Closers and Relief Pitcher Draft Rankings - Fantasy Baseball Roto Leagues (February Updates)

February 9, 2024

Mike's updated fantasy baseball closer rankings for the 2024 MLB season. Relief pitcher (RP) draft rankings and tiers for saves and holds (February update).

It's time to consider the one position on your roster that many fantasy baseball players find the least palatable: relief pitchers. I hear the collective groan. But here's the thing: this doesn't have to be painful. If you slot pitchers into tiers and convince yourself that you will be happy getting a guy from those tiers and are not in love with a specific player, you will be fine. For example, if you like Andres Munoz (and he's great) but you don't nab him, turn your sights to Paul Sewald. Keep your options open.

You also have to decide before you enter the draft room:

• Are you going to roster 90% of your saves on Draft Day? Then you better spend your draft capital and get at least two excellent guys.
• Can you get saves on your waiver wire throughout the season? Check your league and your league mates. This can be a risky strategy with fewer options than you might think on the waiver wire, depending on the level of competition in your league. Be careful!

The closer and relief pitcher rankings below are specifically designed for traditional 5x5 Roto Mixed Leagues (click here for points leagues, dynasty leagues, and MLB prospects). Be sure to also bookmark our constantly-updates fantasy baseball closer depth charts for saves and holds. Let's look at the top five tiers of closers to know for the 2024 season.

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Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings (February Update)

Rankings by Nick Mariano and Brad Camara. They are for 5x5 category mixed roto leagues and will be updated regularly on our main fantasy baseball rankings dashboard through Opening Day. Download our free mobile app with push notification alerts and stay on top of all the MLB news and analysis.

Tier 1 Relief Pitcher Rankings

A healthy Edwin Diaz could be the best closer in baseball. His knee injury last season in the World Baseball Classic was a fluke, and he is ready for spring training. We can expect more dominant stuff and help in four of the pitching categories: saves, ERA, WHIP, and strikeouts. When he was healthy in 2022, Diaz had three wins, 32 saves, a 1.31 ERA, .84 WHIP, and a whopping 118 strikeouts in 62 innings. With the knee healthy again and starting the 2024 season without restrictions, Diaz becomes the top closer on the board.

Josh Hader is the second pitcher in our top tier. His recent signing with the Houston Astros was a bit of a surprise, given that the team has used Ryan Pressly with great success over the last four seasons. Hader had two wins, 33 saves, a 1.28 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 85 strikeouts in 56.1 innings last year for the San Diego Padres. On a better team this season, he should be able to replicate these numbers.  There does not seem to be much concern that Pressly could eat into his chances; the Astros have said that they spoke to Pressly before the move and that he was fine with pitching the eighth inning.

Tier 2 Relief Pitcher Rankings

The second tier of relief pitchers is the last place I would feel comfortable, depending on league contexts, in getting my top closer. I'd be happy with any of these guys as my top closer leaving the draft table, with the possible exception of Tanner Scott.  For better or for worse, I want to see Tanner Scott do it again. The skills are apparent but the history of success is not apparent.  And there could easily be some competition in Miami should he falter, with Andrew Nardi waiting in the wings, as well as A.J. Puk if he is not in the rotation.

Targets in the second tier include the Milwaukee Brewers' Devin Williams and the Minnesota Twins' Jhoan Duran. Both are terrific choices who could easily vault their way into the top tier. Williams had eight wins, 36 saves, a 1.53 ERA, .92 WHIP, and 87 strikeouts in 58.2 innings. The only real issue with Williams is his 12.1 BB%, which was in the eighth percentile in the MLB. His xERA was also a full run higher at 2.67. However, this is nitpicking, as the whopping 37.7 K% makes up for these inefficiencies. He could get traded, as did ace Corbin Burnes this week, but he would close wherever he may land.

Duran could be on the verge of a breakout. He had three wins, 27 saves, a 2.45 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 84 strikeouts in 62.1 innings. He has the highest fastball velocity in the game at 101.8 mph. The Twins have some great support behind him in Griffin Jax, Brock Stewart, and the recently acquired Justin Topa, but no one will challenge him for saves anymore. Expect 30+ saves from Duran this year with good ratios and a huge helping of strikeouts. Duran's absurdity is below:

Tier 3 Relief Pitcher Rankings

Pete Fairbanks and Camilo Doval make up the third tier of relievers, although one could make a credible argument for both guys being in the second tier. Fairbanks gets bumped down a notch due to injury concerns, having never pitched more than 45 innings in a major league season. That is a concern coupled with some lingering arm issues and recurring bouts of Raynaud's syndrome, which limits his ability to pitch at times in colder climates. Yet, a healthy Fairbanks is a great arm to roster: two wins, 25 saves, a 2.58 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and 68 strikeouts in 45.1 innings. If you target him and are concerned about injury, a good handcuff would be his teammate, Jason Adam, who would likely get the save chances should Fairbanks miss time.

