March 5, 2021

Chicago Cubs – The Cubs let 2020 closer Jeremy Jeffress walk, which means that Craig Kimbrel will start the year as the closer for the Cubs. Kimbrel finished the year looking every bit like the pitcher Chicago thought they were getting when they signed him to a $43 million contract in 2019, only giving up 2 runs over his last 15 appearances. Behind Kimbrel, the Cubs will have a lot of decisions to make with multiple veteran relievers in camp with them. Ryan Tepera and Dan Winkler return from solid-but-not-spectacular 2020 campaigns. The Cubs took a flyer on former set up man Pedro Strop and signed Boston transplant Brandon Workman who had a forgettable 2020. Andrew Chafin will serve as the primary left handed reliever. The most interesting player to watch is Rowan Wick who was a high leverage reliever for most of 2020, but he has still not fully recovered from the oblique injury that ended his 2020 season.

Starting 2021 hierarchy: Kimbrel | Winkler | Chafin.
Holds candidates: Chafin, Winkler, Tepera, Wick.

Cincinnati Reds – The Reds traded closer Raisel Iglesias and lost Archie Bradley to free agency leaving a hole at the back end of their bullpen. Amir Garrett has already voiced his claim to the closers job, he will have some competition from new acquisition Sean Doolittle and converted starter Lucas Sims. While we think that Garrett has the inside track due to his experience in Cincinnati already, this situation is far from settled and David Bell has already hinted that he may not have a set closer. Behind the top three arms, the Reds have Noe Ramirez, who as a part of the Iglesias trade, and has showed some flashes of strikeout potential. They also signed Cam Bedrosian who had been an effective reliever for the Angels for the past 4 years.

Starting 2021 hierarchy: Garrett |Doolittle | Sims
Holds candidates: Doolittle, Sims, Ramirez, Bedrosian.

Milwaukee Brewers – The Brewers return one of the best bullpens in baseball this year, with talent from top to bottom. Josh Hader returns as one of the most reliable closers in the league, and despite giving up more runs than usual, he still maintained an elite strikeout rate, and saved 13 games in the shortened season. Behind Hader, Devin Williams may be one of the best set up men in all of baseball this year, and is coming off a season where he posted an incredible 53 strikeouts over 27 innings, making him worth a look in almost any league. Behind them, Freddy Peralta was slated as more of a long reliever, but found himself in a lot of high leverage spots at the end of 2020, and could easily return to that role this year. Drew Rasmussen is a hard thrower who had some mixed results at the end of last season, while Brent Suter and Justin Topa round out the bullpen that should be one of the most effective in the league.

Starting 2021 hierarchy: Hader | Williams | Suter.
Holds candidates: Williams, Suter, Topa, Peralta.

Pittsburgh Pirates – Wins will be tough to come by for a Pirates team in the midst of a rebuild, and save opportunities may be few and far between. Richard Rodriguez is the presumptive closer for the Pirates, but he may be a trade target and likely wouldn’t close wherever he lands. Chris Stratton has been a reliable arm for the Pirates, and might end up closing if Rodriguez is out of the mix while Kyle Crick has looked like a future closer in the past. Sam Howard is the most likely left hander to get high leverage innings in the early going, and has posted some sneaky good strikeout rates, albeit with an inflated ERA.

Starting 2021 hierarchy: Rodriguez | Stratton | Howard
Holds candidates: Stratton, Howard, Crick, Shreve

St. Louis Cardinals – While they don’t quite have the clarity of roles that the Brewers do, the Cardinals have arguably as talented a set of arms to choose from in their bullpen going into 2021, led by Giovanny Gallegos and Andrew Miller. Miller had a solid bounce back after a forgettable 2019 campaign and will always be in the late inning mix when healthy. Gallegos was excellent in the early going (once he resolved COVID-related travel issues) before struggling a bit down the stretch with a nagging injury. Added to that mix is Jordan Hicks, who was a top level closer for St. Louis in 2019 before needing Tommy John surgery. Hicks is reportedly healthy and hitting 102 MPH, so it would not be surprising to see him jump directly into the 9th inning conversation. Carlos Martinez also may find himself back in the bullpen if he misses out on a rotation spot, as could Alex Reyes.

Starting 2021 hierarchy: Gallegos | Hicks | Miller.
Holds candidates: Miller, Hicks, Gallegos, Reyes.

March 5, 2021

Arizona Diamondbacks – Arizona acquired Joakim Soria in early February, but Torey Lovullo said he was “not going down that road” when asked about Soria’s chances of winning the closer’s job. The good news is you won’t have to worry about Stefan Crichton crying about it if he doesn’t earn the role this spring. Soria seems like the logical choice for the ninth inning, leaving setup roles for guys like Crichton, Tyler Clippard, Ryan Buchter and Chris Devenski.

Starting 2021 hierarchy: Soria | Crichton | Clippard.
Holds candidates: Crichton, Clippard, Buchter, Devenski.

Colorado Rockies – Scott Oberg is healthy again, which is good news for a bullpen that posted a 6.77 ERA last year. Oberg and Daniel Bard are the two guys competing for the ninth inning. Mychal Givens closed in Baltimore but struggled when he arrived in Denver via trade last year. Yency Almonte wasn’t bad last year and may see some more high-leverage looks.

Starting 2021 hierarchy: Oberg | Bard | Givens.
Holds candidates: Bard, Givens, Almonte.

Los Angeles Dodgers – For better or worse, the Dodgers seem determined on having Kenley Jansen start the year as their closer. Jansen wasn’t exactly a beacon of reliability in 2020, and it was Julio Urias, not Jansen, to record the final outs of the Dodgers’ NLCS and World Series clinchers. With Urias pegged for a spot in the rotation, the job seems like Jansen’s to lose. Blake Treinen will be lurking behind Jansen, as will Corey Knebel. If Brusdar Graterol isn’t put in the rotation, he could see some high-leverage spots as well.

Starting 2021 hierarchy: Jansen | Treinen | Knebel.
Holds candidates: Treinen, Knebel, Graterol, Joe Kelly.

San Francisco Giants – Gabe Kapler remains the Giants’ manager, so don’t hold Closer Monkey responsible if anything we say below doesn’t end up happening. San Francisco signed Jake McGee to a two-year deal in the offseason and it looks as if the lefty is the likely closer to start the year. Reyes Moronta will be back after missing all of last season and should be in the late-inning mix if his velocity remains high. After that, guys like Matt Wisler and Tyler Rogers should pick up some holds.

Starting 2021 hierarchy: McGee | Moronta | Wisler.
Holds candidates: Moronta, Wisler, Rogers, Jarlin Garcia.

San Diego Padres – The Padres may not be in on Josh Hader right now but they do have several options to pitch the ninth inning. San Diego signed both Mark Melancon and Keone Kela in February, and Melancon seems more likely than Kela to end up as the closer. Don’t forget about Drew Pomeranz and Emilio Pagan, both of whom closed at one time or another last year.

Starting 2021 hierarchy: Melancon | Kela | Pomeranz.
Holds candidates: Kela, Pomeranz, Pagan.