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\u2019s roles. This makes the final month intriguing, even if some fantasy managers\u2019 focus drifts toward football.<\/p>\n
Building on his stock report from last week\u2019s post, Arizona\u2019s 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\u2019s a reliever worth taking a flier on for saves down the stretch. He hasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019 bullpen has been struggling. Jacob Webb was hit by a comebacker during his appearance on Sept. 2, but his X-rays were negative<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n There will be other relievers potentially returning before the end of the month, including Baltimore\u2019s F\u00e9lix Bautista. How they perform will help shape my too-early rankings for 2027 \u2014 to be featured in my final post of the season.<\/p>\n 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:<\/p>\n 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<\/p>\n Andrew Kittredge<\/p>\n Yennier Cano<\/p>\n Rico Garcia<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Aroldis Chapman<\/p>\n Garrett Whitlock<\/p>\n Erik Miller<\/p>\n Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Grant Taylor<\/p>\n Bryan Hudson<\/p>\n Sean Newcomb<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Cade Smith<\/p>\n Hunter Gaddis<\/p>\n Erik Sabrowski<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Kenley Jansen<\/p>\n Jacob Waguespack<\/p>\n Drew Sommers<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Josh Hader<\/p>\n Bryan Abreu<\/p>\n Steven Okert<\/p>\n Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Steven Cruz<\/p>\n Nate Pearson<\/p>\n Alex Lange<\/p>\n Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Ben Joyce<\/p>\n Ryan Watson<\/p>\n Tayler Saucedo<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Yoendrys G\u00f3mez<\/p>\n Jeff Hoffman<\/p>\n A.J. Minter<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n David Bednar<\/p>\n Paul Blackburn<\/p>\n Brent Headrick<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Andr\u00e9s Mu\u00f1oz<\/p>\n Eduard Bazardo<\/p>\n Gabe Speier<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Bryan Baker<\/p>\n Kevin Kelly<\/p>\n Tyler Wells<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Jacob Latz<\/p>\n Jakob Junis<\/p>\n Chase Silseth<\/p>\n Shared Saves<\/p>\n Elvis Alvarado<\/p>\n Hogan Harris<\/p>\n Luis Medina<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Louis Varland<\/p>\n Tyler Rogers<\/p>\n Mason Fluharty<\/p>\n Save streamers (ancillary saves or shared roles) Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Juan Morillo<\/p>\n Brandyn Garcia<\/p>\n Jonathan Lo\u00e1isiga<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Raisel Iglesias<\/p>\n Didier Fuentes<\/p>\n Dylan Lee<\/p>\n Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Jacob Webb<\/p>\n Daniel Palencia<\/p>\n Ryan Rolison<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Emilio Pag\u00e1n<\/p>\n Brock Burke<\/p>\n Luis Mey<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Jordan Romano<\/p>\n Brennan Bernardino<\/p>\n Jaden Hill<\/p>\n Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Tanner Scott<\/p>\n Edgardo Henriquez<\/p>\n Jack Dreyer<\/p>\n Shared Saves<\/p>\n Calvin Faucher<\/p>\n Michael Petersen<\/p>\n Josh Ekness<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Trevor Megill<\/p>\n Abner Uribe<\/p>\n Aaron Ashby<\/p>\n Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Kodai Senga<\/p>\n Daniel Duarte<\/p>\n Nate Lavender<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Jhoan Duran<\/p>\n Jonathan Bowlan<\/p>\n Brooks Raley<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Mason Montgomery<\/p>\n Luke Weaver<\/p>\n Gregory Soto<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Riley O’Brien<\/p>\n Ryne Stanek<\/p>\n Luis Gastelum<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Mason Miller<\/p>\n Adrian Morejon<\/p>\n Bradgley Rodriguez<\/p>\n Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Dylan Smith<\/p>\n Carson Seymour<\/p>\n Jason Foley<\/p>\n Shared Saves<\/p>\n Orlando Ribalta<\/p>\n Erik Tolman<\/p>\n Clayton Beeter<\/p>\n Save streamers (ancillary saves or shared roles) Bryan Baker<\/p>\n 41<\/p>\n Jacob Latz<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Louis Varland<\/p>\n 36<\/p>\n Bryan Abreu<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Riley