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We are so back. Spring training is underway, people are already overreacting to meaningless games, and somehow several top-tier free agents are still unemployed. It's always a fun time in the baseball world as hope springs eternal for most teams (some try their best to be realistic, but even then you can see the slightest glimmer sometimes).
With baseball back, our Closers and Saves Report is back as well! Bullpen depth charts will be updated as soon as any news comes in, and this report will be back to regular publication, too. For this week's edition, we'll take a quick look at each bullpen around the American League (National League next week). For now, there seem to be a good number of bullpens that are set and ready for Opening Day, but we all know how injuries, trades, and signings can change things, not to mention surprising Grapefruit and Cactus League performances.
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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American League East - Bullpen Preview
The American League East is one of just two divisions that seems to have all five teams heading into spring training with their closer role set and ready for Opening Day. Things can and likely will change, especially as the season goes on, but for now it's a nice start to look at a solidly set division.
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles lost closer Felix Bautista to a torn UCL and he's unlikely to pitch at all this season. To take his place in the ninth inning, they went out and got Craig Kimbrel and his 417 career saves. Yennier Cano and Dillon Tate figure to see the most use in set up roles.
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox had an interesting offseason, but it didn't change much in terms of their bullpen. Kenley Jansen will return in the closer's role with Chris Martin setting him up. Both are free agents after the season, so there's a good chance the Red Sox bullpen will look quite different after the trade deadline. Boston signed Liam Hendriks this offseason, and he expects to be ready to pitch at some point near the deadline, so he could take on a key role if he's healthy.
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees bullpen had plenty of ups and quite a few downs last season, but at least to start the year this season, it will look pretty similar. Clay Holmes returns as the incumbent closer, with Jonathan Loaisiga setting up alongside Tommy Kahnle.
Posting a Clay Holmes swinging strike everyday until opening day: Day 2
pic.twitter.com/xUfARefAXJ— . (@HalToHell) February 21, 2024
Tampa Bay Rays
We all know better than to assume a Tampa Bay Rays team will ever have a truly solidified, save-him-for-the-ninth-inning closer, but this season may be as close as they've been to that in a long time. Pete Fairbanks is set for that key closer's role, with Jason Adam and Colin Poche working innings before him but likely occasionally after him as well.
I can’t get over how Peter Fairbanks always looks like he’s the only person who sees there’s a ghost in the room and is trying to play it cool pic.twitter.com/gQGUA5ibf8
— Ben Palmer (@benjpalmer) October 25, 2020
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays bullpen looks almost identical to last season's, especially in the later innings. Jordan Romano returns for the ninth inning, with Erik Swanson and Yimi Garcia around for the holds. There are some changes in their middle relief, but their fantasy-relevant guys remain the same for another year.
American League Central - Bullpen Preview
The American League Central is one of the more interesting divisions to watch this season. Considered a wide open competition by most, it will be fun to see if some teams can make a huge jump from last season or if things will be more of the same. There are some intriguing bullpen arms in this division as usual.
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox bullpen wasn't great last season. That's true for Chicago's fans and for fantasy managers. This season might not be much different, but at least there are some arms to potentially be excited about. Rookie Jordan Leasure had enormous strikeout numbers in the minors and might break camp with the team. John Brebbia was expected to see the most save chances because of his veteran status, but he's injured and may be a bit behind. Bryan Shaw is sure to be around the late innings as well.
Greatest sound in baseball, courtesy of Jordan Leasure’s 99 mph fastball… pic.twitter.com/xkIJ9QnLXF
— Dylan (@NotCease) February 15, 2024
Cleveland Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians bullpen is likely to be one of the best in the division, spearheaded by Emmanuel Clase. Clase had some rough outings last season, which led to easily the worst statistical season of his career, but there were also plenty of signs that he could bounce back. Scott Barlow signed on as a free agent and will be the key setup guy. Trevor Stephan was set to see some late inning work as well, but he's being shut down from throwing for at least three weeks, opening up a leverage spot for someone like Sam Hentges or Eli Morgan.
