Nick Mariano's Closer Rankings and Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups (Week 5)

April 24, 2026

Nick Mariano's top 50 closer fantasy baseball rankings, breakouts and closer waiver wire pickups for saves and holds - updated rankings for Week 5 of 2026.

The bullpen exercise in madness marches on, so let's check in once again with my rest-of-season closer ranks and waiver wire recommendations! This piece aims at our updated fantasy baseball closers rankings for Week 5 of 2026, and supplies you with a tiered closers rankings table and relievers to add. We'll explore the closer waiver wire, trade targets, cut candidates, and more.

Just as we started to make our peace with the whole "best reliever being the fireman" thing, this year continues to turn the screws of our save-chasing psyche. Not only are there several talent-starved bullpens with no one worth targeting, but poor performance and injury have riddled the position. Many RPs who are ranked highly on the table are simply the last men standing!

I will keep my fingers crossed that this publication date goes better than last week's run, when we almost instantly lost a pair of top closers to the IL. With that said, please join me on a conference call to the 'pen with my top 50 fantasy baseball closer leaderboard and waiver suggestions. Without further ado, let's get to my ranks and waiver adds, accompanied by tiers and Yahoo rostered rate, with most stats gathered through April 23.

Top 50 Closers: Fantasy Baseball Rankings (Week 5)

Mariano'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!!

Robert Suarez, Atlanta Braves (69% rostered)

Yeah, I know, he was drafted in all of your leagues and isn’t available. But Paul Sewald (who finally got roughed up after a great start) rose to 72% rostered, so I know more of you are out there! I have to cover my bases, and Suarez is an elite closer when the role is his.

No recovery is certain for a shoulder injury on a 36-year-old pitcher like Raisel Iglesias. If you believe that Suarez owns the role for 2026, then he's in the top five.

Tanner Scott, Los Angeles Dodgers (44%)
Alex Vesia, Los Angeles Dodgers (39%)

Edwin Diaz is facing a three-month recovery timetable after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies in his right elbow. The report is that this cropped up as a new issue last week, and is not related to the poor early results. Either way, here we are.

Scott had a turbulent 2025 due to injuries after signing a four-year, $72 million deal, though that closer-caliber contract could now pay off. He logged Thursday’s save with a 1-2-3 inning. And Vesia remains steady as ever, which gives Dave Roberts some flexibility.

Blake Treinen (4%) is the experienced right-hander, but this writer doesn’t trust him. He also got clobbered at Coors, allowing three runs without recording an out the day after being smacked in the head by a ball during batting practice.

Louis Varland, Toronto Blue Jays (29%)

Varland’s elite form was already putting pressure on Jeff Hoffman to clean his game up, and then he put out Hoffman’s bases-loaded fire with a first-pitch double play. It was a perfect microcosm of what’s transpired thus far, right on down to Hoffman’s only out being a strikeout.

IT TOOK ONE PITCH FOR LOUIS VARLAND AND THE BLUE JAYS GET THE DOUBLE-PLAY TO WIN THE GAME 💙 pic.twitter.com/6sxjbMS9K6

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 22, 2026

I must note that Hoffman’s .609 BABIP leads the 258 RPs with at least five innings thrown. And it seems as though Toronto really wants him to get things sorted and own the role, so it’s difficult for me to project a full year’s removal.

With Yimi Garcia just now starting to throw again, and Braydon Fisher pitching poorly on Wednesday, Varland joins Tyler Rogers as the two most reliable arms. Since the submariner doesn’t supply Ks, we’ll take Varland’s big fastball, which has finished 11 strikeouts and allowed just one hit. The pitch has a .084 xBA and .096 xSLG! Oh, and his slider holds a .058 xBA/.071 xSLG.

Carlos Estevez, Kansas City Royals (67%) / Daniel Lynch IV (0%)

Yeah, I know, he was terrible, and we still haven’t heard about a rehab assignment starting. We need him to throw and get some velocity readings before we open up our hearts again. However, almost no one else is stepping up.

Lucas Erceg (41%) has been scuffling and only has five strikeouts over 9 ⅓ IP. Matt Strahm (16%) should’ve been the clear pivot, yet he’s allowed five runs in his last six games with a 1.38 WHIP overall.

Daniel Lynch IV (0%) has been outstanding in 2026, racking up 12 strikeouts over nine innings of one-run ball and a 0.56 WHIP. His 21.5% swinging-strike rate is one of the best so far, as is the 36.4% CSW rate (called strikes plus whiffs). In other words, the whiffs aren’t coming with loads of zone misses.

More notably, he’s been perfect in his last five games, just as Erceg and Strahm are struggling the most. John Schreiber (0%) does have a save from early on, but a 1.75 WHIP and four punchouts in eight frames isn’t going to work either. Please let Lynch get a shot?

Luke Weaver, New York Mets (9%)

Devin Williams isn’t getting the same movement on his Airbender, and it shows. These early struggles are making his 2025 woes across town look like a walk in the park, and the attention to said struggles was magnified by them extending the ludicrous losing streak.

Weaver was also off to a cold start, but he stood tall with three strikeouts over the final four outs to get the Mets back in the win column. He threw the changeup at a season-high 50% rate, including for the final whiff. I remain skeptical, what with the 98 Stuff+, 96 Location+, and 99 Pitching+ scores, but it’s better than what Williams has to offer (who nearly blew another game as I write this).

