Although context and league trends can be as important as rankings, going through tiers helps identify how the positional landscape appears. It must be noted that there are four camp competitions for the ninth inning:
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Justin Martinez, A.J. Puk, Kevin Ginkel
- Boston Red Sox: Liam Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman, Justin Slaten
- Colorado Rockies: Seth Halvorsen, Victor Vodnik, Tyler Kinley
- Miami Marlins: Calvin Faucher, Jesús Tinoco, Anthony Bender
There are also muddled or potential timeshare situations for the following teams:
- Detroit Tigers: Beau Brieske, Tyler Holton, Will Vest, Jason Foley
- Kansas City Royals: Carlos Estévez, Lucas Erceg
- Los Angeles Dodgers: Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Blake Treinen
With this in mind, and using tiers as our guide, our first run of a top 40 for closers.
Tier One
- Josh Hader (HOU)
- Mason Miller (ATH)
- Emmanuel Clase (CLE)
- Devin Williams (NYY)
- Ryan Helsley (STL)
- Edwin Díaz (NYM)
- Raisel Iglesias (ATL)
No surprises here, and if one feels strongly about one reliever being above another, act accordingly in your draft or auction. Hader and Miller’s strikeout upside push them ahead of Clase, but volume keeps him near the top.
Tier Two
- Jhoan Durán (MIN)
- Andrés Muñoz (SEA)
- Ryan Walker (SF)
- Jeff Hoffman (TOR)
- Tanner Scott (LAD)
- Félix Bautista (BAL)
Whether it’s past performance, injury concerns, a lack of a track record, or a managed workload, this group presents many intriguing upside options as RP1s but resides below our first tier.
Tier Three
- Jordan Romano (PHI)
- Ryan Pressly (CHC)
- David Bednar (PIT)
- Kenley Jansen (LAA)
- Carlos Estévez (KC)
- Pete Fairbanks (TB)
- Trevor Megill (MIL)
- Robert Suarez (SD)
This tier features some relievers in shared roles, boring veterans, and two relievers (Megill and Suarez) on whom we remain lower than other sites.
Tier Four
- Justin Martinez (ARI)
- A.J. Puk (ARI)
- Kyle Finnegan (WSH)
- Alexis Díaz (CIN)
- Chris Martin (TEX)
While Martinez and Puk remain locked in a spring battle for the role, Finnegan and Díaz will be their team’s closer, though ratios keep them in this tier. Martin may be terrific as the closer in Texas, but he’s worked primarily as a set-up reliever and enters his Age-39 season.
Tier Five
- Aroldis Chapman (BOS)
- Liam Hendriks (BOS)
- Beau Brieske (DET)
- Griffin Jax (MIN)
- Jason Adam (SD)
- Lucas Erceg (KC)
- José Alvarado (PHI)
This group includes another camp competition at closer, perhaps Detroit’s preferred save option, and three highest-leveraged relievers (HLR) with ancillary save upside.
Tier Six
- Mike Clevinger (CHW)
- Victor Vodnik | Seth Halvorsen | Tyler Kinley (COL)
- Calvin Faucher | Jesús Tinoco | Anthony Bender (MIA)
- Cade Smith (CLE)
- Bryan Abreu (HOU)
- Luke Weaver (NYY)
Although he has not appeared on consecutive days, Clevinger’s first two spring appearances have been clean. Whichever reliever wins the role their respective teams slot below him and three more leverage relievers with strikeout upside, but fewer ancillary saves than the ones in the previous tier.
Because people prefer lists with numbers, here are the relievers with their blended projections and Closer Monkey’s projected save totals.
