Fantasy Baseball: Week 8 Closer Depth Charts & Bullpen Report

The fantasy baseball season is about a week away from the one-third point of the year. Here’s a closer look at the most volatile situations and where to find potential save opportunities.
Chicago White Sox Relief Pitcher Jordan Leasure
Chicago White Sox Relief Pitcher Jordan Leasure / Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Securing saves is an ongoing battle, strategic pursuit, and savvy managers know the waiver wire can be just as important as draft day. Here’s a breakdown of the bullpens currently facing the most turbulence:

Fantasy Baseball Closer Report Week 8

2025 MLB Bullpen Depth Charts (Part 1)
2025 MLB Bullpen Depth Charts (Part 1) / Shawn Childs

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez is scheduled to pitch at rookie ball this week after missing 16 days with a right shoulder issue. He threw a bullpen session earlier this week. If all goes well, Arizona will release the next step in his recovery plan.

Over the past week, Shelby Miller allowed a run over three innings with five baserunners and three strikeouts while converting his two save chances. He remains the Diamondbacks' top closing option until Martinez returns.

Boston Red Sox

Over the past month, Aroldis Chapman only has two saves with a 3.12 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and 10 strikeouts over 8.2 innings. He is yet to blow a save in six tries. Liam Hendriks saw his nine-inning shutout run end on Friday night when he allowed two runs and two walks over two-thirds of an inning with one strikeout. Justin Slaten extended his shutout run to 4.2 innings with no hits and four strikeouts.

Chicago Cubs

Porter Hodge picked up his second save over the past week, but the Mets drilled him for three runs, three hits, and one home run over one-third of an inning the following game. His two disaster showings (8.68 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, and six strikeouts over 9.1 innings) over his last 11 appearances paint a much cloudier closing opportunity.

Daniel Palencia hasn’t allowed a run over his last 8.1 innings with six baserunners and 10 strikeouts.  His fastball (99.2 mph) invites saves down the road. Before this season, he had a 4.78 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in the minors with 254 strikeouts over 184.2 innings.

The Cubs turned to Drew Pomeranz for a save this week. Since his recall to the majors, he’s yet to allow a run over 8.2 innings with two hits, two walks, and nine strikeouts.

Cincinnati Reds

Over his last eight appearances, Emilio Pagan allowed six runs, 12 baserunners, and one home run over 8.2 innings with 12 strikeouts and four saves. Tony Santillian is inching closer to the closing job for the Reds. He’s allowed four runs and 19 baserunners over 22.0 innings with 19 strikeouts.

Colorado Rockies

Zack Agnos lost his closing momentum over his last three appearances (two runs, six baserunners, and one home run over 3.2 innings with four strikeouts. Seth Halvosen pitched much better over his previous eight innings (one run, four hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts). His only save came in the Rockies' first game of the year.

2025 MLB Bullpen Depth Charts (Part 2)
2025 MLB Bullpen Depth Charts (Part 2) / Shawn Childs

Chicago White Sox

Jordan Leasure pitched better over his last 5.1 innings, leading to a 3.38 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and eight strikeouts, but he still doesn’t have a save in 2025. Over the past week, the White Sox gave Cam Booser a converted save chance. He allowed one run and seven baserunners over his last five innings with four strikeouts. Mike Vasil has issued 14 walks this year over 25.0 innings, but he has a 1.80 ERA and 15 strikeouts. Chicago pitched him in a closing situation on May 14th, which he secured.

Miami Marlins

Calvin Faucher’s last save came on April 25th. His scoreless streak stands at 10.2 innings with seven hits, five walks, and 12 strikeouts. Over his last six appearances, Jesus Tinoco gave up five runs, eight baserunners, and five strikeouts over his last 5.2 innings, leading to two saves in three chances.

Philadelphia Phillies

Jordan Romano worked his way back into saves over his last seven appearances, when he pitched seven shutout innings with three hits, one walk, eight strikeouts, and three saves. Jose Alvarado earned only his second save since April 19th on Friday night. He allowed three runs, 11 baserunners, and 11 strikeouts over his last 10.2 innings.

Pittsburgh Pirates

David Bednar hasn’t recorded a save in May while posting a 3.18 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, and 10 strikeouts over 5.2 innings. Dennis Santana remains in the mix for the closing role in Pittsburgh based on season-long success (1.96 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 11 strikeouts over 18.1 innings with four strikeouts).

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Shawn Childs
SHAWN CHILDS

With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.