Help Needed: 2023 Initial Closer Roles
Every season, I try to determine how much closer turnover there is from the last drafts to the season’s end. For example, here is last season’s report.
I decided to verify the beginning of the season section before every manager disappears. For most of the selections, I used our Opening Weekend Bullpen Report. Here are the values I think are right but I don’t feel good about the ones in Yellow. Could people spend a minute looking over the Yellows and verify the names on their favorite team(s)? Thanks.
Changes:
- Angels to Committee
- A’s to Committee
- Mariners to Committee
- Rangers to Committee
- White Sox to Lopez
Team | Eventual First Top Closer | Going into season | NFBC ME ADP |
---|---|---|---|
Angels | Carlos Estévez | Committee | 276 |
Astros | Ryan Pressly | One Guy | 57 |
Athletics | Trevor May | Committee | 342 |
Blue Jays | Jordan Romano | One Guy | 49 |
Braves | A.J. Minter | Closer Hurt | 302 |
Brewers | Devin Williams | One Guy | 52 |
Cardinals | Ryan Helsley | One Guy | 58 |
Cubs | Michael Fulmer | Competition | 221 |
Diamondbacks | Scott McGough | Committee | 301 |
Dodgers | Evan Phillips | Committee | 219 |
Giants | Camilo Doval | One Guy | 80 |
Guardians | Emmanuel Clase | One Guy | 28 |
Mariners | Paul Sewald | Committee | 171 |
Marlins | A.J. Puk | One Guy | 328 |
Mets | David Robertson | One Guy | 177 |
Nationals | Kyle Finnegan | One Guy | 234 |
Orioles | Félix Bautista | One Guy | 62 |
Padres | Josh Hader | One Guy | 38 |
Phillies | Jose Alvardo | Competition | 270 |
Pirates | David Bednar | One Guy | 100 |
Rangers | Will Smith | Committee | 429 |
Rays | Pete Fairbanks | One Guy | 129 |
Red Sox | Kenley Jansen | One Guy | 82 |
Reds | Alexis Díaz | One Guy | 113 |
Rockies | Pierce Johnson | One Guy | Not Drafted |
Royals | Scott Barlow | One Guy | 132 |
Tigers | Alex Lange | One Guy | 222 |
Twins | Jhoan Duran | One Guy | 121 |
White Sox | Reynaldo Lopez | Closer Hurt | 336 |
Yankees | Clay Holmes | One Guy | 85 |
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.
As a White Sox fan, I took shots at Reynaldo Lopez. A fill-in for Liam Hendriks hadn’t been named and it seemed like Graveman struggled in the 9th. Lopez didn’t fair any better, unfortunately.
Thanks