In a league where late-inning dominance can make or break a team, these are the relief pitchers who stood out last week with electric performances that left hitters baffled and fans buzzing. Whether it’s a closer slamming the door shut or a setup man bridging the gap and holding the line, these arms delivered when it matters. Spotlighting the hottest relief pitchers in Major League Baseball over the past seven days — the guys who turned pressure into performance and owned the mound.
Felix Bautista, Baltimore Orioles
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 4 K, 12.00 K9, 3 S/H
Bautista has been incredible this season, and virtually untouchable over the last three weeks. His Statcast is basically 90th percentile and above, except for his BB%, resulting from some location issues early in the season (which he has absolutely corrected – 110 Location+). This past week was highlighted by two saves against the Evil Empire (Yanks) and one against the Royals. Felix spent the week upstairs with sinkers (7/20 35% CSW) and splitters (6/13, 46% CSW), with both pitches doing work. And he did it against Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham, Vinnie Pasquantino, and Maikel Garcia. Big boy saves.
Robert Suarez, San Diego Padres
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 2 K, 6.00 K9, 3 S/H
Speaking of incredible, have you been watching Robert Suarez? Kyle Amore from DrRoto.com featured Suarez this week as his #1 reliever, and for good reason – he’s a league leader in saves, and his stuff is PHENOMENAL (129 Pitching+). Suarez’s effectiveness stems from his dominant fastball (which averages 98 MPH+ and 18.8” of elite iVB), exceptional location, and a competitive nastiness in his pitching approach. And while the changeup (which is also quite good – 18” of iHB drop and run) wasn’t quite there this week, he didn’t need it. And like Bautista, Suarez earned it this week – facing Heliot Ramos (twice), Wilmer Flores, Brian Reynolds, and Oneil Cruz.
Lucas Erceg, Kansas City Royals
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 3 K, 6.75 K9, 3 S/H
Lucas Erceg is another feature this week that is having a fantastic season – 0.59 ERA, 0.52 WHIP, 7.62 K/9, and 13 S/H. This week, Lucas added three holds to his season line – two against the Rays and one against the O’s. Erceg works effectively with a four-pitch mix, featuring a big-time four-seamer (98 MPH, nearly 2,200 spin, and 10.3” or arm-side run) and a stupid slider (37.0% whiffs). He’s also cut the walks to 1.9% (down from an already respectable 6.3% in 2024), which is the 99th percentile. He just excels in high-leverage situations, pitching in the most important innings before the ninth. Take, for example, Sunday’s game in Baltimore. Zerpa came in to pitch the 8th and immediately got pounded. He was pulled for Erceg (who probs would have been called first, but he pitched Saturday also). Erceg inherited runners at first and second, and immediately proceeded to close out the inning. The man just does his job.
Tyler Ferguson, Athletics
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.54 WHIP, 3 K, 7.36 K9, 3 S/H
Tyler Ferguson is an enigma to me. Through last week, the season-long numbers were really good (he got knocked around this Tuesday, though). He’s striking out around one batter per nine, he’s got average/not exceptional stuff (his changeup is his best pitch, and also his least used), and his location is wonky (check out his frame against the Marlins from Saturday). All of this to say he’s kinda of a JAG, yet here he is in my features again. He’s the primary setup to Mason Miller, and the go-to when Miller needs a break – this week he locked up two holds (@ Texas, @ Miami), and a save (@ Miami). The A’s clearly trust him, I’m just not sure I do. But they didn’t make a movie about my improbable run through the 2002 season, so I don’t get to have input here.
Jhoan Duran, Minnesota Twins
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 7 K, 15.75 K9, 2 S/H
Duran is another pitcher that has absolutely filthy stuff (126 Stuff+) but trouble locating (88 Location+, the lowest of his career). Does that matter when your Statcast is blood red, your Pitching+ is still 111, and you’re striking out better than 11 batters per nine? My answer is no… no ,it does not. Yes, he walks too many batters, and that can bite ya, but it hasn’t yet, and his numbers sizzle. Duran is a pure flamethrower, averaging 100.5 MPH on the four-seamer, 97.8 MPH on the splitter (yes, I said splitter), and a sweeper/knuckle curve combo that cooks (40.9% and 60.0% whiffs, respectively). Duran works in a crowded bullpen (stay tuned), and he will get work as both a setup and a closer. Both Cleveland and Boston knocked him around a bit this past week, but Duran still didn’t allow a run to the plate. And isn’t that the objective of (relief) pitcher?
