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Another week down, another week closer to the playoffs (in real life and even closer for fantasy!) It was another mostly quiet week in the world of bullpens across the league, with no huge shifts taking place and of course all trades well behind us at this point. There was still some movement in a couple of bullpens, some impressive performances, and some not so much.
A formerly injured former closer is back to closing, while another formerly injured former closer is now working in a setup role. We had another three-inning outing for the first save of a pitcher's career this week, and we saw a bullpen that used to be pretty straightforward go all kinds of catawampus. All that and more without another catawampus drop (we promise) in this week's Closers and Saves 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 2023 baseball season.
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Toronto Blue Jays - Bullpen and Closer News
The Blue Jays got their closer back, as Jordan Romano returned from the injured list and immediately resumed his ninth-inning role. Erik Swanson and Jordan Hicks were sharing the role while Romano was out, but Romano was activated on Tuesday and came in to pitch in a save situation later that same day. He struck out two batters in a perfect ninth inning to record his 29th save of the year.
Jordan Romano, Wicked Sliders. 🤢 pic.twitter.com/ULct9ClOOo
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 16, 2023
Meanwhile, Hicks and Swanson should both still be solid holds league assets, but their value in standard formats takes an obvious hit with Romano's return. Toronto might take it a little easy on Romano, leading to some save chances for other Blue Jays relievers. But the majority of the saves coming from that bullpen will be Romano's going forward.
Risers: Jordan Romano
Fallers: Erik Swanson, Jordan Hicks
Washington Nationals - Bullpen and Closer News
Another injured closer was able to make his return this week, with Hunter Harvey rejoining the Nationals bullpen. In this case, however, he will return to a setup role ahead of closer Kyle Finnegan. Finnegan's numbers for the season are solid (2.55 ERA, 19 saves). He's been even better for the past month, pitching 13 2/3 innings and saving eight games without allowing a single earned run.
Harvey has better strikeout numbers than Finnegan and stronger predictive numbers like FIP and xFIP. But when a guy is in a role like Finnegan is, you don't remove him from the closer's job. Harvey should have solid value in holds leagues, but the only Washington reliever who should be rostered in standard formats right now is Finnegan.
Risers: Kyle Finnegan
Fallers: Hunter Harvey
St. Louis Cardinals - Bullpen and Closer News
The Cardinals thought they'd be getting closer Ryan Helsley back from the injured list as soon as this week, but another setback during his rehab canceled any thoughts of that happening. An MRI showed healing in his forearm, but according to reports, he remains "without a timeline" to resume his rehab assignment.
The Cardinals have been working with a closer committee that is mostly made up of Giovanny Gallegos and JoJo Romero. Neither pitcher has been particularly impressive of late, but Romero seems to be getting the slightly larger piece of the closer cake. Neither one is a must roster, but either one could have some value in most formats.
Risers: JoJo Romero, Giovanny Gallegos
Fallers: Ryan Helsley
Short Relief - Other Bullpen News
-Scott Barlow has had a rough start to his Padres career and has fallen out of the key setup role, which now seems to belong to Robert Suarez.
-Gregory Santos is the leader of the White Sox committee, but he's had a few struggles and there are plenty of options in the Chicago bullpen.
-The Tigers bullpen is completely wide open, with Jason Foley, Beau Brieske, and Jose Cisnero all recording saves this week.
-Ryan Yarbrough earned his first career save this week by pitching the final three innings of a Dodgers win.
-Jacob Lopez also earned his first career save with a three-inning performance, but he did it as part of his major league debut for the Rays.
-The Royals bullpen remains in shambles, with Carlos Hernandez the most likely to earn a save on any given day, but still not too likely.
-Clay Holmes and Trevor May had both been pitching pretty well but had absolutely awful outings this week, blowing games that saw their teams with four and five-run leads, respectively.
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