14 Closer Fantasy Baseball Breakout Candidates: Relief Pitcher Targets For Saves (Week 6)

May 5, 2026

Nick looks at 14 potential fantasy baseball breakouts, sleepers for closers and saves for Week 6 of 2026. His top relief pitcher waiver wire and trade targets for saves.

Another week has gone by, which means another big injury has hit the closer position. It's Baltimore's turn to mix things up, with Atlanta and Philadelphia poised to get their bullpen anchors back shortly. There is once again plenty to dig into for this week's relief risers and potential breakouts.

We're here to discuss surging arms and closer candidates, no matter whether you need help now or can afford to play the long game. Relievers will always have surface stats that can turn sideways quickly, so roughly a month of baseball can leave lots of trends obfuscated by early disasters. With stats gathered through May 4, let's examine some pitchers to add to the roster (by waiver or trade) or watch list.

This column tries to switch up some of the names, though some players who you feel are obvious adds are sitting here without enough respect. The game is giving us so many curveballs in the dirt to block, but we must press on. It's time to break down our beloved (?) MLB bullpens going into Week 6 of the 2026 fantasy baseball season.

Jack Perkins, Athletics

With no save chances or appearances over the weekend, Perkins’ rise halted around 25% rostered in Yahoo! leagues. This is goofy, but that’s psychology for you. I won’t harp on him again because I think anyone reading this already gets it, but just don’t be one of those who let him sit until another save streak presents itself. Perhaps he can be pried via trade from an antsy team.

Jacob Latz, Texas Rangers

Latz has also stalled out around 30% rostered, despite three saves in his last three games without appearing in Texas’s last six losses. He also has a strikeout in four consecutive efforts after going without any Ks in the previous four combined. Latz isn’t a 1.02 ERA/0.45 WHIP guy (who is?), but he looks like Skip Schumaker’s guy pending a Luke Jackson-esque meltdown.

Gregory Soto, Pittsburgh Pirates

Soto was “allowed” to stay on for the full ninth inning after helping Braxton Ashcraft out of an eighth-inning jam. Dennis Santana was warming up the entire time and manager Don Kelly came out to chat with Soto before facing Sal Stewart with two outs, but the southpaw was ultimately left in.

Stewart hit a warning-track flyout that scared me, but an out’s an out. I can only guess whether the quality of said out is in Kelly’s mind moving forward, but this writer has to believe that Soto’s sharp recent form against Santana’s lackluster output played a role. The lefty has three wins over his last five games.

Rico Garcia, Baltimore Orioles

The man still has a .000 BABIP through 14 ⅔ IP! The one hit allowed thus far was a solo home run. Normally, we’d laugh about how regression will eat him alive. But the 32-year-old has only walked four, generates plenty of whiffs, and has a 55.2% groundball rate. Some of those grounders will find holes, but this is a dream reliever recipe.

2026 Rico Garcia

16 appearances
49 batters faced
1 run
1 hit

0.61 ERA https://t.co/6lfLSW9Rek

— Josh Tolentino (@JCTSports) May 3, 2026

And now Ryan Helsley finds himself on the IL with an elbow problem. One of Garcia’s main sources of competition for saves due to experience, Andrew Kittredge, got run over for seven runs in one-third of an inning over the weekend.

Grant Wolfram has strong sabermetrics, but a .571 BABIP in the last two weeks has led to a 9.00 ERA in that span (2.15 FIP, 2.76 SIERA). Yennier Cano has given back the early swing-and-miss gains. Keegan Akin should get there as the preferred lefty, but he has allowed seven runs and two homers in four games since returning from injury. Garcia has the spotlight.

Kyle Finnegan & Drew Anderson, Detroit Tigers

Kenley Jansen has battled poor form and an abdominal/groin issue lately, which led to some leverage looks for Finnegan. And while Jansen entered with a scoreless ninth as Detroit trailed by one against Boston, his cutter averaged 91.4 mph against a 92.6 average figure, and the one slider he threw was a full tick down as well. This doesn’t appear “settled.”

