Cesar Valdez running away with O's closer job
Cesar Valdez has been a welcome surprise this season out of the bullpen for Baltimore and should remain a viable option for saves until he's likely traded to be a setup man for a contender.
Video Transcript
DREW SILVA: More casual fantasy managers will often overlook closers on bad teams, but the unique thing about baseball is that even the worst rosters will typically produce at least 60 wins. Thus there will be opportunities for saves, even among clubs that mill around the bottom of the standings all year.
Cesar Valdez of the Orioles is a pretty good example. The veteran journeyman reliever kind of won the ninth inning job in Baltimore by default, but he's taken full advantage of the situation by delivering a 2.65 ERA with 21 strikeouts and only four walks through 17 innings this season. He has eight saves already for an O's team that sits nine games under 500 as of May 21.
Valdez also showed well last summer, pitching to a 1.26 ERA and 0.698 whip in 14 and a third frames. All told, Valdez boasts 2.01 ERA with 33 strikeouts and 11 saves over his last 31 and a third inning since the beginning of 2020.
An obvious point, made obviously, the Orioles are in full on rebuilding mode and will probably be willing to listen to offers on Valdez well ahead of the July 30th trade deadline. There's a very good chance he ends up in a setup role, not a closer role, on a contending team for the stretch run.
But hey, he was a waiver wire pickup in pretty much every fantasy setting. And he should offer several more weeks of saves production.
