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David A Marcillo looks at Week 14 closer performances around MLB for 2018, including bullpen changes. He identifies fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and adds for saves.
Another week gone means another few interesting things happened in bullpens across the league. A team that just traded their closer may have found their new one. A team who lost their closer to injury may be holding tryouts for their closer-of-the-future. A team who finally got their closer back has seen him struggle and lose a bit of the trade value they wanted to see him develop.
There were also the usual excellent saves and epic blow up innings this week, with some closers shutting things down as they should and others letting teams right back into the lead, sometimes in walk-off fashion. Have you ever been walked off in fantasy? Winning all week in a head-to-head format only to check back in on Sunday night to see that you lost by one point? Yeah...that was me last week. But hey, here's Closers and Saves Report to help you not have that happen to you!
All that and more in this week's Closers and Saves Report, so let's dive into the news, the best performers, and any suggested moves for your fantasy team this week:
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Bullpen News for Week 14
Kansas City Royals
Everyone knew the Royals were going to trade their closer, Kelvin Herrera. We just didn't know it would happen so early. While looking at the Kansas City bullpen and thinking about who could replace Herrera in the ninth inning, the internet seemingly had a collective ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . Kevin McCarthy has been decent this season, but doesn't have much closing experience. Brandon Maurer has the experience of closing games in the past, but his 11.05 ERA isn't inspiring anyone. So, with those being the most likely options, the Royals went with something completely different and have installed former starter Wily Peralta into their ninth innings. It's an extremely small sample size, but Peralta has converted both of his save opportunities so far, and has looked way better than he ever did as a starting pitcher. He struggled this spring and put up a 4.37 ERA in Triple-A before getting called up, so don't assume we have the next Kelvin Herrera here already, but he's definitely a guy who has made himself worth owning at least as a speculative add for now.
Atlanta Braves
For a while, Braves closer Arodys Vizcaino was expected to simply lose his job because he wasn't good enough. He had some up-and-down weeks, but overall has ended up being pretty solid this season - solid enough at least to keep the ninth inning mostly to himself. He landed on the disabled list this week, however, so the Braves will get to see what the other men at the end of their bullpen can do. Dan Winkler and A.J. Minter are expected to get the save chances while Vizcaino recovers, and there remains the chance that if one of the two excels, he could keep the job for longer than Vizcaino's DL stint. Winkler pitched the eighth and Minter the ninth in the first save chance this week, so Minter gets a slight nod over Winkler for owners deciding which of the two to add.
Baltimore Orioles
Zach Britton is back, yay! Zach Britton is bad, uh oh! Britton finally made his return from the disabled list a couple of weeks ago and the Orioles, in a somewhat refreshing bit of honesty, made it clear that they were looking for him to boost his trade value so they could get as much as possible in return at the trade deadline. That's been an issue, as Britton has a 7.04 ERA and almost as many walks as strikeouts. That, combined with the fact that he's missed significant time due to injury for two straight seasons, means that Britton's trade value is the lowest it's ever been. The name Zach Britton still makes you think of one of the elite closers in baseball, and it is likely he will be able to return to that lofty position at some point, but it certainly would give teams pause about giving up any top prospects. Britton will need to turn it on over the next couple of weeks, or else the Orioles may have to settle for much less than they were expecting. It's still a sure thing that he'll get traded, so fantasy owners wanting to jump in early can go ahead and pick up Brad Brach again.
Roster Moves of the Week
Adds
Wily Peralta, Kansas City Royals - Peralta jumped into the closer's role this week and as long as he keeps pitching well, it looks like he may have the role going forward. He's a risky pick up because he's been mostly struggling this season even in the minor leagues, but he's always had nice upside and seems to be pitching well in his role.
A.J. Minter/Dan Winkler, Atlanta Braves - Braves closer Arodys Vizcaino landed on the DL this week, and Minter and Winkler will be the ones taking save chances while he's out. Minter gets the slight edge over Winkler simply because he got the first chance.
Drops
Royals Relievers Besides Peralta - Many fantasy owners speculated Kevin McCarthy and Brandon Maurer as potential closers once Kelvin Herrera left, but it seems like Wily Peralta is the one to own in the Kansas City bullpen. Anyone else can be let go.
Best of the Week
Raisel Iglesias, Cincinnati Reds- 4 1/3 IP, 2 K, 4 SV, 0.00 ERA, 0.69 WHIP
Reds closer Raisel Iglesias showed his upside this week as the only closer to record four saves. He only struck out two, but he also only allowed one hit and two walks.
Blake Treinen, Oakland A's- 3 2/3 IP, 4 K, 3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 0.27 WHIP
A's closer Blake Treinen picked up three saves along with four strikeouts this week. In the meantime, he only allowed one hit, nothing else.
Keone Kela, Texas Rangers- 2 2/3 IP, 5 K, 3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP
Rangers closer Keone Kela makes his second straight Best of the Week list, saving three games and striking out five despite only pitching 2 2/3 innings. He didn't allow a run, but he did give up three hits and a walk.
