After a long offseason and somehow seemingly longer Spring Training, Opening Day is finally happening. It’s a bit of a strange schedule this season, with some teams playing “real” games on Sunday while others still play Spring Training games, and some teams not playing “real” games until Tuesday. Either way, it’s baseball season. Here’s a look at some bullpen news leading up to the big day.

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Philadelphia Phillies

When the Phillies signed David Hernandez, it was assumed by most that he would take the closer role right away. A mostly effective veteran presence at the end of the bullpen is key for a young team that will want to save what few leads they will have. Hernandez, however, has been hurt for a good part of the Spring, and Phillies manager Pete Mackanin has said that he may use a closer by committee, at least to start the season. Hernandez and Dalier Hinojosa are the favorites for saves as the season begins, but Andrew Bailey could be in the mix as well. Assuming health for all three, Hernandez is still most likely to seize the job, but given the predicted struggles of the team combined with the uncertainty in the ninth inning, this is a bullpen to stay away from in fantasy.

Milwaukee Brewers

It wouldn’t be Spring Training without a weird injury. Brewers reliever and likely closer Will Smith tore the LCL in his right knee while taking off his shoe. He was a prime breakout candidate in 2016 but will now miss about six weeks as he tries to rehab his knee injury. If that doesn’t work, he will have to undergo surgery and miss most, if not all, of the season. His 12.93 K/9 in 2015 already made him somewhat valuable as a fantasy piece, but the added bonus of saves could have pushed him into one of the upper tiers of relievers. Instead, the Brewers will go with Jeremy Jeffress and Corey Knebel, likely until one of them runs away with the job. Both are intriguing options, with Jeffress the stronger candidate to take the ninth inning this season but Knebel with more long-term upside. Jeffress strikes out about eight batters per nine innings, but gets almost 60% ground ball outs. Meanwhile, Knebel is more of a power pitcher who strikes out over 10 per nine, with about 49% ground balls. Jeffress is the safer pick with some upside, Knebel the riskier one but with a potentially higher reward. Or, manager Craig Counsell could mess with both of them and all of us by forming a closer by committee.

Toronto Blue Jays

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, unlike Mackanin and Counsell, was nice enough to name a closer for his ball club; Roberto Osuna. The competition lasted most of Spring Training, but Osuna beat out new Blue Jay Drew Storen for the ninth inning job. Last season, Osuna struck out 75 in 69.2 innings and saved 20 games. He has the chance to be a top-10 fantasy closer this year, but he won’t have much room for error with the talented Storen behind him.

Colorado Rockies

The thought was that the Rockies acquired lefty Jake McGee from the Tampa Bay Rays in order to make him their closer, but that thought wasn’t a certainty until righty Jason Motte suffered a shoulder injury. With Motte set to begin the season on the disabled list, McGee should be the unquestioned closer for a Rockies team that will struggle to win games. McGee is a great reliever, with 48 strikeouts in 37.1 innings last season to go along with a tiny 0.94 WHIP, so he will be worth rostering as a closer with the Coors Field caveat. Expect some regression from McGee, but that should be more than made up for with the added bonus of saves that he did not consistently earn in previous seasons.

New York Yankees

The Yankees were having a healthy and exciting Spring until two key bullpen pieces went down within the span of a few hours. Temporary closer Andrew Miller was hit on the right (non-throwing) wrist and broke a bone while projected late-inning reliever Bryan Mitchell suffered a fractured toe. Miller plans to “tough it out” and play through the injury, but Mitchell could require surgery and will miss some time. With closer Aroldis Chapman set to begin the season serving a 30-game suspension, Miller will be the Yankees’ closer for a month and will presumably put up the same elite numbers he did last season. His injury could give a little bump to Dellin Betances, but Miller’s insistence on playing through the pain likely means that he will be able to hold down the ninth until Chapman returns.

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David A. Marcillo is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from David, check out his archive and follow him @DavidMarcillo77.

