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Fantasy baseball closer stock watch: Holmes up, Hader down

Clay Holmes continues to get the job done for the New York Yankees. Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

We are now roughly one-quarter into the 2024 fantasy baseball season. When it comes to closers, as always, two words tend to resonate: opportunity and volatility. A pitcher cannot accrue saves or holds (deserved or not) without that chance to do so, and there are few guarantees for performance and health even for the most trusted of the relief pitchers. It happens every season. Opportunity and volatility. You know the drill. Rinse and repeat.

Still, fantasy managers must invest in relief pitchers and hope for the best, so it seems like a wise time for the latest Stock Watch, aiming to explain some of the positives and negatives of the key fantasy role through the first six or so weeks. Only three-quarters of the fantasy baseball season remain. There will be lots of -- say it with me -- opportunity and volatility. Pace yourselves.