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David's closers and saves fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and bullpen report for Week 14 (2025). His relief pitcher updates, and closers to add for saves.
Summer is summer-ing all around the country, and that means that baseball sure is baseball-ing as well. The first round of All-Star voting is now closed, and although it doesn't directly relate to closers, it reminds us that we're well into the season and sample sizes are no longer small.
This week, we got a look at what a bullpen that hadn't had a save in seemingly forever is doing. We also saw some flexibility in a bullpen we thought was settling into specific roles. A replaced closer may be working his way back to become the replacement himself. There's, as always, a lot going on, so read on!
Let's dive into this week's report! As always, stay tapped in with our Fantasy Baseball Closer Depth Charts for saves, holds, and bullpens. They will be updated frequently throughout the 2025 baseball season as news breaks.
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Waiver Wire Pickups For Standard Leagues
Luke Weaver, New York Yankees (Rostered in 50% of leagues)
Luke Weaver has had two very different outings since his return from the injured list. In his first appearance, he only got two outs but allowed two runs on two hits and a walk, taking the loss. In his second appearance, he looked much more like Luke Weaver, allowing one hit in an inning of work while striking out two.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone has already said that Weaver and Devin Williams will both close games. This week, however, the only Yankees save was recorded by Williams. He's been excellent lately and is currently on a seven-game scoreless streak. The slight nod has to go to Williams at this point, but Weaver should still find his way to some saves as the season moves on.
Devin Williams, Fastball (foul) & Airbender (swinging K) Overlay. pic.twitter.com/1Ca9BQGTKA
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 22, 2025
Luke Jackson, Texas Rangers (Rostered in 18% of leagues)
Robert Garcia, Texas Rangers (Rostered in 18% of leagues)
Chris Martin, Texas Rangers (Rostered in 21% of leagues)
The Rangers' bullpen continues to mix and match toward the end of games, but all of their relievers keep seeing their rostered rates drop slightly each week. This week, Chris Martin and Robert Garcia earned one save each, while Martin added a hold to his stat sheet as well. Luke Jackson earned a win in his only appearance of the week.
Last week, it looked like Jackson was possibly working his way back into the closer's role, but he was brought into a high-leverage situation in the seventh inning this week. Martin had been pitching well since returning from the injured list, but he blew a save and allowed three runs without getting an out (on three solo homers) in his most recent outing, which probably knocks him down the list a bit.
Right now, Garcia still seems like the Rangers reliever most likely to earn a save on any given day, but there don't appear to be any set roles in Texas, and there may not be any time soon.
Robert Garcia saw Duran’s performance yesterday and took it personally‼️ pic.twitter.com/gX1c937nn0
— Rangers Nation ⚾️ (@rangers__nation) June 14, 2025
Dylan Lee, Atlanta Braves (Rostered in 15% of leagues)
Raisel Iglesias, Atlanta Braves (Rostered in 77% of leagues)
At one point this week, it had been well over a month (31 games) since any Braves reliever had recorded a save. Then, because baseball is baseball, they recorded saves in two consecutive games. This week, Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias notched a save each. Lee appears to be working in the highest leverage role and has been excellent, allowing just one earned run in the past month.
Iglesias lost his role as closer but has been bouncing back nicely, working six straight scoreless outings.
With Lee working in the high-leverage/fireman role, Iglesias should still mix in for saves in games where Lee is used earlier. But it seems like Lee could get the slightly larger chunk of saves, and at least right now, is the one to roster from this bullpen. He's still available in most leagues and is a strong ratios guy even when he's not earning consistent saves.
Slider of the year, courtesy of Dylan Lee pic.twitter.com/W3u24aYyVo
— Lindsay Crosby, big baseball guy (@CrosbyBaseball) June 24, 2025
Daniel Palencia, Chicago Cubs (Rostered in 44% of leagues)
Daniel Palencia is the Cubs' closer. There's no "by committee" asterisk; there's no one he's sharing the role with. Somehow, he's not even rostered in half of fantasy leagues. For the season, Palencia has a 1.86 ERA and eight saves. He strikes out more than a batter per inning (33 Ks in 29 IP), and doesn't allow home runs (two all year).
He's allowed six earned runs all season and only two since May 21.
