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Fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for closers, saves, and bullpen arms for Postseason Week 3 (2024). David's relief pitcher and bullpen updates, and closers to add.
We're officially down to four teams left, internet friends! One of the Dodgers, Mets, Guardians, or Yankees will be the 2024 World Series champions (and all of those teams are set up for another good season next year, too). We've already seen some fantastic bullpen performances in these playoffs but also some surprising blow-ups.
Three of the four teams left in the playoffs have a locked-in closer. The Mets have had Edwin Diaz whenever he's healthy. The Guardians had Emmanuel Clase have one of the best reliever seasons ever. The Yankees worked their way through Clay Holmes to land on Luke Weaver. And then there's also the Dodgers.
All that and more in this week's report! Be sure to also keep an eye on our Fantasy Baseball Closer Depth Charts for saves, holds, and bullpens. They will be updated daily or sometimes even more often throughout the 2024 baseball season.
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LCS Bullpens
New York Mets
The Mets playoff bullpen is led by Edwin Diaz as it was all season when he was healthy. Diaz missed some time and ended up with just 20 saves in 52 2/3 innings. In the postseason, he's pitched 4 2/3 innings while earning two saves. He had one bad outing, allowing all three runs he's allowed this postseason in the same inning.
All together, Diaz has 10 strikeouts and six walks with those three runs allowed so far in the 2024 postseason. Reed Garrett and Jose Butto have both worked in a more versatile role than they did in the regular season, but they are still the two most likely holds candidates and should see the leverage innings for the Mets.
Edwin Díaz's 3Ks in the 9th. 🎺🎺🎺 pic.twitter.com/8B2yC7NpVQ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 14, 2024
New York Yankees
The Yankees bullpen was a study of the “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” quote. Clay Holmes appeared in 67 games, saving 30 of them and posting a 3.14 ERA. That all sounds good so far. He also led the league in blown saves. By a lot. He had 13 blown saves while no one else had more than eight.
Luke Weaver took over, first as a member of a committee, but quickly as the closer after that. He saved four games in the regular season and has already saved four in the playoffs. He's thrown seven playoff innings, allowing just one run, striking out nine, and walking one. Weaver was one of just five relievers with 100 strikeouts this season.
6 IP, 4 saves, 0.00 ERA, 9 Ks. Luke Weaver is a STAR. pic.twitter.com/0qVSd2FRMU
— MLB (@MLB) October 15, 2024
Cleveland Guardians
Emmanuel Clase was the best reliever in baseball this season and had one of the best reliever seasons of all time. He pitched 74 1/3 innings in the regular season, allowing just five earned runs total and never more than one at a time (0.61 ERA). In the playoffs, though, it's been a different story.
Clase has pitched six postseason innings and has allowed six runs. So in just six innings, he's already given up more runs than he did in the entire 2024 season. He's earned multiple chances to get right, but Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith should see leverage innings in this series as well.
Aaron Judge with a game-tying home run off Emmanuel Clase. Clutch as it gets. pic.twitter.com/vHxIsaqxmq
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 17, 2024
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are the only team left in the playoffs that doesn't have a specific ninth-inning arm. They've been mixing and matching and it's been working well, with the Dodgers pitching staff allowing a total of just nine runs since Game 4 of the Division Series against the Padres (seven of those runs came in Game 2 of the NLCS).
Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen, and Evan Phillips have been the leverage guys in the playoffs, but they've all seen early inning appearances as well. With a 3-1 lead in the Championship Series, it will be interesting to see what the Dodgers do with their bullpen for the remainder of the series.
Evan Phillips, 96mph Paint. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/kSAYqEDBEJ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 12, 2024
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