Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report: Emilio Pagan on the ropes; Jack Perkins makes case to be Athletics closer

Note: "Pecking order" refers to rosterability in Fantasy and not necessarily who's first in line for saves (though it's usually one and the same).

Orioles

Ryan Helsley hit the IL this weekend with an elbow issue that he had been attempting to pitch through. It was ruled to be inflammation, which doesn't sound like a big deal, but the elbow is such a critical part of the pitching motion that the possibility of a setback is high. The expectation is that Helsley won't miss enough time for any reliever to secure the role in his absence, but the likeliest to do so is Rico Garcia, who has primarily been tasked with the eighth inning and has allowed just one hit all season, compiling a 0.61 ERA, 0.34 WHIP and 9.8 K/9.

Astros

Enyel De Los Santos' stint as closer appears to have been short-lived. All it took was him blowing a tie in the ninth inning of a game April 26 to remove him from the role. All four of his appearances since then have come prior to the ninth. He has a long track record of mediocrity, so it's not exactly surprising that he couldn't hack it in the role. Until Bryan Abreu rights himself, though, the Astros still need someone who can handle the ninth until Josh Hader (biceps tendinitis) is ready to return at the end of the month.

The leading candidate to do so is left-hander Bryan King, who secured the team's latest save Saturday with a perfect ninth inning. That's not much to go on, of course, but he had been the Astros' steady eighth-inning guy even prior to De Los Santos getting his chance to close. It just seems like it's King's turn, and no one else in the Astros bullpen would appear to be more deserving of it.

Athletics

Jack Perkins is clearly the best pitcher in the Athletics bullpen, being a former prospect with a swinging-strike rate in excess of 17 percent. The only question was whether he'd remain in the bullpen, and the Athletics seemed to be keeping their options open at the start of the season, having him work multiple innings at a time to remain stretched out. After cycling through a few uninspiring choices in the closer role, though, they may finally be ready to commit to Perkins. His past four appearances have all seen him used like a closer would normally be, including three times for a save and once to preserve a ninth-inning tie (all successful, by the way). Just as tellingly, the past two of those appearances were of the one-inning variety. No official proclamations have been made, but if the Athletics were ever going to settle on a singular closer, Perkins makes the most sense.

Rangers

A week ago, I was still willing to give Jake Junis the benefit of the doubt, even though left-hander Jacob Latz had recorded the Rangers' most recent save. Since then, Latz has recorded two more, with Junis setting up for him in the latest one. Junis' last save was way back on April 12. He has almost exclusively handled the eighth inning since then. I think we can all see the way the wind is blowing here. Of course, the wind seemed to be blowing just as strongly in Junis' direction when he first leapt to the top of the pecking order, so I wouldn't put it past manager Skip Schumaker to try something else at the drop of a hat. For now, though, Latz seems like a must-have in leagues where saves are a high priority.

Reds

Emilio Pagan's success last year was more the exception than the rule for his career, but it earned him the trust of manager Terry Francona and the Reds front office, which re-upped him for $10 million this offseason (and likely another $10 million in 2027, seeing as it's a player option). I point out the financials to suggest that it may take a lot for the Reds to admit defeat on Pagan, whose cracks have begun to show in recent turns. He blew his third save Monday and has allowed a total of five earned runs over his past four appearances.

Pagan's vulnerability to the long ball is well documented. He allowed 10 home runs just last year, but managed to get away with it. He doesn't deserve the same benefit of the doubt that other closers seem to get, and if Francona were to entertain making a change, the most obvious choice to replace Pagan would be Tony Santillan, who has been a successful eighth-inning man for the past couple years. It's time to go ahead and secure him in leagues where saves are scarce.

Giants

Ryan Walker leads the Giants with three saves and remains the likeliest candidate to get the next one, absent a clear alternative. But he still hasn't nailed down the role and has left a clear opening after blowing a save in back-to-back appearances. The last of those two appearances came in the eighth inning, which would suggest that Walker was losing his grip on the role even prior to the outing. Caleb Kilian, whose average fastball velocity is up 3 mph this year, got the team's latest save Monday, but he gave up a run in the process. Keaton Winn worked a perfect eighth inning and remains my first choice for the closer role, but I don't think there are any clear answers yet. All we can say for sure is that left-hander Erik Miller, who has already secured two saves, is out of the running for now after landing on the IL Monday with a back issue.

Brewers

At last report, I said Trevor Megill was trending toward reclaiming the closer role with the start of a scoreless streak in mid-April, and that scoreless streak has now extended to seven appearances. But none of those seven appearances have come in the ninth. Meanwhile, all of Abner Uribe's appearances during that same stretch of time have come in the ninth, including two for a save. By now, I think manager Pat Murphy has made his preference plainly known, and there may be nothing Megill can do to regain his favor at the end of games, not while Uribe continues to get the job done. Of course, Uribe's swinging-strike rate has bottomed out to just 7 percent, so it's not like he's immune to failure.

Pirates

After ceding the Pirates' first save to Gregory Soto (second, technically, but we won't count that extra-inning one for Jose Urquidy), Dennis Santana recorded each of the Pirates' next two and seemed to be settling into the closer role again. But the save chances have been virtually nonexistent since then, and when Santana did finally get one April 27, he blew it in epic fashion, allowing four runs and two home runs. His most recent appearance -- and only one since the blown save -- came in the eighth inning with the Pirates trailing, which isn't how a closer is typically used. Meanwhile, Soto has pitched twice since then, both times to finish out a win (though neither time for a save). I would guess Santana still gets the next save chance, but his recent meltdown and the Pirates' failure to provide save chances have invited reason for doubt.

Marlins

Once again, we have a closer whose injury sounds more serious than his team is making it out to be. In this case, a nerve issue cost Pete Fairbanks feeling in his right hand. A similar injury sidelined him for only three weeks in 2024, and the Marlins seem hopeful that he'll miss a similar amount of time with this injury. It's not the sort of injury with a clear timetable, though, and there isn't much for Fairbanks to work on until it's completely healed.

So what do the Marlins do in the meantime? Manager Clayton McCullough couldn't have been more obstinate in his refusal to anoint a closer last year, so I imagine he would take a similar all-hands-on-deck approach now. Already, we've seen two different Marlins relievers record a save sans Fairbanks -- one for Tyler Phillips and one for Calvin Faucher just a day later -- so they're the first two I list here, aside from Fairbanks. Phillips would probably have the more upside of the two, but the Marlins seem to value him as a multi-inning reliever. His latest appearance (and first since the save) saw him go three innings Sunday.

Angels

Frankly, your guess is as good as mine. When the Angels cut Jordan Romano loose April 26 (deservedly, given the amount of damage he was inflicting), they presented no succession plan, and none has emerged since then. Partly, that's because they've had no save chances during that time, but partly, it's because none of their relievers is deserving of one. Perhaps they're still hoping Kirby Yates can fill the role once he's back from his rehab assignment (knee inflammation), but it's become less a rehab assignment than a recapture-his-velocity assignment -- and he's failing in that regard. I don't know that the Angels would be willing to remove Sam Bachman from the multi-inning relief role he's currently filling, but I think he represents their best chance at having a stable closer. I've taken to stashing him in leagues where saves are scarce, but it's hoping against hope.