Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report: Jeff Hoffman re-enters the closer picture; Kenley Jansen falls on hard times

Most teams have a closer, however tenuous his grasp on the role may be, but for the sake of our own sanity, we should probably acknowledge that the Twins, Athletics and Nationals simply don’t.

The Twins make for the most comical example. They’ve won four consecutive games, and each has been closed out by a different reliever (Andrew Morris, Anthony Banda, Taylor Rogers and Travis Adams). Furthermore, no one on the team has more than two saves. If you forced me to wager a guess as to which would end up with the most, I would say Rogers, but I say it with the lowest confidence.

The Athletics at one point looked like they might be closing in on Jack Perkins, who recorded three saves toward the end of April and is clearly their most talented reliever. He fumbled the bag, though, and is back to working lower-leverage situations. The Athletics’ past three saves have gone to three different pitchers, none of them Perkins (Scott Barlow, Mark Leiter and Hogan Harris).

The Nationals, meanwhile, have given three of their last five saves to left-hander Richard Lovelady, but that seems more like a matter of happenstance than intention. He neither started nor finished the ninth in a one-run win Sunday, entering to record just one out in the middle, and the save ultimately went to Orlando Ribalta. Others who have been in the saves mix recently include Gus Varland and PJ Poulin. Clayton Beeter just returned from a forearm issue but had notched two saves earlier this year, making him a possible closer candidate as well.

Enough about those messes, though. Let’s look at 10 bullpens that we might actually glean something from. 

Note: “Pecking order” refers to rosterability in Fantasy and not necessarily who’s first in line for saves (though it’s usually one and the same).

Just when you thought Louie Varland had the role on lockdown with seven saves, a 0.65 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP and 13.0 K/9, in comes Jeff Hoffman again with two of the Blue Jays’ past three saves. Abnormal circumstances? Well, Varland didn’t pitch at all in the two games where Hoffman recorded a save, but he did work the day before, each time for his own save and both times with a lofty pitch count. So Hoffman’s usage was probably just to build in some rest for Varland, but it’s worth pointing out how good he looked, striking out five between the two appearances without allowing a baserunner.

The Blue Jays sometimes like to have Varland throw multiple innings, which has been true even with his shift to the closer role, so for strategic purposes, it would make sense for him to cede the job back to Hoffman, who seems to have righted himself with a conscious decision to throw his slider more. But Varland has been so utterly dominant in the closer role that it’s hard to believe the Blue Jays would force him out of it.

Kenley Jansen’s season has taken a turn for the ugly, seeing him blow three of his past four save chances to bring his ERA to 5.02. Manager A.J. Hinch is already loath to conventional bullpen roles and would certainly be looking to shake things up if he had a serious alternative. Kyle Finnegan has closing experience and a 1.82 ERA, but he’s also had massive control issues (6.9 BB/9) that could come to a head soon. Will Vest’s numbers also don’t look great, though he did just make it back from an IL stint for forearm inflammation. One interesting possibility is Drew Anderson, if the Tigers were willing to remove him from his multi-inning role, but they’re probably not. So my hunch here is that Jansen’s role is fairly secure despite the recent hiccups.

Kirby Yates notched his first save Saturday in his seventh appearance back from a bout with knee inflammation. Of course, the IL stint was more about a drop in velocity and the effectiveness of his splitter than any injury, and nothing in the data would suggest he’s back to form. Still, his last three appearances have come in the ninth inning of close games, and the previous front-runner for saves, Ryan Zeferjahn, has fallen on hard times recently. The Angels’ best reliever remains Sam Bachman, but my suspicion is that they’d like to keep his role flexible enough that he can work multiple innings as needed.

The Orioles’ last two saves have gone to Anthony Nunez, but I’d have a hard time calling him the closer given that his three appearances in between all came prior to the ninth inning, including one as early as the fourth. The reliever to finish out all three of those games, even if not for a save, was Rico Garcia, who looked to be the fill-in closer when Ryan Helsley was first lost to an elbow issue and still has a 0.84 ERA, 0.56 WHIP and 11.0 K/9 on the year. My suspicion is that Garcia remains the Orioles’ highest-leverage reliever in the eyes of manager Craig Albernaz, but sometimes the highest-leverage situation comes prior to the ninth. It may be a moot point soon enough with Helsley back to throwing already, but elbow issues, even those that seem minor at first, have a way of escalating.

