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The playoffs are coming! The playoffs are coming! While Major League Baseball's playoffs are still a ways away, fantasy playoffs are rapidly approaching. Some leagues are kicking things off next week, while all fantasy managers are at least starting to get nervous and look ahead. There were some key changes in a few bullpens this week that will certainly affect the fantasy playoff picture.
An old closer might be a new closer again, but then again maybe not? A former committee looks to be getting replaced by the one guy we all expected, while another current committee is being led by the guy we didn't expect. Also, the Rays bullpen. That's it, the sentence just says, "the Rays bullpen" and most readers probably scoffed or at least exhaled a little bit in recognition.
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New York Yankees - Bullpen and Closers News
The biggest bullpen news of the week came from the Yankees bullpen, with Clay Holmes landing on the injured list due to a back issue. Aroldis Chapman and Scott Effross look set to split closing duties while Holmes is gone. It wasn't the best start back in his closer's seat for Chapman, who dealt with the same control issues he's had most of the season. He ended up earning a win when the Yankees walked off on a grand slam, but before all that, Chapman allowed two runs on one hit and two walks while pitching just 2/3 of an inning. He threw 24 pitches and only 11 were strikes.
Meanwhile, Effross pitched right before Chapman and threw 1 1/3 innings, allowing no earned runs (a Manfred Runner scored) without allowing a hit. The run actually came in as Chapman's inherited runner, too. Chapman obviously has the "experience" at closing, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone has shown that he has no problem going away from the veteran lefty when he's struggling. For now, it's a committee, but it won't be surprising to see Effross start getting the larger share.
Risers: Scott Effross, Aroldis Chapman
Fallers: Clay Holmes
Minnesota Twins - Bullpen and Closers News
The Twins traded for former Orioles closer Jorge Lopez before the trade deadline but have had just three save opportunities since then. All three have gone to Lopez, who has converted two of them. We thought this might be a committee with Jhoan Duran involved, but it looks more like Duran and Emilio Pagan will be pitching in setup roles ahead of closer Jorge Lopez.
Despite the disappointing saves total so far, we all know they can come in bunches sometimes, and the Twins will be trying to lock down as many wins as they can as they battle for the AL Central. Lopez could be a nice buy low candidate in any leagues without trade deadlines.
Risers: Jorge Lopez
Fallers: Jhoan Duran
Cincinnati Reds - Bullpen and Closers News
The Reds bullpen looks like it might be figuring itself out, as Alexis Diaz is clearly separating himself from his competition. While no official announcement has been made by the team yet, recent usage shows that Diaz is at the very least the head of the committee and likely the full time closer before long.
Diaz earned an impressive five-out save this week after his main competition, Hunter Strickland, made a complete mess of things by allowing three batters to reach while getting just one out. Strickland has been struggling for a while now while Diaz has excelled, making it hard to see anyone but Diaz being the one getting the ball whenever the Reds find themselves with a lead in the ninth inning.
Risers: Alexis Diaz
Fallers: Hunter Strickland
Short Relief - Other Bullpen News
-Jason Adam seems to be "the guy" in the Rays bullpen right now, but we all know "the guy" in the Rays bullpen changes every few games.
-Seranthony Dominguez is the head of the committee in Philadelphia, but it's not a 50-50 split. It's more like he's the closer and David Robertson will jump in from time to time to help.
-Mark Melancon and Ian Kennedy haven't been great this season, but it looks like the Diamondbacks are committed to keeping the two veterans in the 8th and 9th innings while Joe Mantiply works earlier high-leverage situations.
-Matt Barnes earned a save for the Red Sox this week, his first since May. He's been pitching well and is working his way up the bullpen, but was used in that situation mostly because the other high-leverage arms in the bullpen were unavailable.
-Darin Ruf pitched two scoreless innings in a blowout this week, becoming the third position player since the mid-1980s to get six outs on 15 pitches or fewer. There are a few teams who could use a guy like Ruf in their bullpen.
-The Angels have only one reliever who has earned multiple saves since they traded closer Raisel Iglesias, and that's lefty Jose Quijada. He has to be considered at least the head of the committee for now.
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