| Rank | Reliever | Wins | Saves | K | IP | ERA | WHIP | K-BB% |
| 1 | Josh Hader | 5.3 | 35 | 94.4 | 67.1 | 3.06 | 1.092 | 24.5% |
| 2 | Mason Miller | 3.7 | 31 | 98.3 | 66.7 | 2.54 | 0.999 | 28.3% |
| 3 | Emmanuel Clase | 4.6 | 39 | 72.2 | 70 | 2.62 | 1.06 | 20.2% |
| 4 | Devin Williams | 3.8 | 30 | 76.3 | 56.7 | 2.87 | 1.152 | 21.6% |
| 5 | Ryan Helsley | 4.9 | 33 | 80.8 | 65 | 2.94 | 1.12 | 21.1% |
| 6 | Edwin Díaz | 4.3 | 31 | 88.9 | 62.3 | 2.76 | 1.056 | 26.1% |
| 7 | Raisel Iglesias | 4.3 | 37 | 73.2 | 65.2 | 3.23 | 1.099 | 20.6% |
| 8 | Jhoan Durán | 5.2 | 30 | 79.7 | 63.7 | 2.54 | 1.094 | 22.8% |
| 9 | Andrés Muñoz | 4.5 | 28 | 83.4 | 62.7 | 2.61 | 1.102 | 22.9% |
| 10 | Ryan Walker | 4.9 | 28 | 84.1 | 71.7 | 3.09 | 1.154 | 20.6% |
| 11 | Jeff Hoffman | 3.7 | 29 | 80.4 | 65.7 | 2.95 | 1.099 | 21.6% |
| 12 | Tanner Scott | 5.3 | 23 | 82 | 68 | 2.98 | 1.201 | 18.6% |
| 13 | Félix Bautista | 3.9 | 28 | 84.8 | 59 | 2.64 | 1.047 | 26.4% |
| 14 | Jordan Romano | 3.9 | 21 | 75.2 | 64.7 | 3.05 | 1.121 | 20.6% |
| 15 | Ryan Pressly | 3.1 | 26 | 61.8 | 59.7 | 3.45 | 1.204 | 17.4% |
| 16 | David Bednar | 3.8 | 33 | 68 | 64 | 3.70 | 1.245 | 16.4% |
| 17 | Kenley Jansen | 3 | 25 | 62.6 | 56 | 3.83 | 1.23 | 17.7% |
| 18 | Carlos Estévez | 3.7 | 22 | 59.1 | 60 | 3.96 | 1.27 | 15.4% |
| 19 | Pete Fairbanks | 3.4 | 19 | 62.2 | 55 | 3.32 | 1.191 | 18% |
| 20 | Trevor Megill | 2.8 | 17 | 69.3 | 57.3 | 3.36 | 1.187 | 20% |
| 21 | Robert Suarez | 3.8 | 17 | 61.6 | 61 | 3.69 | 1.202 | 16% |
| 22 | Justin Martinez | 4.6 | 19 | 89.4 | 71.7 | 3.11 | 1.296 | 17% |
| 23 | A.J. Puk | 4.9 | 11 | 80.1 | 67.3 | 3.29 | 1.179 | 20.2% |
| 24 | Kyle Finnegan | 4 | 26 | 55 | 64 | 3.94 | 1.298 | 14 |
| 25 | Alexis Díaz | 3.7 | 19 | 69 | 63.7 | 4.11 | 1.316 | 13.9% |
| 26 | Chris Martin | 3.1 | 15 | 53.3 | 52.2 | 3.31 | 1.119 | 19.7% |
| 27 | Aroldis Chapman | 3.9 | 12 | 87.4 | 60.3 | 3.21 | 1.27 | 21% |
| 28 | Liam Hendriks | 3.1 | 14 | 59.7 | 54.3 | 3.70 | 1.221 | 18.5% |
| 29 | Beau Brieske | 3.8 | 13 | 68.5 | 72.3 | 3.97 | 1.277 | 13.4% |
| 30 | Griffin Jax | 4.9 | 6 | 86.2 | 72.3 | 3.05 | 1.094 | 22.1% |
| 31 | Jason Adam | 4.2 | 13 | 76.7 | 67 | 3.32 | 1.128 | 19.2% |
| 32 | Lucas Erceg | 3.9 | 12 | 68.8 | 62.7 | 3.47 | 1.273 | 15.9% |
| 33 | José Alvarado | 3.2 | 12 | 75.4 | 62 | 3.15 | 1.19 | 18.7% |
| 34 | Mike Clevinger | 3 | 16 | 59.6 | 57 | 3.79 | 1.275 | 16.3% |
| 35 | Victor Vodnik | 3.4 | 9 | 65 | 68 | 4.41 | 1.466 | 10.7% |
| 35 | Seth Halvorsen | 3.3 | 7 | 57.3 | 61 | 4.53 | 1.426 | 11.4% |
| 35 | Tyler Kinley | 2.7 | 12 | 62.5 | 60.3 | 4.67 | 1.395 | 14% |
| 36 | Calvin Faucher | 2.7 | 9 | 63.7 | 61 | 3.91 | 1.384 | 13.5% |
| 36 | Jesús Tinoco | 3.1 | 9 | 66.1 | 64.3 | 3.70 | 1.277 | 15.3% |
| 36 | Anthony Bender | 3 | 10 | 62.8 | 59.7 | 3.57 | 1.261 | 16.1% |
| 37 | Cade Smith | 4.3 | 5 | 88.7 | 70.7 | 2.93 | 1.107 | 22.1% |
| 38 | Bryan Abreu | 4 | 5 | 94.8 | 74 | 3.14 | 1.165 | 21% |
| 39 | Edwin Uceta | 3.1 | 10 | 72.4 | 66.3 | 3.69 | 1.214 | 16.7% |
| 40 | Luke Weaver | 3.9 | 8 | 81.1 | 74.3 | 3.74 | 1.184 | 18.5% |
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