Meanwhile, Finnegan has found his control at the right time for an ailing Tigers team (Will Vest is also now on the IL). After walking seven hitters in his first six games, he now owns a 10:3 K:BB in his last 10 appearances. You may recall his improved play after Detroit traded for him last year, with a spike in splitter usage. He looks far more comfortable deploying it in recent weeks, and the results show.

We’ve also got to give Anderson a shout. He came back after revitalizing his form in last year’s KBO campaign, only to give up a run(s) in four straight games to open his ‘26 stat line. That expanded to six of his first seven. But his last four games are much prettier: 8 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 12 K, 53% groundball rate. Again, getting hot while others falter is a big, unpredictable piece.

Daniel Lynch IV, Kansas City Royals

Yeah, I know that Erceg has pitched far better lately, turning in an 8:3 K:BB with four saves and a win in his last five games. Just let me celebrate Lynch’s first save, okay? And yes, Matt Strahm was down after throwing on consecutive days, just like Erceg. But Lynch still stood up and struck out three of his four batters faced for a clean save.

He leads the team with a 0.90 Win Probability Added figure, besting Strahm (0.46) and Erceg (0.02). That WPA score is tied for 12th best among 286 RPs with five innings thrown in 2026.

*Captain Jack Perkins leads the pack at 1.56, then Mason Miller (1.36), Jakob Junis (1.19), Louis Varland (1.17), and this next guy at 1.06.

Caleb Kilian, San Francisco Giants

Yup, he’s No. 5! Outside of laying a 2-2 fastball inner-middle for Ramon Laureano to obliterate, Kilian’s first save of 2026 went well. He showed poise in shaking that leadoff homer away to strike out Fernando Tatis Jr., get Jackson Merrill to ground out, and then a Manny Machado K finalized the 3-2 win.

Ryan Walker has been shaky at best, blowing the save in his last two games, and a fiery Erik Miller was forced to the 15-day IL with a low-back strain. We need to take that seriously since the southpaw was slowed by a back injury during spring training, though it was retroactive to May 1, so he could return in less than two weeks.

Keaton Winn hasn’t seen a save chance yet and worked ahead of Kilian during Monday’s win. I think it's notable that Walker was warming up for the seventh, sat back down, and then got passed over for Winn/Kilian.

A different look as the Giants try to hold a lead tonight: Keaton Winn got the eighth and Caleb Kilian gets the ninth. Ryan Walker was warming up in the seventh, but Trevor McDonald ended up getting through the inning.

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) May 5, 2026

Ryan Zeferjahn, Los Angeles Angels

Over the last 30 days, Zeferjahn has held a 5.74 ERA with a 2.14 xERA/2.64 FIP underneath it. The Halos have turned to him and Sam Bachman, who has a sturdy 3.86 ERA/2.34 xERA/3.50 FIP of his own in the L30, to be the top dogs for now.

Bachman notably got out of a bases-loaded jam against the Mets by getting Bo Bichette to hit into a force out at home before striking out Juan Soto. Zeferjahn got the win over the final two innings, “allowing” only an intentional walk with a catcher’s interference error muddying things.

Ben Joyce and Kirby Yates both threw scoreless innings on Sunday at Rancho Cucamonga (any excuse to type that out), with Yates taking the eighth before Joyce’s ninth. This may be a short-lived window for Zeferjahn and Bachman, so we must give them their timely flowers.

Graham Ashcraft, Cincinnati Reds

After Tony Santillan took Sunday’s loss (1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 K) in Pittsburgh, Ashcraft got the chance to set Emilio Pagan up. His control was off, leading to three walks over 1 ⅔ IP, but he didn’t allow a hit and struck out two to keep the Cubs off the board.

