While April didn’t go exactly as planned for the Yankees, there have been a few bright spots to come out of New York, one being that Aroldis Chapman is still an elite closer. Chapman is such a great example of a power pitcher adapting in his 30’s once he loses some heat on his fastball, with Chapman now utilizing his slider and new splitter 31.5% of the time. That trend starting in 2019, but he was just throwing the slider 31% of the time. Now armed with this devastating splitter, and still able to touch 100 MPH, don’t expect Chapman to leave this tier anytime soon.

Notes

 

• Brad Hand, despite yet to allow an earned run, took a bit of a dive this week as there are just too many closers right now with higher upside and possibly even less risk. Hand just doesn’t have the swing and miss stuff he used to. Even so, he stays in the same tier technically as I was going to split tier two in half but they all feel like the same guy, to be honest. It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve seen this many competent closers in the top 20.
• Alex Reyes had a really great week last week, and while his momentum may have been slowed last night with his two walks allowed (although he converted the save), he still belongs in this tier with eight saves and 0.00 ERA. The walk rate is a huge concern though, as he obviously can’t keep his ERA at zero with a walk rate of 20%. Reyes has never been known for great command and control of the strike zone, but he still will need to get that walk rate closer to 10% to move up further on this list.

 

• The Twins are rolling with Taylor Rogers as their closer, although his first save chance last night didn’t exactly go so well. He held on to secure the save but allowed a two-run home run to Joey Gallo in the process. It shouldn’t be enough to give the Twins second thoughts, but it’s probably important Rogers’s next save chance goes smoothly.
• Yimi Garcia has looked great on the surface this season, but I still have my concerns with him and would rather chase the other higher upside names listed right above him. He also doesn’t have a save over the past two weeks while allowing four hits and two home runs over his (only) two innings pitched during that span.

 

• Another week and another blurb on the Reds and the fact we still don’t know who or if they have a closer. After Tejay Antone and Lucas Sims both bombed this past week, I wonder if Amir Garrett is back in the driver’s seat again? He hasn’t allowed a hit in over a week and only walked one while striking out three in that period. I know he has been dropped in a ton of leagues by now, but he might be a sneaky waiver add this week just to stash and see how things play out.
• It, unfortunately, feels like the Daniel Bard era as Rockies closer is coming to an end, as he has allowed runs in four of his last five outings, with his latest outing being the likely knock-out punch as he allowed four earned runs while only getting one out. It’s not a sure thing, but if Bard is out, expect Mychal Givens to replace him but it would probably be for the best that you don’t chase Colorado closers.

 

Rank	Pitcher	Team	Change
1	Josh HaderT1	HOU	-
2	Aroldis Chapman	BOS	-
3	Liam Hendriks		-
4	Edwin Díaz	LAD	-
5	Ryan Pressly T2		-
6	Raisel Iglesias	ATL	-
7	Kenley Jansen	DET	-
8	Will Smith	LAD	+1
9	Craig Kimbrel	NYM	+1
10	Diego Castillo		+1
11	Emmanuel Clase	CLE	+3
12	Matt Barnes		+3
13	Mark Melancon		-
14	Héctor Neris		-2
15	Brad Hand		-7
16	Richard Rodríguez	MIA	+1
17	Jake McGee		-1
18	César Valdez		-
19	Ian Kennedy		+2
20	Alex Reyes		+4
21	Rafael Dolis T3		+1
22	Josh Staumont	CIN	+1
23	Taylor Rogers	MIN	+UR
24	Yimi García	TOR	-5
25	Lou Trivino	PHI	-
26	Gregory Soto	PIT	-
27	Rafael Montero T4	NYY	-
28			+1
29	Stefan Crichton		-1
30	Daniel Bard	SEA	-10