Kirby Yates took over as the closer when the Padres traded Brad Hand last summer. Similar to Hand, Yates is the most recent Padres relief pitcher resurrection story. Prior to Joining the team, Yates had unproductive stops in Tampa, New York and L.A (Angels). The Padres got him to develop his splitter as an out pitch and the rest is history.
Over the last season and a half, he’s thrown 83 innings and has a 2.17 ERA. He’s also 28/29 in save opportunities. He’s also leading the league in that same category this season.