List of Major League Baseball career saves leaders
In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a save (denoted by SV) who finishes a game for the winning team under certain prescribed circumstances. Most commonly a pitcher earns a save by entering in the ninth inning of a game in which his team is winning by three or fewer runs and finishing the game by pitching one inning without losing the lead.[1]
Mariano Rivera[2][3][4] is the all-time leader in saves with 652. Rivera and Trevor Hoffman[5] are the only pitchers in MLB history to save more than 600 career games. Lee Smith,[6] Francisco Rodríguez,[7] John Franco,[8] Kenley Jansen,[9] Billy Wagner,[10] and Craig Kimbrel are the only other pitchers to save more than 400 games in their careers.
Key
| Rank | Rank amongst leaders in career saves. A blank field indicates a tie. |
| Player (2024 SV) | Number of saves during the 2024 Major League Baseball season |
| SV | Total career saves |
| * | Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame. |
|---|---|
| Bold | Denotes active player.[note 1] |
List
.jpg)
- Stats updated as of April 15, 2024.
| Rank | Player (2024 SV) | SV |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | Brian Fuentes | 204 |
| 52 | Jeff Shaw | 203 |
| 53 | Bobby Thigpen | 201 |
| 54 | Mike Henneman | 193 |
| Raisel Iglesias (3) | 193 | |
| 56 | Mitch Williams | 192 |
| 57 | Roy Face | 191 |
| Keith Foulke | 191 | |
| 59 | J. J. Putz | 189 |
| 60 | Mike Marshall | 188 |
| 61 | Éric Gagné | 187 |
| Eddie Guardado | 187 | |
| 63 | Jeff Russell | 186 |
| 64 | Steve Bedrosian | 184 |
| Kent Tekulve | 184 | |
| 66 | Danny Graves | 182 |
| 67 | Tug McGraw | 180 |
| 68 | Jim Johnson | 178 |
| Ron Perranoski | 178 | |
| 70 | Kevin Gregg | 177 |
| Bryan Harvey | 177 | |
| 72 | David Robertson (0) | 175 |
| 73 | Lindy McDaniel | 174 |
| 74 | Bobby Jenks | 173 |
| 75 | Jeff Brantley | 172 |
| Brian Wilson | 172 | |
| 77 | Heath Bell | 168 |
| 78 | Josh Hader (1) | 166 |
| 79 | Billy Koch | 163 |
| 80 | Alex Colomé (0) | 159 |
| Roger McDowell | 159 | |
| 82 | Tom Gordon | 158 |
| Dan Plesac | 158 | |
| 84 | Jay Howell | 155 |
| Roberto Osuna | 155 | |
| 86 | Zack Britton | 154 |
| John Smoltz* | 154 | |
| 88 | Cody Allen | 153 |
| Stu Miller | 153 | |
| 90 | Don McMahon | 152 |
| 91 | Greg Minton | 150 |
| 92 | Ted Abernathy | 149 |
| 93 | Willie Hernández | 147 |
| 94 | Dave Giusti | 145 |
| 95 | John Axford | 144 |
| Santiago Casilla | 144 | |
| Jesse Orosco | 144 | |
| Mike Williams | 144 | |
| 99 | Clay Carroll | 143 |
| Darold Knowles | 143 |
Notes
- ^ A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or not played for a full season.
References
- ^ Horneman, Tim (March 23, 2010). "Baseball Save Rules". livestrong.com. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
- ^ "Mariano Rivera Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
- ^ Cohen, Alan. "Mariano Rivera Bio". Society For American Baseball Research. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
- ^ "Mariano Rivera Hall of Fame Profile". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
- ^ "Trevor Hoffman Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
- ^ "Lee Smith Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
- ^ "Francisco Rodríguez Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
- ^ "John Franco Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
- ^ "Kenley Jansen Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ "Billy Wagner Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
External links
- "Career Leaders & Records for Saves". Baseball-Reference.com.
- Major League Baseball