Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report: Ryan Walker takes over for Camilo Doval; Orioles, Pirates could make a change

While the first two-thirds of 2023 was surprisingly lacking in bullpen turnover, the deluge has come here in August. Just in the last week, the Giants have made a significant change, the Diamondbacks and Royals have hinted at one, and there are signs that the Orioles and Pirates could be next.

Yup, weeks like this one are exactly what the Bullpen Report exists for, so let's roll up our sleeves and go to work.

Note: "Pecking order" refers to rosterability in Fantasy and not necessarily who's first in line for saves (though it's usually one and the same).

Closer changes don't get any cleaner than the way the Giants handled theirs, sending the ousted Camilo Doval to the minors and anointing his replacement, Ryan Walker, explicitly. "[Walker] certainly deserves it," manager Bob Melvin said, and God bless him for it. Walker indeed does deserve it, having put together a 2.17 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 10.7 K/9 with an almost sidearm delivery that creates some wicked horizontal movement on his slider. Melvin said he hopes Doval returns after the minimum 15 days, and it's possible things go back to the way they were if the former All-Star looks right again. But I'm betting on Walker holding this job the rest of the way, with as good as he's looked so far.

It's too early to call Justin Martinez the closer, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters Monday after the hard-throwing right-hander recorded his third consecutive save for the Diamondbacks in just eight days. Well, OK then. Can we whisper it behind his back? I think what Lovullo was getting at is that Paul Sewald could potentially still return to the role. The ousted closer has thrown four scoreless innings in lower-leverage situations, including once to close out a four-run lead. His velocity has shown some improvement, too. Still, it's getting harder to imagine the Diamondbacks making a switch with Martinez looking like a natural in the role. The 23-year-old has a 1.89 ERA and a 100 mph sinker that keeps batted balls on the dirt.

GM J.J. Picollo talked up Hunter Harvey as a possible closer when he acquired the right-hander from the Nationals at the All-Star break. Of course, he did the same for Lucas Erceg when he acquired him from the Athletics two weeks later. Harvey appeared to get the first chance once James McArthur finally fell out of favor, blowing a save in the ninth inning Aug. 3 before securing a save in the ninth inning the very next day. But he hasn't pitched since and ultimately wound up on the IL with mid-back tightness, which opened the door for Erceg to secure his first save this past Saturday. Erceg has the better numbers of the two and has been near-perfect in his six appearances with the Royals, striking out eight while allowing three baserunners in 6 1/3 innings, so I suspect he'll have settled into the closer role by the time Harvey makes it back.

Maybe manager Dave Roberts has gotten all the experimentation out of his system and is ready to entrust the closer role to Daniel Hudson finally. There are reasons to hope, anyway. The right-hander has secured each of the team's past two saves and six of their past nine, but there was that two-week stretch in the middle in which he worked the sixth inning once, the seventh inning once, and the eighth inning twice, ceding one save to each of Evan Phillips, Brent Honeywell, Anthony Banda. Hudson's past four appearances have all come in the ninth, though, including twice for a save and twice with a four-run lead. He has the most Fantasy upside of any of the closer targets mentioned in this article, but it only matters if Roberts commits to him.

I've been convinced that Craig Kimbrel's recent removal from the closer role was only temporary seeing as that's how these little lapses in control generally play out for him. After a few lower-leverage appearances, he rights himself and goes back to dominating, as we saw as recently as May. But since May, the Orioles have acquired Seranthony Dominguez, who they might view as a strong enough closer alternative to keep Kimbrel on ice. Three of Dominguez's past four appearances have come in the ninth inning, including twice with a four-run lead and once, most recently, for a save. I still think a return to Kimbrel is the likelier scenario, but after watching him walk three and take the loss in an eighth-inning meltdown Sunday, my confidence is diminished.

To my knowledge, manager Derek Shelton hasn't hinted of any change to his ninth-inning plans, but seeing as David Bednar may have single-handedly taken the Pirates out of playoff contention, it's almost an imperative at this point. The two-time All-Star hasn't looked right since his spring training was upended by a lat injury, and over his past three appearances, he's blown two saves and taken two losses, his ERA climbing to 5.75 (it only briefly dipped below 5.00). Meanwhile, Aroldis Chapman is one of the most celebrated closers of all time, still misses bats with the best of them, and seems to have put to rest his early-season control woes, walking just two (while striking out 18) over his past 12 innings.

To my mind, nothing has changed here since the last Bullpen Report, but you may have done a double-take when you saw George Soriano secure a save Sunday. The explanation is pretty simple, though. Calvin Faucher had worked the ninth inning three of the previous four days, including once for a save, and was unavailable to pitch. Soriano may have seemed like an odd Plan B, but he only entered for the final out after left-hander Andrew Nardi had made a mess of things. Faucher remains manager Skip Schumaker's most trusted reliever and the favorite for saves going forward, though I'll note that his 1.46 WHIP makes him no certainty to keep the job.

Carlos Estevez finally recorded his first save for the Phillies Thursday. It wasn't the cleanest inning -- he allowed an unearned run on two hits -- but it hopefully ended the speculation over how they'll handle their bullpen following his acquisition. Honestly, they didn't leave much room for doubt. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Estevez would get a lot of ninth innings. Manager Rob Thomson said he'd only use Estevez in the eighth if a bunch of lefties were due up in the ninth. Indeed, every one of Estevez's appearances with the Phillies has come in the ninth. I think any lingering uncertainty was really just wishful thinking given how long we had hoped Jeff Hoffman would ascend to the role.