Nick Mariano's Closer Rankings and Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups (Week 7)

May 8, 2026

Nick Mariano's top 50 closer fantasy baseball rankings, breakouts and closer waiver wire pickups for saves and holds - updated rankings for Week 7 of 2026.

The hits do not stop coming, whether that's injuries or literally hits falling in like rain against your team's relievers, so let's pop that umbrella and chat over my rest-of-season closer ranks and waiver wire recommendations! This column will discuss our updated fantasy baseball closers rankings for Week 7 of 2026, and bring you a tiered closers rankings table and several key relievers to add. We're here to cover the waiver wire, rising studs yet to hit it big, trade targets, who to give up on, and more.

This discussion gives us a chance to check in on MLB bullpens, where I'll try to best orient RP injury stashes against the field of speculative pickups and holds. There are so many layers to this, and some of you only care about saves, no matter the ratio cost. I still heavily value K% and not getting my ratios spiked, which will be reflected in the ranks.

Of course, injuries, implosions, demotions, and so forth are inherent to the fantasy baseball experience, so keep our industry-leading news notifications on to stay ahead of the curve. Now, it's time to take a deep breath and dive into my top 50 fantasy baseball closer leaderboard and waiver suggestions. Let's pick up the phone and make the call for my ranks and waiver adds, accompanied by tiers and Yahoo rostered rate, with most stats gathered through May 7.

Top 50 Closers: Fantasy Baseball Rankings (Week 7)

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!!

Pete Fairbanks, Miami Marlins (70%)

Just in case you’re in one of the shallower leagues where someone got squeezed for IL space, Fairbanks had a “very encouraging” bullpen session on Wednesday. He was able to throw 13 pitches without that nerve issue flaring up. Every day that the weather creeps away from winter chill should help Fairbanks’ chances at avoiding a recurrence.

Louis Varland, Toronto Blue Jays (67%)

Toronto went a week without affording Varland a save chance, yet his rostered rate still rose by seven percentage points. I’m so proud. He and Jeff Hoffman are now at the same rostered percentage.

Paul Sewald, Arizona Diamondbacks (59%)

The guy hasn’t had a save opportunity since April 17. This is beyond his control. He’s still showing healthy velo, resulting in a 0.79 WHIP with 15 Ks in 12 ⅔ IP. It’s house money, given the draft capital needed to take him, and A.J. Puk, who is no sure thing to look amazing, may not simply step back into the ninth unless Sewald stumbles.

Lucas Erceg, Kansas City Royals (57%)

Well, Carlos Estevez’s rehab assignment was a short-lived effort. After initial reports that his velocity was promising while ramping up, he was stuck in the 88-91 range on Wednesday and ultimately exited with the trainer due to shoulder discomfort.

Adding an arm injury to the existing velo/command concerns gives a resurgent Erceg the runway for a stellar 2026 campaign. After early low-whiff tallies and loud contact, Erceg has settled with five saves and nine strikeouts over six innings in the last two weeks.

Tanner Scott, Los Angeles Dodgers (44%)

This is still way too low, but I trust that isn’t the fault of anyone wise enough to click into this article.

Gregory Soto, Pittsburgh Pirates (29%)

Soto got the high-leverage win on Sunday before Wednesday’s save, finishing out each of those 1-0 victories. The Pirates stuck with the southpaw on Sunday, even with Dennis Santana warming up. And then they deployed Santana in the seventh to face Arizona’s 6-7-8 hitters after the leadoff man reached with a 4-2 lead, so I’m considering the torch passed.

On paper, he immediately got a double play, great! But it was a 100.5-mph rope, so I’m not celebrating much. He then walked Jorge Barrosa before ending the inning with a groundout to third. Another walk with no Ks gives him a 4:5 K:BB in his last seven games, and a 10:9 mark on the year. Nope. (Soto has a 9:1 K:BB in his last seven, and is now up ot 25:7 in 2026.)

