One of the biggest moving targets in every fantasy baseball season is tracking down saves. Many teams deal with injuries to relievers, and, not to mention, some clubs love to use the best high-leverage reliever in non-save situations. It’s just the way modern baseball is managed. So, with the first weekend of the 2026 MLB season in the books, here’s how some notable clubs with not-so-certain closer situations have handled things.

Angels

We’ll start with the Angels, which lost Kirby Yates to the IL before the season started. That opened the door for Jordan Romano.

Romano had a clean ninth on Opening Day to notch his first save of the season, and then finished the Angels’ second game in a non-save spot.

It is inherently possible that the Angels could give Ryan Zeferjahn, floated as a potential save option on Opening Day by Kurt Suzuki, or Drew Pomeranz a save opportunity or two, depending on the situation. But for right now, Romano — the one with significant closer experience — appears to be the guy.

Astros

Bryan King, the left-hander, picked up a save on March 29. He came in for Bryan Abreu after Abreu faced three batters in the ninth. King had to contend with two runners, inherited from Abreu. He did let one score, as Nolan Schanuel — who faced King first — picked up an RBI single.

It made sense to bring in King when Joe Espada did, given that Schanuel is a left-handed hitter. Don’t panic if you have Abreu just yet, and don’t drop Abreu.

Cardinals

Ryne Stanek has been a busy reliever over the past few days.

Stanek got the ninth on Opening Day after the Cardinals used Riley O’Brien — who got the win that day — earlier against the Rays. And despite three walks, he didn’t give up the lead. Then, two days later, he picked up the win after he blew a save, trying to clean up the Cardinals’ second game of the season against Tampa Bay after Matt Svanson struggled.

The Cardinals used Riley O’Brien and JoJo Romero in save situations over the final two months of 2025. Stanek was with the Mets at the time, so we did get a first look at how the new bullpen would be deployed.

O’Brien will walk batters often — but so does Stanek. That is expected from relievers, though. Nonetheless, Stanek is worth a grab in NL-only and mixed leagues. But keep an eye on O’Brien.

Nationals

Clayton Beeter picked up the first save in a post-Jose A. Ferrer world.

The former Yankee finished out the Nationals’ win on March 29 against the Cubs. He can throw hard and strike out a lot of batters, which makes Beeter a good grab. Just be mindful of the walks.

Royals

Warning flashes should be going off in fantasy baseball players’ minds.

Carlos Estevez spectacularly fell apart on March 28, as he only picked up one out and let a two-run lead escape at the hands of the Braves. However, a concerning theme continued into the regular season. That is, Estevez’s fastball velocity.

Estevez’s velo was down across the board. However, he doesn’t have the same jump on the fastball as he did last season. Take a look at this.

This chart highlights Estevez’s fastball from all of 2026, including Spring Training. As you can see, while it’s trending up, the fastball isn’t where it was in the past.

Now, Estevez is currently dealing with an ankle contusion, causing him to be unavailable on the 29th. Lucas Erceg picked up the save, and Erceg is worth a stash in all formats.

Rangers

This one is kind of all over the place.

Tyler Alexander picked up the save on March 28 after Chris Martin blew the save in the bottom of the ninth against the Phillies. Before that happened to Martin, Robert Garcia was brought in to the back-to-back combo of Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.

Garcia got those two out. However, an Alec Bohm single and an Edmundo Sosa walk led to Martin coming in, and you get what happened next.

The Rangers don’t have a pitcher with notable closing experience, which makes this a tough dance. Garcia has some, and feels like a good bet to get late-inning work when available and when a team has multiple lefties coming up.

Twins

Cole Sands received the ninth inning on March 28, a tough task given that he had to deal with the top third of the Orioles’ lineup. He got through and notched the save.

It’s a slight change from late last season, as Justin Topa worked most of the save situations in the summer after Jhoan Duran was traded to Philadelphia. Sands received his chances then, though.

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