Doval put up a great season in 2023 and looks primed to repeat in San Francisco. Doval had six wins, 39 saves, a 2.93 ERA, and a 1.14 WHIP to go with 87 strikeouts in 67.2 innings. His last two seasons are essentially mirror images of each other, and he's likely being undervalued in many drafts. Draft with confidence; some will look at his monthly splits and see a problem. The reality is that he had four especially bad outings in July and August. The peripherals support an excellent option at closer.

Tier 4 Relief Pitcher Rankings

There are some great options for saves in Tier 4: Andres Munoz, David Bednar, Paul Sewald, and Alexis Diaz. Of these, Bednar and Sewald "feel" the safest, but we in the world of bullpens know that no one is ever safe in their role.

The D-backs made it to the World Series, and one of their key performers was closer Sewald. He was acquired from the Seattle Mariners right at the trade deadline and took over as the full-time closer in Arizona. Sewald was good for 34 saves in 2023 to go along with a 3.12 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, and 80 strikeouts in 60.2 innings. The 32.1 K% is nice, and he limits hard contact, as evidenced by his 94th percentile average exit velocity at 85.9 mph. What has been interesting is how he started using his fastball at the top of the strike zone while abandoning his more traditional slider in favor of a sweeper from a lower arm angle.  It has worked well for him, and he should continue to close in Arizona. Sewald has been quietly good for several seasons. See below.

Bednar will have the top job in Pittsburgh and for good reason: three wins, 39 saves, a 2.00 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 80 strikeouts. You get a slightly lower 28.9 K% but this is a steady skill set. He limits hard contact and baserunners and is a great selection for saves. The one concern is a potential trade, if he were to be available on the market, to a team that maybe views him more as a high-leverage guy who doesn't close. It's unlikely but we never truly know.

Munoz and Diaz are excellent, but buyer beware: both could face some competition in their bullpens for the top job.

Tier 5 Relief Pitcher Rankings

The fifth tier is where we start to see those save candidates with lots of question marks, whether those be health-related or relative job insecurity.

For example, Ryan Helsley and Adbert Alzolay have injury questions. Plus. the Cardinals and the Cubs both added guys who could make a play at the top spot in Andrew Kittredge and Hector Neris, respectively. Major league managers are unafraid to use their closer in situations other than the ninth. The guys in this tier fall into that thinking; Evan Phillips is one such reliever, as is Clay Holmes.

Craig Kimbrel and Jose Alvarado come with historical command issues and because of that, potential job insecurity in Baltimore and Philadelphia, respectively.

To put it plainly, these are closers that I would draft but only as my second guy. You want someone out of the first two tiers as a foundational piece a few rounds earlier. If you came out of a draft with, say, Williams and Kimbrel, you should be pretty happy.

The Crapshoot Tier

This level starts to see more questions than answers, but there are still useful bullpen pieces for your team here. Let's look at a few arms you could target in these tiers.

Robert Stephenson has long been an intriguing arm who put it together in 2023 while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays. Stephenson had three wins, one save, nine holds, and a 3.10 ERA with a .98 WHIP. Stephenson also had 77 punchouts in 52.1 innings. But those numbers do not tell the whole story. Stephenson was pitching badly in Pittsburgh when the Rays acquired him in early summer, and when the Rays get a pitcher, as a fantasy player, pay attention. Stephenson was second in the MLB with a 30.4 K-BB%, behind only Felix Bautista. His 38.3 K% was third in the MLB, behind only Bautista and Aroldis Chapman. He only has to beat out incumbent Carlos Estevez.

Yuki Matsui is a name to watch in spring training. With the San Diego Padres bullpen in limbo, Matsui could make a play here at the closer job. Robert Suarez may have something to say about that, but Matsui had 236 saves in nine seasons for Rakuten in the Pacific League, including 39 last season. Earmark him.

Matt Brash is a guy who could easily sneak into some save chances in Seattle. Some of this hinges on how manager Scott Servais wants to use his bullpen pieces, but Brash could get opportunities if current closer Munoz (mentioned above) is deployed earlier in games. Brash had nine wins, four saves, and 107 strikeouts in 70.2 innings. A great dart throw late in drafts.

Orion Kerkering made a splash in Philadelphia late in the 2023 season. While the appeal of Jose Alvarado is enticing, he has had command issues. Kerkering could easily get opportunities this season. Of course, there are several names to know in the Philly bullpen: Jeff Hoffman, Gregory Soto, Seranthony Dominguez, and Matt Strahm.  This will be an interesting pen to watch all season especially if Alvarado struggles at all.

Garrett Whitlock could end up being the closer in Boston should they trade the legendary Kenley Jansen. Pay attention to this bullpen as things could change quickly.

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