Five team’s will feature a different closer this week than they did last week, either due to injury or performance, making this week the busiest yet for bullpens. While this is bad news for each respective team, it is great for those of us searching for saves or holds to bolster our fantasy baseball bullpens. If you missed out on the plethora of new saves candidates this week, the situation in Milwaukee should provide you an opportunity to make up for it soon enough. With that said, let’s get into the happenings of the week, starting with the aforementioned Brewers.

Milwaukee Brewers

Two weeks ago, I analyzed the Brewers bullpen. Since then, in seven appearances Neftali Feliz has gone 3/3 on save opps, but allowed 3 home runs, including a 3-run homer to Mookie Betts yesterday afternoon in the 9th inning of a 1-1 ballgame; the Brewers went on to lose. Feliz’ home run total on the year is now up to 5 in just 15 innings. The home runs will continue to plague him, and if he blows up again this weekend a closer change may be warranted. Corey Knebel and Jacob Barnes remain the next two in line. Knebel has been lights out over the last two weeks, striking out 17 in 9 innings. Meanwhile, Barnes hit a rough patch, allowing 5 runs in back-to-back appearances before settling back down and allowing just one over his next four games. Right now Knebel has the edge, and those speculating on saves will want to keep a close eye on the situation. If you missed out on Reed, Wilson, Brach or Law this week (all discussed below), perhaps you should beat the clock and add Knebel now.

New York Metropolitans

Thursday brought unfortunate news for Mets’ reliever Jeurys Familia, who was diagnosed with an arterial clot in his right shoulder. Surgery is a possibility for Familia, and there is no timetable for his return. Addison Reed will take over closing duties and is a must add. He filled in very nicely in April when Familia was serving a suspension, so there is no reason to think Terry Collins won’t go with Reed again. Hansel Robles gets a bump to the 8th inning and a like bump in value in holds leagues. He’s been excellent on the season to the tune of a 1.42 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 20Ks and 6 holds in 19 innings, and he’s notched 4 wins to boot. The seventh inning should be a combination of lefty Jerry Blevins, Josh Smoker, and Josh Edgin.

Detroit Tigers

The Tigers lost two games last weekend, and both were the result of blown saves courtesy of Frankie Rodriguez. Shortly thereafter, Rodriguez was removed as the team’s closer and replaced by left-hander Justin Wilson. Justin Wilson has been superb this year, accumulating 8 holds, 23 strikeouts, a 1.23 ERA and 0.55 WHIP in 14.2 innings. Moving up a slot in the hierarchy are Alex Wilson and Shane Greene, who have ERAs of 2.08 and 1.38, respectively. Though Greene has the lower ERA, he’s walked 9 in 13 innings, so right now Alex Wilson has the upper hand for holds. One player to keep an eye on in Detroit is Blaine Hardy, the Tigers other lefty. With Justin Wilson handling the 9th, Hardy will be called upon for key left-on-left matchups in the 7th or 8th innings. He only has three holds on the season thus far, but all three have come in the last week, and all three were left-on-left matchups in the 7th inning.

Baltimore Orioles

Just days after Zach Britton was activated from the DL, he was placed back on it with the same forearm strain that caused the initial DL stint. Britton missed 16 days, which proved to be an insufficient amount of time to recover. This time around Britton is expected to miss two months, placing his return all the way back to the All-Star break. With Britton due to miss such a long time, if your DL spots are filled, don’t be afraid to drop him for a replacement closer, perhaps one of the few discussed today. The Orioles’ have their own replacement for Britton, and that’s Brad Brach. Brach has been an elite set-up man the last two years and adequately served as O’s closer during Britton’s first DL-stint, going 5/6 in save chances during that time, and 8/10 on the season. As it so happens, Brach’s second blown save came Wednesday night as I was writing this part of the article. He has now allowed an earned run in 3 of his last four appearances. It’s a bit concerning, but I think he will settle in and be fine. If not, Darren O’Day is next in line, followed by holds candidates Mychal Givens and lefty Donnie Hart.

Washington Nationals

The Washington bullpen remains unsettled as Shawn Kelley was placed on the disabled list with back soreness. Matt Albers got the next save chance, but he’s an unlikely long-term solution. Koda Glover is set to return from the DL this weekend and should be given an opportunity to close. Whether he runs with that opportunity remains to be seen. Long-term, it is probable the Nat’s look outside the organization for a closer, but with a 5-game lead in the division there is no immediate rush to make a trade. If you are in dire need of saves, take a chance on Glover. If not, stay away from this bullpen for now.

San Francisco Giants

Mark Melancon hit the DL this week with a strained pronator, which is located near the elbow. The injury is not expected to keep Melancon out long, but I’m pretty sure I heard that one before. Derek Law is filling in as closer in the interim. He recorded a save Wednesday against the Mets, but also allowed two runs in doing so. Hunter Strickland is another saves candidate especially if Melancon is out longer than expected, but the Giant’s will stick with Law until he proves incapable.

Three Stars of the Week

After writing about all the relievers getting injured and blowing saves, I thought I would finish on a positive note with the three stars of the week. As it turns out, the stars this week are stars every week. No surprises here, let’s just tip our caps to the game’s elite relievers.

Andrew Miller, Cle – In 5 innings pitched over 4 appearances, Miller earned 2 holds, 1 win, and recorded 6 strikeouts without recording a run and allowing only 1 baserunner

Kenley Jansen, LAD – Eight strikeouts over three innings without allowing a run. Unfortunately, no saves and just 1 hold to show for it.

Greg Holland, Col – 4 innings, 4 saves, 8 strikeouts and no earned runs allowed over the last 7 days. His elite season continues. At this rate, he will be a prime candidate for comeback player of the year.

That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading and come back next week for a summary of the week 7 events.

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(Click the RED link below to listen)

Major League Fantasy Baseball Radio Show: Join Corey D Roberts, and Kyle Amore live on Sunday May 7th, 2017 from 7-9pm EST for episode #86 of Major League Fantasy Baseball Radio. We are a live broadcast that will take callers at 323-870-4395. Press 1 to speak with the host. We will be previewing the coming week’s key matchups and discussing key fantasy information.

Our guest this week is Bryan Luhrs. Bryan is a writer with majorleaguefantasysports.com, and the owner of Real Deal Dynasty Sports.

You can find our shows on I-Tunes. Just search for Major League Fantasy Sports in the podcasts section. For Android users go to “Podcast Republic,” then download that app, and search for “Major League Fantasy Sports Show”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Click the RED link to listen)

Major League Fantasy Baseball Radio Show: Join guest host Andrea Lamont, and Kyle Amore live on Monday May 15th, 2017 from 7-9pm EST for episode #87 of Major League Fantasy Baseball Radio. We are a live broadcast that will take callers at 323-870-4395. Press 1 to speak with the host. We will be previewing the coming week’s key matchups and discussing key fantasy information.

Our guest this week is Lenny Melnick. Lenny is fantasy baseball pioneer, current FSWA Hall of Famer, and the host of his daily podcasts on lennymelnickfantasysports.com Mon-Fri at 9am EST. He also co-hosts a show every Sunday morning from 7-10am EST with Craig Mish on the fantasy sports station on Sirius.

You can find our shows on I-Tunes. Just search for Major League Fantasy Sports in the podcasts section. For Android users go to “Podcast Republic,” then download that app, and search for “Major League Fantasy Sports Show”

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