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Ryan Kirksey's top fantasy baseball closers to stash and waiver wire pickups for Week 13 of 2025. His favorite relief pitchers to add for sneaky waiver wire saves.
Playing the waiting game on a handcuff closer in fantasy baseball can be risky. There are plenty of people out there (myself included) who drafted several shares of Bryan Abreu this spring, hoping for high strikeouts and around 5-7 saves this year. Well, the strikeouts and ERA have been nice, but no saves through the first half of the season are disappointing.
But that's the name of the game when you're speculating saves. Even if you guess right that a struggling closer will be removed from the ninth inning, we don't know a manager's thoughts on who should take over that role. A lot of FAAB dollars have been wasted on players who ended up with near-zero saves in a season.
If you are hunting for saves, then consider stashing some top relievers who currently aren't their team's top option in the ninth inning. In this article, I'll provide some of the top options to stash who are widely available in Yahoo leagues. To stay up to date with all the latest developments in the world of relief pitching, be sure to check out our Fantasy Baseball Closer Depth Charts for saves, holds, and bullpens.
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Fantasy Baseball Closer Handcuffs
In this section, I'll highlight some of the established setup men who are the clear backup to an established, firmly entrenched closer on their team. These teams have absolute clarity for right now, but each of these pitchers is just an injury or a sudden cold streak away from being promoted to the closer. From this group, I believe the one closest to gaining a closer job right now might just be Yariel Rodriguez.
Jason Adam, San Diego Padres (38% rostered)
The struggles have continued for Robert Suarez for the last two weeks despite his league-leading 21 saves. He has a 21.00 ERA in his previous three appearances, which have resulted in one win and two losses. Jason Adam, on the other hand, has a 3.00 ERA and is striking out over 13 batters per nine innings. But also keep an eye on Adrian Morejon, who has a 0.00 ERA in his last six innings and strikes out over 10 batters per nine himself.
Randy Rodriguez, San Francisco Giants (28% rostered)
Anytime your ERA matches your strikeouts per nine innings, that's not a good thing. Camilo Doval's ERA is 5.40 over the last two weeks, and so is his K/9. Randy Rodriguez, on the other hand, has a 1.97 ERA with an 11.57 K/9 and has not allowed a home run in that time.
Yariel Rodriguez, Toronto Blue Jays (5% rostered)
Jeff Hoffman blew a save on Sunday. That is not necessarily news, but when you combine his mistakes with his 5.29 ERA, there might be some change coming in the Blue Jays' bullpen. Yariel Rodriguez has a sparkling 2.61 ERA this season and strikes out a batter per inning over the last two weeks.
Bryan Abreu, Houston Astros (25% rostered)
Despite giving up a walk-off blast to Nick Kurtz, Abreu remains one of the most dominant relievers in the game. He has a 1.83 ERA and strikes out about 33% of the batters he faces this season. If anything were to happen to Josh Hader, Abreu becomes a top-5 closer.
Bryan Abreu, Wicked 87mph Slider. 🤢 pic.twitter.com/VzcZg28pSi
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 10, 2025
Abner Uribe, Milwaukee Brewers (22% rostered)
Speaking of top-5 closers, Trevor Megill has been amazing in 2025. He has 17 saves and a 2.70 ERA to go along with a 28% strikeout rate. But the truth is, Abner Uribe has been better. He strikes out over 30% of the batters he faces and has an ERA under 2.00.
Reed Garrett, New York Mets (12% rostered)
Reed Garrett has certainly not helped his case to grab the ninth inning lately, should something happen to Edwin Diaz. Garrett has a 22.50 ERA in his last two weeks and looks nothing like the shut-down reliever from the first two months of the season.
Hunter Gaddis, Cleveland Guardians (15% rostered)
I go back and forth on whether Hunter Gaddis or Cade Smith would get the ninth inning if there were an Emmanuel Clase injury. I still lean toward Gaddis since he gets most of the eighth innings, but both are viable options.
Hunter Gaddis has been MLB's best reliever by ERA since the beginning of 2024.
One of the most underrated players in the game
— mlbfeeelit (@mlbfeeelit) May 26, 2025
Matt Brash, Seattle Mariners (4% rostered)
Andres Munoz has course-corrected some of his problems from early June, but the Mariners haven't gotten him many save chances over the last three weeks. Matt Brash and his 0.00 ERA from the last two weeks are still lurking, but he looks to be relevant in the ninth only if Munoz were to get injured.
Seranthony Dominguez, Baltimore Orioles (3% rostered)
With Yennier Cano's demotion to AAA, the eighth innings (and handcuff role) now looks like it belongs with Seranthony Dominguez. Dominguez has two holds in the last four days and is striking out 31% of the batters he sees this year.
Relievers With Closer Potential on Teams With Closer Uncertainty
Reid Detmers, Los Angeles Angels (13% rostered)
Kenley Jansen has had no problems as the Angels' closer this season. However, he is also no stranger to getting traded, and the Angels could be sellers at the deadline if they fall out of the playoff race. If Jansen is dealt to a contender, former starter Reid Detmers has emerged as a nasty option in the bullpen.
Detmers is striking out 29% of batters and already has two saves and four holds.
Tommy Kahnle, Detroit Tigers (36% rostered)
Will Vest's hand injury scare turned out to be nothing, but this is still a closer-by-committee situation in Detroit. Vest has 12 saves to Kahnle's 12 this year. But both have over a 23% strikeout rate, and Kahnle would get all of the ninth-inning work if Vest were to suffer another injury.
Chris Martin, Texas Rangers (21% rostered)
Chris Martin has been slightly better than Luke Jackson this season, including in the strikeout department, where Martin has a 30% rate. Both are tied up with Robert Garcia in a messy committee situation, but Martin is the only one with a 0.00 ERA and zero walks allowed over the last two weeks.
Dennis Santana, Pittsburgh Pirates (15% rostered)
There aren't many saves to be had in Pittsburgh these days. So rostering Dennis Santana is more about smoothing out ratios and piling up strikeouts. Santana does have five saves and nine holds while managing just a 1.62 ERA.
Orion Kerkering, Philadelphia Phillies (24% rostered)
Jordan Romano now seems to pitch mostly in the seventh inning of close games, so Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering are batting it out for ninth-inning ownership. Both have a save in the last four games, but Kerkering's ERA is about 1.4 runs lower than Strahm's, so he is the one I am trusting.
Orion Kerkering got his 1st career save last night. Phils may look to slot him into that closer role if results continue to come.
He displays some of the best “stuff” in baseball - but has yet to fully translate it
Since May 1st:
17.0 IP / 0.53 ERA / 3.25 FIP / 1.18 WHIP / 7.1… pic.twitter.com/txlk67WeRo— Joseph Cammisa (@jcammisabsbl) June 17, 2025
Dylan Lee, Atlanta Braves (8% rostered)
Raisel Iglesias has helped himself the last two weeks, with a 0.00 ERA after a period of time where his ERA was hovering over 6.00. But even with this recent streak, Dylan Lee is still a priority pickup. Iglesias still has a 5.93 ERA this year, and I'm sure the Braves would have no problem trading him away if they become sellers.
Lee continues to dominate with a 27% strikeout rate this year.
Ryan Thompson, Arizona Diamondbacks, (1% rostered)
Shelby Miller has all the saves since Justin Martinez went on the 60-day IL, but Ryan Thompson has also emerged, with a 2.08 ERA over his last six appearances. Shelby Miller is no stranger to injuries, so Thompson is a decent stash right now.
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