This week, there were no saves or holds recorded by Cubs relievers, and it appears that some impatient fantasy managers may have swapped out Palencia because of it. Check your waiver wires and see if you can take advantage of other people's impatience! It's been a while since someone this close to being a "must-roster" player has been available this widely.
Daniel Palencia's 3Ks in the 9th. pic.twitter.com/NWkRjKBsJB
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 26, 2025
Orion Kerkering, Philadelphia Phillies (Rostered in 24% of leagues)
Matt Strahm, Philadelphia Phillies (Rostered in 15% of leagues)
EDIT: Strahm earned his fifth save of the season with a scoreless ninth after a scoreless eighth from Kerkering on Sunday.
The Phillies have only had four saves in the entire month of June, and they've been evenly split with Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm each recording two of them. That's just baseball sometimes, where situations for specific counting stats don't present themselves, regardless of how well or poorly an individual player is performing.
Kerkering has been pitching better than Strahm this month, which should give him the slight edge. Kerkering's June ERA is 0.90 while Strahm's is 4.00. Kerkering had gone 19 straight appearances without allowing an earned run before Thursday's game, and Strahm has allowed four in his last six outings.
It's still most likely going to be a mix-and-match and handedness approach in this bullpen. Still, Kerkering remains available in over three-quarters of fantasy leagues and should be rostered in most deeper formats, especially in NL-only leagues.
Orion Kerkering hasn’t allowed an earned run since May 6.
That is the longest active scoreless streak on the Phillies.pic.twitter.com/caCyeEyZCy
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) June 15, 2025
Waiver Wire Pickups For Deeper Leagues
Calvin Faucher, Miami Marlins (Rostered in 18% of leagues)
EDIT: Faucher pitched the eighth (poorly) on Sunday and was followed by Henriquez, who earned his third save of the season.
All of a sudden, the Marlins are looking like an actual, real baseball team capable of winning baseball games. A three-game sweep in San Francisco continued a four-game winning streak and has the Fish Team out of last place in the NL East.
Calvin Faucher blew one save and recorded another, but he seems to be the preferred ninth-inning option in Miami. Ronny Henriquez also earned a save this week, but it looks like he is more likely to fill the fireman role, so he could see some saves now and then, but Faucher is the one to target in deep leagues.
Grant Taylor, Chicago White Sox (Rostered in 4% of leagues)
EDIT: Taylor got his second save of the year on Saturday, pitching two perfect innings with two strikeouts to close out a 1-0 victory.
Grant Taylor is one of the top prospects in the White Sox system, and he's up working out of the bullpen in the big leagues right now. He's always posted big strikeout numbers in the minor leagues and is off to a similar start in his major league career, recording eight strikeouts in his first eight innings.
The White Sox aren't suddenly going to have a ton of save chances, but it does look like Taylor could be the one receiving those chances for now. He's worth a roster spot in deeper leagues for the potential ratios alone.
Short Relief: More Bullpen Notes
-This week's saves leaders are Josh Hader and the guy who closes where Josh Hader used to, Trevor Megill. Both recorded three saves.
-The holds leader for the week is Jeremiah Estrada, who earned four for the Padres.
Los Angeles Dodgers
EDIT: Scott earned his 18th save of the year on Friday despite allowing three base runners in his inning of work.
It looks like Tanner Scott's slump is over. The lefty has allowed just two earned runs in the month of June while recording seven saves and two holds. Fantasy owners who rode out his slump are likely happy, and fantasy managers who picked him up after another manager dropped him are probably even happier.
St. Louis Cardinals
Speaking of struggles, Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley had a rough time earlier this month, in which he allowed an earned run in four straight outings. Since then, though, he's gone three scoreless outings in a row, allowing just two hits total while recording two saves.
Colorado Rockies
It seems like Seth Halvorsen has locked down the role of Rockies closer. He has four saves this month while no other Rockies reliever has more than one (Tyler Kinley and Zach Agnos each have one). Halvorsen has been solid all month, allowing earned runs in just two of his 10 outings and striking out 10 in 9 2/3 innings. He's rostered in just five percent of leagues, but the Rockies have just 18 wins all season.
If you're absolutely desperate and need to add a Rockies reliever, it's Halvorsen. But hopefully, you haven't reached the point where you need a Rockies reliever.
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