This is more than Pagan could boast. The closer gave up a near-homer to deep center that turned into a triple, which then scored on a sac fly, before surrendering a walkoff homer. He has now allowed 10 runs on 14 hits (three HRs) with an 11:6 K:BB in 14 IP. Red alert! Poor Terry Francona sounds so sad:

Terry Francona on Emilio Pagan's (6.43 ERA) third blown save over nine chances this season:

"Just left the ball out over the plate where (Conforto) could get extended." pic.twitter.com/nb5rbE9zsF

— Charlie Clifford (@char_cliff) May 5, 2026

I wish Ashcraft was better than that 19:12 K:BB, but I prefer it to Santillan’s 15:9 ratio. Connor Phillips has a 19:19 K:BB in 17 ⅔ IP. Who told these Cincy guys to stop attacking the zone?

At least Ashcraft has the stuff to overpower hitters when he does fall into trouble. Pagan doesn’t, and Santillan’s fastball is down over 2 mph from last season (94.1 from 96.3). TS may get first dibs, but I want Ashcraft.

Dylan Lee, Braves

It’s difficult to shine in Atlanta with how well Raisel Iglesias pitched before getting hurt, while many awaited Robert Suarez to usurp him down the line. Of 214 pitchers with 10 relief innings thrown, Lee’s 1.11 FIP ranks fourth, further backing up the 1.08 ERA.

Solds players know him from his two saves and 19 holds that accompanied a 3.29 ERA/0.98 WHIP last year, with a healthy 23.3% K-BB% honed by a 5.3% walk rate. This year, his swinging-strike rate has improved from 16.4% to 21.8% alongside a dip to a 3.4% walk rate, ushering him along to a 31% K-BB%. This also ranks fourth in that 214 RP pool.

It’s a longer path to saves for Lee, but Iglesias is no sure thing to rally from a shoulder issue at 36 years old. Suarez has only been in MLB since 2022, making it easy to forget that he’s 35. The path may be long, but at least it is well-paved.

Gus Varland & Richard Lovelady, Nationals

The Nats felt comfortable going to Lovelady for the last leg of a save on Monday after Varland only threw nine pitches, which gave him his fourth hold. It was Lovelady who threw 12 pitches on Thursday for his second hold before Varland’s 22-pitch save (No. 3).

And Monday’s messy game saw Varland done dirty by James Wood losing a ball in the sun. Things happen, especially to WAS pitching. It’s not the most inspiring duo, but at least having the relevant field narrowed to two helps deep-leaguers a touch.

John King, Miami Marlins

I know that Tyler Phillips, Anthony Bender, Calvin Faucher, and Michael Petersen have logged a save in the last month. This is already a wide-open committee, and King hasn’t popped up yet. However, all four of those names are right-handed, and King’s left arm has only allowed one run on three hits over 15 IP (14:5 K:BB).

Andrew Nardi is the only other lefty, and he’s got an ugly 6:6 K:BB in his last six innings, allowing four runs on six hits in that window. King has also shown his durability, going perfect in back-to-back-to-back games between April 27-29. We’ll see if Miami finds itself with a left-handed pocket in the ninth soon.

Quick Hits:

-Josh Hader is scheduled to make his first rehab appearance at Triple-A this week. All eyes will be on the radar gun, just like with Carlos Estevez.

-Colin Holderman could join Matt Festa as a holds magnet for a Cleveland team that loves to tax its trusted bullpen arms. Shawn Armstrong is hurt, and Hunter Gaddis was hurt and appears to still be off, leaving little behind Cade Smith and Erik Sabrowski. Festa had three holds this past week.

-Brent Headrick is going to sleepwalk into 25 holds at this rate. He and Tim Hill have been southpaw miracles for the Yankees, who need to be able to trust people other than Fernando Cruz to get things to David Bednar in the ninth.

-Garrett Cleavinger returned with a scoreless inning on May 2 after missing a month due to a calf injury. He popped one four-seamer at nearly 97 mph, but the other pitches are still down from his 2025 form. Let’s see how his second appearance goes.

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