Nick Mariano's Closer Rankings and Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups (Week 26)

September 18, 2026

Nick Mariano's top 50 closer fantasy baseball rankings, breakouts and closer waiver wire pickups for saves and holds - updated rankings for Week 26 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 26 of 2026, with tiered closer rankings and relievers to add across all league types. This week, Andy Smith is back with the rankings, while I (Mike Carter) will continue to provide waiver wire suggestions.

This coming week finishes both the regular season and our fantasy seasons. Even though football is in full swing, we still have a few things to finish here and finals stats to accumulate for our fake teams this week. Those last-minute saves, strikeouts, and ratio helps can win us titles, so let's do it.

Stay up to date by signing up for our industry-leading news notifications. Here are our updated top-50 fantasy baseball closer rankings and waiver suggestions. Stats are gathered through September 17th. Waiver wire relief pitcher options can help your team immediately. Need saves? Ratio help? Strikeouts? Read on.

Top 50 Closers: Fantasy Baseball Rankings (Week 26)

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!

Ryan Watson, Los Angeles Angels

Watson snuck into the save action again this week, notching his third of the season on Tuesday. Would-be closer Ben Joyce blew yet another save on Thursday. It would not surprise me at all if Watson received the next opportunity here in this moribund bullpen.

Watson has three saves, eight holds, and a meager 20.2% strikeout percentage, but he looks to be in the right spot at the right time. Joyce's ERA has ballooned to 4.40 with a whopping 15.3% walk percentage. The restless Angels could give Watson a shot over the rest of the season as Joyce continues to disappoint.

Jeff Hoffman, Minnesota Twins

While the ongoing struggles of closer Yoendrys Gomez have been in the spotlight in Minnesota, Hoffman's season has flown under the radar. Gomez has blown his last two save chances; Hoffman has three consecutive holds this week, giving him 21, yet he also has five saves.

See Hoffman's splits below. Since the All-Star break, after a rough first half of the season, Hoffman has been back to his old ways. Note the reduced ERA, reduced walks, and increase in strikeouts. I would not be surprised in the least if Hoffman gets the save chances over the season's last nine days.

Evan Phillips, Los Angeles Dodgers

I am so happy to see Phillips back for the Dodgers and succeeding this season. Phillips has risen to the top setup role in a stacked bullpen, and could easily see save chances given the struggles of both Tanner Scott (owner of a 7.71 ERA in September) and a reduced role for Edwin Diaz, who returns this weekend.

You can see below that the velocity is back, as evidenced by his improved strikeout rate this season. Recall that Phillips has 47 career saves, and had 18 in 2024 before injury ruined his 2025 season. Phillips could see the chances this weekend, and I would not be surprised if he did well.

Calvin Faucher, Miami Marlins

Closer Pete Fairbanks went to the 15-day IL again with nerve irritation, and his season is over. Enter old friend Faucher, who has three saves, 17 holds, a 3.50 ERA, and a meager 24.6% K%. Faucher has 25 career saves, so he is no stranger to the job.

Despite a pedestrian strikeout rate, Faucher excels by inducing a whopping 55.3% groundball percentage. Looking at the chart below, you can see that he has recaptured the groundball magic this year. Look for him to get the remaining save chances for Miami this next week.

Erik Tolman and Jack Sinclair, Washington Nationals

The Nationals became so dissatisfied with closer Clayton Beeter that they relegated him to Triple-A earlier this month, leaving the back end of their bullpen wide open. In walked Tolman and a little later, Sinclair. In a limited sample size, both have pitched well; Tolman has three saves, Sinclair one.

Tolman feels like the safer bet based on the usage pattern and a lower walk rate (10.9%), but he is left-handed, and we know the bias against lefty closers historically. Sinclair is right-handed but has even less experience (five games) than Tolman (11 games).

You could snag both and get all the Washington saves, but that is a risky proposition. This should be a timeshare over the season's final nine days. Having fun yet?

Short Relief: More Closers and Bullpen Notes

• The situation in Baltimore bears watching, as both Andrew Kittredge and Rico Garcia had saves this week. Garcia had three saves in a row before Kittredge snatched an opportunity and converted on Tuesday. Lean Garcia, but who really knows at this point?
• The Chicago White Sox are fighting for their playoff lives and seem to lean towards using Grant Taylor (nine saves) and Bryan Hudson (eight saves) as their primary closing options. Taylor threw a whopping 35 pitches in securing his save on Thursday night, an outing in which he pitched into a third inning. If the Sox do not make the playoffs, a primary reason could be that this bullpen is gassed from far too many innings.
• A quiet week in Arizona, where it looks like Juan Morillo and Brandyn Garcia will share the role the rest of the season. Slight lean to Morillo based on handedness.
• The Chicago Cubs continue to search for answers at the back end of their bullpen, where Jacob Webb sits on a hot seat after blowing another save on Tuesday night. He has not pitched since. Ryan Zeferjahn has the team's only save this week. Manager Craig Counsell would like to have some role clarity moving into the playoffs. Daniel Palencia is working to find his best stuff again after a season marred by injury and some ineffectiveness.
• In St. Louis, Riley O'Brien has struggled over the season's last month. He had a save this week, his 37th, sandwiched between two losses and a blown save. It looks like St. Louis will allow him to finish the season as their closer, but this organization could look elsewhere for their next closer next season. O'Brien owns a 4.21 ERA and 23% K% in 2o25.

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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