In 2008, Francisco Rodr\u00edguez saved 62 games, setting an MLB record. That was the high water mark for the save, a statistic that had only been around for about 30 years at that point.<\/p>\n
Things have changed. That season, 139 pitchers recorded a save, as teams generally tabbed one pitcher as their closer and stuck with it until a change was obviously needed. In 2025, 212 pitchers earned a save. It seems everyone is getting saves now, and the notion of having a single closer for each team is less prevalent.<\/p>\n
Though the overall number of saves<\/a> has remained consistent, this year, the trend of more pitchers recording saves is even more obvious. Thanks to Katie Sharp at Baseball-Reference, we can see how bullpen usage is shifting:<\/p>\n A month into the season, almost 100 pitchers have a save already, another big jump in the progression. Why do so many pitchers have a save already? Are we moving away from the closer and devaluing the save stat?<\/p>\n There are several factors in play, including injuries and changes to how teams look to navigate the later innings. But with teams spreading their saves around, it changes how relievers are being evaluated and compensated.<\/p>\n Some of what is happening is a trick of circumstance. Plenty of managers would still prefer to have one guy at the back of the bullpen who they can rely on.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s way easier to have one guy,\u201d said Derek Shelton, manager of a Minnesota Twins team that has had five pitchers record a save this year.<\/p>\n The start of the season hasn\u2019t been kind to the top closers in the game. Among the closers projected to be among the top 15 in saves this year, you\u2019ll find:<\/p>\n Edwin D\u00edaz, on the injured list (elbow surgery) So, to some extent, injuries to the top closers can explain the increase in the number of pitchers getting save opportunities. But that doesn\u2019t explain the entire shape of that graph. There\u2019s been a change in how the back end of bullpens have been utilized for five-plus years now.<\/p>\n \u201cTeams are just matching up,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cThey\u2019re using guys in higher-leverage situations earlier in the game. What teams are learning is, you may not get to the ninth.\u201d<\/p>\n Relievers themselves are buying into the new way of handling the later innings. Whereas relievers once seemed to yearn for defined roles \u2014 often by inning as seventh-, eighth- or ninth-inning guys \u2014 relievers now see their \u201croles\u201d differently. Instead of being told when they\u2019re likely to be used, they\u2019re told who they are likely to face.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody has a pocket (with) the way the game has evolved with analytics, matchups and all that stuff,\u201d Twins reliever Justin Topa said. \u201cThey say, \u2018We think you’re successful against this group of guys.\u2019 Whether that’s in the seventh, eighth or the ninth, it’s going to be that situation. We’ve trended that way, it’s how the game has evolved.\u201d<\/p>\n The three-batter minimum rule \u2014 introduced at the start of the 2020 season \u2014 may have had some effect on this, as pitchers after that change couldn\u2019t fall into specialist roles where they were used only against same-handed hitters. Those match-up specific pitchers weren\u2019t ideal candidates for save opportunities as they were often used for only one or two outs at a time. But the big spike in the number of pitchers with saves predates that rule (in 2019), and that was more a part of a sea change than anything that specifically spurred the trend.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re all trying to find opportunities to put our best arms, our best out-getters, against the other team’s best hitters, because those are the leverage moments,\u201d an American League executive told Mark Feinsand at MLB.com<\/a>. \u201cWhether it’s deploying your best reliever in the eighth inning because he’s going to face the heart of the order, or even running out an opener to make sure he faces the top of the order, that can matter more than doing it in the ninth against the 7-8-9 hitters.\u201d<\/p>\n Advancements in athlete science could have more to do with spurring the change.<\/p>\n Back-to-back-to-back appearances used to be more common for relievers, but they\u2019re almost extinct now. Even back-to-backs are down off a peak<\/a>. As teams have become smarter about keeping their relievers fresh, it\u2019s required managers to trust more pitchers with that ninth-inning role.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s the nature of the way these kids train now,\u201d San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello said. \u201cIt’s a lot more like football, where they’re almost training to throw one time. So if you’re asked to throw more and more and more, but that’s not the way you’re training, you’re maybe a little bit more susceptible to get hurt, or the shelf life maybe shrinks a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Clearly, there are a couple things at play. One is a short-term crisis in personnel that has led to a potential temporary spike in the number of relievers getting save chances. The other is a long-term trend toward playing the matchups in the bullpen, where roles are more fluid and each reliever has their particular strengths and weaknesses that are pitted against each batter\u2019s strengths and weaknesses to find the best way to finish off a win.<\/p>\n But both of these things do lead to a question: Is the save dead?<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s definitely not,\u201d said Twins reliever Taylor Rogers. \u201cThere’s two ways of thinking about it: If you are a designated closer, you get judged on how you do that. And if you’re not, let’s get judged on other factors, like what the team is asking of you.\u201d<\/p>\n So going forward, how should relievers be evaluated and compensated if the save isn\u2019t the apex of a reliever\u2019s value?<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s going to have to be a slow process,\u201d Rogers continued. \u201cI think we’re going to try to take a look at the pre-arbitration bonus pool and how that’s structured to try to help out the relievers, try to re-work a few things there. Obviously, arbitration is tough to re-work with how that’s set up. It’s more of a long-game thing along the lines of the mechanisms that were put in the last CBA.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDevin Williams, trying to find his old changeup again
\nDaniel Palencia, on the IL (muscle strain)
\nJhoan Duran, on the IL (oblique strain)
\nJosh Hader, hasn\u2019t pitched yet due to a shoulder problem
\nCarlos Est\u00e9vez, whose velocity was down before a foot injury
\nJeff Hoffman, whose team has moved to a closer-by-committee approach after his early-season struggles
\nRaisel Iglesias, on the IL (shoulder issue)
\nPete Fairbanks, on the IL (numbness in his pitching hand)<\/p>\n