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Paul Sewald has surpassed expectations for many fantasy managers, but he’s struggled recently, and Justin Martinez is on track for a return. Andy Lyons \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
July 23, 2026 12:46 pm EDT Updated <\/p>\n
There is no rest for the weary in the ever-evolving world of high-leverage relievers. The All-Star break has not deterred the avalanche of pitchers (204) recording at least one save this season.<\/p>\n
The number of closers with at least 20 saves is in line with previous seasons, no matter how vexing it seems getting saves this season. However, there are fewer relievers with 10-19 saves, whether the result of injuries, changing leverage approaches or a combination of these factors.<\/p>\n
Changes in roles and usage patterns will continue ahead of and following the fast-approaching MLB trade deadline, and there are some specific situations to monitor:<\/p>\n
Baltimore Orioles: Tyler Wells has been the preferred save option but will face a team\u2019s toughest segment of the lineup when necessary. Andrew Kittredge has accrued ancillary saves, but if the team sells at the deadline, he could be moved since he\u2019s a pending free agent at the end of the season. Last, Ryan Helsley was placed on the 60-day injured list, which pushes his return date into September. There are also some relievers who could experience role changes if their struggles continue:<\/p>\n Paul Sewald (ARI): He has surpassed any expectations for those who took a chance on the veteran, but he has allowed at least a run in three straight games and in four of his past six. Home runs have been an issue; he\u2019s served up five in his past 11 outings. As a bridge option, he\u2019s converted 23-of-25 save chances this season and has maintained a strong K-BB percentage (22.6%). However, if the home run issue continues, he may be removed from the role or, at the least, benched by fantasy managers protecting their ratio statistics. Justin Martinez remains on track for a return and could begin rehab outings next week. This segues nicely into my leverage pathways, which try 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 Tyler Wells<\/p>\n Andrew Kittredge<\/p>\n Yennier Cano<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Aroldis Chapman<\/p>\n Garrett Whitlock<\/p>\n Justin Slaten<\/p>\n Shared Saves<\/p>\n Grant Taylor<\/p>\n Bryan Hudson<\/p>\n Jordan Hicks<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Cade Smith<\/p>\n Hunter Gaddis<\/p>\n Colin Holderman<\/p>\n Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Kenley Jansen<\/p>\n Kyle Finnegan<\/p>\n Drew Anderson<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Josh Hader<\/p>\n Bryan Abreu<\/p>\n Steven Okert<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Alex Lange<\/p>\n Daniel Lynch IV<\/p>\n John Schreiber<\/p>\n Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Ryan Zeferjahn<\/p>\n Sam Bachman<\/p>\n Samy Natera Jr.<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Yoendrys G\u00f3mez<\/p>\n Andrew Morris<\/p>\n Taylor Rogers<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n David Bednar<\/p>\n Fernando Cruz<\/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 Garrett Cleavinger<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Jacob Latz<\/p>\n Jakob Junis<\/p>\n Tyler Alexander<\/p>\n Shared Saves<\/p>\n Hogan Harris<\/p>\n Luis Medina<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Suarez<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Louis Varland<\/p>\n Tyler Rogers<\/p>\n Jeff Hoffman<\/p>\n Stock streamers (ancillary) Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Paul Sewald<\/p>\n Juan Morillo<\/p>\n Brandyn Garcia<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Raisel Iglesias<\/p>\n Dylan Lee<\/p>\n Didier Fuentes<\/p>\n Shared Saves<\/p>\n Jacob Webb<\/p>\n Trent Thornton<\/p>\n Caleb Thielbar<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Emilio Pag\u00e1n<\/p>\n Brock Burke<\/p>\n Tejay Antone<\/p>\n Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Jordan Romano<\/p>\n Juan Mejia<\/p>\n Brennan Bernardino<\/p>\n Primary Save Share<\/p>\n Tanner Scott<\/p>\n Alex Vesia<\/p>\n Evan Phillips<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Pete Fairbanks<\/p>\n Michael Petersen<\/p>\n Calvin Faucher<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Trevor Megill<\/p>\n Abner Uribe<\/p>\n Aaron Ashby<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Devin Williams<\/p>\n Luke Weaver<\/p>\n Brooks Raley<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Jhoan Duran<\/p>\n Orion Kerkering<\/p>\n Jonathan Bowlan<\/p>\n Fluid<\/p>\n Gregory Soto<\/p>\n Mason Montgomery<\/p>\n Carmen Mlodzinski<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Riley O’Brien<\/p>\n George Soriano<\/p>\n Ryne Stanek<\/p>\n Mostly Linear<\/p>\n Mason Miller<\/p>\n Adrian Morejon<\/p>\n Bradgely Rodriguez<\/p>\n Shared Saves<\/p>\n Erik Miller<\/p>\n Caleb Kilian<\/p>\n Keaton Winn<\/p>\n Fluid<\/p>\n Clayton Beeter<\/p>\n Tom Cosgrove<\/p>\n Orlando Ribalta<\/p>\n Stock streamers (ancillary) 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jordan Hicks (CHW) 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 Jul 23, 2026<\/p>\n Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul Sewald has surpassed expectations for many fantasy managers, but he’s struggled recently, and Justin Martinez is on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[21850,363,99],"class_list":["post-780256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-fantasy-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nDetroit Tigers: Keider Montero had been used in high-leverage situations before the All-Star break, but he may be needed in the rotation, putting Kenley Jansen atop the leverage ladder, for now.
