We have made it to September, the last stage of the fantasy baseball marathon. With roughly three weeks remaining, teams with postseason aspirations will manage high-leverage events aggressively. Those out of contention may use this opportunity as a testing ground for next year’s roles. This makes the final month intriguing, even if some fantasy managers’ focus drifts toward football.
Building on his stock report from last week’s post, Arizona’s Juan Morillo shut the door on his third save, preserving a 1-0 win over the Phillies during a bullpen game. He may not be anointed the closer by name, but recent usage patterns indicate that he’s a reliever worth taking a flier on for saves down the stretch. He hasn’t been scored upon in his past 17 games, during which he owns a 0.94 WHIP with 18 strikeouts and six walks (18.2 K-BB%) across 17 innings, and has recorded a save in two of his past four appearances.
Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable will deploy Grant Taylor at the highest-leverage moment in games, but his save share has grown throughout the season. Taylor only recorded two saves in his first 33 games while securing six in his past 20 contests, including four since the All-Star break. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the Cubs’ bullpen has been struggling. Jacob Webb was hit by a comebacker during his appearance on Sept. 2, but his X-rays were negative for a break. He may need a couple of days off to reduce the swelling. The bigger problem is that Daniel Palencia allowed at least a run in each of his past four appearances. Help may be on the way soon in the form of Shelby Miller, who is finishing his rehab protocols, and Edward Cabrera, who will return as a reliever when activated.
There will be other relievers potentially returning before the end of the month, including Baltimore’s Félix Bautista. How they perform will help shape my too-early rankings for 2027 — to be featured in my final post of the season.
This leads into my updated leverage pathways, which aim to provide accurate team approaches for procuring saves despite the multitude of confusing usage patterns throughout the league. Each team will receive one of the following labels:
Mostly linear: This is a more traditional approach, with a manager preferring one reliever in the seventh inning, another in the eighth, and a closer (when rested) in the ninth. There are shades of gray, but it usually follows a predictable pattern in high-leverage situations.
Primary save share: The team prefers one reliever as the primary save option. However, the RP may also be used in matchup-based situations, whether dictated by batter-handedness or batting order, especially in the late innings. This provides multiple relievers with save chances each series or week throughout the season.
Shared saves: Typically, two relievers share save opportunities, often based on handedness, rest or recent usage patterns that keep them fresh. While these situations typically involve a primary and an ancillary option, other relievers may be used. Some teams also prefer a matchup-based option, which creates fluid save opportunities.
Fluid: The manager has not named a closer, and usage patterns for the leverage roles remain unclear.4
American League leverage pathways
TeamLeverage PathwayCloser (Primary)Stopper/HLRStealth/Ancillary Option
Primary Save Share
Andrew Kittredge
Yennier Cano
Rico Garcia
Mostly Linear
Aroldis Chapman
Garrett Whitlock
Erik Miller
Primary Save Share
Grant Taylor
Bryan Hudson
Sean Newcomb
Mostly Linear
