Cleavinger cut his fastball usage in half and nearly eliminated his cutter in 2025, opting to throw more sliders (39 percent usage) and sinkers (37 percent) en-route to his finest season to date. The 31-year-old established career-best marks in innings pitched (61.1), strikeouts (82), ERA (2.35) and holds (21) while remaining healthy for the second-straight year. The southpaw didn't toss many sweepers - he threw it only 90 times, primarily to left-handed hitters - but it produced a .056 batting average against and 60.9 percent whiff rate that was tops for that pitch type among those who threw a minimum of 50 sweepers. Cleavinger is expected to be part of a closer-by-committee for the Rays in 2026, and given his neutral splits, he should not be at a matchup disadvantage when it comes to who manager Kevin Cash chooses to deploy in save situations. Read Past Outlooks