Paul’s Call to the ‘Pen: April 14 – Saves Edition

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  • By Paul Williamson

    Last Updated on April 14, 2026 7:44 pm by Paul Williamson | Published: April 14, 2026

    There’s a new arm on the list thanks to the weirdness in Sacramento. Do we need to keep holding guys like Griffin Jax, Robert Garcia, Chris Martin? Some velocity concerns seem to be correct themselves and others still remain.

    As I will all year, I will list the closers in the following tiers

    Must-roster – they should be rostered in all leagues.

    Solid play – They are 12-team viable, fringe options for shallower leagues.

    Fringe-play – I would only roster them in 12-team leagues if I was starved for saves or holds

    Deep league play – I’m only using them in deeper than 12-team leagues

    Dart throw – Are you desperate?

    MUST ROSTER

    David Bednar – Velo has yet to return and he struggled some this week. Monitor his performance.

    Devin Williams – No save chances this week. But still the dude.

    Jhoan Duran – Yeah, he the dude in Philly.

    Mason Miller – He faced nine hitters in three innings. Struck out eight. Yeah, he’s the dude.

    Edwin Diaz – A lot of hoop-la over his velocity dip but I tend to believe it is much ado about nothing. Definitely keep monitoring as early season velo dips for him don’t seem to be new.

    Ryan Helsley – Two saves notched this week. He is the dude in Baltimore. .

    Bryan Abreu – He was back to 96-97 last time out. I think we just got to be patient.

    Jeff Hoffman – Had a little bit of a struggle but still got six Ks in 3.0 innings.

    Trevor Megill – One bad outing in early April isn’t cause for concern.

    Cade Smith – The saves will come, don’t worry.

    Andes Munoz – Saw him back to 99+ this last week. Should be fine.

    Daniel Palencia – No save chances this week but his role is safe.

    Aroldis Chapman – Velocity is trending in the wrong direction (93.9 MPH last time out…). Watch out.

    Lucas Erceg – Two perfect innings and two saves bump him up a tier. Carlos Estevez is on a rehab so watch his velo to determine if he is a threat to Erceg.

    SOLID PLAY

    Kenley Jansen – He got the only save and isn’t yet showing signs of trouble. .

    Jakob Junis – is starting to be used like a true closer and until otherwise noted, we may have found the closer in Texas, for now.

    Raisel Iglesias – Velo looks like it will remain 94-95 but we have not seen him since last Tuesday so no real change in value.

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    April 14, 2026, 7:44 pm