American League Fantasy Baseball Closer Report (June 12): Andres Munoz vs. Ryne Stanek

Welcome back to the American League Fantasy Baseball Closer Report! This was a rough week around the AL, as a combination of injuries and bad performances means a few previously stable situations are inching toward chaos. Let’s take a look at how each team’s closer situation is shaping up as we reach the middle of June:

Baltimore Orioles: Stable — Craig Kimbrel 

Last week, I said Kimbrel was one good week from reclaiming “Stable” status after some early-season struggles. This week, he did enough to make that jump … barely.

At first glance, three appearances with no earned runs and two saves is great. But Kimbrel took a loss in his first appearance of the week, and the only reason he didn't pick up an earned run is that he himself committed an error attempting a pickoff. Still, he bounced back with two clean saves to finish the week and seems to have solidly reasserted himself as the Orioles’ go-to ninth-inning option.

Boston Red Sox: Stable — Kenley Jansen

Jansen made just one appearance this week, a very impressive two innings against the White Sox in which he struck out five and allowed just one runner. Due to the game situation, he actually picked up a win, not a save, but pitching the eighth and ninth innings of Boston’s closest game of the week is still pretty clearly “closer” usage.  

New York Yankees: Stable — Clay Holmes

Holmes made three appearances this week, allowing zero runs and recording two saves to bring his season numbers to a 1.23 ERA and 19 saves. Another Yankee pitcher, Michael Tonkin, also recorded a save this week, but let’s not pretend that puts Holmes’ job in any jeopardy.  

Tampa Bay Rays: Stable — Pete Fairbanks

It’s another stable situation in Tampa: Fairbanks recorded the Rays’ only save this week and allowed just one baserunner across his two innings pitched. Meanwhile, Garrett Cleavinger, whom I have been hyping as a sneaky threat to Fairbanks, had a rough week with a 7.71 ERA, so that narrative can likely be put to rest for now. 

Toronto Blue Jays: Stable For Now — Yimi Garcia, Jordan Romano (IL15)

With Romano still on the IL, this was a very productive week for Garcia, who recorded two saves and two wins in four game-finishing appearances.

Garcia’s pitching wasn’t perfect, as he gave up a two-run homer to Ryan O'Hearn during his first save of the week, but it's hard to argue with his results. Romano began throwing on Monday, and his return will make this situation uncertain, but the closer’s job is clearly Garcia’s for now. 

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

Yuck, yuck, yuck. The White Sox as a team recorded five blown saves over the last seven days. The only save recorded was a three-inning-rule effort by rookie reliever Jonathan Cannon (congrats to him on his first career save).

Meanwhile, Kopech, Leasure and Brebbia combined to allow nine earned runs in seven innings (to be fair, Brebbia accounted for just one of the runs and 3.2 of the innings). I still recommend simply avoiding this bullpen for fantasy purposes.  

Cleveland Guardians: Stable — Emmanuel Clase

This was a down week for Clase, who allowed an earned run in each of his two outings. But he still picked up the save in one and successfully finished out the other with a three-run lead — his job is safe.

Meanwhile, congrats to Pedro Avila on his first career save, a three-inning effort against the Marlins in which he struck out six and allowed just two baserunners. 

Detroit Tigers: Stable — Jason Foley

Foley performed well this week, allowing just one runner in his two innings pitched. However, he didn’t see any save situations, as the Tigers went 1-4 with their sole win being a 10-2 blowout.

It is worth noting that the Tigers called on Foley in the eighth and lefty Andrew Chafin in the ninth in one of their closer games this week … but Chafin has a 4.91 ERA and 1.73 WHIP for the season, so it’s hard to call him a real threat to Foley’s job security. 

Kansas City Royals: Destabilizing — James McArthur, John Schreiber

This week was a mixed bag for McArthur — he had an impressive high-leverage save against the Guardians on Thursday and a clean ninth inning to finish off a Royals win on Saturday, but imploded on Sunday, allowing three runs (two earned) to the Mariners in the 10th.

McArthur now has a 5.27 ERA for the season and a 7.00 ERA over the last month. He is still seeing closer usage, but I have to imagine the Royals will consider turning to Schreiber (2.67 ERA for the season) eventually … although with Schreiber's 4.02 xERA, they may regret it. 

Minnesota Twins: Stable — Jhoan Duran

The Twins as a team didn’t have a single save opportunity this week, but they are still solidly above average in that category for the season, so it's not a huge concern. For his part, Duran made two appearances in closer-esque situations: the eighth inning of an away game with the Twins down by one run and the ninth inning of a tied game. He picked up a win in the latter of those two appearances but struggled in the first, recording just two outs and allowing three earned runs.

If you’ve been reading this column every week, you can probably guess that I am tempted to predict that Duran’s struggles will open the door for Griffin Jax and his Statcast page loaded with 90th percentile stats … but I can’t make that claim quite yet, as Duran seems to have solid job security. 

Houston Astros: Stable — Josh Hader

I appear to have once again jinxed an AL West closer. After I declared Hader “on fire” last week, he finished this week with a 10.80 ERA, picking up a loss and allowing two earned runs to the Angels. Hader bounced back the next day with a clean ninth inning in a tied game against the Giants, but he then had to watch the day after that as Ryan Pressly picked up his second save of the season.

Still, this was likely a case of the Astros not wanting to pitch Hader three days in a row rather than any sort of demotion — given that Hader has a 90% save rate compared to 29% for Pressly, I imagine his job is safe.

Los Angeles Angels: Stable — Carlos Estevez

Here we have another closer losing out on a save situation because they had pitched each of the previous two days: With Estevez resting, Matt Moore picked up the Angels’ only save of the week last Wednesday. But Estevez returned in the Angels’ other high-leverage game of the week, pitching a three-batter ninth inning and picking up a win against the Astros. There’s no reason to believe his job is in danger. 

Oakland Athletics: Stable — Mason Miller

Miller made three appearances this week (3.2 innings), picking up a win and a save along the way. He did give up his second home run of the season while picking up that save, but that was the only hit he allowed all week. Despite some perhaps inevitable regression from his insanely hot start over the last two weeks, Miller still boasts a 2.12 ERA, a 0.843 WHIP, and an absurd 49.5% strikeout rate for the season.  

Seattle Mariners: Destabilizing — Andres Munoz (Back Injury), Ryne Stanek

What was previously a stable situation is suddenly in flux, as Munoz (12 saves on the season) is struggling with a back injury, which he reportedly has been dealing with all season but was aggravated by a collision last Tuesday against the Athletics.

Munoz returned for his first appearance since the collision on Sunday, picking up a hold against the Royals, but is reportedly still being evaluated day-to-day. In his absence, Stanek (4.21 ERA, 1.32 WHIP) picked up two saves and one blown save, cementing himself as first in line for closing opportunities as long as Munoz is sidelined. 

Texas Rangers: Stable — Kirby Yates

This was the second week in a row that the Rangers as a team went without a single save opportunity, and they now rank dead last with just 18 for the year. However, Yates was still called upon to finish up wins twice, striking out four of his six batters faced and not allowing a single baserunner.

Given that the Rangers are by no means an outlier team in terms of win percentage (.470, second in the AL West), they should regress towards the mean in terms of save opportunities, the majority of which will likely go to Yates.