Nick Mariano's Closers Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Top 40 Relief Pitchers (Week 3)

April 12, 2026

Nick Mariano's updated top 40 fantasy baseball closer rankings, risers, breakouts for saves and holds for Week 3 of 2026. Find the top closer waiver wire adds.

We here at RotoBaller know that navigating bullpen news is a priority for many of you, so allow me to expand my love of the game and discuss our beloved fantasy baseball relievers some more! This article will focus on our updated fantasy baseball closers rankings for Week 3 of 2026, and provide you with a tiered closers rankings table with a forward-facing perspective. Identify those closer waiver adds, trade targets, cut candidates, and more.

This is going to require you and me, all of us, to take a collective breath while we look through early stats. It is indeed an ocean of small samples, but some data is better than no data. Not reacting at all is a stubborn move.

So with a couple of weeks in the history books, now is a great time to check in on my top 40 fantasy baseball closer leaderboard. Who am I warming up to, and who is already slipping down the ladder? Let's dive in and look at my ranks, accompanied by tiers and Yahoo rostered rate, with most stats gathered through April 10.

Top 40 Closers: Fantasy Baseball Rankings (Week 3)

Mariano's Closers Fantasy Baseball Analysis 

Mason Miller being in a top tier of his own almost feels disrespectful, like he needs a second tier between him and the field right now. He went into Coors and registered the fastest strikeout of the season at 103.4 mph on Thursday. And Friday saw him strike out the side again to extend his scoreless games streak to 27, which has come with a whopping 61:10 K:BB over 28 ⅔ IP.

Mason Miller has 4 appearances this season where he faced 3+ batters and struck them all out

That’s the most by a pitcher in his team’s first 14 games of a season since at least 1900 https://t.co/jYT0IZzNNl

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 11, 2026

Now that we’ve taken the requisite time to appreciate greatness as it unfolds, there’s still plenty to get excited about amongst the “mortals.” Edwin Diaz has taken well to LA, or he had until surrendering three runs on Friday night (he’s fine). Ditto Devin Williams in Queens alongside a resurgent Luke Weaver.

You’re worried up top around Cade Smith after allowing runs in four of his first seven appearances, especially after only three strikeouts in the initial four innings. The latter has resolved (7:2 K:BB in the next 3 IP), and don’t sweat the recent velo dip, as it was freezing to the point the game time was moved up.

Aroldis Chapman is another possible weather-maligned arm, though three saves and only two hits allowed over five innings won’t raise suspicion. However, only three strikeouts, one groundball on 13 events, and the 5.61 SIERA hurt to squint at. The sinker sat just above 99 mph in the two Cincinnati games, but has dipped in colder Boston, so we’ll keep an eye on this.

Another weather worry comes with David Bednar, who is throwing more splitters and fewer fastballs, which are down from 97.1 mph to 95.6, to open ‘26. After logging a 14.2% swinging-strike rate last year, he sits at 8.8% thus far. More contact has allowed for more bad luck (.450 BABIP). Camilo Doval hasn’t been sharp either, so we’ll see if Bednar corrects.

And then there’s Ryan Helsley, who has a nifty four saves, but it comes with a gnarly 2.08 WHIP. Walking four over his last 2 ⅓ IP isn’t making any friends, especially after last year’s pitch-tipping debacle. He should be fine, but we haven’t seen him be right for an extended amount of time in a while.

Jeff Hoffman’s 1.50 WHIP isn’t making friends, but you’ll relent in the face of a whopping 15 Ks in only 6 ⅔ IP. That sort of whiffery wins out in my books. Others in this tier are proving steady, with guys in preseason job jeopardy holding down the fort. It’s good to see Atlanta and Milwaukee sticking to a true “closer,” Trevor Megill’s bunt-a-palooza notwithstanding.

Before Trevor Megill failed to record outs on two bunts toward the mound, Pat Murphy also said Luis Rengifo was playing too deep at third base against Joey Wiemer, who bunted for an infield single.

