Is it easier or harder to get saves at the major league level these days? Seems like it used to be 30 closers- one for each team. Now teams are using relievers in much different ways… kind of like how I’ve been using them in Strat-O-Matic for years. Crucial situation in the 7th? Bring the best guy in! You’ll lose the game anyway, so why save the best guy for the 9th? But let’s look at career major league saves:

2006-2018
1 Chris Perez Staunton ’04 133
2 Will Harris Staunton ’03 16
3 Tyler Thornburg Winchester ’08 13
4 Chris Devenski Woodstock ’11 7
5 David Carpenter Covington ’04 4
Justin Anderson Front Royal ’13 4
7 Josh Edgin Winchester ’07 2

Chris Perez crushes this list; in fact, the other six guys have a total of 46 saves combined.. about 35% of Perez’s total. Justin Anderson and his wicked slider joined the list this year.

All-Time
1 Roberto Hernandez Front Royal 326
2 Mike Williams Winchester ’89 144
3 Chris Perez Staunton ’04 133
4 Brad Ziegler New Market ’00 105
5 Al Holland Charlottesville 78
6 Jon Rauch Harrisonburg ’98 62
7 Chris Ray New Market ’01 51
8 Sammy Stewart Staunton ’74 45
9 Rick Honeycutt Charlottesville ’73 38
10 John Hudek Front Royal 29
11 Bob Patterson Madison ’81 28
Dave Tobik 28
13 Lee Guetterman Waynesboro 25
14 Mike Caldwell Charlottesville ’68 18
15 Greg Harris Front Royal 16
Will Harris Staunton ’03 16
17 Javier Lopez New Market ’96 14
18 Tyler Thornburg Winchester ’08 13
19 Shawn Camp Staunton 12
Renie Martin New Market 12

Roberto Hernandez dominates this list, kind of the same way Perez dominates the modern one. Brad Ziegler is (was, now, since he retired) the only active player on this list. He saved 10 games in 2018, but remains at #4.

Perez
Hernandez