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We've talked plenty about the evolving closer landscape, but the conclusion of April seems like a good time to revisit it.
At the end of April in 2017, 61 relievers had earned at least one save. In 2018 there were 64 relievers with a save on the morning of May 1. Today, 83 different relievers have at least one save. Now part of that is that there have been more games, and more saves available. But the part that is relevant to Fantasy owners is that the saves are really getting spread around and it's not just one or two teams doing it.
This doesn't change my approach much in a points league. In fact, it probably makes it easier to find an acceptable reliever in a given week, especially with all of the SPARPs available. But it Rotisserie it's created quite the headache. You need to remain very active on the waiver wire, possibly carry potential saves on your bench, and don't overpay for temporary or part-time closers.
Unless you drafted one of the elite closers, this category is going to be a headache all season.
Four to add from Tuesday
Hansel Robles (12%) -- Robles picked up his second save of the season Tuesday night and looks like the Angels closer, at least until they figure out what is wrong with Cody Allen. Robles has been good this season, though not near as good as Ty Buttrey. I wouldn't want to invest too heavily in Robles, but he should be a decent source of saves in the short term.
Spencer Turnbull (27%) -- In his past two starts at Boston and Philadelphia, Turnbull has allowed one earned run in 11 innings. For the season he now has a 2.53 ERA and has not allowed more than three runs in any start. He doesn't have elite peripherals, but they also don't suggest enormous regression. Turnbull is a four-pitch pitcher with acceptable control and enough whiffs to give you hope for more upside.
Franmil Reyes (53%) -- I understand why you dropped Reyes, but a double dong Tuesday night should remind you why many of us didn't want to. The fact is he looked like one of the unluckiest hitters in baseball before Tuesday, and I feel more confident in him being a good hitter than I did before the season. Go get him.
Brian Goodwin (27%) -- At some point we have to take Brian Goodwin a bit more serious. Yes, his .338 batting average will regress, but that's not enough to ignore him. He has a 1.001 OPS, there's room for regression. Goodwin hit his fourth home run on Tuesday, and at the very least needs to be owned in all five-outfielder leagues.
Tuesday's Winners and Losers
Winners
Rick Porcello -- This was the best start of the season for Porcello, with eight Ks across eight shutout innings. He's been miserable for most of 2019, so hopefully this is a sign he's figured out whatever was wrong.
Jeff McNeil -- Four more hits raised McNeil's average to .370 on the season.There's some regression coming, but with a 9.5% strikeout rate, there's not much. I don't think we need to worry too much about Todd Frazier and Jed Lowrie impacting him.
Jesus Aguilar -- Aguilar looks to be crawling out of his hole with his third home run in two days. I don't know how good I feel about starting him, but at the very least you can't drop him now.
Losers
Yasiel Puig -- Puig went hitless again on Tuesday with two more strikeouts. He's now hitting .192 with a career-high 25.5% strikeout rate. His swing rate is way up as he tries to hack his way out of this slump. I don't want to drop him yet, but understand if you do.
Jose LeClerc -- The Rangers are done talking like LeClerc's job isn't in danger, but after Tuesday night he owns an 8.44 ERA, and most of that has nothing to do with luck. Shawn Kelley could be the speculative add.
