Hector Neris - Closers and Saves Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds (Week 4)

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ROSTERED IN: 46% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: With the removal of Adbert Alzolay from the closer role for the Cubs after a fourth blown save already in the early going of 2024, an opportunity was created for another reliever to take over the job. Hector Neris was called upon to record the save in the second game of the Cubs' doubleheader this past Saturday and since then he's recorded two more saves in consecutive days on Wednesday and Thursday.

It hasn't been without drama though. Neris came into the ninth inning with a 4-2 lead over the Astros Wednesday, then promptly gave up a home run to Jose Altuve before retiring the next three batters to preserve the 4-3 victory. On Thursday, Neris again came on in the ninth with a 3-1 lead and walked the first two batters he faced, bringing the winning run to the plate with no outs in the inning. The 34-year-old proceeded to induce three straight groundouts to get out of the inning with the victory.

Héctor Neris escapes the jam against his former team and is PUMPED! pic.twitter.com/SchDL9q4mk

— MLB (@MLB) April 25, 2024

It had been much of the same prior to taking over ninth-inning duties and the righty now has a 4.00 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, and a -2.4% K-BB% (yes, that's a negative 2.4%). Regardless of how he got there, the veteran now has three saves on the season.

It was thought that potentially Mark Leiter Jr. could compete for ninth-inning duties as his numbers are sparkling so far on the season with a 0.00 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and a 15.7% K-BB%, but it appears the Cubs don't want to mess around with his role. Neris has the edge when it comes to experience too, with 92 career saves compared to Leiter's seven.

Fantasy managers who want to take a chance on Neris may have a good shot at getting him as he's available in over 50% of Yahoo leagues at this point, just know that the potential save could cost you in WHIP and ERA.

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