2025 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Relief Pitcher

These fireballers will give you adequate saves at a cheap price.

When it comes to fantasy baseball, and fantasy sports in general, everyone is always trying to find the next potential star player who nobody else is aware of. It’s a fair goal. Fantasy managers will try to find value wherever they can. 

I will be providing as many draft tips as possible now that we’re moving through February, and getting started with sleepers is a phenomenal way to do so. My definition of ‘sleeper’ features players being taken outside the top 180 NFBC rankings. This means guys to focus on after the 15th round of a 12-team format.

Not many people know their name. That will soon change. 

Let’s take a look at these silent advantage closers!

Trevor Megill Is the Perfect Devin Williams Replacement – #194

Finding the right sleeper closer often depends on roster depth. And now that Devin Williams has been shipped to the Bronx, Megill is no longer working as a setup man. He will be Mr. 9th inning for Milwaukee.

And for the Brew Crew, that’s fantastic news. Megill brings heat with very little mistakes given up over the plate. In the past four seasons, his K/9 has not dropped below 9.7 which is the first encouraging sign of an effective closer. In the past three seasons, his FIP has not reached north of 3.29. Long story short, you can have confidence in his past results.

Manager Pat Murphy did struggle to find a true closer in 2024 once Williams went down but eventually gave Megill the role who eventually racked up 21 saves. He earned those as he danced to the tune of a 2.72 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. 

The one thing you want to look for when it comes to closers is job security. Even if Megill were to slip up at the beginning of the season, I don’t see the Brewers bullpen offering anyone with nastier wipeout stuff. Joel Payamps doesn’t have Megill’s ability to gather multiple whiffs. And when it comes to the end of the game, the less bat-to-ball the better. 

There’s No Fireballer Quite Like Ben Joyce – #196

Nothing to see here. Just the guy who hurled a 105.5 mph fastball which became the fastest pitch thrown by any player in 2024 and the fastest pitch thrown on a strikeout of all-time. Dude has major cheese. 

Many times guys like Joyce have all the velocity with none of the command. Yet that’s not the case here considering he finished with a 2.08 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 34.2 innings last season. You know you’ve got something special when your sinker averages 97 mph and your changeup is typically around 92 mph. 

On top of the impressive numbers he’s simply an intimidating presence, something I love witnessing out of my favorite closers. Being 6-foot-5 with a massive wingspan causing great extension helps!

Manager Ron Washington showed confidence in Joyce, throwing him out there to close things out in September. And like Megill, I don’t see a whole lot of competition coming out of the Angels bullpen. Robert Stephenson would’ve been a potential candidate but he is coming off of an elbow injury which forced him to miss the entire 2024 campaign. The ninth inning lane is set up well for Joyce.

Jeff Hoffman Gets a Shot As a Closer – #245

Give all the credit in the world to the Philadelphia Phillies who found something in Hoffman once he landed on the wrong side of 30. A once defective reliever with poor numbers was turned into an All-Star last season.

Hoffman’s 2023 and 2024 were mighty impressive. The only reason fantasy managers weren’t paying attention to him is because Philadelphia refused to go with a set closer. Manager Rob Thomson finally gave in and moved Hoffman to the ninth. He finished 2024 with 89 strikeouts and just 16 walks in 66.1 innings. Quite an improvement from his awful Colorado and Cincinnati tenures.

Now on the Toronto Blue Jays, Hoffman has his shot to be the guy. GM Ross Atkins told reporters that Hoffman will indeed get an opportunity to close games for the squad in 2025. Chad Green and Yimi Garcia will be used more as setup men. It’s Hoffman’s job to lose and going at such a cheap price has me drafting many shares of him! 

Carlos Estevez Gives the Royals Bullpen Stability – #259

This was quite a shakeup and one I did not expect coming from the Royals.

When Kansas City traded for Lucas Erceg at the 2024 deadline, I thought it was a tremendous move. And it turned out to be just that with Erceg sitting batters down in high-leverage situations in the second half. He was a big part of putting the dagger in the Baltimore Orioles’ heart in the postseason. 

Entering 2025, I would’ve thought the Royals would be happy with their ninth inning option. I guess not! Enter Carlos Estevez. Even though he gave up that Francisco Lindor bomb which sealed the Phillies’ fate last season, he still had an outstanding year. And frankly, I thought it was swept under the rug without enough appreciation. 

He dominated for both the Angels and Phillies in 2024, combining his totals for a 2.45 ERA and 0.91 WHIP. He ranks in the 89th percentile for fastball velocity and his expected stats showed to be better than his actual figures. 

One thing I love about Estevez is that he doesn’t shy away from batters. He only walked 12 batters in 55 total innings. That’s a key part of his style because nobody wants to see free passes at the end of a game. Those mistakes usually come back to hurt. He also keeps the ball in the park, making teams work for their runs instead of earning it in one swing. 

I believe the closer role belongs to Estevez and Erceg will transition back into his normal setup role. A scary couple of guys to face in the latter innings, for sure.

Can Liam Hendriks Turn Heads Once Again? – #272

This is a risky one so it’s no wonder why he’s going so late. 

I believe in Hendriks’ stuff, but which version of him will we be getting coming off his cancer recovery and multiple injuries? It’s important to note that he has not pitched meaningful innings in the bigs since 2022. No doubt about it that he may take some time to shake off the rust.

However, there’s still some upside here. Boston figures to be a good squad this season and I believe they will be playing in lots of close games. Yes they signed Aroldis Chapman for high-leverage duty but I’m not sure how much they trust him in the ninth. The last few seasons, Chapman has been in more of a setup role.

If anything, Hendriks is going super late so I will be grabbing him at the back portion of drafts. That way I can stash him on my roster and see how this situation plays out in Boston.