Last Updated on July 15, 2026 6:15 am by André Lemos | Published: August 13, 2025

There was some movement on the closer front this week.

Josh Hader is hurt so that leaves a big void in H-Town. The Tigers might be headed toward a committee (again). Devin Williams pitched the sixth inning!? Someone else got a save in Miami. Is Robert Garcia out in Texas? What the hell is going on in Minnesota?

Then the holds landscape is always changing.

I dive into all of these teams and tell you how to evaluate them.

The closers I will label in the following tiers (I’ve added a fourth tier from last year and modified my definition of ‘weak’*)

Strong – they are definitely the closer.
Probably – they look to be the closer, for now.
Weak – there is a good chance they don’t get the next save chance*
Committee – We just don’t know who will get the ball in the ninth. Shrug.

Alright, let’s get into it!

EDITOR’S NOTE:

This article is a tad late but I’ve included updates all the way through till 5:30 central so that includes Wednesday afternoon game action.

In the teams up until the Giants, the stats are through August 11, unless I noted an important update from either Tuesday or Wednesday. The stats starting at the Giants includes data through August 12 and includes Wednesday updates as noted.

Mariners

Closer – Andres Munoz – Strong

Munoz got three saves with Matt Brash earning two.

This ‘pen was busy this week and Brash was able to shark a couple of saves with the workload Munoz took on.

Munoz is definitely still the closer.

Holds

Gabe Speier got three holds, Caleb Ferguson and Eduardo Bazardo got two holds with one going to Carlos Vargas.

With Brash’s saves due to Munoz’s usage allowed the other arms chances a shot at some holds so those deep league plays were quite productive.

I think we can push Speier into must roster territory as he owns an 0.68 ERA with 14 Ks, three BBs in his last 13.1 innings.

Bazardo joins Ferguson as a decent deep leauge play.

Brash is the ‘must-roster’ dude.

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Paul Williamson

I grew up in Crosby, TX, just about 30 minutes east of Houston, TX. Yes, I am a major Houston Astros fan, and love my Texans and Rockets.

I graduated Crosby High School in 2006 (Go Coogs!) and attended San Jacinto College (Go Gators!) before attending and graduating from Texas Tech in 2012 (Go Tech!). I got my degree in journalism.

Throughout my academic life I was on some form of debate team, and it was the greatest experience of my academic career.

Now I couldn’t be more happier. Sports Ethos is allowing to me to live a life long dream: to be a sports writer.

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