Whenever participating in fantasy baseball, it’s important to understand which scoring system your league implements. Some league’s scoring is determined by head-to-head points, but others are decided by how players perform in a variety of notable categories, including saves.
Before compiling a list of players to target for saves, it’s crucial to decipher team’s bullpen depth charts, and who will have the best chance to be handed the ball for the final three outs of the game. At the same time, we want pitchers who excel in high-leverage situations, have a arsenal that makes it tough on batters, and an ability to accumulate solid metrics across the board without damaging your ERA or WHIP ratios — among other factors.
All that being said, let’s take a look at a handful of players to target in fantasy baseball for saves during the 2025 MLB season.
All stats are courtesy of FanGraphs or Baseball Savant unless stated otherwise. The average draft position (ADP) listed for each player comes from FantasyPros’ Consensus ADP.
Fantasy Baseball: Players to Target for Saves
Ryan Walker, Giants
FantasyPros’ Consensus ADP: 134.3
On the surface, Ryan Walker of the San Francisco Giants doesn’t have much experience as a closer in the majors. However, Walker ended last season as the preferred closer for the Giants, finishing with a career-best 10 saves (all 10 of his saves occurred between August 10 and the end of the 2024 campaign).
Of the relief pitchers that tossed 50-plus innings a season ago, Walker was 10th in SIERA (2.46), 11th in xFIP (2.79), and 10th in WHIP (0.85). Walker also flashed an ability to limit hard contact, ranking in the 94th percentile in average exit velocity (86.4 MPH), 81st percentile in barrel rate (6.0%), and 98th percentile in hard-hit rate (30.2%) in 2024.
Finding a reliever that has strikeout upside and solid command of his pitches can be rare at times, but Walker resided in the 74th percentile in whiff rate (28.6%), 94th percentile in strikeout rate (32.1%), and 84th percentile in walk rate (5.8%) last season. It also helps that Walker gets to play his home games at the one of the most pitcher-friendly venues (Oracle Park), which has the fourth-lowest park factor in baseball over the last three years.
The Giants began the 2024 campaign with Camilo Doval as their primary closer, and he’s combined for 89 saves across the last three seasons. But given how Walker concluded the regular season last year, San Francisco is expected to lean on him to finish the majority of games out of their bullpen in 2025.
Trevor Megill, Brewers
FantasyPros’ Consensus ADP: 187.8
Trevor Megill is a player who has continued to see his ADP climb before the season starts due to the expectation of him emerging as the preferred closer for the Milwaukee Brewers. During the offseason, the Brewers traded Devin Williams (their former closer) to the New York Yankees, so that leaves plenty of save opportunities for the current relief pitchers on Milwaukee’s roster.
At the moment, the Brewers don’t have really have anyone else with closing experience, which favors Megill — who filled in when Williams was injured last season. Despite never recording a save in his career before the 2024 campaign, Megill tallied 21 saves, and there’s undoubtedly potential for improvement moving forward.
Megill is a hard-throwing righty that resides in the 99th percentile in fastball velocity (98.8 MPH), and he showed positive growth in other areas of his game. Amid pitching a career-high 46.1 innings a season ago, Megill also posted career-best marks in xERA (2.83), WHIP (1.01), and BABIP (.254).
Since 2021, the Brewers have ranked eighth or better in total saves across the majors, making their closer a valuable player to target. An undisclosed injury led to Megill seeing a delay in taking the mound for spring training, but there doesn’t appear to be any concerns for Opening Day after he recently made his Cactus League debut.
Jeff Hoffman, Blue Jays
FantasyPros’ Consensus ADP: 204.5
Similar to Ryan Walker, the career save numbers for Jeff Hoffman are lacking, but don’t let that deter you from taking him in your fantasy baseball drafts. As a member of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2024, Hoffman registered career-highs in inning pitched (66.1), saves (10), and xFIP (2.80).
On top of that, Hoffman was simply one of the most reliable relievers in baseball last season, notching the 22nd-best WHIP (0.96) and 9th-best SIERA (2.39) among relief pitchers with 50-plus innings under their belt. Let’s not forget that Hoffman also found himself operating in the 96th percentile in chase rate (34.6%), 96th percentile in whiff rate (35.3%), 96th percentile in strikeout rate (33.6%), and 81st percentile in walk rate (6.0%).
Fast forward to now and Hoffman is now on the Toronto Blue Jays, emerging as the favorite to close games for Toronto. The Blue Jays signed Hoffman during free agency upon letting Jordan Romano — who totaled 103 saves with Toronto from 2021 to 2024 — walk in the offseason.
Once we get past the obvious starting closers earlier in drafts, there is risk involved for plenty of relievers who could have competition in the saves department. While Hoffman is going in the mid-to-late rounds of drafts, there doesn’t appear to be anyone on the Blue Jays that will be handed the ball more to conclude games than Hoffman.
Justin Martinez, Diamondbacks
FantasyPros’ Consensus ADP: 251.0
After listing a few relievers that are in the driver’s seat to be their respective team’s closer, there is a bit more uncertainty surrounding Justin Martinez of the Arizona Diamondbacks entering the 2025 season. Veteran Paul Sewald led the Diamondbacks in saves (16) last season, but he’s now a member of the Cleveland Guardians, prompting a bit of a competition for Arizona’s save chances.
Martinez finished with the second-most saves (8) on the Diamondbacks a season ago, and his potential is through the roof with his skill set. Outside of his walk rate (11.7%), Martinez’s Baseball Savant page is littered with red, sitting in the 88th percentile in xERA (3.07), 100th percentile in fastball velocity (100.3 MPH), 96th percentile in whiff rate (34.5%), and 89th percentile in strikeout rate (29.5%).
What makes Martinez a bit unique is fast-throwing pitchers tend to surrender plenty of hard contact, but he was in the 94th percentile in average exit velocity (86.4 MPH), 99th percentile in barrel rate (2.8%), and 94th percentile in hard-hit rate (31.8%) across 72.2 innings in just his second year in the majors. Currently, Martinez is competing alongside A.J. Puk for the closer role after the team acquired Puk via trade during the 2024 season.
Puk accrued three saves with the Diamondbacks last season after making the move to starter with the Miami Marlins before being traded despite logging 15 saves in 2023 for Miami. Given the fact that Martinez is a right-handed reliever and he is coming off a dominant campaign, he should have the edge over Puk for saves.
Ryan Pressly, Cubs
FantasyPros’ Consensus ADP: 292.5
Aside from the trade for Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros, the Chicago Cubs conducted business with Houston earlier this offseason to land experienced reliever Ryan Pressly. Prior to the 2024 season, Pressly was a standout closer for the Astros, earning 90 saves from 2021 to 2023.
With Josh Hader being deployed as the closer for Houston last season, Pressly was transitioned to a setup role, leading to only four saves in his 56.2 innings pitched. Entering the 2025 campaign, Pressly is the favorite in the clubhouse to get the first crack at closing games for the Cubs.
At 36 years old, Pressly is now a bit more reliant on inducing ground balls than whiffs on the mound. Besides his fastball velocity dropping from 94.7 MPH in 2023 to 93.9 MPH in 2024, Pressly recorded the lowest strikeout rate (23.8%) and swinging strike rate (12.6%) of his career since 2017 when he was with the Minnesota Twins.
On the other hand, Pressly did reside in the 85th percentile in groundball rate (50.9%), reaching a 50.0% groundball rate or higher in back-to-back seasons. Risk is certainly involved with taking Pressly with Porter Hodge potentially getting save chances at some point for Chicago, but Pressly should begin the season as the closer.
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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.