Not a ton of closer news this week. However, the Red Sox finally made an announcement regarding their closer plans for the rest of the season. There are still a bunch of closers on the hot seat as we near an end to the season so there is a lot to keep an eye on.

Editor's Note: Bookmark our MLB Closers & Saves Depth Charts for the latest look at all the current closers, setup men, longshots and relief pitcher waiver wire adds.

MLB Closers & Saves Updates for Week 22

Jean Machi (BOS)

After back-to-back solid outings including his third save of the season, Machi was named as the team's closer moving forward. He hasn’t had a great season overall, but any time you can pick up a closer off of the waiver wire it’s worth taking a look. At only 7.9% owned in ESPN leagues, he’s widely available and is a nice player to add for the stretch run with the hopes that he keeps the job for the remainder of the season.

With the promotion of Machi comes the demotion of Junichi Tazawa to a setup role. With his recent struggles it’s unlikely that Tazawa will see any more save opportunities even if Machi fails to take advantage of his new position. Tazawa can now be dropped in all leagues if you still have him rostered.

Wade Davis (KC)

Davis continued his dominant season, bringing his ERA to .99 and recording his 13th save. He is a great waiver wire option and at only 62.9% owned in ESPN leagues, can be added in a decent amount of leagues. Davis has 63 K's in 54.2 innings and is a solid player to have even if he's not getting consistent saves. I'd expect him to continue to close games or at least split time with Greg Holland in that department to make sure Holland is 100% going into the playoffs.

Drew Pomeranz (OAK)

Pomeranz has been getting a lot of work this season with 77.1 innings pitched and has been pretty consistent all year. He averages almost a strikeout per inning and will continue to get appearances even if he’s relegated to the set up man. That said, I wouldn’t recommend picking him up with the possible emergence of Sean Doolittle as the closer to end the season.

Sean Doolittle finally picked things up in his third appearance since returning from injury, recording two strikeouts in his one inning of work. Doolittle is 21% owned in ESPN leagues and is definitely a waiver wire option this week with the expectation that he’ll overtake the closer job for good. He’s been an elite strikeout pitcher in his career so if he can come close to regaining his old form, he’ll be a great player to have as the season winds down.

MLB & Fantasy Baseball Chat Room

[iflychat_embed id="c-12" hide_user_list="yes" hide_popup_chat="no" height="400px"]