The 50 pitchers with the most saves, 1871–2021

Every pitcher on this list is ranked on one number: saves in the regular season between 1871 and 2021. Nothing else is weighed, and the figures each ranking rests on are in the table.

Saves — the leading 15. Every one of the 50 is in the table below.

#	Player	Seasons	Saves	Games	Wins	Losses
1	Mariano Rivera	1995–2013	652	1,115	82	60
2	Trevor Hoffman	1993–2010	601	1,035	61	75
3	Lee Smith	1980–1997	478	1,022	71	92
4	Francisco Rodriguez	2002–2017	437	948	52	53
5	John Franco	1984–2005	424	1,119	90	87
6	Billy Wagner	1995–2010	422	853	47	40
7	Dennis Eckersley	1975–1998	390	1,071	197	171
8	Joe Nathan	1999–2016	377	787	64	34
9	Craig Kimbrel	2010–2021	372	646	35	29
10	Jonathan Papelbon	2005–2016	368	689	41	36
11	Jeff Reardon	1979–1994	367	880	73	77
12	Troy Percival	1995–2009	358	703	35	43
13	Kenley Jansen	2010–2021	350	701	37	26
14	Randy Myers	1985–1998	347	728	44	63
15	Rollie Fingers	1968–1985	341	944	114	118
16	John Wetteland	1989–2000	330	618	48	45
17	Francisco Cordero	1999–2012	329	800	47	53
18	Fernando Rodney	2002–2019	327	951	48	71
19	Roberto Hernandez	1991–2007	326	1,010	67	71
20	Huston Street	2005–2017	324	668	42	34
21	Jose Mesa	1987–2007	321	1,022	80	109
22	Todd Jones	1993–2008	319	982	58	63
23	Rick Aguilera	1985–2000	318	732	86	81
24	Robb Nen	1993–2002	314	643	45	42
25	Tom Henke	1982–1995	311	642	41	42
26	Rich Gossage	1972–1994	310	1,002	124	107
27	Aroldis Chapman	2010–2021	306	624	40	31
28	Jeff Montgomery	1987–1999	304	700	46	52
29	Doug Jones	1982–2000	303	846	69	79
30	Bruce Sutter	1976–1988	300	661	68	71
30	Jason Isringhausen	1995–2012	300	724	51	55
32	Armando Benitez	1994–2008	289	762	40	47
33	Jose Valverde	2003–2014	288	626	27	33
34	Rod Beck	1991–2004	286	704	38	45
35	Bob Wickman	1992–2007	267	835	63	61
36	Todd Worrell	1985–1997	256	617	50	52
37	Dave Righetti	1979–1995	252	718	82	79
38	Dan Quisenberry	1979–1990	244	674	56	46
38	Mark Melancon	2009–2021	244	670	34	30
40	Sparky Lyle	1967–1982	238	899	99	76
41	Ugueth Urbina	1995–2005	237	583	44	49
42	Joakim Soria	2007–2021	229	773	36	45
43	Hoyt Wilhelm	1952–1972	227	1,070	143	122
44	Brad Lidge	2002–2012	225	603	26	32
45	Greg Holland	2010–2021	220	551	30	27
46	Gene Garber	1969–1988	218	931	96	113
47	Gregg Olson	1988–2001	217	622	40	39
48	Dave Smith	1980–1992	216	609	53	53
49	Rafael Soriano	2002–2015	207	591	24	28
50	Brian Fuentes	2001–2012	204	650	26	43

How this list is made

Ranked on saves in the regular season, 1871–2021. Players are ranked on that number alone and on nothing else: there is no judgement here about who was better. Where two are level they share a rank, and the list runs past fifty when fiftieth place is shared, because splitting a tie would mean choosing between them on no stated basis.

The Negro Leagues are not in these figures. Major League Baseball recognised the Negro Leagues as major-league in December 2020 and added their statistics to the official record in May 2024. This database does not carry them: Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Buck Leonard and Cool Papa Bell are absent from it altogether, and Satchel Paige appears only from 1948, his American League seasons. These lists are therefore not the complete official record, and that is a limit of the source rather than a judgement about who belongs on them.

Counting statistics only. A rate — an average, a percentage — needs a minimum number of appearances before it means anything, and no such minimum is published that this site could cite. Inventing one would put a number nobody chose at the centre of a ranking. A total needs no cut-off: most goals is a fact with nothing hidden in it.

Some of these careers were not over. Craig Kimbrel, Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman, Mark Melancon, Joakim Soria and Greg Holland played in 2021, the last season this database covers, so their totals are what they had reached by then. This site has no source for what has happened since.

Career figures from the Lahman Baseball Database via the Chadwick Bureau’s Baseball Databank, CC BY-SA 3.0. Regular season only; the post-season is not counted.

All the MLB pages