Ranking the 15 projected closers in the National League

What a dominant 2019 season it was for Yates (finished ninth in NL Cy Young voting) as he posted a stellar 1.19 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, saved a MLB-leading 41 games, and struck out 101 batters in 60.2 innings.

Striking out an absurd 16.4 batters per nine innings last year (and 15.8 in 2018), Hader is as lights-out as they come, but his one bugaboo is the long ball (15 home runs allowed in 75.2 innings in 2019).

Gallegos isn’t even assured of being the closer (Fangraphs also listed Andrew Miller and John Brebbia), but he is coming off a spectacular 2019 in which he owned a 2.31 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

From 2010-17, Jansen pitched to a 2.08 ERA and 0.87 WHIP, but the last two seasons, those numbers have went up to 3.34 and 1.02 respectively.

Not signing with the Cubs until late June last year, was an awful 2019 a sign of his demise, or will he return to the pitcher that had a career 1.91 ERA and 0.92 WHIP entering last year?

Daniel Hudson is also an option to close games (four saves in the postseason last year), but Doolittle has saved 75 games the past three years for Washington and hopes to show the dominance he did in 2018 (1.60 ERA, 0.60 WHIP).

A couple bad months raised Iglesias ERA to 4.16 last year, but from 2016-18, he was outstanding with a 2.47 ERA and 255 strikeouts in 226.1 innings.

What a difference a year can make. One year after one of the best seasons ever by a closer (57 saves in 2018, tied for second-highest in a single season), Diaz was awful in 2019 (5.59 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, but did strikeout 15.4 hitters per nine innings).

Minus a subpar 2016, Kela has actually been a very solid reliever and pitched to a 2.12 ERA and 1.01 WHIP last year in 29.2 innings.

Rebounding nicely after struggling for much of 2018, Neris finished 2019 with a 2.93 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

After two fairly average years in relief in 2018-19, the Diamondbacks hope Bradley can revert back to his 2017 form (1.73 ERA in 73 innings).

While Melancon is expected to start the season in the closer role, Atlanta did sign Will Smith to a large deal after he excelled in that role last year with the Giants.

He’s always had a low strikeout rate, but Kintzler was an All-Star in 2017 when he saved 29 games, and he performed well with the Cubs last year finishing with a 2.68 ERA and 1.02 WHIP.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants may start the season without naming a closer (Fangraphs also lists Shaun Anderson and Jandel Gustave as options). While none of these options are intriguing, Watson did save 15 games with the Pirates in 2016.

In 2014-15, Davis was arguably the best reliever in baseball. Last year, he posted an 8.65 ERA and 1.87 WHIP in 42.2 innings. Yikes.