2025 Fantasy Baseball: San Diego Padres Closer Depth Chart
Robert Suarez was an excellent value closer in 2024. He brings a three-digit fastball and a winning changeup. Can he repeat this season at age 34 in San Diego?
Robert Suárez, 101mph ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/ear8z87XeY
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 9, 2024
CL – Robert Suarez, SD (ADP – 92.2)
In his first year with the Padres in 2022, Suarez handled himself well (2.27 ERA, 1.049 WHIP, and 61 strikeouts over 47.2 innings) despite a much higher walk rate (4.0). He missed two months with a right knee injury that required surgery. San Diego saw enough in his arm to give Suarez $46 million in November for five seasons.
He missed three and a half months with a right elbow injury in 2023. Suarez had one disaster showing (five runs and five baserunners over two-thirds of an inning) over his 27 appearances. Over his other 27.0 innings, he allowed eight runs and 20 baserunners with 23 strikeouts.
San Diego finally received a winning year from Saurez last year. He entered the season with a coin-flip opportunity for saves. By the end of April, Suarez had two wins while converting all 17 save chances, thanks to a 0.27 ERA, 0.720 WHIP, and 24 strikeouts over 25.0 innings. After his appearance on August 7th, he had a 1.42 ERA, .184 BAA, and 43 strikeouts over 44.1 innings with six wins and 24 saves. His arm backed up over his final 21 appearances (13 runs, 30 baserunners, and three home runs over 20.2 innings with 16 strikeouts and 12 saves).
Suarez finished the season with weakness against right-handed batters (.276 BAA) while dominating lefties (.150 BAA but issued 13 of his 16 walks to them). His average fastball (99.2) had its highest velocity in his time with the Padres. He changed his usage in 2024, resulting in many more four-seamers (.217 BAA) at the expense of his changeup (.191 BAA) and sinker (.197 BAA).
Fantasy Outlook: Suarez comes into this season with a better closing resume, highlighted by his combined 45 wins and saves. He throws hard with improved command, and all his pitches are challenging to hit except his four-seamer to right-handed batters (.301 BAA). The Padres want him to close, but they do have talented arms behind in their bullpen. Suarez has 136 games under his belt in the majors (18-7 with a 2.89 ERA, 144 strikeouts, and 37 saves over 140.1 innings) at age 33. He looks the part of a value closer, but a spike in walks would change his profile dramatically. His rising hard-hit rate (40.4%) may be a tell of downside in 2025.
Top Padres Handcuff – Jason Adam, SD (ADP – 482.7)
Adam pitched well in 2023 but not at his previous elite level. He issued more walks (3.3 per nine) with more damage in home runs (1.2 per nine – 0.7 in 2022). The Rays had him on the mound for only 56 games due to missing most of the season's final six weeks with an oblique injury.
Between the Rays and Padres last season, Adam set career highs in appearances (74), innings (73.2), and strikeouts (81). His walk rate was better with San Diego (2.4), allowing him to regain some of his lost strikeout rate (10.5 – 9.6 with Tampa) over the first half of the season.
He pitched well vs. righties (.166 BAA) and lefties (.152 BAA) for the third consecutive year. His average fastball (95.5) was a career-best. Batters struggled to hit his four-seamer (.178 BAA), slider (.157 BAA), and changeup (.150 BAA). For the second time over three seasons, Adam threw his slider as his top usage pitch (37.3%)
Fantasy Outlook: Jeremiah Estrada emerged as a future closing option last year with the Padres. Adam only has 24 career saves, painting more as an eighth-inning arm, but the quality of his pitches and the velocity on his fastball give him ninth-inning upside. If Robert Suarez has any issues in 2025, there will be a fantasy coin toss for their next best option. In addition, Yuki Matsui has 236 saves on his resume in Japan.
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With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.