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers put together a much better season than most expected last year, and will look to continue growing from there. The bullpen looks to be solid heading into the season, with Alex Lange returning to close. Lange was hard to hit last season, but experienced some periods with serious control issues. He'll need to improve on that to keep his job, as Jason Foley, Will Vest, and Shelby Miller will be throwing in the late innings before him.
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals made some interesting moves this offseason and already had a few hugely talented players on their roster. They may not be quite ready to make a huge move in the division, but they're certainly one of the "hope springs eternal" in spring training teams this season.
William Smith will likely take on the closer's role, but the recent acquisition of John Schreiber shows that they might go matchup-based in the ninth inning instead. James McArthur has excellent stuff and will start out in a setup role, but could find his way into save situations at some point as well.
James McArthur's 3Ks in the 8th. pic.twitter.com/DotUNm86ER
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 20, 2023
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins bullpen will once again be anchored by Jhoan Duran this season. Duran proved to be one of the hardest relievers to hit last year, and did well once he was finally given close to full time closer's role. He'll be helped out by setup men Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart, both of whom have strong swing-and-miss stuff themselves. This bullpen should be one of the team's strengths.
American League West - Bullpen Preview
The American League West saw one of the best closers in baseball join the division this offseason, and another few moves that should make for a fun year of relief pitching.
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros bullpen was pretty good last season, with Ryan Pressly saving 31 games and Bryan Abreu recording 24 holds, both with K% rates higher than 27. They'll both be in setup roles this season though, with Josh Hader now a member of the Astros bullpen. The team has already announced that Hader will be the closer and Pressly will work in a setup role.
Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels will no longer have Shohei Ohtani, but they still have Mike Trout and that's fun, right? Right?? Their bullpen could actually be fun as well, with Carlos Estevez confirmed as the team's closer and Robert Stephenson working in a relief/fireman role (once he's healthy). Fireballer Ben Joyce and lefty Matt Moore will see key late game situations as well.
Did you know Angels reliever Ben Joyce threw the fastest recorded pitch in college baseball history (105.5mph) while at Tennessee?
Drafted in the 3rd round in ‘22, debuted in MLB last year. Another young player to watch in ‘24! Absolute GAS 🔥 #GoHalospic.twitter.com/fKWCzpPKrx
— StatsBrad (@StatsBrad) February 24, 2024
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland (for now) A's got a strong final season from Trevor May last year, who recorded 21 saves for a 50-win team before retiring from baseball and now focusing on his very entertaining Twitch channel. This year, Mason Miller, Dany Jimenez, and Trevor Gott figure to mix and match for the few save opportunities the team will have. This is certainly likely to be one of the bullpens to thoroughly avoid in most fantasy leagues.
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners bullpen has several really exciting power arms in the back end. Andres Munoz was excellent last season and should put up even more impressive numbers with a full season in the closer's role. Matt Brash was expected to be the primary setup man, but a recent elbow injury could cause him to miss most, if not all, of this season. Gregory Santos and Gabe Speier figure to pick up the slack left by Brash's absence, although neither has his same sky-high upside.
Some good news from the back end of the M’s bullpen: Andrés Muñoz appears to be in midseason form already.
He’s been up to 101 mph with his two-seamer, and said he felt great after his first live BP this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/JHiiHsELoI
— Adam Jude (@A_Jude) February 24, 2024
Texas Rangers
The World Series champion Texas Rangers enter the season with a four-person closer competition, according to manager Bruce Bochy. Jose Leclerc would figure to have at least a bit of a head start given his playoff performance, but Josh Sborz and veteran closer David Robertson figure to give him strong competition. Bochy generally tends to stick with one closer though, so whoever ends up winning the role for the Rangers should be a strong fantasy contributor.
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