O’Brien<\/p>\n 36<\/p>\n Josh Hader<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Cade Smith<\/p>\n 35<\/p>\n Aaron Ashby<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Tyler Rogers<\/p>\n 33<\/p>\n Carson Seymour<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Mason Miller<\/p>\n 32<\/p>\n Brent Headrick<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Kevin Kelly<\/p>\n 32<\/p>\n Cade Smith<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Trevor Megill<\/p>\n 32<\/p>\n Andrew Kittredge<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Tanner Scott<\/p>\n 32<\/p>\n Rico Garcia<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n David Bednar<\/p>\n 31<\/p>\n Emilio Pag\u00e1n<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Jacob Latz<\/p>\n 30<\/p>\n Hunter Gaddis<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Aroldis Chapman<\/p>\n 30<\/p>\n Raisel Iglesias<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Dylan Lee<\/p>\n 30<\/p>\n Calvin Faucher<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Holds Dylan Lee<\/p>\n 30<\/p>\n Hunter Gaddis<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Tyler Rogers<\/p>\n 29<\/p>\n Brent Headrick<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Kevin Kelly<\/p>\n 28<\/p>\n Aaron Ashby<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Hunter Gaddis<\/p>\n 28<\/p>\n Bryan Abreu<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Eduard Bazardo<\/p>\n 26<\/p>\n Rico Garcia<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Ryne Stanek<\/p>\n 24<\/p>\n Carson Seymour<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Brent Headrick<\/p>\n 23<\/p>\n Paul Blackburn<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Erik Sabrowski<\/p>\n 23<\/p>\n Gregory Soto<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Michael Petersen<\/p>\n 23<\/p>\n Dylan Dodd<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Garrett Whitlock<\/p>\n 22<\/p>\n Nate Lavender<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Adrian Morejon<\/p>\n 22<\/p>\n Trenton Harris<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n JoJo Romero<\/p>\n 22<\/p>\n Antonio Senzatela<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Garrett Cleavinger<\/p>\n 22<\/p>\n Kevin Kelly<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Steven Okert<\/p>\n 21<\/p>\n Steven Okert<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Abner Uribe<\/p>\n 20<\/p>\n Chase Silseth<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n George Soriano<\/p>\n 20<\/p>\n Tyler Rogers<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Ratio relievers<\/p>\n *Multi-inning or bridge relievers who can vulture wins and help protect ratios. <\/p>\n Alex McFarlane (PHI) Statistical Credits: FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference.com, Baseball Savant, BrooksBaseball.net. Check out my work at Reliever Recon<\/a> and Closer Monkey<\/a> for daily updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We have made it to September, the last stage of the fantasy baseball marathon. With roughly three weeks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":882082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,11142,462,82],"class_list":["post-882081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fantasy-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPrimary 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.
\nShared 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.
\nFluid: The manager has not named a closer, and usage patterns for the leverage roles remain unclear.4
\nAmerican League leverage pathways
\n TeamLeverage PathwayCloser (Primary)Stopper\/HLRStealth\/Ancillary Option<\/p>\n
\nElvis Alvarado (ATH)
\nBryan Abreu (HOU)
\nBryan Hudson (CHW)
\nRyan Watson (LAA)
\nSave stashes
\nJeff Hoffman (MIN)
\nTyler Kinley (DET)
\nF\u00e9lix Bautista (BAL)
\nNational League leverage pathways
\n TeamLeverage PathwayCloser (Primary)Stopper\/HLRStealth\/Ancillary Option<\/p>\n
\nCalvin Faucher; Michael Petersen (MIA)
\nOrlando Ribalta; Erik Tolman (WSH)
\nDidier Fuentes (ATL)
\nAbner Uribe (MIL)
\nSave stashes
\nLuis Gastelum (STL)
\nDedniel N\u00fa\u00f1ez (NYM)
\nEdgardo Henriquez (LAD)
\nLeaderboardsSOLDS
\n 2026SOLDSLast 14 DaysSOLDS<\/p>\n
\n 2026HoldsLast 14 DaysHolds<\/p>\n
\nDedniel N\u00fa\u00f1ez (NYM)
\nTyler Wells (TB)
\nAJ Blubaugh (HOU)
\nAaron Civale (CHC)<\/p>\n