National League Fantasy Baseball Closer Report (June 7): Is Hector Neris Worth Adding?

Welcome to this week’s National League Fantasy Baseball Closer Report! The NL boasts many of the league’s top closers, most of whom had excellent weeks. But it also has more than its fair share of chaos-filled committees, so let’s take a look at how the last week went down in bullpens across the league:

Atlanta Braves: Stable — Raisel Iglesias

Iglesias racked up three saves over the last week, bringing his total to 16 on the season. He hasn’t been striking many batters out, with a 17.4% K rate, way down from his 29.4% career average, but he’s getting the job done with just a 0.94 WHIP and an 89% save percentage.

Miami Marlins: Stable — Tanner Scott

Even though his job is relatively stable, the Marlins’ struggles as a team are clearly hurting Scott’s chances to be a fantasy-viable closer. They didn’t manage a single save opportunity over the last week (they had just one win, an 8-2 victory over the Rangers) and now have sole possession of last place in team saves for the season: just nine in 62 games. Scott does have seven of those nine and an impressive 1.50 ERA, but there may be league formats where his capped save production isn’t worth a roster spot.

New York Mets: Chaos — Reed Garrett, Adam Ottavino, Jake Diekman, Edwin Diaz (IL15)

With Diaz sidelined, things went from “unpredictable” to “really unpredictable” for the Mets this week. Diekman, whom I didn’t even consider relevant enough to mention last week, was the only player to pick up a save. However, he only got that save opportunity because Ottavino, who got the first shot at the ninth inning, had to be pulled with the bases loaded.

Diekman also blew another save opportunity the day before, giving up a game-winning, two-run homer to Ketel Marte. Garrett did finish two Mets' victories on the mound, but they were both low-leverage situations, and he did have issues of his own. In fact, all three of these relievers had ERAs above 9.00 this week. With no one performing well or staking a solid claim to a true closer role, this situation may be best avoided until Diaz returns.

Philadelphia Phillies: Committee — Jose Alvarado, Jeff Hoffman

Talk about an effective committee — Alvarado (two) and Hoffman (one) combined for three saves this week … and each time one got a save in the ninth, the other set them up with a scoreless eighth inning. As a duo, they combined for 10 strikeouts (five each) and just four baserunners allowed (three from Hoffman) in eight innings of zero-run pitching this week. Classifying this as a full-blown committee is a little unfair to Alvarado, who has 11 saves to Hoffman’s five, but both have been so impressive it would be more unfair to leave Hoffman out entirely.

Washington Nationals: Stable — Kyle Finnegan

This was a relatively uneventful week for Washington’s bullpen. Finnegan made two appearances, giving up a home run to Pete Alonso in a game the Nats were already losing but also successfully converting a save against the Guardians. Finnegan is now tied for fifth in MLB with 16 saves on the season, having survived some bad peripheral metrics to provide decent results.

Chicago Cubs: Stabilizing — Hector Neris

Adbert Alzolay, the Cubs’ leader in save opportunities for much of the early season, was moved to the 60-day IL on Sunday, leaving Neris and Mark Leiter Jr. to fight for ninth-inning duties for the foreseeable future. Based on what we saw this week, Neris, who was already Chicago’s main high-leverage option, if not a traditional closer, has won out.

He made four appearances, all in the ninth inning, and finished the week with two saves and a win (although he did allow what would eventually become a game-deciding insurance run in his fourth appearance). With a 4.99 xERA and only a 20.0% K rate, Neris isn’t an ideal fantasy option, but he is still worth adding if you are looking for saves.

Cincinnati Reds: Stable — Alexis Diaz

Another week, another two saves for Alexis Diaz. Diaz did allow a run in one of his three appearances, but all three still finished with the ball in his hand and the Reds in the lead. His ERA is inflated at 5.40, but Diaz’s utter dominance over Cincinnati’s save situations will always make him a desirable fantasy option.

Milwaukee Brewers: Chaos — Trevor Megill, Joel Payamps, Enoli Paredes, Bryan Hudson, Elvis Peguero, Hoby Milner

I’m kind of making a joke here by listing six names for the Brewers … but not entirely. Every player listed saw at least one very high-leverage appearance over the last week, with Paredes picking up his first MLB save. Megill, who has eight saves on the season and five over the last month, is still the most appealing option, but one of his two appearances on the week coming in a low-leverage seventh inning doesn’t exactly scream “closer.”

Pittsburgh Pirates: Stable — David Bednar

This was a much-needed clean week for Bednar, who allowed just one baserunner and zero runs across three innings, lowering his ERA for the season to 5.68 and picking up his 12th save along the way. After a rough start to the year, he has seen much better results over the last month, posting a 1.46 ERA and 0.89 WHIP to go with six saves.

Luis L. Ortiz also picked up the first save of his career this week, but that was a save thanks to the three-inning rule with the Pirates up by six runs throughout — a fun moment, but not a threat to Bednar’s job.

St. Louis Cardinals: Stable — Ryan Helsley

Last week, Helsley recorded three saves despite a few shaky moments. This week, he added two more saves to his season total, and this time he made it look easy. He sat down all six batters he faced, including striking out four, even leaving a ghost runner stranded in an extra-innings appearance. The MLB leader with 20 saves, Helsley is as safe as they come.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Stable — Paul Sewald

Sewald recorded three saves this week and also made a one-out appearance to finish out another win for the D-backs. Across his 3.1 innings, he allowed just two baserunners (zero hits) and recorded four strikeouts. Sewald has been dominant since his return from the IL in early May, with seven saves on a 100% save percentage, a 0.87 ERA, and a 0.48 WHIP.

Colorado Rockies: Unstable — Jalen Beeks, Tyler Kinley, Justin Lawrence (IL15)

Beeks and Kinley each picked up a save this week. However, Beeks also had a five-ER blowup in a different save opportunity, which came on a day where Kinley had his own struggles with two earned runs in the eighth. Beeks is still the top player to target here, but I wouldn’t recommend either unless you are truly desperate.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Stabilizing — Evan Phillips, Daniel Hudson, Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia

Phillips returned from the IL this week, and it seemed initially as though he would immediately reclaim the closer’s role for the Dodgers: His first appearance was a clean save against the Rockies. However, he next appeared in a low-leverage eighth inning against the Pirates … and proceeded to allow three earned runs.

With that said, no other Dodger saw a save opportunity, and this was a very low-leverage week for LA’s bullpen as a whole. I expect Phillips, who had eight of the Dodgers’ 11 saves when he first headed for the IL, to reassert himself atop the pecking order eventually.

San Diego Padres: Stable — Robert Suarez

Suarez easily leads the league in total saves without a blown opportunity at 17, and he added another tally to his perfect record with a one-out save this week. Yuki Matsui did see the Padres’ only other save opportunity this week, but Suarez had pitched each of the previous two days, so was likely just being rested … and Matsui blew that opportunity with three earned runs and just one out, so I’m not exactly worried that he is coming for Suarez’s job.

San Francisco Giants: Stable — Camilo Doval

This was a very rough week for Doval. He made just one appearance, and that appearance was atrocious, as he allowed four earned runs in a blown save against the Yankees. However, that was only Doval’s second blown save of the season; barring a few more rough outings, his job should be safe.