RADIO
Another week of baseball, another flurry of bullpen moves. New injuries, lots of saves, and some blown ones as well. A few teams that had committees to start the season seem to be settling into fixed roles, but then some teams with what seemed like fixed roles are turning into committees.
A Blue Jays rookie landed on the injured list, a Marlins free agent signing lost his grip on the ninth inning, an A's reliever got his first save in almost three years, and the Cleveland bullpen is starting to take shape. A few other bullpens are strengthening or falling apart, which we'll take a look at going forward.
Remember to keep an eye on our RotoBaller Closers and Saves Bullpen Depth Charts. They're updated daily, or sometimes even more often in this already abnormal baseball season. With that being said, below are my closers, saves, and bullpen waiver wire pickups to consider for Week 4 - April 19th through April 25th.
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Bullpen News For The Week
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays thought they'd have Kirby Yates closing games all season long, but he went on the injured list before the season even started and he's already done for the year as he'll be recovering from Tommy John Surgery. Jordan Romano (arm) was expected to be the next man up, but rookie Julian Merryweather (oblique) took the bullpen reins and ran with them, leaving Romano in a setup/fireman role while Merryweather settled into the ninth. Then Merryweather got hurt with what was originally called hip irritation, but then later deemed a left oblique injury. Obliques tend to take their time to heal, so it's unclear how long Merryweather will be out. Romano figured to be the next guy up, but then he landed on the injured list as well. So Rafael Dolis should take the reins in the Toronto bullpen, but Tim Mayza and Trent Thornton could see some ninth inning work as well.
Miami Marlins
Before the season started, the Marlins went out and signed Anthony Bass to a two-year contract. Even though the total value of the deal (without the 2023 club option) was only $5 million, manager Don Mattingly went ahead and named Bass the team's closer before the ink on the contract was even dry. Bass only had 15 saves in his career, but for some reason, there would be no closer competition in 2021 spring training. The ninth inning belonged to Anthony Bass. Just two save opportunities into the season, the ninth inning no longer belongs to Anthony Bass. Two ugly blown saves in his first two chances meant that even the stubborn Mattingly had to make a change in the back of the bullpen.
Yimi Garcia stepped in and immediately showed that he had the mental "stuff" to close games. He locked down a one-run win in the 10th inning of Wednesday's game by getting the three best Braves hitters out, even with the ridiculous free base runner already on second base. The only issue with Garcia is if he has the pitching "stuff" to sustain the closer's job. He's a fly ball pitcher who can struggle with walks at times, but he has been missing more bats lately than he did earlier in his career. Garcia likely won't be an elite closer, but he seems to have what it takes to at least be a guy the Marlins can rely on, and that makes him worth rostering in most formats.
Oakland A's
The A's came into the season expecting resurgent veteran Trevor Rosenthal (shoulder) to be their closer. A shoulder injury knocked him out as well, and he was on the injured list before Opening Day came around. Jake Diekman was expected to take the ninth inning since he appeared to be the primary setup man. For a while, it looked like Diekman would be "the guy" in Oakland, but comments from the team and recent usage have shown that Lou Trivino might be the more likely candidate. Odds are, Trivino and Diekman will split save opportunities for now, at least until one of them separates himself from the other or Rosenthal returns. In holds leagues, either Trivino or Diekman should be valuable assets, but in standard leagues, it's looking like Trivino might be the slightly preferred option.
Cleveland Indians
Every fantasy baseball manager's favorite relief pitcher coming into the season (at least until he made his personal opinions known) was James Karinchak. The guy had never-before-seen strikeout numbers and was going to have the ninth inning to himself in 2021. A guy who, without the closer's role, was still valuable in standard leagues just because of his strikeout numbers was finally going to add saves to his stat sheet. But then the season started. And Cleveland was using a committee. Again. It seemed like Nick Wittgren was working his way to the top of the committee for a moment, but Emmanuel Clase and his 101 mph cutter quickly jumped him in the pecking order. While it's still a committee of some sort, Clase seems like he's going to get more save chances than the others, and should be picked up in most formats.
Short Relief
-The Tigers bullpen is more or less a mess, but based on recent usage and minor success, Bryan Garcia may be just slightly ahead of Gregory Soto for the next save chance in Detroit. This seems like a bullpen better left alone in most fantasy leagues.
-Alex Colome has struggled for the Twins, but he seems to at worst be the head of the committee there. Taylor Rogers and Hansel Robles are waiting around with plenty of closing experience though.
-Ian Kennedy seems in charge of the ninth inning in Texas. It's a low-upside role with a team sure to struggle for wins, but he could provide some value and is still on many waiver wires.
-Any doubts that Will Smith was the closer in Atlanta should more or less be put to rest at this point. He's the guy. It looks like A.J. Minter is next in line, but he's struggled recently and blew a save on Thursday when Smith had a day off.
-Amir Garrett still seems like the favorite for saves in Cincinnati, but Lucas Sims won't let it be Garrett's job alone. It's some sort of a committee there, with Sean Doolittle possibly having something to say about it soon as well.
-Not a ton of clarity in the Arizona bullpen, but Stefan Crichton would seem to be the head of the committee, ahead of Kevin Ginkel and Taylor Clarke. Chris Devenski might regain the ninth inning role whenever he is able to return.
-Kendall Graveman may be taking over in the Seattle bullpen, but we'll need to see what happens in their next save opportunity to be sure. Rafael Montero has struggled while Graveman has been fantastic, so a switch could be coming.
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