Soto has been the better arm by every measure that I hang my hat on. Mason Montgomery hadn’t thrown since April 30, but did enter Thursday’s win to get two outs, allowing a hit and a walk. He hit 100.6 mph, so at least we’re not sweating a velo dip alongside the absence, but it’s still a bit strange.

Rico Garcia, Baltimore Orioles (26%)

Garcia is up to 17 innings with just one hit allowed and a 19:6 K:BB as Baltimore’s go-to arm with Ryan Helsley on the IL. The one hit was a solo homer, which means he still holds a .000 BABIP, even with a 59.4% groundball rate.

That’s absurd, but in an extremely cool way. The 83 mph average exit velocity against trails only Tyler Rogers and Mason Miller among arms with at least 150 pitches thrown. No pitches have an xBA above .181 or an xSLG north of .293. Everyone is struggling to get any lift on the ball, and when they do, it’s generally a whimper.

The man has turned into an apex predator of the strike zone. His chase rate isn’t impressive because, in his words, “[his] stuff plays better when going right after guys.” We can’t argue that one.

Tony Santillan, Cincinnati Reds (26%)
Graham Ashcraft, Cincinnati Reds (14%)

This is an exceptionally odd situation to confront. Emilio Pagan will miss 4-8 weeks with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, but we’d already been tracking the next men up due to his lackluster performance. He did say this had been a problem for the last month, so maybe we can blame that.

Regardless, both Santillan and Ashcraft have been the primary handcuffs. Santillan has allowed a run(s) in three of his last five appearances, and now owns a gnarly 5.31 FIP and 5.24 xERA. Brock Burke has a 3.24 ERA, but has more than doubled last year’s walk rate (14.3% from 7%). What is this walking epidemic hitting Cincy relievers?

Ashcraft could’ve taken the momentum, though his save chance on Wednesday ended with a two-run homer from Pete Crow-Armstrong. Still, his 3.62 FIP and 3.47 xERA remain more encouraging. I do think that it’s Santillan’s job to blow, and Ashcraft failing to convert that shot only cements that notion. But Santillan’s poor recent form could give the job back in no time.

Tejay Antone, anyone?

Jacob Latz, Texas Rangers (31%)

Latz has converted each of Texas’s last three save chances and then took the ninth with a 6-1 lead on Wednesday in New York. He should be higher up in the rostered tiers.

Jack Perkins, Athletics (27%)

Perkins and the A’s hit us with a 1-2 combo in the gut by utilizing him in the seventh inning, which went swimmingly, before an ugly eighth led to four runs (two earned) on the ledger. He’s still the primary target here, though it won’t be as clean as anyone would like it to be.

Ben Joyce, Los Angeles Angels (6%)
Ryan Zeferjahn, Los Angeles Angels (1%)

Big Z got into, and then worked out of, late-inning trouble for his first save of the year. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases against the White Sox in the ninth, but he found the zone enough to ice the game. He’d been called in to strike out Munetaka Murakami with runners on and two out in the eighth as well.

However, the 13.1% walk rate echoes the 13.6% clip seen last year. The biggest difference is that he’s yet to allow a homer after running a 1.89 HR/9 in 2025. The 4.58 ERA is still high due to an unsustainable 56% strand rate, so the 2.73 FIP and 3.46 SIERA make more sense. He and Sam Bachman have held down the high-leverage fort well.

Joyce has made three rehab appearances so far and has been able to hit his usual triple-digit output. He has walked at least one in each game, and the most recent show on May 5 had a hit batter and a wild pitch thrown into the mix as well. Just watched the fourth rehab game after writing this, and I like what I see:

Ben Joyce full rehab appearance:

1IP | 1H | 1R | 0ER | 0BB | 2K pic.twitter.com/knb2pmOdsu

— AngelsMiLB (@AngelsMiLB) May 8, 2026

Yates did give up his fair share of hard contact during a four-game rehab assignment, yet the 7:1 K:BB feels more important than giving up a pair of homers. Perhaps he gets a chance to take control due to his first-mover advantage being active before Joyce. Keep your head on a swivel here.

