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Nick looks at 12 potential fantasy baseball breakouts, sleepers for closers and saves in 2026. His top relief pitcher waiver wire and trade targets for saves.
Much of our offseason plans were built around identifying how MLB teams would construct their bullpens. With a few games in the books, we have some concrete data points that have created some clear risers and potential reliever breakouts. All of the following comes with the obvious small-sample-size caveat, but some information is better than none at all!
This column will go through 12 rising relievers and closer candidates to target. We'll be exploring guys who have risen due to the circumstances around them, as well as their own early performances. All of them are worth monitoring, even if you don't want to roster each of them immediately.
The best arms may not be utilized in the ninth inning anymore, which leaves us with a lot to unpack across the league. Whether it's enhanced velocity or improved usage patterns, let's dive into these notable relievers to target going into Week 2 of the 2026 fantasy baseball season.
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Jordan Romano, Los Angeles Angels
Romano’s stock started rising before the regular season began, thanks to Kirby Yates’ dealing with a knee injury. He then responded with an Opening Day save, ripping off fastballs and low sliders.
The stopper followed the same recipe in Game No. 2, when the Angels had a three-run lead in the eighth that got extended to four in the top of the ninth. This led to two strikeouts, with four of the five swings against his slider resulting in whiffs.
Yates is no sure thing to rebound, and neither is Ben Joyce, given his high velocity demands. Drew Pomeranz hasn’t struck anyone out in two appearances, allowing three runs and four baserunners. Everything is tilting Romano’s way early on.
Lucas Erceg, Kansas City Royals
Kansas City had several questions surrounding Carlos Estevez after poor velocity and infrequent appearances at the World Baseball Classic and spring training. The closer averaged 91.2 mph and only threw 12 of 27 pitches for strikes, allowing six runs in the loss. He also took a comebacker off his ankle, which left him unavailable on Sunday.
Before that dreadful ninth inning, Erceg pitched a scoreless eighth. With Estevez resting his foot and also possibly demoted to low-leverage work, per manager Matt Quatraro, Erceg executed a 12-pitch save. Matt Strahm could play a complementary role, and Estevez could get another chance to prove himself, but Erceg has all of the momentum.
Carlos Estévez is in a boot this morning and will have his ankle contusion reevaluated, but manager Matt Quatraro said he would be “surprised” if Estévez would be available today.
If he were, Quatraro said “we would not be averse to putting him in a lower-leverage situation.”
— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) March 29, 2026
Paul Sewald, Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks lost all three games against the Dodgers, which limited Sewald to just one batter faced in the series finale. He came in to deal with Freddie Freeman and did show the renewed velocity found at Driveline Baseball this offseason, touching 92.6 mph.
Being reserved for games with a lead is a green flag. Kevin Ginkel, a main competitor for saves, took the loss on Friday after giving up a run. Ryan Thompson and Jonathan Loaisiga have pitched well, but Sewald looks like the 1A option until he slips.
Ryne Stanek, St. Louis Cardinals
Stanek is clearly manager Oli Marmol’s favorite for the closer role, though his results haven’t inspired confidence. He walked the bases full on Thursday before icing the game, and then he allowed two inherited runners and one of his own to tie Saturday’s contest.
Matt Svanson has been even worse, but both Riley O'Brien and JoJo Romero have been more effective in the early going. Perhaps that will earmark them for earlier spots of need for Marmol, but it would be surprising not to see that duo emerge as the RPs of interest down the line.
For now, we cannot deny that Stanek has been reserved for the closing spots in the first week of play. The only reason Svanson created traffic on Saturday was that STL scored and made it a non-save situation, so the warming Stanek sat in favor of Svanson.
Cole Sands, Minnesota Twins
Sands handled Minnesota’s first save chance on Saturday after being the one to warm up for the ninth with a 2-1 deficit in the eighth inning on Thursday. Taylor Rogers wound up pitching a scoreless eighth in that one. The early usage patterns give Sands a leg up on the pack, with Rogers likely handling wherever a southpaw is needed most.
Bryan King, Houston Astros
King was called upon to clean up Bryan Abreu’s mess on Sunday, and the southpaw delivered two strikeouts to cinch the win. With Josh Hader out, Abreu’s time to shine after years as a premier setup man with hefty whiffs was now.
But he had an ugly 5:7 K:BB this spring, and has followed that up with a 3:4 K:BB over 1 ⅓ IP in the opening series. His usual 95-96 mph fastball averaged 93.2. The warning signs are blaring all around us. King had a crisp 2.78 ERA (3.03 SIERA) over 68 IP last year, and now holds a 5:1 K:BB in 2 ⅔ IP to kick things off.
Clayton Beeter/Cionel Perez, Washington Nationals
This has the makings of another lefty-righty committee. Beeter wields a mighty double-edged sword with his slider command, as he can rack up Ks or be undone by walks. Sunday brought a save after Perez allowed a solo homer in the eighth while facing the Cubs’ lefty-heavy pocket.
Perez also finished Washington’s 10-4 win on Opening Day, while fellow southpaw Cole Henry got an inning in during the 10-2 loss on Saturday. It seems that Perez’s outstanding spring (7:1 K:BB, two hits allowed over seven scoreless innings) has earned a valued slot.
Gregory Soto, Pittsburgh Pirates
Dennis Santana hasn’t shown his usual command to open the season, but he’ll probably be alright. Still, the fact that Pittsburgh has opened the door to a closing committee means pushing our chips in on the highest fantasy utility. Right now, that is Soto.
While Santana has a modest 2:2 K:BB over 3 IP, Soto is at 5:1 over 2 ⅓ IP. Mix in their spring and WBC results, and you get a composite 6:4 K:BB in 9 IP for Santana against an 18:2 ratio in 8 IP. That’s not a typo. All five of Soto’s WBC outs came via strikeout. If he’s this “on,” we’re in.
(And yes, Mason Montgomery’s ceiling remains elite, but his inconsistent command makes him a tough bet to land the closing gig.)
It doesn't appear like there's a designed route the Pirates are going to go down in terms of the closer role. Don Kelly said Dennis Santana will get a lot of time in the ninth inning, but he won't be the only one.
"(Gregory) Soto has closed, we've got guys on the back end that…
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPghSports) March 23, 2026
Bryan Baker, Tampa Bay Rays
Baker is an early riser thanks to Griffin Jax and Garrett Cleavinger coming out of the gate sluggish. Jax hasn’t been able to hone in his command yet, while Cleavinger’s two holds have seen him allow more baserunners (five) than outs logged (four).
They will be fine, but Baker has pitched two perfect innings in the meantime. Sunday’s appearance saw him finish an 11-7 game where Tampa had a 9-7 lead after eight frames. Perhaps they didn’t want to use Jax for a third time in four days, despite only 23 combined pitches between the prior two games.
*IL Stash: Edwin Uceta
Jordan Leasure/Grant Taylor, Chicago White Sox
Seranthony Dominguez took the loss in his first game of 2026 after Grant Taylor hit 101.9 mph on the radar gun with three strikeouts in the seventh inning. He endured a brutal spring, but we don’t know exactly what he was working on, and the raw talent is sky-high. Look at how he painted with the flamethrower!
As for Leasure, he was brought into the fifth inning with two on and two out to end a threat (he did). Taylor draws lots of attention, but don’t forget that it was Leasure who soaked up five saves in last year's second half, which he did with a 28.3% K-BB% that ranked ninth among MLB RPs.
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