2026 End Of Season Closer Report

by
October 1, 2026


Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Recently, I asked for help to clarify each team’s initial closer. Now, it’s time to get to the data (2025 report).

First, here are each team’s initial closer and how long they lasted.

2026 Initial Closers
Team Initial Closer Going into season NFBC ME ADP Lasted Until Reason if Replaced Saves Team Saves % of Team Saves
Angels Jordan Romano Committee 394 4/16 Poor Performance 4 25 16%
Astros Bryan Abreu Main closer hurt 154 6/2 Main Closer off the IL 9 49 18%
Athletics Scott Barlow Committee 449 3/31 Poor Performance 2 39 5%
Blue Jays Jeff Hoffman One guy 79 4/22 Poor Performance 6 52 12%
Braves Raisel Iglesias One guy 86 4/21 Injury 34 49 69%
Brewers Trevor Megill One guy 126 EOS None 30 55 55%
Cardinals Riley O’Brien Committee 280 EOS None 38 46 83%
Cubs Daniel Palencia One guy 65 4/17 Injury 3 36 8%
Diamondbacks Paul Sewald One guy 269 7/29 Poor Performance 24 38 63%
Dodgers Edwin Díaz One guy 23 4/20 Injury 7 46 15%
Giants Ryan Walker One guy 110 5/10 Demoted 3 30 10%
Guardians Cade Smith One guy 27 EOS None 41 46 89%
Mariners Andrés Muñoz One guy 32 9/25 Injury 28 35 80%
Marlins Pete Fairbanks One guy 91 4/28 Injury 19 35 54%
Mets Devin Williams One guy 40 8/10 Injury 16 31 52%
Nationals Clayton Beeter One guy 289 9/11 Demoted 12 42 29%
Orioles Ryan Helsley One guy 70 5/1 Injury 8 46 17%
Padres Mason Miller One guy 19 EOS None 38 48 79%
Phillies Jhoan Duran One guy 30 4/18 Injury 33 42 79%
Pirates Dennis Santana One guy 135 4/27 Poor Performance 3 41 7%
Rangers Jakob Junis Committee Not drafted 4/25 Poor Performance 6 43 14%
Rays Griffin Jax One guy 121 4/10 Poor Performance 0 58 0%
Red Sox Aroldis Chapman One guy 50 EOS None 35 46 76%
Reds Emilio Pagán One guy 106 5/23 Injury 25 42 60%
Rockies Victor Vodnik Committee 365 4/23 Poor Performance 4 33 12%
Royals Carlos Estévez One guy 142 4/1 Injury 0 38 0%
Tigers Kenley Jansen One guy 115 5/28 Injury 22 32 69%
Twins Cole Sands Committee 422 5/2 Injury 1 45 2%
White Sox Seranthony Domínguez One guy 154 6/22 Poor Performance 12 41 29%
Yankees David Bednar One guy 45 EOS None 35 45 78%

There were several unsettled closer situations to start the season, and that led to a ton of turnover. Here are the combined initial closer values. One new addition this year is the number of saves captured in the NFBC Main Event.

Overall Comparison of Initial Closer Performance
Year Saves by Initial Closer Team Saves % Saves by Initial Closer Total EOS EOS % Avg NFBC ME Saves % Capture
2013 927 1266 73% 15 50% – –
2014 746 1264 59% 11 37% – –
2015 737 1292 57% 11 37% – –
2016 797 1276 63% 11 37% – –
2017 668 1179 57% 10 33% – –
2018 759 1244 61% 5 17% – –
2019 573 1180 49% 7 23% 832.6 71%
2020 202 422 48% 11 37% 264.7 63%
2021 592 1200 49% 9 30% 799.5 67%
2022 599 1232 49% 9 30% 760.1 62%
2023 716 1241 58% 12 40% 842.8 68%
2024 634 1225 52% 9 30% 824.6 67%
2025 652 1201 54% 11 37% 778.7 65%
2026 498 1254 40% 6 20% 737.5 59%
No NFBC Save Totals before 2019

In the overall numbers, this season had:

  • The lowest share of saves from the initial closer (40%)
  • The second-lowest number of closers making it to season’s end (20%).
  • In the NFBC 15-team Main Event, the league average was 738 total saves, or 59% of the MLB total. This was the lowest average of any tracked season.

I’m not calling the low success rate a trend since the league averaged six closers making it to the end from 2018 to 2019.

The most important number is the 59% captured. Fantasy teams are having a tough time figuring out when saves will occur and who will get them.

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And now for the overall numbers.

Save Trends
Year Players Getting Saves Players Getting > 4 Saves Players Getting > 9 Saves Non Incumbent > 9 Saves
2013 130 42 37 10
2014 134 49 39 15
2015 145 47 37 15
2016 148 53 42 15
2017 162 52 40 15
2018 165 59 43 14
2019 199 64 38 16
2020 131 – – –
2021 198 70 41 18
2022 222 64 35 12
2023 214 64 38 11
2024 223 53 39 16
2025 215 54 32 8
2026 257 56 31 14

Three major points

  • The number of players getting saves has doubled (130 to 257) since the first season I tracked (2013)
  • With everyone and the bullpen catcher getting saves, the lowest total number of pitchers getting 10 saves or more occurred.

So what does this mean for fantasy? For me at least, I’m going to push to have one of the top end, sure-fire closers on my team.  I know some of these guys will fail (Diaz, Williams), but having an anchor will go a long way when everyone else is scrambling for scraps. With one anchor, I can take some chances on some late, talented dart throws.

I think there may be more to pull from the data, but that’s it for now.





 

Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.

6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
evo34Member since 2023
14 days ago

Thanks for sharing all of this data!

2
HappyFunBallMember since 2019
14 days ago

Kill The Save

5
Pirates HurdlesMember since 2020
13 days ago

Only 11 got even 60% of their teams saves. I’m glad that my 1 roto league added holds (half point), this is getting to the point where its silly to chase, if it hadn’t already.

0
OkraMember since 2016
13 days ago

I want to be able to draft/own a team bullpen. Just like a team defense in fantasy football.

6
InsertWittyNameHereMember since 2024
13 days ago

Agree: pay up for the elite, and spam the wire to try and find 2027 Bryan Baker.

2
LenFuegoMember since 2025
13 days ago

“I know some of these guys will fail (Diaz, Williams) …”

Heh, those were my two closers. Leading to my worst fantasy season ever.

4