Mound Musings: Endgame Odyssey – American League

We have passed Opening Day. It has been difficult watching all the live baseball I want to see, but there is still work to be done. Most leagues have already completed their drafts. Others will be happening soon, but draft day is just the beginning of a fantasy season, and no place will likely offer more opportunities to profit than the bullpens.

Not that long ago, assessing a team's pitching staff heading into a season was challenging, but it was usually fairly consistent. Most teams would be fielding a rotation of five starting pitchers they hoped could pitch into the sixth or seventh inning, and a bullpen with somewhat defined roles. There would be a long man or two, in case the starter didn't get deep enough into the game, followed by set-up guys, charged with bridging the game to the closer. By now, most roles would be fairly well defined. However, now more than ever, it is different. Managing workloads could mean expanded, shorter outings, occasional skipped turns, and certainly a heavier reliance on bullpens, which is our focus for this week.

I love writing this article a couple times a year. The bottom line: The better teams (usually), with more quality pitching depth, barring injuries, are likely to be both more predictable and more productive with regard to providing useful fantasy statistics. Ideally, you could fill your staff with pitchers from better teams with the depth to maintain generally static roles for their bullpen arms. Unfortunately, those guys tend to be expensive on draft day and almost never appear on the waiver wire. That said, we need to look at some teams in what seems like turmoil, to hopefully find some bullpen value. This week it's the American League. Next week it's the National League's turn.

Let's review some AL bullpens with question marks as we dive into the 2025 season:

Tigers – It looks to me like the Tigers should be having a spirited competition for the closer's gig. They have a pair of flamethrowers who can miss bats and the strike zone. Both potential closers, Jason Foley and Alex Lange, have notched saves, but Lange is hurt, and Foley is somewhat surprisingly pitching in Toledo. I really thought Lange would establish himself as the closer after saving 26 games in 2023, but he struggled (worse than usual) to find the strike zone, and a lat injury has delayed his 2025 debut. So, Foley should be in the mix, too (he had 28 saves and eight holds last year). Interestingly, they sent him down this spring. I am convinced he will be back in Detroit sooner rather than later. Personally, I'd prefer Lange figure out how to throw strikes. Foley can get a little straight at times while Lange features a lot of movement. They have a competent bridge crew with Tommy Kahnle (pseudo closer) and Beau Brieske on the right side, and Tyler Holton on the left side, but these guys need to be in more versatile roles.

White Sox – We see teams in a "rebuilding mode" all the time. It's not unusual for them to trade away more expensive/experienced arms, but the White Sox took that to a whole new level recently. Young, old, talented, talent-less, it didn't appear to matter – off you go to a new home. When the dust settled there was literally no one who even vaguely resembled a closer. It's been a revolving door. However, that may be changing. Mike Clevinger might have washed out as a starter, but he is getting a look as a potential closer. Tell me if you've heard this before: "Very live arm with electric stuff, but he can't be relied upon to throw strikes." That would more or less be Mr. Clevinger. His fastball can be a bit straight but he can hit the upper 90s, and the strike zone moves around on him – a lot. If he can throw strikes, he can close, but that's a big if. If he flops, I'm pretty much at a loss. I suppose Jordan Leasure is a possibility. Lefty Fraser Ellard and Penn Murfee at least have some minimal experience, but I don't see it. They have a couple nice kids on the way in Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith. Maybe they would consider breaking them in with bullpen innings?

Red Sox – The Red Sox pen, at least on paper, shouldn't be too confusing. Of course, that relies heavily on my man-crush with Liam Hendriks. When everything is right, I do consider him one of the all-time best. Unfortunately, he is getting older (36) and he's been dealing with elbow inflammation. He's rehabbing now, and they expect him back later this month. When that happens, I expect things to sort out quickly. Hendriks generally gets the ninth, his caddy, veteran (he's 37) southpaw Aroldis Chapman fills the key set-up role along with right-hander Justin Slaten. I LOVE that lineup, and if all the pieces fall into place, they could help propel Boston into the playoffs.

Rays – The Rays appear in this column pretty much every time it rolls around. They are known for employing an extreme closer-by-committee program. Each time we talk about every relief pitcher. The names are changed to protect the innocent, but you get the idea. This year it's a little bit different. The Rays have pretty much settled on a primary closer. When healthy, Pete Fairbanks is usually going to get the ball in the ninth inning. That sounds relatively normal … wait, when healthy? Is that a concern? Fairbanks is 31, and he has pitched in MLB for seven seasons, missing good sized chunks of each season due to injury. So, when healthy, he's a good one. When he's not, it could be Edwin Uceta – he would be my top choice – but a cast of many like Kevin Kelly, flamethrower Mason Montgomery, Garrett Cleavinger, Manuel Rodriguez, and Hunter Bigge (to name a few) could get a shot at saving a game at any time. Predicting who and when is a whole different story.

Orioles – In Baltimore, the O's claim to have their closer, but like so many other teams, there is lingering trepidation. Their closer is Felix Bautista, but he has been off the mound for a long time, recovering from Tommy John surgery. He never had the best command, but it's really erratic right now. He'll eventually be fine. His primary caddy is a competent Seranthony Dominguez who might actually be a slightly better option than a pretty fair collection of set-up guys including Yennier Cano, Andrew Kittredge (due back in June) and Gregory Soto. They are all adequate set-up guys. It might be nice to have one of the caddies as Bautista works himself back into shape, but he's a top-tier closer, and it's just a matter of time before he takes the reins.

Royals – We have been witnessing a changing of the guard in the Kansas City bullpen. They brought in James McArthur and he did some closing in 2024 with erratic success. He's also hurt. They also acquired Lucas Erceg – a nice set-up guy but not the answer to closing. I thought the answer might be Hunter Harvey, but unfortunately, he also struggled last year, and a back injury didn't help. So, they went out and got an up-and-coming end-gamer in Carlos Estevez. The Royals are competitive, and they need him finishing games. He has the tools to be reasonably good at it. I know teams generally prefer defined roles, and their best bet is Estevez in the closer's gig, but the acquisitions add a lot of depth. Others, like lefty Angel Zerpa and righty John Schreiber are also useful pieces, but they are not closers. I like him a bit, but Chris Stratton has been miscast as a closer at times, although he could serve as a fill-in. Finally, Daniel Lynch (more of a swingman) is another consideration.

Rangers – Texas appears to have its closer, but I'm not totally convinced. However, I'm not seeing anyone who solidly profiles as the guy to go to if Luke Jackson stumbles as he has in the past. He generally pitches well until asked to hold a lead in the ninth, which is a monumental problem. He saved 18 games for Atlanta in 2019 but has not come close to that total otherwise. Josh Sborz has made a career out of serving as an insurance policy and he capitalized on another opportunity last year, collecting eight holds (but in just 16 games). He's hurt, but he's just not for me. If those guys stumble, perhaps the auditions begin all over again, led by my current favorite, Marc Church. There is potential there. The other guy I'm interested in is veteran Chris Martin. He has looked like a coming reliable closer a few times but never locked the job down. Robert Garcia was able to toss 60 innings last season and has looked fairly sharp so far in 2025 so maybe he'll get a look again. This could develop into a hotly contested competition.

These aren't all the questions by any means, but they are some situations to watch. As always, we'll keep tabs on possible bullpen adjustments throughout the season in the Endgame Odyssey section of the Musings, but for now, there are some thoughts on the American League. We'll check in on the National League next week.