Cade Smith
Hunter Gaddis
Erik Sabrowski
Mostly Linear
Kenley Jansen
Jacob Waguespack
Drew Sommers
Mostly Linear
Josh Hader
Bryan Abreu
Steven Okert
Primary Save Share
Steven Cruz
Nate Pearson
Alex Lange
Primary Save Share
Ben Joyce
Ryan Watson
Tayler Saucedo
Mostly Linear
Yoendrys Gómez
Jeff Hoffman
A.J. Minter
Mostly Linear
David Bednar
Paul Blackburn
Brent Headrick
Mostly Linear
Andrés Muñoz
Eduard Bazardo
Gabe Speier
Mostly Linear
Bryan Baker
Kevin Kelly
Tyler Wells
Mostly Linear
Jacob Latz
Jakob Junis
Chase Silseth
Shared Saves
Elvis Alvarado
Hogan Harris
Luis Medina
Mostly Linear
Louis Varland
Tyler Rogers
Mason Fluharty
Save streamers (ancillary saves or shared roles)
Elvis Alvarado (ATH)
Bryan Abreu (HOU)
Bryan Hudson (CHW)
Ryan Watson (LAA)
Save stashes
Jeff Hoffman (MIN)
Tyler Kinley (DET)
Félix Bautista (BAL)
National League leverage pathways
TeamLeverage PathwayCloser (Primary)Stopper/HLRStealth/Ancillary Option
Primary Save Share
Juan Morillo
Brandyn Garcia
Jonathan Loáisiga
Mostly Linear
Raisel Iglesias
Didier Fuentes
Dylan Lee
Primary Save Share
Jacob Webb
Daniel Palencia
Ryan Rolison
Mostly Linear
Emilio Pagán
Brock Burke
Luis Mey
Mostly Linear
Jordan Romano
Brennan Bernardino
Jaden Hill
Primary Save Share
Tanner Scott
Edgardo Henriquez
Jack Dreyer
Shared Saves
Calvin Faucher
Michael Petersen
Josh Ekness
Mostly Linear
Trevor Megill
Abner Uribe
Aaron Ashby
Primary Save Share
Kodai Senga
Daniel Duarte
Nate Lavender
Mostly Linear
Jhoan Duran
Jonathan Bowlan
Brooks Raley
Mostly Linear
Mason Montgomery
Luke Weaver
Gregory Soto
Mostly Linear
Riley O’Brien
Ryne Stanek
Luis Gastelum
Mostly Linear
Mason Miller
Adrian Morejon
Bradgley Rodriguez
Primary Save Share
Dylan Smith
Carson Seymour
Jason Foley
Shared Saves
Orlando Ribalta
Erik Tolman
Clayton Beeter
Save streamers (ancillary saves or shared roles)
Calvin Faucher; Michael Petersen (MIA)
Orlando Ribalta; Erik Tolman (WSH)
Didier Fuentes (ATL)
Abner Uribe (MIL)
Save stashes
Luis Gastelum (STL)
Dedniel Núñez (NYM)
Edgardo Henriquez (LAD)
LeaderboardsSOLDS
2026SOLDSLast 14 DaysSOLDS
Bryan Baker
41
Jacob Latz
4
Louis Varland
36
Bryan Abreu
4
Riley O’Brien
36
Josh Hader
4
Cade Smith
35
Aaron Ashby
4
Tyler Rogers
33
Carson Seymour
4
Mason Miller
32
Brent Headrick
4
Kevin Kelly
32
Cade Smith
4
Trevor Megill
32
Andrew Kittredge
4
Tanner Scott
32
Rico Garcia
4
David Bednar
31
Emilio Pagán
4
Jacob Latz
30
Hunter Gaddis
4
Aroldis Chapman
30
Raisel Iglesias
4
Dylan Lee
30
Calvin Faucher
4
Holds
2026HoldsLast 14 DaysHolds
Dylan Lee
30
Hunter Gaddis
4
Tyler Rogers
29
Brent Headrick
4
Kevin Kelly
28
Aaron Ashby
3
Hunter Gaddis
28
Bryan Abreu
3
Eduard Bazardo
26
Rico Garcia
3
Ryne Stanek
24
Carson Seymour
3
Brent Headrick
23
Paul Blackburn
3
Erik Sabrowski
23
Gregory Soto
3
Michael Petersen
23
Dylan Dodd
3
Garrett Whitlock
22
Nate Lavender
3
Adrian Morejon
22
Trenton Harris
3
JoJo Romero
22
Antonio Senzatela
3
Garrett Cleavinger
22
Kevin Kelly
3
Steven Okert
21
Steven Okert
3
Abner Uribe
20
Chase Silseth
3
George Soriano
20
Tyler Rogers
3
My rankings are a blend of in-season performance and rest-of-season expectations. If you feel strongly about a player, by all means, roster him.
Ratio relievers
*Multi-inning or bridge relievers who can vulture wins and help protect ratios.
Alex McFarlane (PHI)
Dedniel Núñez (NYM)
Tyler Wells (TB)
AJ Blubaugh (HOU)
Aaron Civale (CHC)
Statistical Credits: FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference.com, Baseball Savant, BrooksBaseball.net. Check out my work at Reliever Recon and Closer Monkey for daily updates.