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David's closers and saves fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and bullpen report for Week 26 (2025). His relief pitcher updates, and closers to add for saves.
Folks, we're so close. We have one weekend of baseball left for all 30 teams. Plenty more baseball to go for a select few, but another irregular regular season wraps up on Sunday. Most head-to-head fantasy leagues have already crowned their champions, but season-long leagues are still around and rotisserie formats are still kicking.
Not a lot of big news this week as most real life baseball teams are either fighting for their lives or resting their guys for the playoffs. But still, there's always something bullpen-related to chat about, and we have some suggestions for guys who might help you close out your fantasy season strong.
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 new information becomes available.
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Waiver Wire Pickups For Standard Leagues
Dennis Santana, Pittsburgh Pirates (Rostered in 42% of leagues)
Dennis Santana has been the Pirates closer for almost two months. Since August 2, he's saved nine games and posted a 2.08 ERA despite playing for a Pittsburgh team that will once again finish at the bottom of the National League Central.
With one weekend series against the suddenly red hot Braves left to go, Santana should see any save chances that come up, and he remains rostered in under half of fantasy leagues.
Calvin Faucher, Miami Marlins (Rostered in 20% of leagues)
The Marlins have had a really interesting and encouraging season. Despite most preseason predictions expecting the Marlins to easily lose 100 games and possibly be the worst team in the league, Miami remained not-yet-mathematically-eliminated from the postseason up until Thursday night.
With a big weekend series against the rival Mets, Calvin Faucher figures to see any save chances. He had two this past week. Ronny Henriquez has been the best reliever in the Marlins bullpen, but the team seems to prefer Faucher in the ninth and Henriquez in earlier, sometimes shorter scenarios.
Calvin Faucher is a damn athlete pic.twitter.com/PQokKL4sag
— Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) August 6, 2025
Victor Vodnik, Colorado Rockies (Rostered in 14% of leagues)
The Rockies are officially not going to be the worst team in baseball history but...it was kind of close. With 115 losses going into the final weekend, it's no surprise that Colorado's team leader in saves has just 11. A full two-thirds (29 saves in 43 wins) of their wins have ended in a save.
Seth Halvorsen's 11 saves puts him one save ahead of Victor Vodnik for the team lead in what is sure to be the thing everyone watches for this weekend: will Vodnik catch or maybe even pass Halvorsen? Vodnik picked up two saves this week and does not have to worry about Halvorsen, who is on the injured list with an elbow injury.
Victor Vodnik, Wicked 93mph Changeup. 👌 pic.twitter.com/zld6szrOts
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 13, 2025
Daniel Palencia, Chicago Cubs (Rostered in 38% of leagues)
Cubs closer Daniel Palencia was forced to miss some time with a shoulder injury, leaving Brad Keller and Andrew Kittredge to work in his place. Palencia is back for the final weekend series though, and the Cubs figure to try to sneak him into a save chance if possible, to get him ready for the playoffs.
Palencia was widely dropped after his injury and is available in almost two-thirds of fantasy leagues. While there's a chance the Cubs just ease him in with a low leverage inning or two, it would also make sense to have him see a ninth inning, and if he's healthy, we've seen what he can do.
No wonder Daniel Palencia’s been one of the league’s best this year. Pure filth. pic.twitter.com/ypvxjpbSq6
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) August 14, 2025
Short Relief: More Bullpen Notes
-This week's saves leaders were Emilio Pagan of the Reds and Andres Munoz of the American League West champion Seattle Mariners, with three.
-The holds leader for the week were Juan Mejia and Jimmy Herget of the Rockies, and Eduard Bazardo of the Mariners, each with three.
-Heading into the final weekend, Robert Suarez has 40 saves and Carlos Estevez has 41. They'll be the only two relievers to finish with 40 or more saves, but we'll see who ends up with the most.
-Holds leaders for the season are Abner Uribe with 37 and Hunter Gaddis with 35. Uribe would have easily taken this one and likely had over 40 if he hadn't been filling in at closer for the Brewers.
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