Brad Keller, Philadelphia Phillies (18%)

Jhoan Duran’s “very, very mild” left oblique strain may not leave Keller with much of a window, but I don’t consider any oblique strain insignificant in MLB. I realize some early-movers got burned by Thursday’s solo homer allowed (95 mph down Broadway is not it), but he’s still the one to click. The 57% groundball rate remains strong, and the velocity is holding.

Phillies closer Jhoan Duran played catch today for the first time since going down with a left oblique strain. Rob Thomson added Duran is “feeling much better.”

— Casey Drottar (@CDrottar19) April 21, 2026

Jose Alvarado allowed two baserunners in his first inning of work since leaving Tuesday with mid-back spasms. He’s a fine dart throw in deeper leagues if you can stomach more WHIP volatility in the pursuit of more Ks.

Enyel De Los Santos, Houston Astros (13%)

With many other options, Houston went back to De Los Santos on Wednesday for a four-out save after yielding three runs the day before. He’s not doing anything especially well, sporting an 8:3 K:BB with four earned runs over 9 ⅓ IP, but three saves and over a month until Josh Hader’s earliest return date make him our man.

Jack Perkins, Athletics (26%)

I recognize that Joel Kuhnel is the current saves wave for the A’s, and yet I cannot buy into a 31-year-old renaissance with a 3:0 K:BB over 7 ⅔ IP. That sinker of his is no Mariano Rivera-esque cutter, and trusting your fate to the contact gods with Sutter Health Park behind you is no bueno. He has no barrels allowed, yes, but a .393 xBA looms.

Perkins has the goods, holding a 29.3% K rate and 18.8% swinging-strike rate with two wins and a save over 9 ⅓ IP. If anything, his 78% first-strike rate is too high! Like others, we’re not sure the A’s would commit to locking him into the ninth with his endurance, but a handful of saves with plus ratios and Ks works too.

Rico Garcia, Baltimore Orioles (16%) / Anthony Nunez (3%)

Garcia and Nunez have pitched well this year, and it was Nunez getting Wednesday’s save with Ryan Helsley on the bereavement/family medical emergency list. Garcia still has a .000 BABIP through 12 IP, which is nutty. I hope he isn't fading, as he's sat in the 93-94 mph range after opening with 95-97.

Helsley has strong sabermetrics and a beautiful 17.8% swinging-strike rate and 34.9% K rate, though he’s constantly battling from behind to get there. I don't like that!

His first-strike rate typically checks in around 57-65%, and yet we’re at 46.5% in ‘26. Hence, the bloated 16.3% walk rate. The lack of command also manifested with multiple wild pitches in his last appearance, one of which cost him the game. He should settle in, though I won't stick my head in the sand either.

Ben Brown, Chicago Cubs (3%) / Phil Maton (2%)

The new Wrigley curse is hammering the bullpen, as Caleb Thielbar grabbed at his left hamstring after giving up a game-tying homer to Adolis Garcia. The cupboard is getting bare. Guys like Brown and Javier Assad offer superior talent against the rest, yet their ability to pitch multiple innings could force them in earlier.

Maton gave up runs in his last three appearances before hitting the IL due to right knee tendinitis, but his track record (2.79 ERA/1.06 WHIP, 81 Ks in 61 ⅓ IP last year) would make him the best active RP. He’s set to begin a rehab assignment on Friday, and they could quickly activate him if all looks okay. You risk rust, but we’ve done dirtier things for saves. No? Just me?

Cubs Phil Maton will pitch in Iowa tomorrow as part of rehab.

— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) April 23, 2026

Short Relief: More Closers and Bullpen Notes

-Three top relievers with subpar Location+ scores: Cade Smith (96, falls behind then lays meatballs in), Andres Munoz (87, find the slider), and the aforementioned Helsley (95).

-Yes, Bryan Baker is still under-rostered.

-Erik Sabrowski continues his march as MLB’s Holds leader with nine, two more than Tony Santillan.

-Though Ryan Walker got back-to-back saves on Tuesday and Wednesday, both Erik Miller and Keaton Winn remain sharp. Winn has retired 16 straight hitters in his last six games.

-Gus Varland and Clayton Beeter are the Washington darts, but you don’t want to throw them.

-Victor Vodnik got hit around, but anyone gambling there knew this could happen.

-Kirby Yates’ first rehab appearance displayed lesser velocity and hard contact. Circle back. Jordan Romano picked a good time to show some fight.

-A.J. Puk is aiming to face live hitters or begin a rehab assignment by late May. I can’t elevate Paul Sewald much more with Puk lurking, and Sewald’s own longevity no sure thing.

-Jaden Hill had three holds over the last seven days, but it came with a 2.10 WHIP in that span.

-Grant Taylor improved to a 19:4 K:BB across 13 IP, though he has no saves and one hold.

-Riley O’Brien has a 69% groundball rate, ranking third among RPs (min. 5 IP).

-Kyle Finnegan has a 0.00 ERA, yet a bottom-five 6.32 SIERA.

-Lucas Erceg’s 5.95 SIERA is tied for 12th-worst.

-Jhoan Duran hasn’t issued a walk, yet holds the worst first-strike rate (37.5%). Erceg (38.5%) is not far behind and doesn’t have the whiffs to dig out of the hole.

**Thanks for reading this column. It means a lot to connect with folks I’ll never meet over this silly little bullpen dart game that we play within our silly little fantasy baseball operation.

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