a 22:12 K:BB in 25 IP doesn’t feel good, but he’s executing well enough.

Edwin Uceta entered 2025 as a popular late-round RP, but the 4.62 ERA/1.50 WHIP are trending in the wrong direction. His four solds in the L30 trail the five that each of Garrett Cleavinger, Manuel Rodriguez, and Mason Montgomery have provided.

Cleavinger is the best blend of Ks and ratios at this time. Eric Orze has looked stellar but only has two saves (zero holds) through 23 ⅔ IP this year.

Texas: Even Bruce Bochy’s allegiance has limits, as Luke Jackson’s diminished play has proved. The bullpen is in full “Pandora’s Box” mode, with the team’s overall struggles leaving no one with more than four solds over the L30. Robert Garcia is the best bet for high leverage, but even he has a 5.79 ERA/1.50 WHIP going back a month.

Will they convert Kumar Rocker to a reliever in the minors? Do they wind up trying Jon Gray out of the bullpen when his wrist is healed? Can we get Emiliano Teodo back up? There’s exciting potential, but nothing at the present moment.

Toronto: The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde act out of Hoffman is getting old, but he hasn’t struggled with homers like this since being a starter at Coors Field. The 24% HR/FB rate should fade and allow his 5.74 ERA to settle closer to the 2.10 SIERA (!), which hints at the career-best 28.4% K-BB% that he’s running.

The Yimi Garcia injury hurts, but it has allowed for Yariel Rodriguez’s Hoffman-like ascension in the bullpen to get more of the spotlight. He entered Friday with an 18:3 K:BB and one run allowed in 17 IP going back to May 1, sporting a 1.49 FIP behind that 0.53 ERA.

Yariel Rodríguez is TJStats AL Relief Pitcher of the Month for May!

While not a closer, Rodríguez was extremely impactful out of the Blue Jays bullpen. He posted a miniscule 0.53 ERA and 0.53 WHIP across 17 IP pic.twitter.com/FJTKgCgGR4

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) June 1, 2025

He won’t run quite this pure forever, but we have to put respect on the 28-year-old becoming a slider-primary attacker. (Brendon Little is also doing outstanding, but he was outstanding in April too.)

Washington: The Nationals moved on from Jorge Lopez, citing a commitment to evaluating their young arms in the bullpen behind Kyle Finnegan. Speaking of the veteran closer, Finnegan just notched his 18th save as I write this and is in the midst of his third straight season with an ERA that’s roughly a full run lower than his xERA. At some point, you just have to tip your cap!

Brad Lord and Cole Henry are the two newbies with a pair of recent holds, joining Jose A. Ferrer as the setup men for Finnegan following the changes. Henry gave up five runs back on April 28, but has been scoreless otherwise, allowing seven hits with a 21:9 K:BB in the other 20 ⅔ IP.

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