\nLos Angeles Angels: Riding a hot streak, Kirby Yates took over as the preferred save option, then turned in two losses sandwiched around a save and has returned to lower-leverage appearances. Ryan Zeferjahn has resurfaced as an option for saves, but is also in trade rumors, putting Sam Bachman and Ben Joyce on the radar for post-deadline saves.
\nLos Angeles Dodgers: On the precipice of a return, Edwin D\u00edaz has moved his rehab outings to Triple A and may be active for his team\u2019s next home outing<\/a>, according to The Athletic\u2019s Katie Woo. Tanner Scott becomes a viable stream option, but his fantasy managers should be planning accordingly.
\nSan Francisco Giants: More changes may be underway for this volatile environment for saves all season. Caleb Kilian was named the closer; however, he has suffered three losses while converting four-of-six save chances over his past 10 appearances, posting a 2.25 WHIP across eight innings. Erik Miller has emerged as an option for saves, but the leverage ladder has not afforded him a chance since the All-Star break.
\nWashington Nationals: The Nats moved into a tie for the MLB lead in pitchers with at least one save this season at 11 when Tom Cosgrove recorded one in Colorado. He may be in the saves conversation, along with Clayton Beeter, but the bullpen should be addressed ahead of the trade deadline, signaling more changes may occur.<\/p>\n
\nAlex Lange (KCR): After landing on this list before the All-Star break, he remains after suffering consecutive blown saves to start the second half. He did bounce back with his ninth save in a clean outing against the Giants, but it\u2019s tough trusting a reliever with a 1.91 WHIP and eight strikeouts versus seven walks over his past 12 appearances.
\nPete Fairbanks (MIA): He\u2019s been on this list previously, and recent results have not changed his tenuous status as the Marlins\u2019 closer. He has not recorded a save since July 8 and could not close out a win in Milwaukee, allowing a walk-off, three-run home run. Through 33 games, he owns a 1.52 WHIP with a 3.50 SIERA and a 5.11 xERA.<\/p>\n
\nPrimary save share: The team prefers one reliever as the primary option for saves. However, the player may also be used in matchup-based situations, whether dictated by batter-handedness or batting order, especially in the late innings, providing 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 ancillary option, others 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 regarding the leverage roles remain unclear.
\nAmerican League leverage pathways
\n TeamLeverage PathwayCloser (Primary)Stopper\/HLRStealth\/Ancillary Option<\/p>\n
\nGarrett Whitlock (BOS)
\nBryan Hudson (CHW)
\nAndrew Kittredge (BAL)
\nBryan Abreu (HOU)
\nSave stashes
\nSteven Cruz (KCR)
\nBen Joyce (LAA)
\nLuis Medina (ATH)
\nNational League leverage pathways
\n TeamLeverage PathwayCloser (Primary)Stopper\/HLRStealth\/Ancillary Option<\/p>\n
\nMason Montgomery (PIT)
\nErik Miller (SFG)
\nTrent Thornton (CHC)
\nTom Cosgrove (WSH)
\nDidier Fuentes (ATL)
\nSave stashes
\nEdwin D\u00edaz (LAD) \u2014 if available
\nJustin Martinez (ARI) long-term; Juan Morillo (ARI) near-term
\nMichael Petersen (MIA)
\nJason Foley (SFG)
\nJuly leaderboardsSavesHoldsSOLDS<\/p>\n
\nBrent Headrick (NYY)
\nDylan Dodd (ATL)
\nCraig Yoho (MIL)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n