Then and Now: Dominant Closers

Now might be a good time for folks to appreciate Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel, because I’m not sure we’re going to see guys like them again.

As it stands, they are #4 and #5 on the all-time saves list. Jansen is currently the Angels’ closer, and while he’s pitching pretty well in that role, being the closer for a bad team is going to limit his potential to collect saves at the rate he did in his younger days with some fabulous Dodgers teams. A 32-save season would allow him to pass Lee Smith for third on the all-time list, but that would still put him 21 saves short of 500 when he turns 38 near the end of the season and nowhere near Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman in the 600 Club.

As for Kimbrel, he’s currently rehabbing and hopes to pitch for the Braves this year, but he’s been pretty average for quite a while now (ERA+ since 2019 = 107), and likely won’t be replacing Raisel Iglesias as Atlanta’s closer anytime soon. At nearly 37 and with 440 career saves, he’ll be lucky to get to 450 since he’s going to be a setup man from now on.

After those two, it’s a long drop to the next active pitcher on the list, Aroldis Chapman. He’s 16th all-time with 335 saves, just turned 37, and hasn’t been anyone’s full-time closer since 2021, so he certainly isn’t a threat to crack the top-10 before he’s done. Then it’s an even further drop to Edwin Diaz, who stands 44th all-time with 226 saves. If he pitches 8 more seasons that match his first 8 as a closer, he’ll get to Kimbrel territory, 450 saves, by the time he’s 39. That’s a very big “if” given the fact he missed all of 2023 with an injury. Josh Hader, 25 saves short of Diaz at almost exactly the same age, is in pretty much the same boat. I skipped over Iglesias in this discussion because he’s four years older than Diaz and yet is two saves behind him.