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We're almost there, Closers and Saves Report friends. Most fantasy leagues are either deep in the playoffs right now or, in rotisserie leagues, it's the home stretch. If you're still reading this, you're either still in contention for your league's championship (congrats!) or you just have really, really good taste in weekly fantasy baseball articles about closers and saves (congrats!)
This week, some committees became run by one guy, and some other committees got their guys switched around. An injury hit an exciting young closer and shifted things in one bullpen while another injured reliever returned to the mound but might not get his ninth inning back.
Be sure to keep an eye on our RotoBaller Closers and Saves Bullpen Depth Charts. They're updated daily, or sometimes even more often in this wild 2021 baseball season. With that being said, here are the closers, saves, and bullpen waiver wire pickups to consider for Week 25 - September 20 through September 26.
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Bullpen News For The Week
Oakland A's
The A's bullpen has been a committee for a while now, with veteran Sergio Romo taking the head of the committee role almost immediately after former closer Lou Trivino was moved out of the role. Romo did well for a few innings, but he's struggled in his last two outings and it seems like lefty trade deadline acquisition Andrew Chafin has moved to the seat at the head of the table. Chafin should be the top save option for the rest of the season, but Romo and Jake Diekman could mix in as well. The A's are a few games out of the Wild Card and have a few teams in front of them, so they'll need to do their best to hold every lead they get.
Risers: Andrew Chafin
Fallers: Sergio Romo
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates were excited to trot David Bednar out for save chances after they sent their closer Richard Rodriguez to the Braves at the trade deadline. Bednar pitched pretty well in limited chances, but he's on the injured list with an oblique strain now and is not expected to pitch again until next year. Bednar was the head of a committee made up of just himself and Chris Stratton. Stratton figures to slide into the full time closer role and could be a worthwhile waiver wire add for fantasy managers needing just one or two more saves to take the lead over their opponent.
Risers: Chris Stratton
Fallers: David Bednar
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks bullpen has been quite a ride this season. Things seemed to finally settle down when veteran reliever Tyler Clippard took the reins and closed the desert committee, making the ninth inning his own. A trip to the COVID IL changed all of that though, as Clippard was forced to miss some time. He returned earlier this week, but manager Torey Lovullo said he wasn't sure if he'd put Clippard back in the closer's role. While the veteran was out, J.B. Wendelken seemed to take over as committee head, with Noe Ramirez around as well. Wendelken is the most likely Arizona pitcher to earn a save, so he could be worth an add in deeper leagues with sparse waiver wires.
Risers: J.B. Wendelken
Fallers: Tyler Clippard
Seattle Mariners
First it was Rafael Montero, but he struggled. Then it was Kendall Graveman, but he got traded. We thought it would be Diego Castillo, but instead it was Paul Sewald. We thought that was it, but now it's Drew Steckenrider. "Steck" has earned most of the saves in the Seattle bullpen over the past two weeks and has moved up to at least be the head of the committee. In a six-save stretch for the Mariners, Steckenrider earned four of them, with Sewald and Castillo getting one each. All three can be rostered in holds leagues, but Steckenrider looks like the only truly valuable one in standard formats.
Risers: Drew Steckenrider
Fallers: Paul Sewald, Diego Castillo
Short Relief
-He was looked at as the head of the committee for a while, but Dylan Floro has been used as the full time closer for a while now in Miami's bullpen.
-Aroldis Chapman still hasn't looked like Aroldis Chapman, but the rest of the Yankees high leverage guys are either injured or pitching poorly, so it'll still be Chapman in most save situations.
-Daniel Bard looks like he is completely out of the hierarchy in Colorado, this is Carlos Estevez's bullpen now.
-Alex Reyes has worked his way back into some higher leverage innings, but it doesn't seem like he'll be taking back the ninth inning from Giovanny Gallegos any time soon.
-Nick Anderson is back in the Tampa Bay bullpen, but it remains unclear just how he'll be used. He could find his way into a save situation at some point, but then again so could any player on the Rays roster.
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