Fantasy Baseball Closer Report: Add Porter Hodges and Edwin Uceta

Welcome to this week’s edition of the fantasy baseball closer report! As always, I’ll start with some in-depth breakdowns of teams with changing situations (although there are fewer and fewer of these every week), with a list breakdown of the remaining teams at the end. Let’s get started!

Chicago Cubs: Release of Hector Neris Opens Door for Porter Hodge

In a move that came out of relative nowhere, the Cubs released Neris, who had been their closer for most of the season, on Tuesday. It’s not exactly clear why they did so. It may have been looking ahead to next season, as he had appeared in 45 of the 60 games necessary to turn the Cubs’ team option into a player option. Or maybe they were just over having a closer with a 1.52 WHIP. Either way, there is an open closer job in Chicago.

The Cubs found themselves in a save situation on the same day they realized Neris, and they turned to Hodge.

Hodge, a 23-year-old rookie who was a 13th-round pick in the 2019 draft, got the job done, allowing a leadoff double before settling in with three straight outs to record his second save of the season. Although this was just his second save, Hodge has impressive underlying numbers across his 30.1 MLB innings: a 2.08 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 31% strikeout rate will all appeal to fantasy managers.

He is worth a speculative add, although Jorge Lopez, who picked up a save on Saturday (before Neris was released) may also factor in.

Chicago White Sox: Chad Kuhl Records Team’s First Save since July

Here’s the thing about the White Sox: They’re so bad that it’s hard to tell who their closer is, but they’re also so bad that it doesn’t matter.

Following the team trading away Michael Kopech to the Dodgers, John Brebbia was my top pick to take over as closer. But it was actually Kuhl who recorded a save last Friday, the team’s first since Kopech was still on the team on July 10.

That last fact points to the deeper truth: The White Sox aren’t generating enough save opportunities to have a fantasy-relevant closer, even in leagues with very reliever-friendly settings. Since Kopech’s departure, the White Sox bullpen as a whole has combined for just one save in eight opportunities … and most of those would just have been holds anyway, as the team is rarely still competitive in the ninth inning.

Their “closer” might be Kuhl, it might be Brebbia, it might be someone else, but none of them should be on fantasy rosters.

Kansas City Royals: John Schreiber Returns from IL to Form Potential Committee

Schreiber, who had been on the IL for a few weeks with a knee injury, returned to the mound on Monday and immediately recorded his second save of the season. Prior to his return, it seemed that Lucas Erceg had pulled away from the pack as the team’s closer.

Erceg has yet to allow a run in a Royals uniform and had each of the team’s last two saves prior to Schrieber’s return. He is likely still the closer to roster, but Schrieber’s return may shake things up in what was already a relatively unstable situation.   

Los Angeles Dodgers: Daniel Hudson, Evan Phillips and Michael Kopech Form Productive Committee

Most teams use a closer-by-committee approach because they have been unable to find one player to trust. The Dodgers, perhaps unsurprisingly, seem to have a different kind of committee.

All three of Hudson, Phillips and Kopech have recorded at least one save over the last week (Kopech has two). Hudson has the most impressive peripheral numbers and is the player I’d recommend rostering, but he is clearly not being used in a traditional closer role, so don’t expect huge save totals. 

Tampa Bay Rays: Pete Fairbanks Heads to IL, Edwin Uceta Records First Save

Fairbanks has been one of the staples of this article, remaining steady in the ninth inning for Tampa Bay for the majority of the season. However, the veteran-right hander’s season may be over, as he was added to the team’s IL with a lat strain on Monday.

In his absence, Uceta picked up the first save of his career on Tuesday. Uceta is a very intriguing player, boasting a 0.90, 0.57 WHIP and 34% strikeout rate across 30 innings this season. 

It is by no means a guarantee that he will see the majority of save opportunities for Tampa Bay (Garrett Cleavinger, Manuel Rodriguez, Colin Poche and even Drew Rasmussen could all be involved), but he is absolutely worth adding for now. 

Stable Teams

• Atlanta Braves: Raisel Iglesias

• Arizona Diamondbacks: Justin Martinez steps up

• Baltimore Orioles: Seranthony Dominguez and Yennier Cano battle for job

• Boston Red Sox: Kenley Jansen

• Cincinnati Reds: Alexis Diaz

• Cleveland Guardians: Emmanuel Clase

• Colorado Rockies: Victor Vodnik 

• Detroit Tigers: Jason Foley still best pick of ugly committee 

• Houston Astros: Josh Hader

• Los Angeles Angels: Ben Joyce

• Miami Marlins: Calvin Faucher 

• Milwaukee Brewers: Devin Williams

• Minnesota Twins: Jhoan Duran

• New York Mets: Edwin Diaz

• New York Yankees: Clay Holmes

• Oakland Athletics: Mason Miller 

• Philadelphia Phillies: Carlos Estevez 

• Pittsburgh Pirates: David Bednar

• San Diego Padres: Robert Suarez

• San Francisco Giants: Ryan Walker takes over following Camilo Doval’s surprise demotion

• Seattle Mariners: Andres Munoz

• St. Louis Cardinals: Ryan Helsley

• Texas Rangers: Kirby Yates

• Toronto Blue Jays: Chad Green 

• Washington Nationals: Kyle Finnegan