Fantasy bullpen report features concern for closers Mason Miller and Tanner Scott

New York Times

29-05-2025

As spring transitions into summer, so do high-leverage roles in fantasy baseball. After Wednesday's loss in Detroit, Giants manager Bob Melvin announced Camilo Doval will resume closer duties, with Ryan Walker returning to a set-up role. Walker has pitched better of late, but his 1.30 WHIP and reduced swinging strike rate necessitated the change. Doval takes over amid a 19-game scoreless streak, during which he has recorded two wins, three saves, seven holds and 18 strikeouts against five walks (21.7 K-BB percentage) over 18 innings.
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Last week, Texas reliever Luke Jackson was featured in my 'Closer Concerns' section and he has since been removed from save situations by Bruce Bochy. Robert Garcia recorded the first save since this occurred, but based on recent usage patterns, he may be deployed as the highest-leverage reliever (HLR) rather than as a traditional closer.
Roles may be settling in for the Pirates, with David Bednar recording the past two saves, but I will continue to list them as a shared save situation in my leverage pathways for at least one more week. In Arizona, Justin Martinez returned from the injured list and will be 'eased' into save chances, while A.J. Puk ramps up his return to pitch protocols with an eye on being activated in late June.
With all this in mind, my leverage pathways have been updated. Here are the high-leverage pathway identifiers. Each team will receive one of the following labels:
Access The Athletic's guide for abbreviations used in fantasy baseball.
Robert Garcia (TEX): Despite allowing a run in three straight appearances between May 18 and 25, he recorded a save on May 27 and was used against Toronto's 2-3-4 lineup pocket the following day. This may designate him as the highest-leverage reliever and the preferred save share moving forward. Kumar Rocker will not be used as a reliever, but Jon Gray could return as one by July.
Griffin Jax (MIN): Over his past six games, he has recorded 13 strikeouts against one walk (57.1 K-BB percentage) with a 0.50 WHIP and an 18.9 percent swinging strike rate.
Seranthony Dominguez (BAL): He struggled early on incorporating a split-finger fastball into his arsenal, but he has surged in recent appearances, posting a save, a hold, and six strikeouts versus zero walks (42.9 K-BB percentage) in his past three games, spanning four innings.
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Mason Miller (ATH): It's been a rough month for the talented reliever. He has allowed at least a run in four of eight May appearances, and multiple runs in three of those contests. It's resulted in 11 runs (10 earned) across 7.2 innings, including two home runs. Contact has been an issue — he's allowed six barrels in his first 34 batted ball events this season (17.6 barrel percentage) versus seven all of last year across 123 events. His hard-hit rate percentage has risen from 32.5 percent in 2024 to its current 50 percent. What is confusing is he has reduced his contact rate by over five percent, but his Z-contact (in the strike zone) has increased by four percentage points.
Delving a bit deeper, his strike percentage has decreased by three percent, and his first-strike percentage sits 6.7 percentage points below last season. Count leverage affected Devin Williams earlier this season and could be the culprit in this scenario as well. Baseball-Reference tracks 3-0 count and 0-2 count percentages:
All three home runs Miller has allowed this season have been against his four-seam fastball, which has a .373 expected weighted on-base average with a .532 expected slugging percentage. Fine-tuning his command in the strike zone with the fastball can put him in advantageous counts, allowing him to deploy his devastating slider (27.9 swinging strike percentage in 2025). His current 5.79 ERA is accompanied by a 1.94 SIERA and a 3.41 xERA. This is a broad range of predictors, and his rest-of-the-season results probably lie somewhere between them. Trust in his talent while monitoring his results in June.
Reed Garrett (NYM): He hasn't been scored upon in his past seven appearances and recorded a save in the past two. He will not be replacing Edwin Díaz anytime soon, but in mixed leagues, he represents a viable stream option for saves.
Ben Casparius (LAD): Across his past three relief outings, he has racked up 10 strikeouts against one walk (56.2 K-BB%) in five innings. In 17 appearances as a reliever this season, he has logged 32.2 innings, with 37 strikeouts against six walks (23.8 K-BB percentage), a 15.1 swinging strike percentage and a 0.98 WHIP.
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Randy Rodríguez (SF): Although Doval will garner most of the attention this week, Rodríguez has been racking up strikeouts. Through 11 games in May, he has recorded two wins and four holds across 12 scoreless frames, with 20 strikeouts versus three walks (40.5 K-BB percentage), a 0.58 WHIP and a robust 21.5 swinging strike percentage.
Tanner Scott (LAD): He has allowed multiple runs in three of his past five appearances, including Wednesday's loss and blown save in Cleveland. He has experienced a spike in his batting average on balls in play (BABIP), combined with extended outings where injuries have decimated his leverage ladder. This chart breaks down his results from his first 21 games compared to his past five:
There are more whiffs available if he ramps up his slider use, though he has not thrown as many this season. Do not overreact to this small sample, but do monitor how he responds during his outings in June. Here is his rolling-game chart from FanGraphs:
*Multi-inning or bridge relievers who can vulture wins and help protect ratios.
Statistical Credits (through games played on May 28): Fangraphs.com, Baseball-Reference.com, BaseballSavant.com and BrooksBaseball.net
Check out my work at Reliever Recon and Closer Monkey for daily updates.
(Photo of Mason Miller: Ross Cameron / Imagn Images)