Nick Mariano's Closer Rankings and Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups (Week 24)

September 4, 2026

Nick Mariano's top 50 closer fantasy baseball rankings, breakouts and closer waiver wire pickups for saves and holds - updated rankings for Week 24 of 2026.

The trade deadline came and went, and now we sprint through August. This column brings you my updated fantasy baseball closer rankings for Week 24 of 2026, with tiered closer rankings and relievers to add across all league types. This week, Nick Mariano is back with the rankings, while I (Mike Carter) will continue to provide waiver wire suggestions.

We are in the thick of hunting down those championship banners, and these last-minute saves could be the ones that push us over the top. There are some very useful guys on the waiver wire, and we profile a few here. It's time to finish the job and get those meaningful counting stats in September. We should still be churning the roster as needed to finish strong!

Keep up with the latest and greatest by signing up for our industry-leading news notifications. Here are my top-50 fantasy baseball closer leaderboard and waiver suggestions. Stats are gathered through September 2nd. Waiver wire relief pitcher options can help your team immediately. Need saves? Ratio help? Strikeouts?  Read on.

Top 50 Closers: Fantasy Baseball Rankings (Week 24)

Mike's Closers Fantasy Baseball Analysis, Waiver Wire Pickups

Don't forget to check our daily updates on the closer depth charts if you have more questions and want even more names!

Juan Morillo, Arizona Diamondbacks

Morillo has graduated from the middle relief corps to high leverage, and now the de facto closer for a playoff team. Morillo seems the best bet for saves down the stretch in Arizona at this time based on usage patterns and the slow recovery of Justin Martinez. Morillo is rostered in 7% of Yahoo leagues.

Raise your hand if you know how dominant Morillo has been. I will admit that I did not until I really dove into his Statcast page, which I have attached below for your perusal. Morillo got and converted the last save chance for the Diamondbacks on Wednesday. I like him to get the bulk of the chances here. Morillo should be rostered far more often than he is right now. The walk rate is a little higher than you might like, but that feels like a minor quibble. See for yourself below.

Jordan Romano, Colorado Rockies

My good friend Dave McDonald talks about Romano often and the bad rap he has in fantasy circles. Facts are facts: he had two horrible outings early on that shot his numbers through the roof. This led many fantasy players to write him off, and the last-place Los Angeles Angels to cut ties with him.

He resurfaced in Colorado this summer, and he has been good. He posted a 1.17 ERA in July, followed by a 2.89 in August, and nothing yet in September. That is good for a 1.88 ERA and 0.84 WHIP over that time, with eight saves in 15 games. He is the closer and will be on more rosters this month.

Calvin Faucher, Miami Marlins

Faucher looks like the best bet in Miami to get saves the rest of the way. Closer Pete Fairbanks just started throwing off a mound on Tuesday, so his return does not feel imminent. Even if it were imminent, he owns a 6.04 ERA, Egads!

Faucher still gets a decent amount of strikeouts with a 25.1% K%, but his bread and butter is the groundball out. See below. His groundball rate in 2026 has been in the 93rd percentile at 54.5%. If you are looking for last-minute saves, Faucher is out there in 93% of Yahoo leagues.

Mason Montgomery, Pittsburgh Pirates

I keep refreshing my page, thinking that Montgomery's low roster status is going to change when I do that. I am not sure why fantasy players have not gobbled him up in every league. He is clearly the closer in Pittsburgh, yet he is on the waiver wire in 67% of Yahoo leagues. Why? I cannot figure it out.

He has the ERA down to 2.97 now, with eight saves, nine holds, and a 38.3% K%.  Since the All-Star break, he has four wins, seven saves, a 0.87 ERA, a minuscule 0.63 WHIP, and a 45% K%. I have no further questions. Roster him today! This is a league winner here.

Erik Tolman, Washington Nationals 

Tolman does not have much experience in the major leagues, but he is opening eyes with his late-season performance in Washington. The lefty has not given up a run in five appearances out of the bullpen and is showing a propensity to get hitters out. Tolman has a hold and a save in those five outings.

The chart below is very early results, but the 34.8% K% and an insane 69.2% groundball percentage show he has the stuff to get big outs. Given that Clayton Beeter is the lame duck closer, I would not be surprised at all if Tolman got some save chances this month. Watch for it. He did earn a save Monday.

Short Relief: More Closers and Bullpen Notes

• For the Athletics, it looks like this is a co-closer situaiton between Hogan Harris and Elvis Alvarado. My lean last week was to Alvarado, but Harris got the save on Thursday night, and Alvarado has not pitched at all since last Saturday. Will be watching this one over the weekend.
• Baltimore has used a committee approach, as covered here in this article, between Andrew Kittredge, Yennier Cano, and Rico Garcia. Kittredge is the lean here with two of the last three chances; Cano earned one last Sunday and converted on a day Kittredge was off. Kittredge did blow a save on Wednesday night.  Felix Bautista is on rehab assignment and could return before the end of the season and add to the mix.
• Samy Natera Jr. returned for the Los Angeles Angels this week, and I feel he could sneak some chances away from Ben Joyce if he is healthy the rest of the way. Natera has three saves and a whopping 39.1% K%. A name to watch here.
• I will be watching the Chicago Cubs bullpen chaos with a close eye this weekend. Jacob Webb left Wednesday's game with forearm soreness, and Daniel Palencia blew a save on Tuesday and has a 5.14 ERA. Veteran lefty Ryan Rolison got the chance on Thursday against Milwaukee and converted it.
• Abner Uribe is back from the IL for Milwaukee and picked up right where he left off with two holds this week. Uribe has a sparkling 1.97 ERA, a 25.9% K%, six saves, and 20 holds. He is one of the most valuable arms in any bullpen in the game we all love.

Remember, at the end of the day, fantasy baseball should be a fun distraction from the rigors of daily life, and we should not take the game too seriously. Have fun with it and keep grinding; don't give up your fantasy baseball dreams just to switch to football next month. Hang in there!

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