Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh slugged a homer and added a single as part of another nice day at the plate in Cactus League action against the Milwaukee Brewers. The 27-year-old increased his spring totals to a cool .400 average (8-for-20) with three homers, 10 RBI, and even a stolen base across 25 plate appearances, good for a 1.520 OPS in the small sample. Raleigh paced all big league backstops with 30 home runs in the 2023 season while adding 78 runs scored, 75 RBI, and a .762 OPS across 569 plate appearances, good for the fourth-most in baseball among catchers. He is projected to hit 26 home runs with 71 RBI across 509 plate appearances by ATC in the 2024 season, making him a rock-solid fantasy option with a nice floor again for this season.

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone confirmed that right-handed reliever Clay Holmes remains the team's closer heading into the 2024 season. The Yankees used Holmes in a variety of high-leverage roles to open last season, including in some save chances, but he was mostly used in the ninth inning in the second half of the year. The 30-year-old, who is headed into his walk year, had 20 saves in 2022 and topped that mark by four in 2023. If he's the club's full-time closer from start to finish in 2024, Holmes has the opportunity to set a new career-high in saves for the third straight season. With a high strikeout rate, a ground-ball profile and not much competition for the closing role if he falters, Holmes should be considered a solid No. 2 closing option for fantasy managers.

Arizona Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald has added a changeup to his arsenal this spring training. He hasn't thrown a changeup with any kind of regularity since the 2020 season. Upon arriving in Seattle before the 2021 season, he rode his fastball/slider combination into the closer's role for the Mariners. Through four Cactus League appearances, Sewald hasn't allowed a single run. Of the three changeups he's thrown that were put in play, he's recorded four outs. In the last three seasons, he has 65 saves, a 2.95 ERA, 136 ERA+ and 12.2 K/9. His 2.75 xERA, .189 xBA, 85.9 mph average exit velocity, 32.1% strikeout rate and 29.9 hard-hit percentage all ranked among the 94th percentile or better across the majors in 2023. Sewald doesn't have a high-velocity fastball like most closers, so the addition of a changeup should make his heater more effective. RotoBaller has him ranked as the No. 13 fantasy closer in the game.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (abdomen, oblique), who is expected to return to the Grapefruit League lineup on Saturday, said he would be playing if it were the regular season. "Like I've told you guys, there's no rush," Judge said on Thursday. Judge is dealing with soreness in his abdomen/oblique and also has dealt with some pain in his toe after tearing the ligament in his big right toe last year. The 31-year-old former MVP isn't dealing with any kind of structural damage, though, and he's still expected to be ready for Opening Day on March 28. Judge still deserves to be considered a top-10 over fantasy pick, but it's fair to wonder how well he'll hold up as the team's expected starting center fielder for at least half the season while Jasson Dominguez (elbow) recovers from surgery.

Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams (back) is expected to miss around three months due to stress fractures in his back. General manager Matt Arnold said he would leave the decision up to manager Pat Murphy and his staff as to who will be the team's closer while Williams is sidelined. Abner Uribe, as well as Joel Payamps and Trevor Megill, seem to be the most obvious replacements for save chances, though none of the trio has had much big-league closing experience. Murphy said he has no intentions of naming one defined closer unless one naturally emerges during the season. While Uribe has the most natural stuff to be a closer, Payamps should also be in the mix, and this could end up being a total committee approach. Payamps feels like the best speculation for fantasy managers scrounging for saves late in deep-mixed drafts.