Andres Munoz, Seattle Mariners
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 2 K, 9.00 K9, 2 S/H
And here we go again. And again. And again. Munoz just keeps landing in my features because he just keeps getting it done. Kyle Amore ran Munoz out there as his #2 reliever in this week’s power rankings, and I can’t fault it. He has exceptional stuff (114 Stuff+) featuring an insane slider (58.8% whiffs, 38.8% put-away) and a four-seamer that explodes through the zone at 100 MPH+. This week it was the slider doing work – 5/7 whiffs (71%) and 7/14 CSW (50%) – earning saves against the Halos (yes, I know) and the Rangers. Oh, and Munoz is a groundball machine, inducing another four (of his six outs) this past week. And he also hasn’t allowed a single run to cross the plate all season (18 innings). Read that again. Is there anyone else you’d rather have in the ninth? He’s such a weapon for this Mariner’s team that is surprisingly a contender.
Griffin Jax, Minnesota Twins
Week’s Line: 2.45 ERA, 0.54 WHIP, 5 K, 12.26 K9, 2 S/H
Back to the Minnesota bullpen we go! Griffin Jax is one of my favorite pitchers in the league, and he’s really taken off since his transition to the pen back in 2022. Jax throws six pitches pretty well, but he really excels when his secondaries play off his 97 MPH heater. Jax’s sweeper is a standout pitch, featuring high velocity (88.5 MPH) and sweeping movement (3,000 spin, 12.8 iHB glove side), making it a lethal swing-and-miss option. It’s for sure one of the best pitches in baseball when he’s able to effectively tunnel it with his fastball. His Pitching+ is elite elite(143), with his ability to command the zone (136 Location+) front and center. The ERA and WHIP on the year don’t match the expected stats, so he’s been a bit unlucky in those departments. Aside from the Abreu homer in Boston on Saturday, his week was basically unblemished.
Raisel Iglesias, Atlanta Braves
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 6 K, 18.00 K9, 2 S/H
Iglesias has had an up and down season, no question – multiple blown saves, earned runs have been plentiful, and he’s been hitdamn hard and squared up with regularity (3.2 HR/9). The Pitching+ is just ok at 98, which is waaaay below his career average. But he’s maybe pitching his way out of it, as evidenced by his showings this past weekend – five strikeouts (four swinging) in his two innings of work against the Dodgers. The problem is – and remains – consistency. Iglesias pounded the zone Sunday, but only hit on 3/11 pitches Saturday. In context, the Dodgers don’t chase, so you have to pound the zone to get them to swing. Whiffs on Saturday – 2/6 (33%). Whiffs on Sunday – 6/15 (40%). The strikeouts were still there, mind you, so as always, results > expected stats. Once he cleans up his location inefficiency, I think he takes off. But this is a weekly column, and Raisel put up a big boy week.
Pete Fairbanks, Tampa Bay Rays
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 3 K, 13.5 K9, 2 S/H
“That’s not Yankees dancing. That’s Devil Rays dancing! Continuing my redemption tour, I present Pete Fairbanks. Who, like Raisel, has had a tendency to give up hard contact. Unlike Raisel, he’s been able to sprinkle in a very good ground ball rate (52.6) and an elite barrel rate (2.6%) to help limit the damage. As a result, he returns a sparkling ERA (1.88), a palatable WHIP for a closer (1.05), and the sizzle to the steak – consistent saves. He’s up to eight on the season (two last weekend), and he hasn’t blown one yet in 2025. He hasn’t given up a run in over a month, a trend that continued in the Bronx this week. In fact, he hasn’t allowed a baserunner in almost two weeks. Now I get that’s only four innings, but so what? It’s still impressive given today’s MLB. Oh – btw. To close out the Yanks Sunday, all he did was strike out the side, including Trent Grisham (swinging) and Aaron Judge (also swinging).
Tommy Kahnle, Detroit Tigers
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.43 WHIP, 4 K, 15.65 K9, 2 S/H
Kahnle is a guy who has returned really good results, and for a really good Detroit team. Kahnle locked down games in Los Angeles (Halos) and Houston last week, and he did it in style – four strikeouts in a little over two innings for a hold and a save. It just defies logic to me, however. Let me explain. First, Kahnle exists on his changeup – 84% usage on the season, throwing 27/33 of them this weekend, which is incredible to me. You absolutely know it’s coming. There’s not much there to keep you off balance, other than the pitch itself. Kahnle’s changeup is highly effective due to a combination of factors: deception, hard velocity (89 MPH), and a unique arm angle (low, 35 degrees). Adding in an elite degree of vertical drop (35.5”) makes it difficult for hitters to anticipate and contact. The results are a good amount of strikes (5/12 whiffs and a CSW of 40.7% just this past week) and a 91st percentile groundball rate (57.6%) – and both were in play for him last week. Thankfully for the Tigers, logic doesn’t necessarily win ball games.
