Watson pitched two shutout innings Wednesday against the Cubs, working around a hit while striking out one for his first save of the year. Regular closer Mark Melancon has been struggling and his velocity is down, which has unexpectedly opened the door for Watson, who's been absolutely terrific since his Opening Day disaster. He's now a priority fantasy pickup, given the possibility that he could wrest the ninth-inning role away from Melancon.

Watson has strung together four scoreless outings since surrendering three runs on Opening Day. Pittsburgh's top set-up man could receive a bump in fantasy value if closer Mark Melancon is found to be dealing with some sort of injury -- Melancon's velocity has been off in the early going. The Pirates haven't said that anything is physically wrong with their current stopper, but it's something to keep an eye on.

Watson had a rare bad outing Monday in the season opener against the Reds, giving up a three-run homer to Todd Frazier to pick up the loss. Last year, Watson had just two three-run outings, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. There will be better days, though as a short-inning reliever this will leave a mark for a while.

One scout believes Watson is ready to close at the major-league level. "For some clubs, he could be a closer right now," the scout told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "There's been very few left-handed closers, though. Baltimore's got (Zach) Britton and the Reds have (Aroldis) Chapman. Not many lefties have done it, but Watson could. He's got closer's stuff. He can strike you out." Watson collected 34 holds and compiled a career-best 9.4 K/9 IP in 2014. Mark Melancon is the clear-cut closer for Pittsburgh but Watson is right behind him in the pecking order.

Watson, who has struck out seven in five scoreless spring innings, projects as Pittsburgh's primary set-up man once again in 2015. Armed with an electric fastball (94.4 mph) and slider, the lefty gives Pittsburgh a solid late-inning reliever's duo with Mark Melancon. It's probable that save opportunities fall to him if anything happens to Melancon, but manager Clint Hurdle said last summer that he could continue using Watson in high-leverage spots with someone else getting the final three outs. The southpaw, who is working on a tighter-breaking slider this spring, has outpitched his FIP (3.39) with a better earned-run average (2.63) in each of his four big-league seasons.

Watson agreed to a one-year, $1.75 million contract with the Pirates on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Tom Singer of MLB.com reports. Watson seamlessly transitioned into the eighth-inning role after Mark Melancon took over as the Pirates' closer for good in June, finishing with a 1.63 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 34 holds, second most in all of baseball. He'll receive a nice raise in salary in his first year arbitration, and will likely be among the first five setup men off the board in deeper mixed drafts this spring.

Watson was tendered a contract prior to Tuesday's deadline. The southpaw exceeded expectations early on in 2014, but cooled off a bit in the second half -- perhaps because of over-usage in a faltering bullpen. Watson picked up 10 relief wins, compiling a 1.63 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 77.1 IP. He could slide into a closer's role in 2015 if Mark Melancon gets hurt, though the team likes him as its primary set-up man.

Watson recorded his second save of the season Tuesday, pitching a scoreless ninth inning while allowing one hit and recording one strikeout against the Braves. He was used Sunday when Mark Melancon was unavailable after being used in three straight games, but Melancon was used again to pick up the save Monday, so it seems like manager Clint Hurdle is simply trying to even out the workload for his two best relievers as the Pirates gear up for a playoff run. At this point, both pitchers could be options for saves down the stretch, but Melancon remains the more likely candidate to take the ball in the ninth inning.

Watson allowed two singles and hit one batter but earned his first save of the season Sunday in a scoreless inning. With closer Mark Melancon out after pitching in three straight games, Watson got the ninth-inning call. The lefty, who ranks second in the NL with 33 holds, upped his velocity and hit 97 mph on the radar gun. He could take over as Pittsburgh's closer in 2015 if anything happens to Melancon.

Watson will be unavailable out of the bullpen Sunday, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune reports. Both Watson and closer Mark Melancon pitched two innings Saturday, and although Melancon's status is uncertain, Watson has been ruled out. If Melancon is ultimately deemed unavailable as well, look for John Axford to potentially vulture a save opportunity.