Fantasy baseball: Closer depth chart, relief pitcher rankings for Week 15

As the calendar flips to July, it feels like bullpen hierarchies are finally settling in. The clubs who believe in closers have settled on them, and barring some sort of injury or other disaster, there aren’t a ton of loose saves to be found on the waiver wire.

Of course, this is 2023 we’re talking about, so there’s always one injury or another — and this past week was no exception. We had our first major bullpen trade of the season, as Aroldis Chapman went from the Kansas City Royals to the Texas Rangers, while one All-Star is struggling and a former All-Star has returned from injury. We’ll go through all that and more along with a full depth chart of every bullpen in the league.

Relief pitcher notes: Week 14

• It had been obvious that Chapman was merely trade bait for a rebuilding Kansas City team from the moment he signed his one-year deal over the winter, and the inevitable trade came to pass this weekend, as the Royals flipped him to the Texas Rangers. It’s not an ideal landing spot for fantasy purposes, but Chapman remains a solid add in 12-team leagues and deeper. He immediately slots into the setup role behind Will Smith — Jose Leclerc is now back on the IL, while Grant Anderson and Josh Sborz were both knocked around in a loss to Houston on Sunday — with a good chance at overtaking Smith in the ninth inning if the lefty falters at all or gets injured. Even if that doesn’t come to pass, though, Chapman will still run into the occasional save chance will helping your Ks and ratios.
• Hudson made his long-awaited 2023 debut on Friday night after a long rehab from knee surgery, striking out two while pitching a clean eighth inning in a blowout win over Kansas City. The veteran righty isn’t going to get tossed back into high-leverage spots right away, but he looks to be fully healthy, and it won’t be long before a Dodgers team that’s desperate for more reliable late-inning options starts trusting him more and more. Evan Phillips has been L.A.’s one constant in the closer’s role, but manager Dave Roberts loves to mix and match — so even if Hudson doesn’t regain his status as The Guy, he should still get his fair share of save opportunities for a winning team.
• Kendall Graveman has a 5.40 ERA over his last nine appearances, Gregory Santos nearly blew a three-run lead in the ninth on Saturday night and Joe Kelly is … well, Joe Kelly. Middleton owns the last clean save of anyone in the Chicago bullpen, and he’s been pitching better than anyone since Liam Hendriks landed on the IL with elbow inflammation. It’s not the most stable situation, obviously, but he’s the best bet to emerge as the guy here before Hendriks returns.
• Is it time to start sounding the alarm about Alexis Diaz? The righty was deservedly named to the NL All-Star roster on Sunday evening, and he’s in no danger of losing his job in Cincinnati. Still, Diaz made a mess of an eventual save against the San Diego Padres on Sunday, giving up a run on two hits before sealing the deal, and it’s hard not to notice how shaky he’s been of late. Diaz boasted a gaudy 44% K-rate on June 22, but he’s now struck out just three of his past 26 batters faced (11.5%). He relies a lot on those strikeouts to cover up his 14% walk rate and a 49% fly ball rate that means trouble in Great American Ball Park, so if he doesn’t sharpen up soon, there could be some crooked numbers in his future. Again, his job isn’t in jeopardy, but if you can still sell high on him, it might be wise to look into it.