Week 2 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Some early closer clarity as Carlos Estevez's stumbles out of the gate

Lucas Erceg and Jordan Romano might already have some clarity about their roles

Chris Towers

Mar 29, 2026

7:46 pm ET

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17 min read

One of the toughest balances to strike as a Fantasy player comes with the first few waiver-wire runs after the season starts. As I'm typing this, only the Angels and Astros have played even four games this season, and they'll be joined by the Guardians and Mariners in a few hours. Four games is nothing, and most of the league hasn't even gotten there.

That's not even a single turn through the rotation. The league leaders in plate appearances are four separate Angels players who each have 20, or about 3% of the max total any of them are likely to reach by the end of the season.

And, of course, most of the starters we have seen on the mound so far aren't exactly the types we're chasing on waiver wires – we're seeing the tops of rotations, which is mostly made up of the ranks of must-draft pitchers. We'll get our first signs of some of our favorite sleepers in the next few days, and even that won't be enough to change how you should view any of them (for the most part). And for hitters? Forget it. Three or four games is just nothing at all. Any reaction to what we've seen this weekend is very, very likely to end up being an overreaction.

The one place where early-season changes can actually matter is in the ninth inning. Because we're not just talking about performances here – usage is the primary thing we care about for closers, and you can react to usage changes a lot more quickly than any performance change. Though, of course, sometimes they are inextricably linked. Like with the case of Carlos Estevez, who might have already lost his job as the Royals closer after just one disastrous outing.

Estevez dealt with diminished velocity all spring, and the adrenaline of the regular season didn't change that – his average fastball velocity was down nearly 5 mph in his debut Saturday and he predictably struggled, giving up six runs on four hits and a couple of walks to blow the game. Estevez was hit by a comebacker on his ankle during the outing, but the velocity drop predates that by several weeks, so I don't think that's the explanation here.

But it was an excuse for Matt Quatraro to remove him from the closer role, acknowledging that the Royals will likely try to limit him to low-leverage situations to try to get him back on track. They didn't use Estevez at all Sunday, and I'd be surprised if we saw him in the closer's role for a little while – and if he can't get his stuff back to where it used to be, he may just get Wally Pipp-ed.

That Royals situation isn't the only one we got some actionable evidence about this weekend, so before we get to the rest of the waiver wire targets, here are three closers to consider adding if you're chasing saves.

- Lucas Erceg, Royals (23%) – If not Estevez, who? I think Matt Strahm is the best pitcher in this bullpen, but when the save opportunity came up Sunday, it was Erceg who worked the ninth, with Strahm coming in for the final two outs of the seventh. Maybe next time it'll be different, but I think the Royals were giving us a hint here, especially since Erceg set up Estevez for the previous outing. Erceg took a step back last season after breaking out in 2024, but his stuff still looks strong and he still looks good enough to get the job done if called on again.

- Jordan Romano, Angels (21%) – Romano got the save in the opener for the Angels and then pitched with a four-run lead Saturday, striking out two to close it out. It's only one save, but the second situation was close enough that I think it tells us something about the Angels' plans.

- Cole Sands, Twins (8%) – Justin Topa pitched a clean eighth Saturday with a three-run lead, handing it off to Sands for the first save of the season. This one still feels relatively open – Taylor Rogers had pitched Thursday, so maybe he wasn't available? – but I'll give Sands the edge for now, certainly.

Week 2 Waiver Targets

Catcher

Francisco Alvarez, Mets (63%)

Nothing has happened to change my mind about Alvarez, which is fine, because my expectations for Alvarez were already quite high. He broke out in the second half of last season and he's well positioned to keep it up in 2026, even opening the season with as many strikeouts as homers (one). It's eight plate appearances, so again, what we've seen so far means very little. But Alvarez is one of my favorite breakout hitters for 2026, so I'll just default to him here until someone takes his spot.

Deep league option: Jefferson Quero, Brewers (6%) – The Brewers called Quero up after Andrew Vaughn went on the IL with a fractured hamate bone. It doesn't sound like the plan is to use Quero much right away – he's serving as more of an emergency catcher in case they want to shift Gary Sanchez to first base or use h