Fantasy Baseball Closer Report: Ryan Walker Replaces Camilo Doval

We are in the home stretch of the season, and most MLB teams have settled on the closer they plan to use the rest of the way. That means these weekly closer reports will just focus on teams making changes, of which there are only a few this week. Let’s get started!

Arizona Diamondbacks: Justin Martinez Steps Up

Following Paul Sewald’s demotion and A.J. Puk/Ryan Thompson’s struggles, Martinez has recorded each of the Diamondbacks' last three saves, and he even added a win for good measure. In retrospect, it’s surprising it took the Diamondbacks this long to make this move.

Martinez has been great all year, with a 1.89 ERA and a 1.20 across 52.1 innings. On a Statcast page full of red circles, the one that will stand out for fantasy managers is his 28.8% strikeout rate, adding even more to his value. Martinez is definitely worth adding, although he may have to keep dealing to avoid this situation changing yet again.

Baltimore Orioles: Seranthony Dominguez and Yennier Cano Battle for Job

I’ll keep this one short as not much has changed here since last week. Dominguez recorded the Orioles’ only save of the last week, but Cano also pitched in a relatively close ninth inning. If you have to pick one, Dominguez is the player to target: Two of his last three appearances have come in the ninth inning, and he also simply has better underlying numbers. 

Detroit Tigers: Will Vest Picks Up First Save in Tigers’ Committee 

The Tigers are one of a surprisingly small number of teams around the league that are using a pure committee approach to the ninth inning. This week, that resulted in righty Will Vest picking up his first save of the season, but Jason Foley and Tyler Holton will both also see opportunities.

If you have to add one of this bunch, my pick would still be Foley, who leads the team with 15 saves on the year. But Foley hasn’t picked up a save in over a month, so this situation is simply best avoided.

San Francisco Giants: Ryan Walker Takes Over Following Camilo Doval’s Demotion to AAA 

This is, without a doubt, the biggest piece of closer news this week. After a long season of struggles, the Giants demoted Doval, once considered one of the league’s most stable closers, to AAA on Friday. Following Doval’s demotion, Giants manager Bob Melvin named Walker, a right-hander who uses a mix of sinkers and sliders almost exclusively, the team’s new closer.

Walker has been very solid this season, with a 2.17 ERA and 0.90 WHIP. He picked up his first save of his career on Saturday and will likely get plenty more opportunities the rest of the way. He is absolutely worth adding in all formats if you are chasing saves.

Teams Without Changes

• Atlanta Braves: Raisel Iglesias

• Boston Red Sox: Kenley Jansen

• Chicago Cubs: Hector Neris

• Chicago White Sox: John Brebbia (Featured in last week’s update)

• Cincinnati Reds: Alexis Diaz

• Cleveland Guardians: Emmanuel Clase

• Colorado Rockies: Victor Vodnik (Featured in last week’s update)

• Houston Astros: Josh Hader

• Kansas City Royals: Closer-by-Committee (Featured in last week’s update)

• Los Angeles Angels: Ben Joyce

• Los Angeles Dodgers: Daniel Hudson

• Miami Marlins: Calvin Faucher (Featured in last week’s update)

• Milwaukee Brewers: Devin Williams (Featured in last week’s update)

• Minnesota Twins: Jhoan Duran

• New York Mets: Edwin Diaz

• New York Yankees: Clay Holmes

• Oakland Athletics: Mason Miller (Featured in last week’s update)

• Philadelphia Phillies: Carlos Estevez (Featured in last week’s update)

• Pittsburgh Pirates: David Bednar

• San Diego Padres: Robert Suarez

• Seattle Mariners: Andres Munoz

• St. Louis Cardinals: Ryan Helsley

• Tampa Bay Rays: Pete Fairbanks

• Texas Rangers: Kirby Yates

• Toronto Blue Jays: Chad Green (Featured in last week’s update)

• Washington Nationals: Kyle Finnegan