"Rengifo's got to be there and make the play. There's no excuse for that. It's… pic.twitter.com/bbSwLTn8ph

— Jack Stern (@ByJackStern) April 11, 2026

It was strange to see Kenley Jansen given such a delicate start to the year, but he just logged a 1-2-3 save, so my worry-o-meter is back down. Before that, he had only pitched to four batters since March 27, facing two batters on March 31 and April 4. But hey, six Ks in 2 ⅔ IP is nice!

And now the fun really begins. Do you have the same kind of trust in Emilio Pagan as Tito Francona? The Cincy stopper has strung together four scoreless appearances since that four-run drubbing, but it’s come with a 4:4 K:BB. The 45.5% first-strike rate should rebound toward the career 63.5% mark, or else his HR-prone ways are going to torpedo us.

Arms such as Pagan, Paul Sewald, Jordan Romano, and others of Tier 6 may not inspire greatness and leave you worrying about the other shoe falling, but the role still looks to be theirs. You must decide if you want lesser skills with a more secure path to saves, or if you want to chase better arms in more ambiguous spots.

Riley O’Brien has surged to the top of St. Louis’ bullpen of late, a “target the talent” proposition that has panned out quickly. He won’t run this pure throughout the season, and others like JoJo Romero will chip in, but strong early momentum goes a long way. Perhaps the spring calf injury is the only reason we saw early chances for Ryne Stanek?

Houston needs Josh Hader back in the worst way, but he’s no help to anyone if he isn’t fully recovered. Bryan Abreu has an 8:7 K:BB with eight earned runs allowed (three HRs) in 3 ⅔ IP after an even worse 5:7 K:BB with three homers yielded in seven spring frames. Bryan King needs to be more than 9% rostered with Hader possibly a month away.

Fellow Bryan, Mr. Bryan Baker of the Rays, got another save on Friday and now has a sweet 7:0 K:BB with three hits over five innings of one-run action. Griffin Jax struck out two in a scoreless sixth and could quickly re-enter the late picture, but Baker has earned the trust. Edwin Uceta is also a premier stash.

Deeper Fantasy Baseball Bullpens

And now we’ll wade into the murkier squads. I’ll concede that Dennis Santana may wind up with more saves in 2026, but Soto’s strikeout upside is what I want. But I tend to build around higher K/9 RPs in rotisserie formats with inning caps, as well as head-to-head leagues with limited weekly transactions. So, I want that relief inning to pack a punch!

Cole Winn had many of us hoping for a midseason arrival, but Jakob Junis got two saves before Winn’s first, which came with Junis resting. However, Junis holds a 93 Stuff+ grade after posting a 94 score last year. Winn is at 99 and registered a 107 in ‘25. If Skip Schumaker trusts Junis until he bottoms out (a la Luke Jackson), then so be it.

The A’s, Nationals, Rangers, and Twins are intensely messy spots. The Rockies are not “messy” by virtue of a committee, but just because the ratio risk isn’t worth the outside shot at saves. I do want to point out that converted starter Antonio Senzatela has a 12:3 K:BB with a 56% groundball rate and only two hits allowed over nine innings.

Fantasy Baseball Setup Men

Many would be better served by speculating on high-end setup men, or simply rostering said superior arms who may be stuck in earlier “fireman” roles for a FrankenAce build. It’s doubtful that Erik Sabrowski becomes the outright closer in 2026, but Cleveland loves to push its big RP horses with insane usage.

Rico Garcia has a 35% K rate going and snuck in an ancillary save with Helsley unavailable. Grant Wolfram, the leverage left-hander with Keegan Akin on the IL, has a 41% K rate! It’s nice to see them getting a genuine shot. However, Andrew Kittredge should be activated shortly and would surely be the Helsley hedge.

Most other holds guys are getting their due shine, but I’ll drop a quick one for Brooks Raley. The Mets may get A.J. Minter back soon, and he’ll have his work cut out for him to usurp Raley as the “big dog” southpaw. All the 37-year-old has done is post a 7:0 K:BB with a hilarious 0.15 FIP and 119 Stuff+ thus far.

This pitch had 35" of horizontal movement!
Brooks Raley with a crosswind is unfair. 😎 pic.twitter.com/3ISvL83pyw

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 10, 2026

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