American League Fantasy Baseball Closer Report (June 5): Should you Add Yimi Garcia with Jordan Romano Out?

Welcome back to the American League Fantasy Baseball Closer Report! As we now have a baseline to refer back to from last week’s first edition, this week’s article will focus mostly on updates from the last week of games.

Baltimore Orioles: Stabilizing — Craig Kimbrel 

Kimbrel appears to have found his groove again after briefly being demoted from the closer role early in the season. He has now gone eight games without allowing a run and is the only Oriole to record a save in the last two weeks.

He made one appearance over the last week, recording a clean two-strikeout save against the Rays. I’m not quite ready to declare him 100% stable after his early-season struggles, but another clean week will get him there.

Boston Red Sox: Stable — Kenley Jansen

This was a good week for Jansen’s job security. He didn’t record a save himself (his one appearance came in a tied game in the ninth inning, which he escaped unscathed), but nor did anyone else.

Meanwhile, two of the three potential threats I mentioned last week, Chris Martin and Greg Weissert, had rough outings. Combine that with Boston’s bullpen usage, which implied that Jansen would have been the one to see save situations if they had encountered any, and he is firmly trending up.

New York Yankees: Stable — Clay Holmes

Using the basic “Stable” label for Clay Holmes almost does a disservice to how dominant he has been over the Yankees’ bullpen. It has now been a month since anyone else has recorded a save for the evil empire, while Holmes added two more this week to bring his tally to 17, the third-most in MLB.  

Tampa Bay Rays: Stable — Pete Fairbanks

It’s a similar story in Tampa: Despite some bumps along the way, Fairbanks came into the week as the Rays’ top closer, and he exited it as the Rays’ top closer. He made four appearances, recording two saves and a win while allowing zero earned runs.

I’m still intrigued by Garrett Cleavinger (who also didn’t allow a run in his three appearances), but Fairbanks isn’t giving him or anyone else a chance to stick their foot in the door. 

Toronto Blue Jays: Chaos — Jordan Romano (IL15), Yimi Garcia

Last week, I mentioned that I thought Garcia had a chance to eventually overtake Romano, as he had much better peripheral stats. That chance came sooner than expected, as Romano headed to the IL on Saturday with inflammation in his elbow.

In Romano’s absence, Garica did record his third save of the season, although it wasn’t entirely smooth sailing as he allowed two hits and an earned run before finishing off the Pirates with three Ks. It remains to be seen whether Romano, whose injury appears to be minor, will reclaim the closer role upon his return, but I would recommend snagging Garcia just in case if you’re looking for relief help.  

Chicago White Sox: Unstable & Unappealing — Michael Kopech, Jordan Leasure, John Brebbia

This has been a committee situation for most of the season, but Kopech appears to be pulling away as the top option in the ninth inning. With that said, it didn’t result in any saves (or even save opportunities) for him this week, as the rest of the bullpen recorded four blown saves in innings six through eight.

Kopech did make two late-game appearances without allowing an earned run, but he’s not exactly appealing as a saves target for fantasy with the White Sox on a 10-game losing streak that shows no signs of stopping. 

Cleveland Guardians: Stable — Emmanuel Clase

Fun fact: The entire Guardians bullpen didn’t allow a single run across 21 innings this week. Of course, that includes Clase, who picked up two more saves to bring his season total to 19, tied for the MLB lead. 

Detroit Tigers: Stable — Jason Foley

With a 4.38 xERA and 1.37 WHIP, Foley is fortunate to find himself listed with the same classification as names like Clase. But it’s hard to deny that he has 12 of the Tigers’ 15 saves on the season, including one more over this last week (Detroit’s only save of the week).

He made two other appearances as well, in total allowing just two baserunners and zero runs across three innings, so there’s no reason to think he will lose his spot any time soon.

Kansas City Royals: Stable — James McArthur

Like Foley, McArthur has been relatively secure as the Royals’ closer and racked up double-digit saves despite otherwise uninspiring numbers. Unlike Foley, he blew his one save chance over the last week, allowing four earned runs and recording zero outs against the Padres (to be fair, he did enter the game with the bases already loaded).

McArthur now has a 9.00 ERA over the last month; the only reason I’m listing him as stable is that there is simply no good alternative to replace him in high-leverage situations, as the rest of the Royals’ bullpen has been similarly awful.

Minnesota Twins: Stable — Jhoan Duran

Duran recorded two saves this week, bringing himself to a perfect 10-for-10 in save situations since his return from the IL. He did allow two unearned runs against the Royals, and I’m still more impressed by Griffin Jax’s peripherals, but Duran is clearly the closer in Minnesota.

Houston Astros: Stable — Josh Hader

Don’t look now, but Hader is on fire. He allowed zero runs across four appearances this week, striking out seven of his 16 batters faced. He also picked up two saves, and Ryan Pressly added another as the Astros are slowly climbing their way out of the basement in terms of team saves.

Hader has been dominant over the last month, with a 0.68 ERA and 0.60 WHIP, firmly securing his spot as the Astros’ closer. 

Los Angeles Angels: Stable — Carlos Estevez

This was a very good week for Estevez, who allowed zero baserunners while recording two saves on back-to-back nights. Estevez now has 10 saves on the season, and his hold on the Angels’ closer role is relatively safe.

Oakland Athletics: Stable — Mason Miller

I guess I jinxed it last week when I mentioned that Miller hadn’t allowed a single home run on the season, as he allowed a solo shot to Jose Siri the very next day. That game also became his first blown save of the season.

But I’m not worried, even though it was Dany Jimenez, not Miller, who recorded the A’s only save of the week two days later. Miller has been one of the league’s best relievers all season, one bad week doesn’t change that. 

Seattle Mariners: Stable — Andres Munoz

Again, this wasn’t an ideal week for Munoz, who allowed his fifth earned run of the season and saw teammate Tayler Saucedo record a save. But Munoz also picked up a save of his own, his 12th of the season, and made three high-leverage ninth-inning appearances. His role is safe.

Texas Rangers: Stable — Kirby Yates

It’s hard to take too much from a week in which the Rangers didn’t have a single save opportunity, successful or otherwise. But Yates — who faced just one batter in his lone appearance of the week, coaxing a groundout from Christian Walker — came into the week stable, and I see no reason to downgrade him.