Emilio Pagan didn’t exactly have the ninth inning on lockdown when he was lost to a Grade 2 hamstring injury in early May, but he’s clearly been missed at the end of games. A big reason why is that Tony Santillan, who was the obvious next in line, hasn’t looked right this year, missing a couple miles per hour from both his fastball and slurve, and the result has been a 16.62 ERA in his six appearances since Pagan went down. Santillan’s past two appearances have come in the ninth, with the lead on the line, and he did at least convert a save Tuesday. But he blew one Friday, resulting in an extra-inning loss for the Reds.

Pierce Johnson and Tejay Antone have also gotten a save in the weeks since Pagan went down, but their overall usage would in no way suggest they’re serious closer candidates. Graham Ashcraft would make the most sense if manager Terry Francona wanted to pivot from Santillan, but he’s been pretty shaky lately himself.

With his just in save Sunday, Caleb Kilian has officially equaled Ryan Walker with three, but he’s clearly the one with all the momentum now, not only because all three of his have come in the past two weeks but also because Walker is now toiling in the minors. Meanwhile, five of Kilian’s last eight appearances have been to finish out a game, whether for a save or not, and the velocity bump that came with a move to full-time relief duty this year has made him a genuine bullpen weapon. I would argue that Keaton Winn is even more of one, but he has yet to record his first save and has occasionally entered games prior to the seventh inning, even. Rookie manager Tony Vitello has been fickle with his ninth-inning choices to this point, so you can’t get too comfortable with Kilian. But he’s looking like a clear front-runner right now.

The Astros finally seem to have landed on a workable plan for the ninth inning. Left-hander Bryan King is up to six saves after notching two more over the weekend, but the Astros’ two saves prior to those both went to Bryan Abreu, with King setting up for him. So there does seem to be some matchup chicanery at play, but King would seem to be the preferred choice, particularly with Abreu still not performing up to his usual standards. Now that we’ve sorted that out, it sounds like six-time All-Star Josh Hader is on the cusp of making his 2026 debut. He’s already made six rehab appearances, so he may only need another week.

With a 2.45 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 13.3 K/9 to go along with a fastball that peaks at 101 mph, Grant Taylor would seem to be the model closer-in waiting, so he raised some eyebrows by picking up a save in rather convincing fashion Tuesday, striking out the side in a perfect inning. Closer Seranthony Dominguez had been struggling before then, seeing his ERA climb above 4.00, which suggested that a changing of the guard may be in order. Then again, Taylor hadn’t even been the White Sox’s eighth-inning guy prior to that outing, more often working the sixth and seventh, and his only appearance since the save came in the fifth inning Sunday. He gave up two runs.

Dominguez also worked in Sunday’s game — pitching in the seventh, just to add to the confusion — but it may have been to give him some work after a week of not appearing in a game. I would presume he’s still the White Sox’s closer of choice, but he’s on the thinnest of ice now.

I think we’ve reached the point where I can stop writing about this bullpen for a while. Gregory Soto has registered each of the Pirates’ past four saves, including all they have for May, and he’s pitched the ninth inning in each of his past nine appearances. Meanwhile, Dennis Santana, his top competition for the role earlier this season, has crashed pretty hard, seeing his ERA climb over 5.00, which has me looking at Mason Montgomery as a possible fallback plan. It’s also worth noting that this version of Soto is perhaps the best we’ve ever seen. He’s broadened his arsenal and become near impossible to hit, delivering a 2.22 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 11.1 K/9.

Should we even care about the Rockies closer? Between the poor win-loss record and the brutal home environment, maybe not, but they do have some relievers doing interesting things right now. Antonio Senzatela and Juan Mejia are both up to three saves, and of the six combined, four have come in the past month. Senzatela, a converted starter who’s sporting a 1.13 ERA and 0.78 WHIP, would be the most promising choice, but the Rockies seem reluctant to move him out of his multi-inning role. Juan Mejia seems to be the current preference, with each of his past three appearances being to finish out a game, but one of those resulted in a blown save and another in a loss. The dark horse here is Jaden Hill, who’s a more conventional reliever than Senzatela and has done a better job than Mejia of keeping his ERA in check.