It’s been a wild baseball season already and we’re not even half way through May. The 2016 campaign is setting up to be a whole lot of fun. There were some interesting developments in the bullpen world this week, so let’s jump right in:

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Closer News From Around The League

New York Yankees

It’s no secret that the Yankees are struggling so far this season. With a 13-19 record, they sit firmly in last place in the American League East. This is certainly not what the Yankees and their fans expected when the season started. With a back end of the bullpen made up of Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, and Aroldis Chapman to join in after a month, the Yankees would only need to be winning for six innings in order to secure the victory, right? The issue has been just that — winning by the sixth inning. The end of the bullpen has been great, with Betances posting six holds to go with a 2.57 ERA and an unreal 17.36 K/9. Miller has been even better, saving six games and putting up a 0.71 ERA with 16.34 K/9. Despite Miller’s video-game numbers, manager Joe Girardi stuck to his word and installed Aroldis Chapman as the team’s closer as soon as he was activated from his suspension. It’s a huge blow to Miller’s value in saves-only leagues, as he will likely only get save opportunities when Chapman needs a day off. Still, Miller and Betances should both have value in all leagues thanks to their elite strikeout numbers. Chapman, of course, quickly will return to the top tier of closers in all fantasy formats.

Cincinnati Reds

The disaster that is the Cincinnati Reds’ bullpen saw its first glimpse of stability this week, with lefty Tony Cingrani picking up two saves. On Friday and Monday, Cingrani had scoreless outings, picking up saves in both. He pitched an inning on Monday and an inning and two-thirds on Friday. Just as it seemed like there was a closer in manager Bryan Price‘s bullpen, Cingrani was brought into the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game, giving up the lead on a solo home run. It seems like for now, Cingrani might be “the guy” to own in the Reds’ bullpen, but fantasy players are likely better off just avoiding Cincinnati’s relievers until one of them is officially named “closer.”

San Diego Padres

The Padres closer sure looks a lot like Fernando Rodney, but he has a 0.00 ERA on May 12th, with 14 scoreless innings and 10 saves under his quiver. He’s striking out 8.36 per nine innings and walking 3.86. The strikeouts are close to his career average, and the walks are noticeably lower. A 2.72 FIP, 92.9% of runners left on base, and .206 BABIP show that Rodney won’t keep a perfect ERA all season, but he’s certainly been more than just lucky. He’s actually been good. In fact, he saved both ends of a double header on Wednesday. Fantasy owners might try to sell high now while his ERA still sparkles, but he might just be a solid closer to have all season long.

Injury Report

No new closer injuries to report, but Injury Report mainstay Glen Perkins of the Minnesota Twins is finally scheduled to throw his first bullpen session. He hasn’t thrown a pitch since April 10th, and he won’t have his bullpen session until May 23rd. He’s been playing “light” games of catch for a few days while Kevin Jepsen has been getting save opportunities for the Twins. While there haven’t been many due to the struggles of the team as a whole, Jepsen has struggled in his save opportunities while Trevor May has shined in his late-inning appearances. Keep an eye on May, as he’d be a much more high-end closer than either Jepsen or Perkins.

Tampa Bay Rays closer Brad Boxberger is nearing a return from the disabled list, and manager Kevin Cash has already said that Boxberger will be the team’s closer upon his return. Temporary Rays closer Alex Colome has been great, saving nine games and posting a 1.80 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 15 innings. He will settle in to a setup role when Boxberger returns, but will certainly nip at his heels if Boxberger struggles. Boxberger is the guy to own in the Rays’ pen once he’s back, but Colome owners shouldn’t send him to the wire right away just in case.

Top Performers From May 5 – May 12

Jeurys Familia (NYM): 4 IP, 4 K, 4 SV, 2.25 ERA, 0.25 WHIP

Familia allowed just a solo home run this week, picking up four saves and four strikeouts in his four innings of work. While his strikeouts are down (7.41 K/9), he is inducing more ground balls and has been excellent this season, saving 12 games.

Fernando Rodney (SDP): 4 IP, 2 K, 4 SV, 0.00 ERA, 0.82 WHIP

Yes, that Fernando Rodney. He still hasn’t allowed a run this year, and he’s been great overall. This week, he saved four games, including two in one day, and allowed only one hit and two walks. The Padres will likely play in a lot of close games, so Rodney should be able to rack up the saves if he continues pitching this well.

Alex Colome (TAM): 5 IP, 7 K, 3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 0.40 WHIP

Colome’s days of saving games are coming to an end. With Boxberger on his way back to the mound and guaranteed his closer’s role, Colome is working on borrowed time. The soon-to-be setup man had an excellent week, though, saving three games and striking out seven in five innings of work, allowing just two hits.

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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.

