Here are the latest fantasy baseball closer updates from the past week of action.
With September baseball in full swing, Kev Mahserejian looks at the fantasy baseball picture as it pertains to closers around the league. Which reliever should get your confidence for saves in the final weeks of the fantasy baseball season?
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Week 25 Fantasy Baseball Closers: Depth Chart News, Saves Tips & Bullpen Report
Oakland A’s
- Closer: N/A
- Backups: Jake Diekman, Sergio Romo, Andrew Chafin, Lou Trivino
Lou Trivino last converted a save on August 20th and has been abysmal since, allowing at least one earned run in each of his last five appearances as his ERA has ballooned from 1.72 to 3.52. His peripherals are terrible and his 7.7% K-BB% is the lowest of his career. Be grateful for the 21 saves he provided and kick him to the curb.
The other options on the Oakland A’s are not significantly better, but at least they’re getting save chances. Since Trivino’s last save, Sergio Romo has two and Andrew Chafin has one. Romo has the most closing experience of the bunch and has remained surprisingly effective at age 38. Outside of a 9th-inning batting order that is lefty-heavy, the veteran righty should continue seeing opportunities as Oakland’s primary closer.
- Check out our Fantasy Baseball Closer Rankings and Depth Charts.
Cincinnati Reds
- Closer: Mychal Givens
- Backups: Michael Lorenzen
Mychal Givens has converted the last two save opportunities for the Cincinnati Reds and looks like their rest-of-season closer. Michael Lorenzen had been sharing the role with Givens, but he’s been mediocre of late with seven earned runs in his past five outings and can’t be trusted in high-leverage situations for the time being.
Givens has been a bit shaky as well, but his success in Cincinnati and history of converting saves with the Baltimore Orioles give him an advantage. His peripherals have been underwhelming — especially his 12% walk rate — but he strikes out enough batters (25.5%) to get by and has been solid since stepping into the closer role in early August.