Caleb Kilian, San Francisco Giants (5%)

Kilian’s first career save started with a leadoff homer for Ramon Laureano, though he retired the next three (two Ks). The 1.13 ERA and 2.91 xERA are great. The 4.20 FIP isn’t as dazzling, with a .171 BABIP sure to rise. Both his 104 Stuff+ and 104 Location+ are sturdy, and one doesn’t have to be outstanding to stand out in the SF ‘pen. But I do wager he'll have to share with Erik Miller (back), who is expected to make a swift return from the IL.

Erik Miller (back) is throwing a bullpen tomorrow, then pitching for @RiverCats on Sunday and for @SJGiants next week if all goes well. Expects the minimum IL time.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) May 6, 2026

Ryan Walker was warming in the seventh before Kilian’s save. He has a horrendous 5.9% swinging-strike rate (career 11.1%) and 1.70 WHIP going, with five runs allowed in his last three games. He should be behind Kilian, Keaton Winn, and the recently activated Joel Peguero at this point.

Bryan King, Houston Astros (6%)
Bryan Abreu, Houston Astros (23%)

Some may be getting pulled in by Houston’s ambiguous roles and Abreu sitting there with seven Ks in his last four innings. The velo did bounce up toward 96 mph in his latest effort on May 4 after dipping into the 93-94 range in three appearances between April 18-30. It’s still frightful, and I’d rather go with King in the short term, but I understand that the ceiling is tantalizing.

Kyle Finnegan, Detroit Tigers (8%)

While Kenley Jansen successfully returned to action on Monday, working the ninth with Detroit down 5-4 against Boston, the velocity was still down a tick. Though the abdominal/groin day-to-day issue stole the headlines, we can’t be certain that’s why he faltered in consecutive save opportunities.

Finnegan has cleaned up his act since an opening salvo of walks in early games hammered his stat lines. Will Vest is on the IL with forearm inflammation, which makes this a clear handcuff situation to speculate on at least.

Short Relief: More Closers and Bullpen Notes

-Just when we thought Tampa Bay had locked Bryan Baker into the closer’s role, they spun him in the eighth before giving Ian Seymour the ninth. I can squint and see the argument that it was likely Baker would face Toronto’s best hitters, including Kazuma Okamoto, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. due up fourth if anyone reached.

-Cleveland is stubbornly jamming Hunter Gaddis into high leverage, but that preseason forearm injury must still have him off. Instead, Matt Festa looks like the right-hander to target alongside Erik Sabrowski with Shawn Armstrong on the IL. Sabrowski just got his 14th hold on May 7, wow. Also, Cade Smith looks A-OK.

-Gus Varland just snagged his fourth save thanks to a four-out appearance against the Twins. His best outcome is likely a great couple of months before being flipped at the deadline, given his one-year contract.

-Brent Headrick is beasting it in the Bronx, laughing at any baserunner who dares get on base before he enters.

Brent Headrick has now inherited 14 runners this season. He has allowed 0 of them to score.

That's the most inherited runners without allowing any to score by a pitcher this season.

— Katie Sharp (@SharpStats17) May 7, 2026

-Jose A. Ferrer secured an 11-pitch save on Wednesday after having pitched on Tuesday and Monday, too. Andres Munoz had thrown in three of the previous four days, with one save, a blown save, and a loss. Munoz is their man, but the 6.00 ERA to Ferrer’s 1.89 has some looking sideways. Well, Munoz has a 2.35 xFIP/2.35 SIERA to Ferrer’s 3.82/3.45 marks.

-Jakob Junis has struck out a batter since April 12, rocking a 6:4 K:BB with a .152 BABIP and 5.20 xFIP (1.76 ERA) through 15 ⅓ IP.

-Antonio Senzatela righted the ship with two scoreless innings against the Mets, earning the win thanks to Jake McCarthy’s late grand slam off Craig Kimbrel.

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