2025 Fantasy Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays Closer Depth Chart
The closing job for the Rays could be in flux all season. Pete Fairbanks has the inside track early in the year, but injuries have been a factor in back-to-back seasons.
Pete Fairbanks, 3Ks on Sliders.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 10, 2024
And Ron Washington is not happy. 🤬 pic.twitter.com/b1UhmydAHR
CL – Pete Fairbanks, TB (ADP – 155.4)
Fairbanks went on the injured list in early May in 2023 with a right forearm issue. Later in the month, he landed on the IL again with a hip injury, leading to him pitching only 16.1 innings over the first three months of the season. After the All-Star break, he has a 3.21 ERA, 51 strikeouts, and 16 saves over 28.0 innings.
Last season, Fairbanks missed time again with arm, thumb, and lat issues. The latter cost him the final 39 games. His season opened with eight dull contests (seven runs, 16 baserunners, and 10 strikeouts over seven innings). After 23 days out of action, he pitched well over 36.2 innings (1.47 ERA, 0.818 WHIP, 31 strikeouts, and 20 saves). Fairbanks gave up five runs, seven baserunners, and two home runs over 1.2 innings with three strikeouts.
His average fastball (97.4) was down 1.5 MPH from his two previous seasons. Batters struggled with his slider (.154 BAA), but Fairbanks lost momentum with his four-seamer (.281 BAA – .366 vs. lefties). His strikeout rate (8.7) was below his previous resume (12.0).
Fantasy Outlook: Fairbanks converted 48 of his 56 save opportunities over the last two seasons. Tampa has three other viable options to pitch in the ninth inning. He has a risk/reward feel with some job loss risk. Fairbanks is a complete wild card for me and a player I’ll avoid this year.
Edwin Uceta, K'ing the Side in the 4th. pic.twitter.com/KMZRNEoGY9
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 28, 2024
RP – Edwin Uceta, TB
The road to a successful season in the majors was extremely bumpy for Uceta. He flashed as a starter in the Dodgers system in 2019 (11-2 with a 2.77 ERA, 1.281 WHIP, and 141 strikeouts over 123.1 innings). Over his next 126.1 innings from 2021 to 2024 in the minors, Uceta had a 5.26 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, and 161 strikeouts. He walked 5.0 batters per nine.
Last season, he struggled again at AAA (5.77 ERA and 1.58 WHIP over 34.1 innings with 47 strikeouts). The Rays called him up for good in late June. Somehow, Uceta turned into a command stud (1.7 walks per nine), leading to elite stats across the board. He converted all five saves while adding two wins and seven holds.
His average fastball (94.2) was slightly above the league average. Uceta added a cutter last year as his third pitch, helping him against right-handed batters (.148 BAA), but it failed vs. lefties (.667 BAA). Batters struggled to make hard contact with his four-seamer (.130 BAA) and changeup (.154 BAA).
Fantasy Outlook: To believe or not to believe is the question with Uceta’s right arm. His success with Tampa gives him closing upside, but what is his command repeatable? In addition, Garrett Cleavinger and Manuel Rodriguez are viable options for saves. The actual dark horse in this bullpen should be Hunter Bigge (2.52 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 39.1 innings last season between the minors and majors). His fastball came in at 97.6 MPH while offering an elite slider (.177 BAA).
Bigge Bigge Bigge can't you see
— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) August 14, 2024
Sometimes your pitches just hypnotize me
Hunter Bigge fanned 3 of the 4 batters he faced in his DBAP debut last night, topping out at 9⃣9⃣.3⃣ MPH pic.twitter.com/0vKvAkVOSF
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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.