Aroldis Chapman returned to the field last night, and while he worked around a pair of hits, his stuff still looked as electric as ever. He featured seven 100+ mph fastballs out of the 20 pitches he threw and his slider looked good as well, finishing with a 44% CSW. Chapman averaged around 98 MPH on his fastball last year, so if he can sustain his 2017 velocity, to go with his improving slider, he may be the top closer in baseball again.

Notes

 

• With Oliver Drake landing on the IL, Nick Anderson has become the Rays de facto closer, although with the Rays these things can change rather abruptly. That being said, Anderson is just too good of a pitcher not to be considered in the elite tier, and even if he gets 70% of the save chances just as Emilio Pagan did last year, he should still finish as one of the top relievers in fantasy baseball.
• I put Edwin Diaz as the Mets closer but this should honestly read as Edwin Diaz/Seth Lugo. My guess is Diaz will start to get chances this week, but he and Lugo both need to rostered in all formats still.

 

• It looks as if Andrew Miller will get the first crack at the Cardinals closing role, at least until Carlos Martinez or Ryan Helsley return that is. Miller’s fastball velocity has been hovering around 93 MPH since the team returned to play which is a good sign. We’ll see how he holds up.
• With Jairo Diaz’s WHIP ballooning to over two, Bud Black announced he would no longer go with a set closer. Carlos Estevez picked up the teams latest save, and while he had an injury scare on a comebacker that hit his pitching hand, it sounds like he will be ok. He’s probably the best bet for saves going forward but Daniel Bard could be in the mix as well.

 

• Trevor Gott has certainly pitched himself out of the closer mix in San Francisco, although there aren’t many better alternatives for Gabe Kapler to choose from. Tyler Rogers has been better lately, so perhaps he starts getting chances, but it’s mostly just a situation to avoid.

Rank	Pitcher	Change
1	Josh HaderT1	-
2	Drew Pomeranz	+UR
3	Aroldis Chapman	+UR
4	Liam Hendriks	-2
5	Nick Anderson	+10
6	Kenley Jansen	-1
7	Taylor Rogers T2	-4
8	Raisel Iglesias	-1
9	Edwin Díaz	+UR
10	Alex Colomé	-
11	Ryan Pressly	+3
12	Trevor Rosenthal	+7
13	Rafael Montero	+7
14	Mark Melancon T3	-2
15	Andrew Miller	+UR
16	Brad Hand	+1
17	Archie Bradley	-8
18	Brandon Workman	-10
19	Héctor Neris	-13
20	Daniel Hudson	-9
21	Joe Jiménez T4	-8
22	Rowan Wick	-1
23	Ty Buttrey	+4
24	Keone Kela	+UR
25	Anthony Bass	-3
26	Brandon Kintzler	-
27	Carlos Estévez T5	+UR
28		+UR
29	Cole Sulser	-1
30	Taylor Williams	-

Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)